Physician Reviews for Patients

Very often we find ourselves in a community or city with other friends and family. Usually they know us quite well and are able to offer advice or recommendations about what sort of doctor you should visit for a variety of procedures and disorders. Maybe your grandmother is supremely pleased with the way her doctor handles her diabetes and you have been recently diagnosed with the same condition. Maybe your kids need a new pediatrician and your best friend is able to refer you to the clinic where she takes her family. Or maybe your sister knows you so well that she has no problem telling you that doctor so-and-so will be the perfect person to perform your rhinoplasty.

However, in a lot of situations, we have to seek out the services of a new doctor without the assistance of friends and family. In these circumstances, it can be helpful to use online physician reviews. There are hundreds of websites available that provide extensive database information on doctors and their patient interactions. Some require you to pay for this information, but may allow you to submit information for free. Some may even encourage you to rate certain doctors and offer incentives for your time. 

In order for a website that provides physician reviews to be helpful, it has to be truthful and accurate. The reviews must come from actual patients and reflect actual procedures or interactions. Reading what someone else has to say about a particular doctor can be a helpful way to find someone that fits with your particular healthcare needs. If you are interested in finding a doctor with a genuine and caring bedside manner, then you may want to skip visiting the doctor that 90% of his patients say is good, but generally cold in personality. Other potential patients only care about the skill level of their doctor and simply want to find the best person for the job. These individuals would do best to compare the actual educational background and extent of experience for a subset of doctors within a particular specialty. Physician reviews can be helpful in this area.

Physician reviews can also help narrow down a large pool of doctors in a particular geographic area. If you just moved to town and have no idea where to start, you may want to just look close to home. Expanding your search in concentric circles can help you find the right person for the job that is also in a convenient location. 

It is important to keep all of these factors in mind when reading physician reviews and considering their information for use in your healthcare decisions. Medicine has become a two-way street in which the patient is responsible for many of the decisions they make and finding a doctor you can trust with your questions and concerns is very important. Spending a little extra time and money up front can really pay off in the long run. It will make you feel better.