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Thanks Scooby. Currently I'm in Austin. We've given thought to Houston. How is the real estate market there? Homes here are getting very expensive very quickly. People are driving up the prices with multiple offers all above asking price.
Thanks Scooby. Currently I'm in Austin. We've given thought to Houston. How is the real estate market there? Homes here are getting very expensive very quickly. People are driving up the prices with multiple offers all above asking price.
What an odd coincidence. My sister lives in Austin. She moved there from Amarillo several years ago and now she's regretting it. Housing has gotten expensive, but even worse, traffic congestion has become a huge issue. She's thinking of moving to Houston herself.
As for the housing market, it is bustling. Homes don't stay on the market long, so once you find the home you like, it is wise to put an offer in right away. Idk what your price point is, however, to get a 3/2/2 in a decent area of Houston, it will cost you at least $160K (or around $1300/month in rent) if you wish to avoid the giant dog turd factor
I'd say that access to top medical centers is important Both in having them and being able to get treated such as coverage that includes them. Its important when that once in a lifetime health problem comes up. Like the above poster I am delighted to have Houston medical center nearby.
For a lot of reasons we've decided that it is time to sell the house and move. I've been resistant to moving for the last year because of my husband's health and the fact that we have good doctors here. Other than the doctors we have nothing keeping us here.
I want to find some place to move that has warm weather and good doctors. Do you think moving to a city with a teaching hospital will mean that it attracts highly skilled doctors who care about their patients and are willing to spend the needed time with them?
Or, do you think I would have better luck finding good doctors if we moved to an expensive area of the country?
Exactly how does one find competent, skilled medical care in this day and age without it being just a factor of luck?
What does the teaching hospital and their good doctors have to do with your care? You will not be able to see them in most cases, unless you are independently rich and not involved with an insurance plan. You will have to see a primary care doctor, per your insurance plan, who may refer you to a specialist in the area and that in most cases does not mean that medical professional who is involved with a teaching hospital. Most practitioners are not involved with teaching.
If you relocate to a large metropolitan area then it will, most likely, have a medical school and an associated teaching hospital but many hospital have residency programs to teach doctors, even if not near a medical school.
So, pick a large city and live nearby. You will have all the medical expertise and experience you would need but if your specialty care is considered necessary by your primary care physician and your insurance company. You will then have a choice of many medical professionals and if one does not please you, you can choose another. However that does not guarantee a doctor who meets your requirements of personal care, even if he wants to "spend the time", he may not be able due to insurance and practice constraints.
You can choose Denver. It has a comparatively mild climate. It has a new and the largest medical complex with a medical school in the Great West. Denver has every specialty you would need and a regional teaching VA hospital. This concentration is needed because of its location and geography; as Denver serves a large mulit-state region of sparsely population areas and is somewhat isolated from other cities.
Livecontent
Last edited by livecontent; 03-23-2014 at 06:57 PM..
$160K would be lovely. I'll contact a Realtor. Our neighbor put his home on the market and received his first offer in 6 seconds. The second offer came in at 10 seconds. The third offer came slowly at 1 minute and something seconds. My rental property received a contract to purchase while the Realtor was still pounding the For Sale sign into the ground. It never made it into the MLS!
What does the teaching hospital and their good doctors have to do with your care? You will not be able to see them in most cases, unless you are independently rich and not involved with an insurance plan.You will have to see a primary care doctor, per your insurance plan, who may refer you to a specialist in the area and that in most cases does not mean that medical professional who is involved with a teaching hospital. Most practitioners are not involved with teaching.
Just because some people have insurance plans that require them to go through a gatekeeper (i.e., primary care physician), that doesn't mean that everyone has that same restriction. I can make a direct appointment with any specialist in the country (or the world for that matter), and have it covered by my Blue Cross plan. Now admittedly, the amount that BCBS will pay will vary depending upon whether the medical professional is a preferred,participating or non-participating provider, but in no case will I have to go through a primary care doctor.
For a lot of reasons we've decided that it is time to sell the house and move. I've been resistant to moving for the last year because of my husband's health and the fact that we have good doctors here. Other than the doctors we have nothing keeping us here.
I want to find some place to move that has warm weather and good doctors. Do you think moving to a city with a teaching hospital will mean that it attracts highly skilled doctors who care about their patients and are willing to spend the needed time with them?
Or, do you think I would have better luck finding good doctors if we moved to an expensive area of the country?
Exactly how does one find competent, skilled medical care in this day and age without it being just a factor of luck?
If you've decided on a city or area - have you asked your current doctors for recommendations?
