Secrets to Finding Great Doctors
It seems like all of them are booked up or don't take your insurance. Here, how to get in to see the ones you want—quickly.
Need to see a doctor? It may be more challenging than usual right now. The average wait for an appointment with a physician for new patients is 26 days, according to a 2022 survey of 15 metropolitan areas by the physician recruiting firm Merritt Hawkins. That’s the longest it’s been since the company began doing the survey in 2004. In addition, 22 percent of adults age 65 or older waited six days or more for a doctor’s appointment when they were sick, according to a 2021 survey of 11 high-income countries by the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund. Only Canada had a higher percentage of long waits.
One of several likely reasons is that the number of doctors leaving the workplace is increasing without enough new ones to replace them. A poll of more than 600 medical groups, released last year by the Medical Group Management Association, found that 40 percent reported they had a doctor leave or retire early—due to burnout.
And the shortfall of doctors is only projected to grow, especially for those in primary care. There, we may see a deficit of up to 48,000 doctors by 2034, the Association of American Medical Colleges says. "It’s very concerning for older adults," says Terry Fulmer, RN, PhD, president of the John A. Hartford Foundation in New York City, which works to improve care for older adults. Many "need primary care to stay on top of any kind of chronic disease."
But certain steps may help you get appointments when you need them or find a new doctor when the time comes.
Get Faster Primary Care
For a condition that’s annoying but not critical, first call your doctor or use your PCP’s online scheduling tool, if there is one, to see how quickly you can snag a spot. But that doesn’t always work, so see "If You Need a Same-Day Appointment" if you’re too sick to wait even a couple of days, and also try the following:
See a Specialist Sooner
Can’t get an appointment with a new specialist as soon as you’d like? Book the first available opening and ask to be put on a waiting list. Consider these strategies, too:
Lean on your primary. Instead of struggling to book an appointment with a busy specialist on your own, ask your primary care provider for assistance, says R. Sean Morrison, MD, chair of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. He or she can talk to the specialist’s office and explain why you should be seen in a timely way or determine whether another specialist who’s more available may be just as appropriate.
Ask about an e-consult. In some cases, your primary care doctor may be able to discuss your health problem with the specialist themselves. These doctor-to-doctor consultations are typically done online and may yield helpful information before your appointment or cancel the need for an in-person visit.
Check other locations. If the specialist you want to see has multiple offices, ask if there’s more availability in one of the other places.
Call your health plan. If you’re having a very hard time getting in to see a specialist (or any provider), contact your health plan’s member services department, says Michael Hochman, MD, MPH, an internist in Los Angeles. "Health insurance companies have service-level standards, which includes the expectation that you can get in to see a specialist within 30 days if you need to," he says. They may be able to help you find a different specialist your PCP is comfortable with who can see you sooner.
Use waiting time well. Ask your PCP if doing certain tests ahead of time might help the process move more quickly once you see a specialist. "If you do need to wait for a while, it’s ideal to get at least some of the workup done before, so the specialist already has all that information in hand when they see you," Morrison says.
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Find the Right New Doctor
If you’re looking for a new PCP—because the strategies above haven’t worked well enough, or your current doctor is leaving the profession or retiring—three steps can ease the way.
Cast a wide net. Ask your friends, family members, and neighbors whom they go to and if they’d recommend them, Hochman says. Also, check with specialists you see and anyone you know who works in healthcare. Contact the practices that sound appealing.
Check availability. First, find out if the doctor you’re interested in is taking new patients and accepts your insurance. (Using the name of a healthcare professional or current patient may help if the doctor you decide on has a waiting list for new patients.) Then, in addition to considering how convenient the location is, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends inquiring about office hours (including nights and weekends), how long it typically takes to get appointments, whether virtual appointments are available, and who can see you if your doctor isn’t available. You’ll also want to see if the practice has NPs and PAs, and which hospital system the doctor is affiliated with.
Look for an age-friendly philosophy. That you want a doctor who is knowledgable and respectful goes without saying, but as the years pass, it’s also wise to seek age-friendly care. This doesn’t always mean geriatricians; they are few and far between. The truth is, if you’re in relatively good health, you may not need a geriatrician, Hochman says. Instead, ask if the practice focuses on the 4Ms: what matters (your goals and priorities); medication safety and appropriateness; mentation (cognition and mood); and mobility (ways to keep you moving). If you’re finding it hard to get into a new practice, you might even consider looking for a geriatric nurse practitioner or advanced practice registered nurse to serve as your PCP, Fulmer says. The 2021 review in the International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, mentioned earlier in this article, found there’s good evidence that nurse-based care—including geriatric care—improved overall patient care and outcomes.
Editor’s Note: This article also appeared in the July 2023 issue of Consumer Reports On Health.
