[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by Mdfl

I don't like the doctor I currently have, but I have found that it is hard to find a good doctor in Florida. It took a six month wait to get an appointment with the one I have.Other people tell me this is very common, you call with a cold and by the time the doctor sees you it is long over. Many tell me they have never seen their doctor, only the nurse practitioner. Do others find the Florida health system lacking?

it depends on where you are in FL. The larger metro areas have the issues typically as I did living in the Orlando area. Your typical decent family medicine doctor was seeing new patients in three months and existing a minimum of 30-45 days out. Urgent care appointments are typically available for same day/next day in many offices. Specialists were closer to 4-6 months out as new patients with 30-60 day windows for existing patients.

Since moving to Ohio I had the luxury of new patient appointments right away with a top-rated family medical practice affiliated with a university hospital, and most specialist appointments seemingly with the same hospital affiliation within 30-45 days.

You'll notice on the varying Find-A-Doctor websites very few younger MDs and a very high number in practice 20+ years which is a little bit alarming given retirement numbers pending in the coming few years along with FL's population growth.

Florida has eight medical schools yet few graduates stay afterwards which alludes to salary potential and cost to practice with malpractice insurance apparently the real killer.

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

it depends on where you are in FL. The larger metro areas have the issues typically as I did living in the Orlando area. Your typical decent family medicine doctor was seeing new patients in three months and existing a minimum of 30-45 days out. Urgent care appointments are typically available for same day/next day in many offices. Specialists were closer to 4-6 months out as new patients with 30-60 day windows for existing patients.

Took me less than a week...

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by Mdfl

I don't like the doctor I currently have, but I have found that it is hard to find a good doctor in Florida. It took a six month wait to get an appointment with the one I have.Other people tell me this is very common, you call with a cold and by the time the doctor sees you it is long over. Many tell me they have never seen their doctor, only the nurse practitioner. Do others find the Florida health system lacking?

I've lived in Florida for 58 years, and have had what I think is consistently good medical care here when I needed it. I don't run to the doctor, ER's or urgent care centers for every little sniffle, your post saying the cold you called the doc about was over by the time you got the appointment illustrates why that's not needed, the cold is self-limited and will go away on its own.

When I moved to SW FL full time in 2013, I asked neighbors, friends for a PCP, eye doctor and dentist recommendation, just to establish relationships with them. I was in no hurry for appointments with any of them, if I recall these were 1-2 months out. I liked them, thought the services they provided as I needed them were excellent, and I still see them to this day. It's a whole lot easier to get in to see a doctor if you really need to ( and NOT for a cold) if you're an established patient, I've found that to be the case for the specialists I now see ( cardiologist, oncologist) though I generally stick to my scheduled appointments with the docs I see.

I picked up the cardiologist when I went to the ER with an episode of a-flutter that wouldn't stop. They insisted on admitting me overnight so I could see the cardiologist, and he took me on as a patient from that day, changing my medications, ordering a 21 day cardiac monitor and making a followup appointment at his office. I still see him to this day.

My PCP referred me to a general surgeon for a colonoscopy in 2018 when I had a positive occult blood test, contacted him directly to make an urgent appointment ( at that point it was getting difficult to make timely appointments thanks to the throngs of transplants moving to the area and demanding medical services) in 2022 for another colonoscopy to check out the GI bleeding that was dropping my hemoglobin significantly. That colonoscopy revealed a tumor mass in my transverse colon and the surgeon ordered a CT scan emergently to see if there was any obvious spread of the cancer, and chased down the surgeon he recommended to me to do the colon resection. That surgeon's office contacted me that same day ( I was waiting in the imaging office for my CT scan) and made an appointment to see this surgeon the following week.

They scheduled the colon resection about two weeks later between them, the cardiologist and the PCP, and the local hospital any pretesting or other preparations for the surgery were coordinated and carried out without a hitch. The surgery went well, the hospital stay was uneventful, I got very good care there and all around. The surgeon referred me to an oncologist ( even though he'd gotten all the cancer and the lymph nodes were negative), he explained this was customary as it was possible the cancer might return so I needed surveillance. The oncologist's office called me two days after they got the referral, made an appointment for two days after that, so that got the testing and surveillance ball rolling. Far as I can tell the oncologists are up to date with their information and also provide good care. I have no complaints whatsoever about the health care I have received.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Gov't has destroyed our health care system everywhere, its not just Florida.

