Little-Known Benefits Of Choosing A Solo Practitioner

Health & Medical Blog

Doctors are more likely to choose to work within a larger health system or hospital nowadays, where they can get substantial administrative backup and assistance with insurance. As a result, more patients are used to looking for these large health systems when they (the patients) move to a new city. However, it may be worth it to look for solo practitioners who are independent and not tied to a system. There are some distinct advantages in choosing one of these doctors to handle care.

You Know Who You're Seeing

Many larger systems function as teaching facilities as well, and you often end up seeing a doctor who is not the same one you scheduled an appointment with. You may get an appointment with that doctor's office, but the person you actually see could be a physician's assistant or a new doctor working under your chosen doctor's supervision. This can lead to mixed communications and personality clashes because choosing a doctor is a personal matter — and you don't want this new person suddenly taking over.

But in a solo practice, you don't have to worry that much about suddenly being shunted off to see a new doctor. Your chosen doctor runs that practice, so if anyone else comes on board, you have a better chance of putting it on record that you don't want to see anyone else but the doctor you chose.

The Admins and Nurses Were Personally Chosen

One way to tell if a new doctor is going to be the right one for you is how the staff act toward you. If you feel like you can't get help from them or that they're treating you like a nuisance, that's often a sign the office and doctor might not be a good match for you — that is, unless you're seeing someone in a large health system. In those cases, the doctor might not have any say in choosing who works in the front office or who the nurses are.

Choosing a solo practitioner can solve this issue. In these practices, the doctor does have a say (if not the only say) in who is hired. The staff become a very good indicator of whether this doctor's office is the right one for you.

Less Red Tape and Faster Help

Another benefit to choosing a smaller office run by a solo practitioner is that there is less administrative red tape. Larger health systems can be very efficient, but their sheer size can lead to more bureacracy than you'd like. While this is not the case with every large health system, if you haven't heard good things about how the local systems handle paperwork, try seeing a solo practitioner.

It's a good idea to call the office and set up an appointment just to meet with the doctor and discuss how you both view care, patient autonomy, and other aspects of medicine. This meeting should tell you whether this is the doctor for you. To learn more, check out websites like http://www.florhamparkobgyn.com.

30 August 2017