Are you looking for a new local doctor? Whether you need to find a new optometrist for your family or an ophthalmologist for your aging parents, LocalDoc.com can help. We have put together some tips to help you and your family find the right doctor to meet your families needs.
Consider the Needs for Your Family
The first thing you need to do is clearly identify what your healthcare needs are. Are you having a difficult time reading? Do you get headaches? Has your vision changed dramatically? Or perhaps you just need a new prescription?
Take a moment and write down what you want out of an eye doctor. Consider their location, the selection, the helpfulness of the staff, their availability or anything else that comes to mind. Keep this list handy when speaking with or researching potential new doctor's online.
Location, Location and yes, Location
In a perfect world, where would you like an eye doctor to be located to make your life easier? Is it more important that they are close to your house? Or maybe finding a doctor on your usual route to work would be more convenient. There are 40,000 eye doctors in the United States so you have plenty to choose from. Use the LocalDoc directory to find doctors near you and convenient practice locations.
You may also want to consider office hours and what days their office is open. This will help you figure out if you need to take time off from work or if it better to go before or after work. It's also nice if the eye doctor has weekend hours.
Find A Doctor You Can Connect With
We all live crazy lives and it's easy to rush through your appointment and forget to ask important information. You should look for an eye doctor that takes the time to listen to you and makes sure you feel comfortable. In the past, you could have had an experience with an eye doctor who only talks "at you" and uses only medical jargon. This only leaves you confused feeling like you have to turn to Google to translate! When looking for a new eye doctor, one of the most important things is to find a doctor that you can trust and that you and your family find easy to talk to.
Find out if the practices is able to use email, text or if they offer an online portal to help patients communicate with the doctor and staff. This may make it more convenient for you as you make regular appointments.
If you are not a native English speaker, make sure the doctor speaks in a language that you are comfortable with. Sites like LocalDoc.com have online patient reviews that will tell you if the doctor and office staff are friendly and listen well to all of your questions.
What Insurance Do They Accept
Many employers provide eye care insurance as part of their benefits package from providers like VSP or EyeMed. Most private practice doctors take VSP but not all of them take EyeMed. Other plans might not be as popular so I would also check to make sure your new doctor accepts your vision plan insurance.
The relationship between doctors and insurance providers change over time. That new local doctor your coworker told you about may have previously accepted your insurance but is no longer in-network. Just ask to make sure. Typically you can do this by calling a main number found on the back of your insurance card. You can also visit the providers website to search for in-network providers, or you should be able to contact the doctors office directly.
Ready to start your search for a new local doctor? Start browsing the LocalDoc directory to find your new doctor today.