Florida has more older people in need of care, so that strains the already destroyed system.

Large population centers are worse yet.

Most hospital care is good, but Docs....most are no good...most of these massive Corp Physicians groups are awful.

Those are conflicting statements.

You say government has destroyed the health care system. And then you say the Corporate physicians groups are awful.

Which is it? Is it the government, or is it the for-profits? Which do you want? Do you want the government to control the physicians groups - which is more of a socialized medicine system? Or do you want for-profit corporations to control them - which is a capitalized, less-government-oversight system? Right now we have a combination of both. If you don't like it, you'll need to decide which you'd rather have, and give up the other.

[wizrap]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Florida has eight medical schools yet few graduates stay afterwards which alludes to salary potential and cost to practice with malpractice insurance apparently the real killer.

I’m in Gainesville where one of those medical schools is located. UF did a survey which showed that graduates who already lived in Florida, tended to remain in Florida upon completion of medical school.

The ones who were from out of state tended to leave Florida once they graduated.

UF has identified that there is a shortage of doctors and they are trying to determine what would keep them in Florida. They are also debating whether or not they should skew admission requirements so that in-state residents are given special consideration.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by wizrap

I’m in Gainesville where one of those medical schools is located. UF did a survey which showed that graduates who already lived in Florida, tended to remain in Florida upon completion of medical school.

The ones who were from out of state tended to leave Florida once they graduated.

UF has identified that there is a shortage of doctors and they are trying to determine what would keep them in Florida. They are also debating whether or not they should skew admission requirements so that in-state residents are given special consideration.

As residents, however upon completion of that they tend to disappear it seems.

[wizrap]

This is an article from December discussing the shortage of med school grads staying in Florida. I’ve provided a couple of paragraphs plus the entire article. From the government study, Florida med school graduates do tend to remain in the state, compared to non-residents.

“. . .Florida has lagged in comparison to some other states in retaining doctors after they complete residency programs. Data presented to the House committee showed that in 2020, Florida ranked fifth among states by retaining 79%, or 6,211, of its graduates who completed both medical school and graduate medical education in the state.”

“The data showed that between 2008 and 2015, 75% of Florida medical school graduates who completed residency programs in the state elected to stay as physicians, compared to 42% of students who had come from medical schools outside of Florida.”

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...w&opi=89978449

[kyle19125]

The data provided in the prior post is nearly a decade old and given the inordinate rise in cost of living of varying elements such as home prices, rent and cost of insurance would bet heavily the numbers have fallen off considerably.

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by Sea Master

No there's not. Not at all. It's massive here.

You can't seriously think that FL of all places wouldn't jump on that band wagon. Even my old county in Mid-Florida had three people I personally know switch to concierge practice.

Some even do house calls. AND some don't take insurance.

Well, maybe in some areas. Odd though, if you were actively searching for a concierge practice in your area that you wouldn't just ASK here.

Even Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinics, Baptist, and other hospitals have programs not just independent doctors.

There are even Concierge Practices in MULTIPLE COUNTIES like TGH Concierge Health, part of Tampa General operating in Palm Beach and Treasure coast.

Even the internist on my corner has an adjunct concierge program.

Did you google it?

Your town, concierge medicine.

Heck there are even "Ten Best Concierge Doctors in Tampa" type results.

Now of course one can always just say "but they're not really....." to diminish whatever it is one wants to critique.

But that's not true either. EVERY practice I've seen has the same basic offer plus more:

• Same-day or next-day appointments
  
• After-hours communications with Dr. and staff, when needed
  
• Annual, executive-level physical examinations
  
• Coordination of specialty or hospital care
  
• More one-on-one time with your doctor
  
• Telephone consultations and video visits available for convenience
  
• Secure communication through patient portal
  
• Personalized health care
  

True. There are even a couple, maybe several concierge practices in our "backwards" neck of the woods here.

[lunetunelover]

Originally Posted by Travelassie

True. There are even a couple, maybe several concierge practices in our "backwards" neck of the woods here.

You guys are lucky then.

I've called all the ones listed in my area. Most of them don't call back, but when they do, they are not taking new patients. I've given up.