Finding the Right Doctors and Hospital

I've been trying to find the best doctors and hospitals in the area that are covered by my insurance.  Wow, is it tough.  I've been satisfied with my ENT so far but wanted to have options.  He said he was fine referring me to someone else and recommended a doctor at a local university hospital.  I was like, "OK.  Let's give it a shot."  So his office gave me a name and I got an appointment.  Then I started doing research.

This university hospital advertises on their website that they're a top rated ENT hospital as reported by U.S. News Best Hospitals, but that was in 2008.  OK, well what about now?  So I went to U.S. News website and looked it up.  Not doing so well now, at all.  OK, so what are good hospitals in my area.  None, apparently.  I also found Hospital Safety Score and found most of the hospitals in my area only garnered a "C".

I also did research on my doctors on a couple different websites at the top of Google results.  To put it simply I wasn't exactly impressed with what I found.  The reviews were mostly unflattering, to say the least.  I took it with a grain of salt knowing that most people who are going to take the time to find a site to post, register and write the post have something negative to say.  Still, I wanted to see if I could find better.

I expanded my search to local metropolitan areas and found a university hospital in a major city that was rated #4 nationally for ENT and #5 nationally for cancer.  That got my hopes up.  So I checked my insurance and found two doctors that were in-network that were affiliated with that hospital.  One of them was the Professor and Chair of the Head and Neck Surgery Department.  I got pretty excited, that was until I did research on him.  Again I found reviews that were less than flattering.

During this process I received a call from a friend and co-worker.  We discussed what I was going through and he provided some encouraging words, stories and offered assistance in whatever was needed to help me battle this illness.  He is also one of my bosses and told me they would be willing to work with my schedule to get me the care necessary.  I just have to take this moment to say how huge of a relief it is when going through something like this that you have the support of your employer and know they've got your back.  Huge relief and gratitude.

He told me of his wife and her doctor and how good he was and that they've even become best friends over the years.  He said that I could send doctors names his way and he would look into them for me.  So I did but he said that he wasn't familiar with them.  Then it occurred to me, why not just see him.  I did some research and found out he had an office nearby and was "in-network".  I asked my friend if he was taking new patients and could see me and he said he was.  Long story short, I have an appointment to see him next Wednesday.

This doctor is an Oncologist, not an ENT like my other doctor, but the ENT he said he refers out to, based on the research I've done, is highly regarded AND is affiliated with a hospital that received an "A" by Hospital Safety Score.  So, ya, I'm excited.