After your first encounter or any subsequent encounter with a doctor, you should feel free to look for a new one if you are not satisfied, and you have a right to your medical records to pass along to your new doctor. But you will be wise not to shop continually from doctor to doctor. An established relationship with a doctor you like and trust is a real asset. The following are a few performance standards you should expect any doctor to meet— Offers reasonably convenient hours. Calls you back the same day if you call with a medical question—within a few minutes if you have left a message that there is an emergency—so long as you don’t call much more often than you go in for visits. Gives helpful medical advice by phone. Generally arranges to see you within a day or two if you call with a new (non-emergency) sickness or injury. Generally does not keep you waiting more than 15 minutes past your appointment time before serving you. Refers you for specialty care when you think you need it. Is thorough and careful and seems to be competent. Remembers, or consults records about, your medical history and relevant information you have given before. Takes a thorough medical history. Listens to you, doesn’t interrupt you, and makes you feel comfortable about asking questions. Checks your progress, tells you about test results, and follows up with other providers you’re referred to. Explains what is wrong, what is being done, and what you can expect. Tells you about your choices and gets you involved in making decisions about your care. Seems personally to care about you and your medical problems. Spends enough time with you. Gives you helpful advice about ways to stay healthy. Gets results as good as you believe you can reasonably expect. Being able to communicate and work well with your doctor is critical. Much research has shown that patients who have a good relationship with a doctor tend to get more accurate diagnoses, respond better to treatment, and recover more quickly. Certainly, you’re more likely to do your part in care—taking medicine and making lifestyle changes—if you understand what is expected of you, why it’s important, and what effects you can expect to observe. There are no absolute standards in terms of the waits you should expect and the time you should get with a doctor. You will have to decide what level of service you are comfortable with, given your own reasonable judgment of the urgency of your condition, the time needed for effective communication, and other factors. For example, a doctor who spends a lot of time with you but doesn’t ask pertinent questions or devotes the time to talking about himself isn’t serving you well. In a traditional health insurance plan or preferred provider organization plan and in some HMOs, switching doctors is as easy as making an appointment with a new doctor. In many HMOs, you have to inform the customer service department of your intent to switch and you may have to wait until the first of the next month or even the next open enrollment period. In some HMOs that contract with doctors’ groups, it’s easier to switch to another doctor within the same physician group than to switch to a doctor in another of the HMO’s groups. Even if a plan’s standard procedures require you to wait for a period before making a switch, you’re likely to be able to move more quickly if you feel a switch is urgent and you ask the plan to make an exception to its rules. Be sure your new doctor gets your medical records from your old doctor. Remember, in many cases, your history is the most useful aid in diagnosis—more useful than all the tests and x-rays that can be done. If your new doctor isn’t interested in getting your old medical records, ask why (it’s true that the records may not be easy to read or understand). You may want to get the records to store on your own—or at least be sure the former doctor will save them for many years.