To get a better idea of how Americans choose their healthcare providers, Healthgrades, a website that provides information about physician and hospital quality, conducted a national survey of more than 7,700 adults 18 and older. The results? Many Americans spend way more time researching what car to buy than they do choosing a doctor. Plus, while more than 90% of adults say it’s important to make the right choice when selecting a physician or hospital, nearly half of adults feel they’ve made the wrong ones. More from Prevention: 14 Worst Hospital Mistakes To Avoid “I think we’ve been well trained by our insurance companies to really look for convenience, like what’s in my network, close to my job or home, and will I be able to make an appointment?” says Archelle Georgiou, MD, a strategic advisor to Healthgrades. “But not all hospitals are created equal—while one hospital may be good at cardiac surgery, it may not be good at something else, she says. “Even if right now you feel really fit and healthy, you could end up in an ambulance at any moment,” says Dr. Georgiou. “Now’s the time to decide where you’re going to want that ambulance to take you.” More from Prevention: 5 Ways Hospitals Make You Sick Follow this advice to make sure you’re picking the right doc: Comparison shop. Visit Healthgrades, or similar sites like hospitalcompare.hhs.gov, whynotthebest.org, or ratemds.com, to see how your local healthcare providers measure up on things like mortality and complication rates, performance, and patient satisfaction. Check your doc’s experience. Confirm that your physician is board certified in her specialty (check the American Board of Medical Specialties at abms.org), and also ask her how many times she’s treated your condition. Research shows that a doctors’ experience is the strongest predictor of a successful procedure. Do the comfort test. It’s important to find a doctor you trust and one with whom you feel comfortable asking questions, says Mary Jane Minkin, MD, Prevention advisor and clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Yale School of Medicine. If you’re not comfortable or don’t feel like your questions are being answered, keep looking.
