Tuesday, August 14, 2012

tips and tricks: the pediatrician

I'm linking up again with Meagan for:


We recently moved to the upstate and with a move comes not only a new house, a new job, and a new Walmart layout {seriously, why can't they all be the same?}, but also new doctors. At the top of my to-do list was to find Quinn a new pediatrician. Below is the process I went through to find one. I hope it helps!


  • I logged onto our insurance website and clicked on their "Find a Doctor" link. This way I was positive the doctor I chose would take our insurance.
  • I then started cross referencing the doctors on the insurance list against patient ratings on www.vitals.com. Through this website you can find out years of experience, where they went to medical school, what hospitals they are affiliated with, and lots of other goodies.
  • From there I started calling the different offices to see if that particular doctor was accepting new patients.
  • Once I found a doctor that I thought might be a fit, I made an appointment to meet with her.
  • At the appointment I asked the following questions:
    • How many doctors are in the practice?
    • What is the likelihood that he would see another doctor?
    • What's the average wait time?
    • How quickly can I get a sick appointment?
    • Is there a nurse line? Is there a charge for using it?
    • Do you have after hours/weekend hours?
    • Do you offer breast feeding support?
  • If I didn't feel comfortable with our meeting or her answers I would have gone to the next doctor on my list.
Fortunately, the first doctor I met with felt like a great match for our family. Quinn has his nine month well visit this Wednesday so hopefully I will still feel the same way after his first appointment!

1 comment:

  1. Such good advice! We didn't meet our ped before having Chase and ended up switching to a different ped in the practice and we love her!!

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