Choosing a Primary Care Doctor
If you do not choose a doctor when you join a plan, the plan usually chooses one for you. However, you can change your doctor if you want. Just call your plan.
Use the worksheet to choose a doctor.
Marty, 35, interviewed three primary care doctors before choosing one. “I wrote up a list of questions to ask them,” he said. “They all seemed competent, but the last one was able to explain things in a way that I understood, so I picked him.”
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Kinds of primary care doctors
Your whole family can see the same doctor, or each person can have a different doctor. There are four kinds of primary care doctors:
- Family doctors care for family members of all ages.
- Doctors of internal medicine (internists) care for adults 18 years and older. A gerontologist is an internist who specializes in care of the elderly.
- Pediatricians care for children and teens.
- Gynecologists care for women.
Your doctor’s medical group
Your doctor usually belongs to a medical group. This is a group of doctors who have a business together. Health plans often pay the medical group to manage your care and approve referrals.
- Most medical groups include both primary care doctors and specialists.
- If your primary care doctor cannot see you, another doctor in the medical group must see you.
- Most specialists you see are in same medical group. In some plans, you can only see providers in your medical group.
- Your medical group has agreements with certain hospitals. You will usually go to these hospitals when you need hospital care.
- If your medical group leaves your health plan, your doctor must make sure that you have care until you find a new doctor.
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