How to Choose a Medical Group
Medical groups are associations of primary care physicians and specialists created to provide coordinated health care services to consumers in a compassionate and comprehensive manner and to establish continuity of care to address every individual’s health care needs.
What follows is a checklist that you can use when you are considering which medical group to join.
- Does the medical group belong to the health plan available to you?
- Which hospitals do the doctors in the medical group use?
- Who in the group is an expert in your health problem or concern?
- If you already have a primary care physician, is he or she included in the medical group?
- When you call, do you get a prompt answer and a courteous response?
- Are the medical office business hours and locations convenient?
- When diagnostic tests are required, does the group have the majority of these services available locally or on site?
- Do the doctors in the group have a system set up for timely communication of referrals and other medical information between the providers?
- Does the medical group require that their physicians are Board Certified or Board Eligible?
- Does the group provide information and services online?
- How do you get your medical record information if you need it?
- What are the fees for the services that you pay for directly?