How to Check Up on My Doctor

Choosing a doctor can cause anxiety and it is extremely important to do your homework. Just like the rest of us, doctors are not perfect, so it is vital to know more about a doctor's credentials. Luckily, there are many ways to check up on a doctor before deciding if she is the doctor for you. From a doctor's education, past malpractice suits and even patient opinions, the Internet allows consumers to find out all the information necessary to make an informed decision.

Instructions

• 1

  Check doctor's certification. The single most important thing to do to check up on your doctor is to make sure he is certified. Contact your state medical licensing board to check and see if your doctor is board-certified. A board-certified doctor has met his state's competency requirements and has undergone thorough review by the state. A doctor who is not board-certified may have failed his review or failed to meet the state's requirements.

• 2

  Check for disciplinary actions. Aside from checking to make sure your doctor is legitimate, it is important to check to see if she has had any disciplinary action taken against her in the past. Since this is considered public information, contact the medical board in the practicing state of the doctor in order to inquire about validated claims against the doctor. Some websites, such as MDNationwide.org, allow users to check up on disciplinary actions that have been taken against doctors.

• 3

  Look up patient reviews.You can find patient reviews on the Internet. It is important to remember that not only patient reviews are necessarily accurate or fair, but collaboratively they can give you an idea of what the doctor is like. A great website for looking up patient reviews of doctors is HealthGrades.com. This website includes a vast array of information about doctors, including patient reviews, where he went to school and how long he has been practicing.