How do I choose a Primary Care Doctor? (kidneys, pregnant, infect)

[Hypnosis]

There are so many to choose from. Is there a place where I can read reviews or something? What happens if I go to a doctor and ask to be referred to someone who is a kidney doctor and the doctor refuses simply because nothing negative was found with my blood pressure and urine even though I have a history of high blood pressure and small amount of blood in urine and I had to take an ultrasound of the kidneys in another country and it showed negative results.

[greatblueheron]

Word-of-mouth from someone you know and trust is a good way. You can read online reviews....just type in physicians and the city you are in...numerous sites will appear.

Some urologists might take you without a referral...just ask. Or explain to the primary care MD your concerns.

[Charles]

Realize a doctor is often regarded as "good" strictly based on bedside manner (or salesmanship). Doctors are businessmen. You are a customer. I'd rather have a doctor who is a good scientist even though he has bad bedside manner than a doctor who is a great salesman with good bedside manner but is relatively unsuccessful at solving medical problems.

With that, consider asking other doctors and nurses who their doctors are. They are in the "industry" and know who is good and who isn't; they can read through all the crapola and they know the "real" reputations.

[lifelongMOgal]

You might start with choosing the hospital at which you would want to be treated should that ever become necessary. Then on the hospital website read the bios of the staff physicians. Make an appointment to interview a few before choosing if you cannot get a personal referral from someone you trust. Check to find out if there have been any malpractice complaints as well.

[AnonChick]

Originally Posted by Hypnosis

There are so many to choose from. Is there a place where I can read reviews or something? What happens if I go to a doctor and ask to be referred to someone who is a kidney doctor and the doctor refuses simply because nothing negative was found with my blood pressure and urine even though I have a history of high blood pressure and small amount of blood in urine and I had to take an ultrasound of the kidneys in another country and it showed negative results.

MOgal has a good idea, to check the registry at the hospital where you would want to be, if you needed to be in a hospital.

As for your other questions, it sounds like you're asking about a specific incident that has already occurrred. And so I don't know why you're asking it. I'll try to break it down.

What happens if you go to a doctor and ask to be referred to someone who is a kidney doctor...

if the doctor doesn't feel you need a kidney doctor, and hasn't mentioned that you have a kidney problem, and hasn't seen evidence that you do have a kidney problem, then you shouldn't expect for him to refer you to a kidney doctor. You wouldn't go to a kidney doctor to treat high blood pressure, so your high blood pressure problem is mostly irrelevent. A small amount of blood in the urine -usually- means a mild infection, which can be quickly cleared up with fast-acting medicine and a moderately, temporarily adjusted diet. Again - no need to see a specialist, for a mild infection.

You also indicate that you had tests done, and there was nothing found in the results of the tests. You -also- indicate you had tests done in another country and STILL found nothing. So I'm not seeing anywhere in your post why you'd have any interest in seeing a specialist, let alone criticizing your physician for saying he won't refer you to one, just because you asked him to. If you want to go to a specialist, go to a specialist. Your regular physician doesn't owe you a referral, UNLESS he feels there is reason you should see one (such as - something he, a diagnostician, has diagnosed, but is not qualified to treat. Or something he suspects, but needs someone better qualified to investigate more thoroughly).

If you want to fire your current primary care physician, just because your tests came out negative and he won't refer you to a specialist, keep in mind that subsequent primary care physicians might also not refer you. They might - but they might not. And if you're relying on insurance, bear in mind also, that if you have already had these tests to check out certain things this year, your insurance won't cover another set of tests to check out the same things, with a new doctor.

Lastly - you confuse yourself and others with your use of the term "negative" with regards to tests. If test results are negative, that means you do NOT have whatever it is you tested for. So a biopsy for cancer that comes out negative, means - you don't have cancer. A throat culture for strep throat that comes back negative, means you don't have strep throat. A negative pregnancy test means you're not pregnant.