So You Want to Make Your Own Doctor’s Appointments

From lit­tle wins like set­ting your own bed­time to big mile­stones like start­ing a career – or even being proud that you installed a show­er head on your own – there’s a lot to cel­e­brate about becom­ing an adult. 

But with your new­found free­doms (and final­ly under­stand­ing why a new vac­u­um clean­er makes a great gift) come new respon­si­bil­i­ties. And one of the most impor­tant is tak­ing charge of your healthcare. 

Whether it’s your first time pick­ing a doc­tor on your own or sched­ul­ing your own appoint­ments, man­ag­ing your health­care can feel over­whelm­ing at first. But with a lit­tle prac­tice, you’ll be tak­ing con­trol of your health like a pro. 

Here’s how to get ready and make the process eas­i­er – and less stressful. 

Find Dr. Right. 

The first step hap­pens before you even make an appoint­ment: find­ing the right provider. 

There are cer­tain cas­es where you may need to see the first avail­able provider, but there are many times when you can take some time to choose the best provider for you. Whether you’re tran­si­tion­ing from a pedi­atric prac­tice or switch­ing from your cur­rent provider, now is the time to do your homework. 

Most health­care sys­tems’ web­sites have a ​“Find a Provider” fea­ture, where you can search for providers based on cri­te­ria like: 

• Avail­abil­i­ty
• Hos­pi­tals they are affil­i­at­ed with 
• City they prac­tice in 
• Gen­der
• Lan­guage spoken 
• Spe­cial­ties
• Insur­ance accepted 
• If they spe­cial­ize in work­ing with dif­fer­ent pop­u­la­tions, like LGBTQIA+

Find a provider at Duly Health and Care.

It’s also a good idea to check out review sites and social media forums and to ask friends or fam­i­ly for rec­om­men­da­tions. They can give you insights you won’t find on a health­care system’s site, like a provider’s bed­side man­ner, which could make it eas­i­er to find some­one who is the right fit for your needs and comfort. 

Also read: Should I Choose a Fam­i­ly Med­i­cine or Inter­nal Med­i­cine Provider for My PCP?

Check insur­ance ahead of time. 

When­ev­er you’re switch­ing doc­tors or you’ve switched insur­ance plans, check that the provider is cov­ered by your insur­ance plan. It’s pos­si­ble that a provider you saw on your par­ents’ insur­ance is no longer cov­ered under your new plan. Unex­pect­ed med­ical bills can be excep­tion­al­ly high, so it’s impor­tant to con­firm your cov­er­age before going to an appointment. 

There are two steps to mak­ing sure your appoint­ment will be covered: 

1. Check with the insur­ance com­pa­ny. You can call them direct­ly through the num­ber on the back of your insur­ance card or you may be able to use their web­site or a por­tal to search and see if they’re covered. 
2. Call your provider’s office to confirm. 

If you don’t have insur­ance, or you still have to pay some of the bill even with insur­ance, look at the health system’s pay­ment plan options. You may be able to pay small chunks of your bills over time. 

Explore the insur­ance plans accept­ed at Duly Health and Care. 

Make appoint­ments as soon as you know you will need them. 

Some providers are easy to sched­ule, and oth­ers may have a waitlist. 

Make an appoint­ment as soon as you know you will need one to avoid delays. For annu­al vis­its, like phys­i­cals or OBG­YN check­ups, get next year’s appoint­ment on the books before you leave the office. 

If you’re hav­ing trou­ble get­ting an appoint­ment with a spe­cial­ist, ask your pri­ma­ry care provider if they can rec­om­mend anoth­er option in your health system. 

Don’t arrive empty-handed. 

The first time you see a new provider, they will need to gath­er a lit­tle infor­ma­tion. This helps with admin­is­tra­tive details (like know­ing who to bill) and gives your provider the info they need to under­stand and address your health needs. 

Also read: The Tran­si­tion from Pedi­atrics to Adult Pri­ma­ry Care: 5 Tips to Help Make the Change

Pre­pare ques­tions in advance. 

Before head­ing to your appoint­ment, make a list of oth­er infor­ma­tion you would like to know about your provider and their prac­tice. For instance, you may want to ask about: 

• Lan­guage inter­preter availability 
• Week­end and night hours 
• Can­cel­la­tion policy 
• Telemed­i­cine options 
• How to sign up for an online account 
• Your provider’s cer­ti­fi­ca­tions or spe­cial­ty training 
• Their expe­ri­ence treat­ing cer­tain med­ical conditions 

It’s nor­mal if find­ing a provider or prepar­ing for appoint­ments is stress­ing you out at first, but the stress won’t last for­ev­er. As you con­tin­ue to take charge of your own health, you will start to get more com­fort­able. And remem­ber – you can always reach out to your health­care sys­tem if you need guidance. 

Ready to make an appoint­ment? You can search for a Duly Health and Care provider and make an appoint­ment online. If you need help, call our main line at 1 – 888-Duly­Now (1−888−385−9669).