How can you judge your doctor to ensure they are providing you with the best performance and treatment? Below are some resources to help you with this process:
How to judge physician quality – http://ourhealthcaresucks.com/health-care/physician-quality-judging-your-doctor/
HealthGrades.com – http://healthgrades.com/
Most utilized and sophisticated physician-grading site. It offers free basic reports (contact info, specialty, insurance accepted, and user ratings) about physicians, with complete reports (including a background check that lists sanctions and disciplinary actions) available for $12.95.
AngiesList.com – http://angieslist.com
This site allows users to post comments about you and rate you on your bedside manner. There is a membership fee to join, but visitors can post comments without membership on selected items. Unlike similar sites, AngiesList.com requires that patients sign their name to their comments, giving physicians an opportunity to respond or follow up.
RateMDs.com – http://angieslist.com/
This site uses patient comments and marks physician profiles with a smile, neutral, or sad face in four categories: punctuality, helpfulness, knowledge, and a five-point quality scale.
The below websites provide similar rating information. Patients can also find physicians’ “grades” posted on managed care-sponsored websites.
PhysicianReports.com – http://physicianreports.com/
Vitals.com – http://vitals.com/
BookofDoctors.com – http://bookofdoctors.com/
MyDocHub.com – http://mydochub.com/
DrScore.com – http://drscore.com/
DoctorScorecard.com – http://doctorscorecard.com/
Board certification in the doctor’s specialty helps assure patients that their physicians have met certain standards related to their specialty. Below are some resources to help you check whether your doctor is board certified
State licensing boards http://www.healthguideusa.org/state_medical_boards.htm
The American Board of Medical Specialties provides an online means of verifying whether a physician is board-certified at abms.org http://www.abms.org/ or by phone at 1-866-ASK-ABMS (275-2267).
Safety checklist websites
What key points should you be considering to determine the safety of your surgery? Below are some resources to help you:
1) WHO Surgical Safety http://www.who.int/patientsafety/safesurgery/checklist/en
This was developed after extensive consultation aiming to decrease errors and adverse events, and increase teamwork and communication in surgery
2) Project Check http://www.projectcheck.org/checklists.html
This is a website designed to provide the public with easy access to a number of life saving medical checklists
3) Safesurg http://www.safesurg.org/index.html
This is a website designed to support individuals and institutions interested in improving the safety of surgical practices
4) The Safe Surgery 2015 Team The Harvard School of Public Health http://www.safesurgery2015.org/about-us.html
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Guidelines for office-based anesthesia. American Society of Anesthesiologists website. Available at: http://www.asahq.org/~/media/Sites/ASAHQ/Files/Public/Resources/standards-guidelines/guidelines-for-office-based-anesthesia.pdf Updated October 21, 2009. Accessed August 12, 14.
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Patient’s checklist for office-based procedures. Institute for Safety in Office-Based Surgery website. Available at: http://isobsurgery.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/patient-checklist.jpg Accessed August 12, 14
Safety checklist for office-based surgery. Institute for Safety in Office-Based Surgery website. Available at: http://isobsurgery.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/safety-checklist.jpg Accessed August 12, 14.
EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/ Accessed August 12, 14.
Urman RD, Punwani N, Shapiro, F. Office-based surgical and medical procedures: Education gaps. Ochsner J. 2012;12(4):383-388. Available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3527870/ Accessed August 12, 14