Midlife Medical Minute: Finding a “Good” Doctor

​Whether you’re approaching or are already in midlife, one thing is for sure: it’s important to begin taking your health and well-being seriously. This includes various lifestyle enhancements, like getting serious about diet and nutrition, taking up regular exercise, reducing stress and getting basic checkups, like annual physicals.

The truth is, middle age is when health problems usually start making an appearance. After the age of 50, the most common diagnoses are hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, cancer, and anxiety or depression. Other relatively common medical problems that can pop up from age 40 onward include kidney stones, urinary tract infections, food allergies, overactive bladder and, yes, perimenopause.

With so much going on and so many health issues at stake, it’s critical to find a quality healthcare provider. But where to start? Of course, there are the practical concerns, like finding a physician who accepts your insurance, but what else?

The most important variable, in my estimation, is finding a good doctor. In my experience, a truly good doctor is like finding a needle in a haystack. The odds are better than winning the lottery, but the climb is still steep.

Here are some things to consider in determining if a doctor is a good one:

They don’t have medical Board violations. In each state, you can look up doctors’ medical board records. This enables you to check on the licensing status of physicians and also see if there are any complaints or findings against them. You can also see basics, such as where they completed their education and residencies, as well as any supplemental information they’ve disclosed, such as medical publications.

They have positive online reviews. Just as you search social media and other sites for recommendations on restaurants, plumbers and carpet installers, you can do the same for doctors. There are a variety of sites that post reviews expressly about medical providers, but I find the data integrity of those results are somewhat questionable. From my perspective, there are often far too many gloating, overwhelmingly positive reviews on the medical review sites. This may be because there are ties to insurers or certain healthcare practices operating in the advertising or sponsorship backdrop. So, to that end, I think Google reviews can provide a more realistic snapshot of how doctors perform and how patients feel about them. You will want to pay attention to the overall star ratings but even more attention to the actual narratives of the reviews themselves. Be mindful of how patients report being treated, listened to and followed up.

Their office experience is up to par. Sometimes decent doctors deliver horrendous patient experiences. Just like you probably wouldn’t keep going to a restaurant with great food but horrible wait staff, you shouldn’t tolerate a negative patient experience in order to see a pretty good doctor. Signs of poor patient experience outside the clinical scope include ridiculously long wait times, onerous times to be able to get in and see a provider (e.g. calling in May for an appointment but unable to get on the calendar until December), inadequate insurance processing or improper medical billing, dirty patient rooms and unkempt waiting rooms, rude or dismissive front office staff, condescending or unfriendly nurses, and outdated facilities and equipment.

They went to quality medical schools. The average person has no idea where his or her doctor went to school. But some people would actually benefit from knowing. When you look up a doctor’s bio, or pull their Medical Board record, you can see where they went to school and did their training. For those interested in taking quality control up a notch, they can then see how the medical school ranks, what its reputation is and how rigorous its programs are considered.

You get a good personal referral. Just like the best jobs are usually captured through a personal reference, having a positive referral of a doctor from a trusted friend, relative, neighbor or colleague can be a good baseline for sound medicine. If someone you know well and whose judgement you have faith in attests to a doctor being great, that is an added boost of confidence.

The doctor – himself or herself – delivers on the promise of good patient care. Sometimes you won’t know . . . until you go. The best indication of whether a doctor is a good one is going to be your own personal experience and judgement call. Things to look for are the doctor’s bedside manner – that is, how he or she interacts with you. Did he introduce himself? Did she ask how you’d been? Make sure the doctor seems to have reviewed your chart before entering the room. See if they seem familiar with your medical history and the reason for your visit. Check and see if they listen to your concerns, not interrupting or minimizing any questions you may have. Monitor if they talk “on your level” – for some people, that may mean not feeling like the doctor is “dumbing down” or oversimplifying information in talking to them; for others, it can mean that the doctor speaks in commonsense, plain language, not medical jargon. Does the doctor look you in the eye? Do they not rush through the visit? Do they follow up with you as needed or as they said they would?

They promptly respond to medical portal questions and concerns. Most modern medical practices now have patient portals that hold information related to previous appointments, test results, prescriptions and more. They also often feature a messaging platform where doctors and patients can communicate about non-emergency matters. If you send a doctor a question, and they either respond after a very long time (over a week) or not at all (which is unconscionable), that can be a tell-tale sign that you cannot trust this person with your life. After all, that is what is really at stake in designating a doctor to monitor your health and make vital decisions as a result.  

If all else fails, you can fire your doctor! One of the only good things about living in a capitalistic medical system is that people have choices. On that front, if you’re dissatisfied with your doctors, you can “fire” them. And one of the best parts about this is that it can be very undramatic. You don’t have to write a breakup note or give them notice. You simply find another doctor! Sometimes the best medicine is to vote with your feet and your wallet.

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