Every year on 9th of December we celebrate the World Patient Safety Day. The World Patient Safety Day is an initiative taken by the World Health Organization (WHO) in an effort to highlight the awareness of unsafe healthcare.

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Well, the World Patient Safety Day is also meant to patient safety is a global public health concern and also a fundamental principle of healthcare when patients are asked to adopt and observe methods to improve the healthcare processes and standards throughout the world.

Choosing a primary care doctor or physician is one of the most important health decisions anybody will make. Most people don’t know how to find a good doctor. But what do you do when you’re far from your home, or you don’t know anyone who has knowledge of local doctors? My parents who are living with me in Delhi NCR recently asked me to recommend a physician.

For this, I follow these 10-step process that not only helps me to navigate their way to an excellent specialist — I hope it also helps you in a way to find a good doctor nearby you.

1. Discover What Kind of Doctor You Need:

You’d be surprised that how many different specialists treat the same symptom depending upon its underlying cause, take an example like “back pain,” should you see a primary care physician, an orthopedist, an anesthesiologist, a neurosurgeon, a rheumatologist, or a rehab specialist to evaluate your symptoms? It depends on the cause of your pain, which might not yet be evident to you.

The first needful step to finding a good physician is to figure out which type is best suited to your diagnosis. But if you are not sure that what type of doctor will cure your symptoms then start with a primary care physician first.

2. Compile a List of All the Doctors That are Located in Your Area.

This is very easy, you can just Google the list of doctors nearby you or may be searched for companies who can provide you with the list of doctors.

3. Do Online Choices by Your Preferences:

Your preference should be dependent on the following topics;

• Hospital affiliation

• Clinic location

• Specialty interests

• Educational background

• Years in practice

• Languages are spoken

• Gender

• Review CV if available online.

• Check out patient reviews on the doctor’s website.

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4. Always Go For Online “Background Check” of Your Choices:

The simplest way to check their background is Googling them. You can search for their website regarding their expertise field, education background, and work experience. You may also check for their blog or social media presence.

5. Make an Appointment:

You can consider the following qualities in a good experience;

• Doctor’s Team: Courteousness of scheduling staff, professionalism of helping people, PA’s, techs, etc.
• Facilities: Comfort and cleanliness
• Medical Records/Communication: How will they provide you with your data? Email? EMR?
  Timeliness/convenience

6. Preparing for Doctor’s Visit:

• Bring a list of medications along with you.

• Bring a list of medical and surgical conditions/history along with you.

• Bring a list of allergies (if you have any).

7. Always Try to Ask the Right Questions:

Following are the list of questions which you can probably ask during your visit including;

• How many procedures have you performed previously?

• What are the benefits or risks associated with the procedure?

• Any other alternatives to the procedure?

• Are there other medicines or drugs that are less expensive?

8. Analyze Your Visit:

• Did the doctor explain everything to you clearly?

• Did the doctor seem to care about your disease and for you?

• Do you trust your doctor for follow up?

• Do you really like your doctor?

9. Get a Second Opinion:

If you find that the doctor did not meet your expectations in any satisfactory way, find another one.
If you want to be sure that you are on the best path, get a second opinion from online.

10. Benefiting Others:

The last and the best thing you can do is to reward and ratings to good doctors with good online recommendations on their web page or social media page. This will surely benefit others.

In my opinion, GoMedii provides the best solution with all your healthcare need from booking an appointment with a doctor online to delivering medicines at your doorstep with 4 hrs.

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