What "Good" Healthcare Really Means

Who you get your care from determines the quality of care you receive which in turn impacts your outcomes. So you are wise to choose carefully. As a first step, it helps to know what “good” really means.

Quality of care is measured in several ways:

• Patient satisfaction surveys ask patients how satisfied they are with their care, for example, does their doctor communicate well and does their health plan offer the services they need
• Clinical performance or how well a doctor, hospital or health plan follows recommended guidelines for care. These published guidelines are based on a review of all existing clinical studies that are done on the diagnosis and treatment of a given disease or condition. Providing care based on these guidelines is called practicing evidence based medicine and is most likely to result in the best possible results

How to Find the Best Team for You

Because there is no complete database of information on how well individual physicians perform, there is really not one best way to find the right doctor for you…the best approach is to use several approaches:

• Talk with family, friends, and social and business contacts who may have had a similar health condition
• Network to get names from other doctors, nurses and allied health professionals
• Check Best Doctors lists for your city or nearby metropolitan area
• Double and triple check recommendations to assess and confirm a physician’s credentials:

—Is he/she board certified, i.e., completed advanced study and passed a rigorous test in his or her specialty? (use links below to find information about an individual physician)

—Does he/she have admitting privileges at an accredited hospital?

—Has she/he published articles or participated in clinical trials related to your disease or condition? This may be important if you have a rare disease or condition

—Does she/he have a good reputation among peers?

• Visit several doctors before deciding
• Ask about level of experience in treating your condition—this is very important and you are entitled to know this—especially if it involves new technology or surgical procedures
• Observe how the office staff treats you and how the office is managed
• Ask if the office is equipped with electronic medical records (EMRs) and if the physician uses e-mail with patients. EMRs have been shown to reduce medical errors
• Look for consistency in what you read, hear, feel

Resources

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality publication Your Guide to Choosing Quality Healthcare is available at no cost by calling 1-800-358-9295 or by visiting their website at www.ahrq.org
• New York State Physician Profile http://www.nydoctorprofile.com provides information—education, practice profile, legal action, and professional activities—on all licensed doctors of medicine and osteopathy who are registered to practice medicine in NYS.
• Your State Department of Health or State Medical Board is responsible for investigating complaints about physicians and monitors physicians who have been placed on probation. For example, in New York State, the Department of Health Office of Professional Medical Conduct provides information about physicians who have been disciplined for practicing fraudulently, practicing with gross incompetence or gross negligence. Visit www.health.state.ny.us or call 1-800-663-6114

• A full listing of US state and local health departments can be found at: http://www.apha.org/about/Public+Health+Links/LinksStateandLocalHealthDepartments.htm
• American Board of Medical Specialties http://www.abms.org/ is an organization that oversees the certification of physician specialists in the U.S. Their site provides an overview of the certification process as well as background on individual physicians’ education and training and other useful information