We all know how to do the research when we're shopping for a flat-screen TV or a smartphone. But where do you look for information when you're finding a new doctor? Here are some tips from experts.
Traditional word-of-mouth is often still the most powerful source. "As important as anything is personal recommendation," says Glen Stream, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Some doctors admit that a reference from a colleague or a patient they like may get you into a practice that's normally closed to new people.
Of course, many websites include patient feedback, or rely on surveys of local doctors. Patient advocates say that while they can be useful, they should be taken with a grain of salt. "They're basically popularity contests," says Caron Cronin, executive director of the Informed Patient Institute, a nonprofit. Her group's site, informedpatientinstitute.org, lists and rates doctor-quality sites, and it includes links to the growing number of groups that try to pull together data measuring doctors' quality of care.
To get some sense of patient feedback, you can try checkbook.org, a site hosted by the nonprofit Consumers' Checkbook, which surveys patients to rate doctors in certain localities. Health plans also increasingly offer their take on doctors' quality and efficiency.
Mark Smith, president of physician recruiting firm Merritt Hawkins, suggests looking for the "big uglies," such as safety or legal problems. You can start with a Google search, of course, but also worthwhile is a check of state medical boards and related resources through docboard.org and patientsrighttoknow.org.
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