How to Find a Doctor or Specialist in My Area

Finding a new doctor in your neighborhood or looking for a doctor who practices a specific kind of medicine can seem like a daunting task. However, if you make use of your personal resources, as well as tools created by national professional organizations, finding a doctor in your area becomes a very straightforward process.

Things You'll Need

• Internet access

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Instructions

• 1

  Ask friends and family. Relatives, neighbors, friends and coworkers are all good sources of information when you are trying to find a doctor or specialist in your area. Not only are they likely familiar with your community, but they also are familiar with your preferences and could likely suggest a doctor whose bedside manner meshes well with your personality. Friends and family also add a layer of trust to the search for a doctor, and because of your connection, you are more likely to trust a suggestion from someone who knows you than from someone who does not.

• 2

  Check with your health insurance provider. Contact your health insurance company's customer service staff to find a doctor in your community who is part of your provider's network. Many insurance companies also provide tools on their websites that will allow you to search for an in-network specialist in your community. Most of these tools feature search functions that sort doctors by zip code, city and state.

• 3

  Depend on tools developed by professional organizations to find a doctor in your area. Professional associations that represent doctors or executives who work with doctors offer a wide variety of online tools that let you search for a doctor in your community with just a few mouse clicks. For example, the American Medical Association publishes a tool called Doctor Finder on its website, and the executives who head state boards of medicine feature a searchable directory of doctors on their site, DocFinder. Both tools allow you to enter your zip code or city and state to produce a list of nearby doctors. You can also search for the state chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians or your state medical association.

• 4

  Use tools created by specialty organizations to find specialists in your area. Hone your search for doctors who have received specialized training in a particular disease area by researching the associations or nonprofit groups that advocate for that specialty. For example, the American Gastroenterological Association can help you find a doctor who specializes in digestive diseases, and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery features tools to find sports medicine doctors and orthopedists. Like most search tools, specialist organizations ask you for your city and state, or your zip code. Searching for doctors by the specific certification boards, such as the American Board of Internal Medicine or the American Board of Surgery, will also help you narrow down doctors in your area who practice a specific type of medicine.