Digestive Diseases: Choosing a Doctor

When you get sick, sometimes it is hard to decide which doctor to see. Doctors are not all alike. They vary in quality due to differences in their training and experience.

Clearly, the doctor that you choose will have a direct impact on how well you do -- especially when you need treatment for a complex gastrointestinal condition. There are a number of things to consider when deciding which doctor to seek care from. Consider the following:

• The doctor's qualifications. (For example, the doctor's credentials and experience; does he or she participate in research and education? What range of services does he or she offer?)
• Location of office
• Patient satisfaction
• Outcome. (How well patients have done after being under his or her care.)

When looking into a hospital, consider:

• Hospital's location.
• How many surgeries or procedures the hospital provides? If the hospital performs a high number of surgeries or procedures you may need, it is probably a good choice.
• Hospital's death rate.
• Experience and training of its surgeons.

Where Do I Begin?

Measuring quality in ways that are useful to people is a relatively new idea in health care and it may not be easy to get the information you need to make a quality decision. But the willingness of providers to give you as much information as possible is a good sign. It shows that they are dedicated to maintaining and improving their quality and responsiveness to patients, and that they are confident in their capabilities.

If you or a loved one needs treatment for a gastrointestinal disease, ask your primary care doctor about seeing a specialist in gastroenterology or colorectal surgery. This specialist should have experience in the diagnosis and full range of treatments for your specific condition. Ask for a referral to a hospital with a multidisciplinary treatment team.

Also, get the names of several doctors and hospitals that offer the newest, most effective treatments as well as clinical trials that compare the latest drugs with experimental drugs, which may provide even better results.