Content Overview 
- Summary
- Step 3. Locate A Specialist Who Fits Your Insurance and/or Finances
- Step 4. Check The Doctor's Quality
- Step 1. Decide What Kind of Specialist You Need
- Step 2. Decide What You Want to Look For in a Specialist
- Step 5. Interview The Staff
- Step 6. Interview The Specialist
- Step 7. Review All You've Learned And Make A Decision
How To Choose A Specialist
Step 4. Check The Doctor's Quality
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Even the best schools or residencies have people who are at the bottom of the class who may not be the best specialists.
Many health plans, state agencies and watchdog groups offer consumer scorecards that rate doctors. The ratings measure such things as whether the doctor follows "best practices," safety, patient satisfaction and cost. Some web sites also include doctors' performance on specific procedures.
- If you have health insurance, start by checking your health plan's Web site.
- Check to see if your state health department has a site. For example, New York's www.nyhealth.gov/
and Pennsylvania's www.phc4.org
.
- Some companies, such as Health Grades, Inc. (www.healthgrades.com)
provide ratings by consumers for free.
Check to see if there have been disciplinary actions against the doctor. www.healthgrades.com provides disciplinary information for free. To learn more, see: Has A Doctor Been Subjected To Disciplinary Action? (NOTE: Take consumer ratings with a grain of salt. If you are interested in a doctor, ask him or her why she or he is rated in a certain way.)
If you learn of additional sites about a doctor's quality, please share the information via Survivorship A to Z
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