Choose A Good Doctor

If you have a diagnosis of a rare disease or a disease that is difficult to treat there are two ways to find a doctor:

1. You can look for a local support group for advice. Check the newspaper, call the Health Department or even the Public Library for information.
2. There may be organizations online that can help you find a doctor who is a specialist in that area.

Below I'll list some online resources.

From DiagKNOWsis:

One aspect of being a good patient is being a good health care consumer.

Think of it this way: if your mechanic or hairdresser or plumber or any other service provider is doing a good job, then you thank them and pay them and return to them when you need them again. But if one of them is doing a lousy job, then you'll either ask them to do it differently - or you'll find someone else who can provide that service instead.

For some reason, most patients don't take the same approach with their medical providers. Many of us feel paralyzed at the thought of providing feedback, when providing feedback can be the very thing that improves not just our relationships with our providers, but our outcomes as well.

Providing feedback to your provider, in the spirit of fair assessment, is empowering for both you and your provider.

Please click here to access a report card for all of your doctors.

When you have a chronic illness or disABILITY it is imperative that your doctor specializes in your health issue. If you have Multiple Sclerosis seeing a neurologist is well and good, but having a doctor that has a large case load of MS patients is what you need. This way your doctor keeps up on the latest research and treatments. You don't want a doctor that treats only a few people with MS and follows guidelines that are 10 years old.

If you live in a rural area that may mean traveling, but many doctors that specialize will make it as easy as possible on you. S/He may make arrangements with your primary care doctor to communicate and take orders over the phone for hospital stays, prescriptions and routine checkups. So having a primary doctor that understands this need is important too.

S/he may allow you to call in your symptoms and make changes to your medications or have you be seen by your primary care doctor first. Many good doctors have patients that fly in from around the country to see them so they are used to this type of arrangement. Don't let the miles apart deter you from seeing a good doc.