With the touch of a hand, we can perform a Google search

Granting us health care physician access to millions of doctors worldwide. By reading reviews and lists of credentials and experiences, we can evaluate, compare, and communicate physicians and hospitals.

Health Care Physician Access and How to Rate a Doctor

In fact, we can compare services, medical doctors, and facilities as well as book our appointments online. It’s what we Americans call ‘healthy competition,’ allowing each competitor to strive for the number one position.

At the end of the day, this means that we can make a more informed decision regarding our health, and isn’t that what health care is all about? We need health care physician access for improved well-being.

After the appointment, patients can rate a doctor on the website, sharing their experiences with other patients around the world.

These online rating systems give visitors an inside look at the following list of information for health care physicians and dental professionals:

• Location.
• Gender.
• Specialty.
• Website.
• Practice.
• Hospital.
• Contact Information.
• Medical or Dental School.
• Curriculum.
• Continuing Education.
• Patient Ratings.

Online rating systems are a bit hit among patients, and many physicians, hospitals, and health care facilities appreciate this personal approach to evaluation. There are millions of users who refer to websites looking for objectivity, outcomes, safety, and health conditions in order to make the best decision for them and their loved ones.

These sites offer health care physician profiles along with support tools.

One benefit -and perhaps the most important- is that these online resources attract new patients that would not otherwise have found this opportunity to use the physician’s talents because they simply would not have found them any other way.

In addition, physicians are thrilled with rate a doctor site because they can establish their treatments, patient care, and customer service before major medical changes in current regulations and legislature.

According to Chris Conover’s March 28 Forbes.com article, “Do Obamacare’s Defenders Hate Seniors or Doctors (or Both)?”, there are some major concerns facing American physicians and health care in general.

• Medicare to slash physician fees by 25 percent next January (under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997).
• Additional (Obamacare-required) cuts to physician fees so severe that by 2030, Medicare will be paying doctors 60 percent less than private health insurance plans (and nearly one-third less than Medicaid pays!).
• Obamacare – mandated reductions in payments to hospitals so drastic that hospital prices for both Medicare and Medicaid will be around half those paid by private health insurers by the year 2040.
• Eventually, payment reductions to hospitals will mean they are paid 61 percent less by Medicare and Medicaid than by private health insurers; physicians eventually will be paid 74 percent less under Medicare than private insurance.

What does this mean?

Medicare’s hospital and physician reimbursements will fall below Medicaid’s.

If a Medicare beneficiary over the age of 65 visits a doctor participating in Medicare, the government is going to drastically underpay that physician. On the other hand, if that same patient spends his own money to see a highly rated health care physician who opts out of Medicare, he may have to pay a hefty medical bill.

Analysts are concerned, especially when they look at past experiences with Medicaid.

Conover notes in his article, “Not surprisingly, nearly one-third (31 percent) of physicians refuse to accept any new Medicaid patients versus 17 percent for Medicare…” Providers would have to choose between refusing treatment to those over 65 or facing bankruptcy.

If patients do not have access to a physician, it can be devastating for the nation at large.

So, what is the alternative?

Conover advocates for patient-centered health reform, saying it “offers a very promising alternative to the dismal path Obamacare has put us on. The basic architecture of such a patient-centered reform has been well-articulated by others.

He notes other viable sources in his article, Conover suggests “block grant Medicaid and let Medicaid recipients obtain coverage through competing for private plans just like everyone else. Grant and use universal tax credits to fund the safety net for those who elect not to purchase coverage.”

Competition can drive up the quality of service, and if the nation were to stick to that, we could avoid the costs and gain top-quality services. Rate doctor options put the choice in the hands of the patient, keeping the competition fair and balanced among medical doctors, and putting the choice in the hands of the patient.

For Consumer-driven alternatives visit the Global Health Care Network
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