Finding a good medical facility is not always an easy task. While there are usually a sizable number of options to choose from in most suburban and urban areas, finding the right clinic or treatment center can be difficult. But finding qualified medical experts is one of the most important decisions people can make throughout their lifetime of healthcare. Having access to a good doctor or health specialist at critical times of healthcare is vital to a positive outcome. In fact, there are countless stories about patients’ lives being saved by excellent doctors and other expertly trained staff.
The important question becomes: “How do you ensure that the medical professionals you are looking to hire are qualified?” Today, there are several ways to verify that a health facility is up to snuff thanks to understanding proper accreditation, educational expertise, licensing credentials, and board medical certifications.
Accreditation
The first step involves finding out whether or not a health facility has the proper accreditation. This requires an understanding of which organizations are tasked with accrediting which types of medical centers and treatment facilities. For example, for a substance abuse treatment center like Luminance Recovery JCAHO accredited clinic status is a key qualifier. For dentist offices, ADA accreditation is essential. Simply do a basic web search for the facility and accreditation to find out whether or not they have the sign-off from the proper organization.
State Licensing
The next part of the verification process is checking with the state licensing bureau for the state the facility is located. These state government licensing bureaus keep the records on which physicians are licensed. The physicians’ licensing office for the state the doctor practices in can verify that the doctor is indeed a licensed practitioner and their license is in good standing with the state. Each state makes their physician licensing information public so contacting the state directly will assure proper licensing information is obtained.
Board Certifications and Education
The next step of the verification process is very important. It involves taking the information obtained by the medical office and beginning the verifying process through proper third-party resources. It should be noted that a physician may be educated in one field of expertise in his primary education. Many physicians expand their expertise post-graduate and become board certified in another area of expertise aside from their primary education in medicine. This specialized medicine education, beyond the initial education credentials, often becomes his or her primary concentration of practice. When taking down credential information from a doctor’s office, the potential patient may find the doctor has also received numerous awards for their work. While physicians being recognized with awards for their work can be a good sign of their expertise, these awards are not to be confused with state licensing, board certifications or primary and post-graduate education.
When verifying board certifications, almost all doctors working in clinics and hospitals are given certifications under one of the three recognized primary certifying boards. These are: The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), The American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) or the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). While there are other minor certifying boards any board should always be checked for authenticity and viability within the standards of medical practitioners.
Patient Rating Websites
The last verification is done through online patient rating services for physicians. It should be noted that while there are quite a few patient opinion websites that rank doctors and medical facilities, these can be personal opinions based on approval or displeasure with a doctor’s personality, disagreements pertaining to care, treatment or medication, and misinformation. These sites do not usually ensure that the physicians are properly licensed in their field.
One of the better medical specialist rating websites used by patients for getting feedback is UCompare Healthcare. This website does not charge prospective patients for checking on a physician, and it does not require any special registration by the person doing the research. If the doctor has been in practice for several years, then it is more likely that he or she will appear on this website and will have obtained a rating. These websites can help potential patients learn a little bit about a doctor’s bedside manner and how he interacts with patients and their loved ones as well as their position on other things such as holistic health approaches.