Just because some people have insurance plans that require them to go through a gatekeeper (i.e., primary care physician), that doesn't mean that everyone has that same restriction. I can make a direct appointment with any specialist in the country (or the world for that matter), and have it covered by my Blue Cross plan. Now admittedly, the amount that BCBS will pay will vary depending upon whether the medical professional is a preferred,participating or non-participating provider, but in no case will I have to go through a primary care doctor.
You are correct. I understand that as my medicare plan does not require a referral to a specialist. However, it is much wiser to seek the advice of the primary care physician and if he makes the referral, in many cases, you will get to see the specialist much earlier and get the best attention. The patient also can save co-pays that are more to see a specialist. That is because there are many people who stress specialty clinics with complaints that do not necessarily need a specialist or should see another specialty or can best be handled at the primary care level. Also specialist know those who have every complaint and every disease and take the resources that is best served with those with real problems.
The primary care doctor can also prepare the patient to see a specialist by ordering test and x-rays that will be needed and then the specialist has those to view when he initially sees the patient; many times the primary care would have done the initial workup to do the diagnosis. It saves time and effort and makes for a more efficient system. In addition, I like to get the advice of the primary care physician who has seen me often; knows intimately my complicated medical problems and I have established a long term relationship.
The primary care doctor knows who is the best specialist to send his patients and can even get you to the most experienced specialist with a phone call if he deems it an extreme emergency and/or complicated problem. I have a medicare plan and I am also have VA medical care. I have seen the primary care VA physician call the well regarded medical professor to please see me for some difficult issues who normally is not seen easily. Also the medicare doctor has done the same to call a specific specialist.
Obviously there are specialist who will want to see as many as possible just to collect the fee but in most practices the specialist give more credence and attention when there is an initial diagnosis of the primary care doctor. Even the greedy specialist does not want to waste their time on a patient who will not need any more service.
Just to add that even a self referral medical plan has limits. You cannot continue to see a specialists over and over for a complaint, that has been determined to not need specialty care, and expect the insurance company to pay the higher fee.
Livecontent
Last edited by livecontent; 03-23-2014 at 08:44 PM..
BTW, I just noticed you are looking at Florida. You may not be aware but overall Florida ranks really low for healthcare quality. You can Google state rankings for healthcare. Measures such as hospital readmissions within 30 days are used in an attempt to provide some objective rankings. Regardless of the measure, Florida ranks low. I have no direct knowledge but being a New Yorker, I have heard for years that Florida healthcare is really bad. Many Florida retirees from NY return to NY for healthcare. Of course, that does no good for emergency needs.
We've had the opposite experience; Florida doctors and specialists have been more knowledgeable and up to date and have had better patient communication skills than what we had up North. And I know some snowbirds that use Florida doctors for their primary needs and schedule surgery in Florida instead of up north.
What does the teaching hospital and their good doctors have to do with your care? You will not be able to see them in most cases, unless you are independently rich and not involved with an insurance plan. You will have to see a primary care doctor, per your insurance plan, who may refer you to a specialist in the area and that in most cases does not mean that medical professional who is involved with a teaching hospital. Most practitioners are not involved with teaching.
If you relocate to a large metropolitan area then it will, most likely, have a medical school and an associated teaching hospital but many hospital have residency programs to teach doctors, even if not near a medical school.
So, pick a large city and live nearby. You will have all the medical expertise and experience you would need but if your specialty care is considered necessary by your primary care physician and your insurance company. You will then have a choice of many medical professionals and if one does not please you, you can choose another. However that does not guarantee a doctor who meets your requirements of personal care, even if he wants to "spend the time", he may not be able due to insurance and practice constraints.
You can choose Denver. It has a comparatively mild climate. It has a new and the largest medical complex with a medical school in the Great West. Denver has every specialty you would need and a regional teaching VA hospital. This concentration is needed because of its location and geography; as Denver serves a large mulit-state region of sparsely population areas and is somewhat isolated from other cities.
Livecontent
Normally you will find that teaching hospitals are among the top rated hospitals in latest technics. Often they have doctors that specialize in just certain areas; do procedure everyday and often are the hospitals picked to do first procedures that are new and advanced. For example a few years ago my brother in law needed heart valve surgery. His specialist sent him to the Debakey team at Methodist hospital. One of like five in nation allowed to do it. The cost was lower plus the danger and recovery time. All where teaching hospitals.One can live in a large city but does not mean they have the best with many being way over taxed in care and funding. Teaching hospitals are tied to universities that provide funding besides the donors they get. I am a MD Anderson sponsor myself which is the top rated cancer center in US because of all the people I know who where treated and cured there by what they often developed as treatment. By the way my bother in law was Medicare patient.
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