How is medical care in Orlando? (Jacksonville, Tampa: transplants, attorney, contractors)

[SoFloLady]

I’m new to the Dr. Phillips area and had no problem finding a primary care doc, I’m using Advent Primary Health

[bmw335xi]

I had to see a urologist as a new patient (everything is good lol), but the urologist has great reviews and I got an appointment 1 week out as a new patient. My primary care doctor is usually available within a couple days.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by SoFloLady

I’m new to the Dr. Phillips area and had no problem finding a primary care doc, I’m using Advent Primary Health

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

I had to see a urologist as a new patient (everything is good lol), but the urologist has great reviews and I got an appointment 1 week out as a new patient. My primary care doctor is usually available within a couple days.

What insurance are you using and where was it obtained? There's not a universal scale of results in American healthcare.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

What insurance are you using and where was it obtained? There's not a universal scale of results in American healthcare.

Florida Blue - Blue Select

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Florida Blue - Blue Select

Not everyone has that privilege, consider yourself fortunate.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Not everyone has that privilege, consider yourself fortunate.

I have United Healthcare, and have had a similar experience.

[WellShoneMoon]

Originally Posted by Arcenal813

I have United Healthcare, and have had a similar experience.

I have traditional Medicare + supplement, and my experience is the same. Advent Health primary care physician, responsive to patient portal communications, easy to get in to see if necessary. She wanted me to see a cardiologist, so I called the doctor she recommended, and got an appointment within a week. I've had very good experiences using the Advent Health system.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by WellShoneMoon

I have traditional Medicare + supplement, and my experience is the same. Advent Health primary care physician, responsive to patient portal communications, easy to get in to see if necessary. She wanted me to see a cardiologist, so I called the doctor she recommended, and got an appointment within a week. I've had very good experiences using the Advent Health system.

I have had three separate plans purchased on the Healthcare Marketplace (subsidized and all I can afford) and none of them (three different insurers) had Advent Health in-network.

[Jimrob1]

Originally Posted by graceC

Thank you all, for your response. We have good insurance. It's the lack of available health providers that's concerning. Especially considering FL is the 3rd most populous state in the country. I've only had to go to ER twice in my 5 decades on this earth, but the last episode with Sarasota Memorial made me rethink our decision to live in a smaller town like Sarasota.

We are not ready to leave the sunshine state yet so we're looking at Tampa and Orlando as potential relocation for better access to healthcare. I know Jacksonville has Mayo Clinic but the winter might be too cold for us.

Hi Grace. I'm in SW Ocala about an hour or so North of Orlando. Medical care in Ocala is pretty bad so I have done just as your doing. Looking for other areas in FLorida where my Healthcare access would be better. I never had any luck but in all honesty it depends on one's health needs. I found Primary care doctors but many doctors were new to being Doctors, and were not comfortable treating Type 1 Diabetics. So I would be referred to Endocrinologist in distant cities Orlando being one. Gainesville and Tampa also. I have had waits for appts in every one. Plus its a lot of long distant driving. Tampa being the worse they were booked up for a year. This isn't suitable for someone on Insulin so its been very hard. I had to have surgery a few years ago and the dept performing the surgery, resigned a week before the surgery. I ended up going out of state for the surgery. So I really developed a concern for what exactly is going on in this state, and is it worth it to me to live like this. Is it a practical retirement location and no its not.

My view is if one has limited needs for a doctor and a primary care doctor will do, timely appts are not needed. Then by all means move in FLorida where the supply of doctors may be greater. If one needs doctors especially those with more serious Health needs and need specialist with timely appts, Florida may prove to be difficult.
I've given it a good try I really have, but I've decided in my case I need to have local Healthcare that meets my needs. So I'm returning to Portland, Oregon where I lived before retiring. I have no ties or great love for Florida so I guess I'm ready to go. My house here is being listed later this month. I can't be the first one that has had to make this decision. I wish you the best of luck in your search, and I hope your Healthcare needs will be met.

[graceC]

@JimRob1 - sorry to hear you're leaving FL. I'm not ready to leave yet so I'm staying for now - humidity, bugs, hurricane and all!!. There's really no other state in the continental US with plenty of sunshine and warmth like FL.

Regarding Tampa being the worst, my primary care and I actually tried calling a few specialists in Tampa on her referral's list for my issue and they're booked up all the way to at least early April, so I think I may just abandon Tampa and concentrate on Orlando instead.

@kyle19125 - Unfortunately the choices on Healthcare Marketplace for FL are really sad. We are still both working with good insurance from our employers, but we were thinking of retiring early about a year ago and I was looking at the choices on Healthcare Marketplace for health insurance (it's either that or COBRA). I've never heard of any of the insurance providers and the in-network coverage was really limited for our area (both in terms of choices and geographic limitation).

I never even thought about access to available medical providers before when choosing a location. We're relatively healthy, and a brand new hospital is about 5 minutes from my current house, so I thought we're covered. I guess your best experience is only as good as your worst emergency.