August 17, 2012
Quality, satisfaction ratings augment referrals
The decision on a health-care provider — be that a physician, chiropractor, or hospital — is a personal one that deserves thought and research.
While Fairview Heights resident Denis Wienhoff didn’t directly choose providers for his employees, he said he began using group health benefits provider ADP to both control costs and be sure his workers could keep their physicians. He owns Missouri Stencil Products in Park Hills, Mo., and labeling firms Chicago Coding Systems and Coding Solutions Inc. in St. Charles, Ill. “As a small business trying to do their own evaluation, we could switch plans every year based on price, but there would be no continuity,” Wienhoff said. “That’s not fair to the employees.”
When Wienhoff’s personal physician left primary care, he got references from his former physician to other doctors. “Go in and sit down and interview the (prospective) doctor,” Wienhoff said. “How many patients does he have, how is the practice run?”
When his new physician, Dr. Daniel Gaitan, decided to offer services through concierge medicine company SignatureMD — seeing a smaller number of patients who pay an annual fee — Wienhoff decided to stay. “It’s doctoring like when I was a kid,” he said. “The time, the attention and focus you get.” Like Wienhoff’s, your health plan might not cover the annual concierge fee, he said. Also, ask if your concierge physician will continue to take co-pays through your health plan.
Since physicians are the only ones who can admit a patient to a hospital, patients usually seek recommendations from doctors on which hospital to choose, said Dave Dillon, spokesman for the Missouri Hospital Association, a member-based nonprofit. “But there’s a significant amount of quality data available for hospitals,” he said. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Hospital Compare website (www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov) offers information on everything from hospitals’ emergency room wait times to use of medical imaging. Review the site’s patient satisfaction data, Dillon suggested, and ask your friends and neighbors for references, “because a lot of it is experience-based.”
As owner of Patient Advocacy Services of St. Louis, registered nurse and lawyer Christine Krieger helps people, often geriatric patients or those with chronic conditions, navigate the health-care system. She said to first decide what type of health-care provider you need: a specialist, a chiropractor, a physical therapist? Next consider other special needs, such as location or languages spoken, she said.
Once you’ve narrowed the field, ask friends for references, or even better — a friend who’s a nurse or doctor, Krieger said. “Nurses know what doctors are good in their specialty and which ones listen.” Review physician and hospital ratings by rating service HealthGrades.com, Krieger said.
Ask for a “new patient” appointment and try to have your health records sent ahead of time, Krieger said. Take a list of questions with you to your appointment.
“Once you go, don’t be afraid to change providers,” she said. “You have to click with the person.”
