How do you choose your professionals?

[GREENBACK]

Experience is a very nebulous area. If I told you that I am board certified and have been in practice for 16 years, how would you compare that to a doctor down the road who is not board certified but has been in practice for 22 years and is the president of the medical staff at the community hospital? If doctor A was voted Best in Town by some local magazine, does that mean anything at all?

As for patient comments, those are totally worthless. Why? Who posts comments about customer service? Folks who are unhappy with the service. Folks who are pleased and satisfied don't feel the need to go online and share their satisfaction. Folks who had a bad experience and want revenge post reviews to spread the word.

Just to be clear, I'm not looking into this info. for a complete judgement. I know how the rating stuff works. I also know that consumer responses have to be taken with a heavy grain of salt. I would like to see more of a general type of rating if that makes sense(not just talking about medical practices) though, admittedly, I have no good idea how that might be implemented.

I'm curious DS, do you have a website for your practice? Do you think that would be a good idea or even practical to do? I have no idea what the cost of setting up something like that would be but it seems to me that you could really bolster the confidence of would be customers if you gave them this ability as they looked at the long list of providers for whatever service they are seeking.

On websites that do have customer ratings for various things, I have seen many positive comments on good services and products. You will always have the whiners but they're usually fairly easy to recognize, kinda' like the occasional "troll" or "spammer" that shows up here.

I'll emphasize that for me what the rating says on this person vs. that person would be a very general guideline to narrow down my search. I'm sure in your 16 yrs. of practicing medicine there are many accomplishments you could publicly list that would that might be a draw to someone new to the area and looking for a doctor.

[disneysteve]

I'm curious DS, do you have a website for your practice?

On websites that do have customer ratings for various things, I have seen many positive comments on good services and products.

We do not have a practice website. As I've posted previously, I work in a very poor area. Most of my patients don't have computers at home or work in jobs that use them. A fair number of my patients don't even have phones. So my partner and I have not felt that setting up a website would be worth the time or money. For practices in better areas, though, I can definitely see how it could be a draw. I also think it would be more beneficial for a specialist to list all the services and procedures he offers. Not so much for a family doctor.

As for customer ratings, another thing to keep in mind (and please don't think I'm beating you up about this point - I mean my comments to be for general information for all) anyone at all can post to those sites. When I read a review online, I have no way of knowing if the review was actually written by a customer or if might have been written by an employee or friend of someone working for the company. I always tell my patients not to buy "health" products like natural remedies and such based on testimonials they've read in some magazine as those things are often fictional in nature. So if the bad reviews are from disgruntled customers and the good reviews are of questionable origin, where does that leave someone looking for guidance? Maybe I'm just to skeptical.

[GREENBACK]

I should mention that I have posted comments about my satisfaction or disatifaction on websites from companies(that allow this) I've purchased from. I know a company can manipulate this pretty easy but I think it's fairly easy to tell false testimonials in most cases or at least I consider myself good at telling the difference. My point is this is just an idea but there may be better advertising methods.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

RedThunderbird, I'm not a doctor listed on that site. I simply meant that my doctor is listed on that site. There are rating sites for different kinds of professionals. They are not hard to find using Google. If you are interested you should be able to find them. One that has been paying for sponsorship/advertising on National Public Radio for years now is Angie's List, Consumer reviews on contractors, plumbers, dentists, doctors | Angieslist.com | Angie’s List I also have heard ads for that site on commercial radio. The site says they have ratings for 250 types of services, has 750,000 users and 5000 posts per month. I think their radio ad says that they have recently provided for ratings of doctors, dentists, and lawyers. Long ago I had a brief look at it. I think they allowed you to view a certain number of ratings for free and then you had to join by a paid membership if you wanted more views. If you wanted to be able to rate people you'd hired, you had to be a paid member.

[GREENBACK]

RedThunderbird, I'm not a doctor listed on that site. I simply meant that my doctor is listed on that site. There are rating sites for different kinds of professionals. They are not hard to find using Google. If you are interested you should be able to find them. One that has been paying for sponsorship/advertising on National Public Radio for years now is Angie's List, Consumer reviews on contractors, plumbers, dentists, doctors | Angieslist.com | Angie’s List I also have heard ads for that site on commercial radio. The site says they have ratings for 250 types of services, has 750,000 users and 5000 posts per month. I think their radio ad says that they have recently provided for ratings of doctors, dentists, and lawyers. Long ago I had a brief look at it. I think they allowed you to view a certain number of ratings for free and then you had to join by a paid membership if you wanted more views. If you wanted to be able to rate people you'd hired, you had to be a paid member.

Have you found this helpful? Looks interesting.

[PrincessPerky]

I think a hope and a prayer is the best way to find a proffessional, that and you still might not get what you need.

Word of mouth is prolly the best, but be sure you understand what they like about who they are refering (the referal fee or some actual trait worthwhile)

I for example recommend my dentist to any adult, but not for children (fast efficient, friendly, but not reassuring to nervous 3 year olds), my children see another, a perfectly adequate fellow. I would recommend my ped, but she no longer practices, the wait times are long, but worth the wait. Best part is she will talk on the phone, not automatically make you come in like many other practices. (have called multiple times with simple questions, no visit or co-pay needed)

[GREENBACK]

I just completed an online survey from my last dental visit. This is more for them than for customers. I've always liked the work they've done and was glad to fill out the survey. I honestly wouldn't mind if they compiled the results and made it public, assuming they don't already do this(haven't looked).

[GREENBACK]

Forgot to mention that they had a comment section where I explained my satisfaction with the crown they had put in. I've had 4 crowns and a bridge put in by this same dentist over a ten year period. This is a preferred provider dentist that does as good a work as any I 've been to. I did choose them out of the blue with no referrals or anything(lucky!). I think it would be great to see my comments posted on the Ins. co.'s website if not at the provider's.

[Tree0164]

I don't think this is a little thing at all. Surveys show that most patients who switch doctors do so because of issues with the staff, not with the doctor himself. It is not the doctor who schedules your appointments. It is not the doctor who handles billing and insurance issues. It is not the doctor who triages your phone calls and decides when you need to be seen. It is the staff. A lousy staff can sink the best of physicians.

This is very true we left a dental practice after a very rude office manager when I questioned some bills.

Office staff can make the world of difference.

[GREENBACK]

btw I have another appointment with the technician next month , and she told me that will $90.00 , to witch I reply no problem , but knock out $10.00 , she told me you are amazing , and with smile she scratched off the previous number to $80.00

Never thought to bargain with the dentist, good job....lol.

[davidharvey]

Always look for a service provider that has years of experience including a history of dealing with your specific kind of practice.
Only a professional and experienced service provider can deliver medical coding services and medical billing solutions that ideally meet the requirements of your medical practice.

[elfen lied]

The given information in your post is really very good. Good information and very good job done by you guys

[natewebco]

I keep hearing about Angie's list. I haven't tried it yet, but I have heard enough about it that I would use it if I needed to find a professional.