You don’t want just any doctor–you want the right doctor.
The good news is, you have a lot of options in New Hampshire. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, there are nearly 1,900 primary care physicians in New Hampshire.
The even better news is that it has never been easier to find the primary care provider that is right for you. Here’s a look at six ways to find, research and select your next primary care provider:
1) Understand Your Network
When it comes to finding the right primary care provider, two words matter more than most: “In” and “Network.”
When a doctor is “in-network,” that provider (or the provider’s hospital or clinic) has negotiated discounted rates with your insurance provider. This means your co-pays and other out-of-pocket expenses are likely to be a lot lower than if you visit an “out-of-network” provider. Often, the first step toward choosing among the many primary care providers is understanding your network.
2) Understand Your Needs
There are many types of primary care providers. Some focus on the family and are able to treat patients of all ages. Others practice internal medicine and typically treat adults and specialize in preventing, diagnosing and managing disease. Then there are general practice providers, who are like family practice providers and can treat patients of any age, but tend to practice an alternative type of medicine.
The type of primary care physician or provider is right for you depends on your needs.
3) Request Referrals
Everyone visits the doctor at one time or another. That’s why requesting referrals from trusted family members and friends can be such a great way to find yourself a new primary care provider.
You can also ask other healthcare providers with whom you come into contact, including your pharmacist or dentist.
4) Consider Logistics
If you are going to take time out of your busy schedule to make an appointment with your doctor, you might as well make it as easy as possible.
That means considering the logistics of getting to the appointment, parking, proximity to your home or work location, office hours, online portals, and availability of other healthcare services in the same area.
All of these logistical considerations should play a role in helping you find a primary care provider that is both qualified and convenient.
5) Read the Reviews
These days, you can find online reviews for everything from movies to restaurants to primary care providers.
And while all reviews are subjective and many should be taken with a grain of salt, they have become legitimate sources of information and do allow you to gain some insight into how a specific primary care provider treats patients.
Look for topics that keep coming up. A few patients feelings might be an anomaly or organized effort to besmirch a physician, but a lot of people saying the same thing just might tell you something of substance.
6) Make an Appointment
At the end of the day, there is only one way to find out if a provider is right for you–visiting them.
Make an appointment and see if you click. If not, you can always ask someone in the office for another referral.
Get Started Today
Still have questions about how to find the primary care provider that is right for you? Connect with DMC Primary Care for answers. They’ve been helping families just like yours care for everyone from newborns to children to adults to seniors for more than 50 years. Derry Medical Services offers the most advanced family practice patient care in the state.
Connect with Derry Medical Services today!
