Choose Healthcare Providers

What is this service?
Smart Health Decisions helps you choose the healthcare providers (doctor, physical therapist, hospital, clinic, etc.) right for you. With so many advanced specialties of medicine and so many healthcare professionals who have expertise in particular areas, finding the right providers can be quite complex.  We work with you to determine your unique healthcare situation and needs.  We help clarify the provider characteristics most important to you.  We advise you about the information you should collect to evaluate a healthcare provider and how to get it.  We help gather that information, evaluate it, and interpret its meaning. 

Smart Health Decisions does not provide medical care.  Our services are designed to help you carefully select your provider team members and make your relationship with them better and more effective.  

How do consumers benefit from this service?
Choosing your healthcare provider team members is one of the most important decisions you will ever make.  Providers practice differently in important ways that affect your clinical care, your financial well being, and your personal comfort and satisfaction.  Fortunately, consumers can choose from a variety of healthcare providers and facilities offering different approaches to care, different business models, and different levels of skills.  Especially when it comes to your health, you want to search for the provider that is “best” for you.

When should healthcare consumers use this service?
Ideally, healthcare consumers should look for a provider before they actually need one.  There are many occasions when consumers are faced with trying to find a provider for themselves or a loved one: when moving to a new area, when referred by one provider to another, when faced with a new diagnosis or hospitalization, when obtaining another opinion, when their usual provider retires, when they change health insurance plans, or when they feel their current provider is no longer best for them. 

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