Doctors Reviews - Five Reasons to Read Them

Due to the internet, patients are able to access doctors reviews in order to find the best physicians available for their needs. In the old days, people had to rely simply on word-of-mouth referrals. Here are 5 reasons to do your homework and investigate information from the larger pool of critiques online and accessible with the click of a keyboard and mouse:

1) Large pool to fish from with doctors reviews: Let’s face it; your family members, friends or neighbors probably only know a limited number of medical personnel, right? They may have one family doc, one dentist, perhaps an OB-GYN who delivered a baby or two. The average individual has not sampled an array of health care practitioners in order to do an ample amount of comparing and contrasting. By accessing online review sites, a person can scan through multiple physicians and read a variety of differing opinions and experiences.

2) Life or death decisions: Not many decisions actually fall into the “life or death” category, but the practitioner one selects as their doctor is one of them. Incompetent medical professionals can come up with wrong diagnoses and lack of proper treatment. Bedside manner is actually more important than one would think, as well. If a physician is a good listener and makes his or her patients feel comfortable, they are more likely to openly discuss issues which may be crucial in the diagnosis process. A doctor that doesn’t listen to his or her patients will likely miss key information that could be life saving.

3) Good and bad experiences: Former patients may post information about both their successful and not-so-successful experiences. This is a good way to obtain a list of who to consult and who not to consult. It is always wise to read a multitude of doctors reviews and look for patterns. One bad review mixed in with lots of stellar ones may translate into a personal opinion of a malcontent rather than a fact.

4) Subjective vs. objective: Some portions of the information you’ll find are subjective while other parts are objective. The subjective portions include how patients feel about the physician, his or her office and nursing staff, and how the experience affected them and their family members. The objective portion is more factual, such as the location, hours of operation, the types of insurance which are accepted and whether their philosophy tends to be alternative, traditional or a combination.

5) Save time and energy: By looking over the information which is available via these postings, a potential patient may narrow down their list to a few. Calling their offices to make an appointment will be another step in gathering info. Are they taking new patients? Are they friendly and professional? Are there appointments available in the near future?

Doctors reviews can be a great way to discover the appropriate health care providers for you and your family. A computer with internet access and a bit of time to read up are all that’s necessary.