How to Pick a Pediatrician
Your choices when choosing a Pediatrician these days are normally limited to those Pediatricians that are accepted by your Health Insurance Company and the plan that you are enrolled in. Many employees are now members of Heath Maintenance Organizations (also known as HMOs). If you are part of an HMO then youll be given a list of Pediatricians that you need to select from. You then choose one Pediatrician as your childs Primary Care Physician (also known as PCP).
No matter if youre a member of an HMO or not there are several people you can turn to as you try to locate a Pediatrician whos right for you and your children.
If you have medical insurance through your employer then your workplace is a great place to look for referrals. If you have trustworthy co-workers who have kids you can ask them if theyre happy with their Pediatrician and if they are then you can ask for referrals. Since you are co-workers, changes are you have the same insurance provider so the Pediatrician youre referred to is sure to accept your insurance plan.
Another great way to get a quality referral is to call a medical school in your area and ask a member of the faculty for a Pediatrician referral. The medical school staff is certainly very qualified to give a recommendation and they are probably familiar with many of the Pediatricians in the community.
Once you find a Pediatrician that you think you might want to take your child to, there are several questions you may want to find out the answers to before you make your appointment. First, verify that they do accept your insurance and are accepting new patients, then find out the answers to any of the following questions that concern you:
What are the Pediatricians office hours?
Are weekend or evening appointments available?
What hospital is the Pediatrician affiliated with?
What is the Pediatricians availability in the case of an emergency?
Does the Pediatrician practice by himself/herself or is it a group practice?
Will the Pediatrician provide advice over the telephone?
Will the Pediatricians bill go right to your insurance company or will it come to you?
Another great place to find out information about a Pediatrician youre considering taking your child to is by visiting the American Medical Associations website and using their Doctor Finder tool to pull up the Pediatrician and read about their training, background and history.
