You are here: Home Managing Your ... Hospitals 101 How To Choose A ... Summary
Information about all aspects of finances affected by a serious health condition. Includes income sources such as work, investments, and private and government disability programs, and expenses such as medical bills, and how to deal with financial problems.
Information about all aspects of health care from choosing a doctor and treatment, staying safe in a hospital, to end of life care. Includes how to obtain, choose and maximize health insurance policies.
Answers to your practical questions such as how to travel safely despite your health condition, how to avoid getting infected by a pet, and what to say or not say to an insurance company.

How To Choose A Hospital

Summary

Next »

1/9

All hospitals are not the same.

You may not have a choice about what hospital to enter because of your insurance or because you want to use a particular doctor who in turn decides what hospital to use.

When you do have a choice about hospitals, the key is to choose the one that is best for your current needs rather than just because a hospital is close to your home or looks nice or modern or because a friend had a good experience there. It is advisable to consider the following steps, each of which are discussed in detail in the other sections of this article:

Step 1. Determine your needs.

Step 2. Decide what type of hospital is best for you.

Step 3. Identify the hospitals that provide the services you need.

Step 4. Consider the hospital's expertise with the particular procedures you may need 

Step 5. If there are accreditations for hospitals specializing in your condition, check to be sure the hospital is accredited.

Step 6. Look at the differences in quality among the hospitals you are considering.

Step 7. Check to determine whether the hospital fits your financial/insurance situation.

Step 8. Determine whether the hospital meet your practical needs.

NOTE:

  • Do not take a hospital off your list just because it is a public hospital. Public hospitals can be very good choices. Many public hospitals have been recognized as centers of excellence in various areas of medicine. If the hospital is a teaching hospital, it will almost certainly be equipped with better doctors and equipment than even private hospitals. Teaching hospitals are also on top of the latest developments. 
  • You may be able to travel to a distant cancer center for free. For information about free travel, click here.

Written with:
Herbert Spiers, Ph.D. New York, NY

To Learn More

More Information

Hospitals 101

Related Articles

Uninsured

Please share how this information is useful to you. 0 Comments

 

Post a Comment Have something to add to this topic? Contact Us.

Characters remaining:

  • Allowed markup: <a> <i> <b> <em> <u> <s> <strong> <code> <pre> <p>
    All other tags will be stripped.