How to Find Out Complaints About a Doctor

Finding a doctor can be a stressful situation, especially if you are not familiar with the doctor, their field of specialty or their medical practice. However, doing some basic research on a doctor may provide you with information such as their education credentials, board certification information and favorable reviews from other patients. You can also find out if other patients have registered complaints against that doctor, which may help you decide if that is the right doctor for you.

Things You'll Need

• Internet access

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Instructions

• 1

  Visit your local Better Business Bureau to see if there are existing complaints against the doctor. Go to http://www.bbb.org/us/ and do a search on the doctor's name in your state to get started. You can search by business (medical practice) name, type of business, phone number, website or email address to search.

• 2

  Visit the American Medical Association to view the doctor's credentials. Go to http://www.ama-assn.org/ and click on "Patients" then "You and Your Doctor" and then "Is Your Doctor an AMA Member? " There is a link at the bottom of that page to search for the name of your physician.

• 3

  Check to see if the doctor has been rated on some of the popular physician rating websites, such as RateMDs.com. You can search by location information or a specific physician name and view reviews and information from other patients.

• 4

  Go to your state government's website and look up the contact information for the state's medical board. Contact the state governing medical board to see if any complaints have been filed against the physician.

• 5

  If the doctor specializes in a particular medical field, look up support groups in your area for that medical issue. Contact the liaison for the group to see if individuals in the group would recommend a specific physician or feel comfortable speaking with you if there are any complaints.