When you or a family member needs medical attention, the goal should always be to get the very best you can find. Ideally that means searching out a physician or facility that specializes in the condition you’re dealing with. But where to begin?Some start with references from a family doctor, or recommendations from friends or co-workers. These are helpful but often very limited. Others head to the Internet for information, which can result in the opposite problem-way too much information. It can be overwhelming to try and navigate your way through dozens, or even hundreds, of medical websites.
What you need is a resource that compares hospitals, physicians and other medical service providers, objectively assessing their effectiveness and reliability. And that’s just what you get from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Department.
At their interactive website at www.medicare.gov, click on the ‘Facilities and Doctors’ tab to:
o Search for a facility or medical provider by name
o Have the system develop a list of possible facilities or providers based on your specific criteria
o Compare hospitals by using location (zip code or city/state) and type
o Compare the quality of nursing homes and/or home health agencies
o Compare drug and health plans
Once you’ve chosen a category, you can further refine your search according to your specific needs. For example, after selecting ‘Compare Nursing Homes,’ you can choose to look only at nursing homes within a retirement community, or only at homes located within a hospital.
Although this tool is located on the Medicare site, it’s not limited to those who are Medicare-eligible. Anyone searching for specific data about health care options will find it useful.
The Capital Area District Library serves the Greater Lansing area with 13 branches and a bookmobile. For information about hours, locations, services or events, please visit cadl.org or call (517) 367-6300.
This was printed in the March 25, 2012 – April 7, 2012 Edition
