Maim yourself in a rich neighborhood.

Ask your (local) friends if they like their doctors. Hopefully, you'll get some good recommendations for doctors that are in your insurance plan.

Sometimes googling "doctor recommended [city]" turns up nice first-person-testimony reviews. I found my own doctor, whom I love, that way.

Well, in my insurance plan, you pick a practice, and a doctor at random. Then you go in blind, eventually finding one you like and put that person down as primary. Actually, it's on my to do list - "Switch to Doogie" (He's a young man and a very good doctor. I think I scare him.)

I'm glad you asked this. I'm not very fond of my primary care practitioner - there's nothing wrong with her; it's just a matter of personal style not clicking - and I've been thinking of finding a new one.

I hate doctors but really am overdue for a check-up. I JUST got a recommendation from a friend who loves her doctor and was ecstatic to see that he's on my provider list. They just sent out a new list effective 4/1 and he's NOT on it. Sucks.

If you're locked into a provider network or the like, I think the best you can do is start picking names, starting from nearest to you and then google them and see what comes up.

I knew my doctor was the right one when he told me I could e-mail him (about non-sensitive stuff, obviously). If I'm worried about something, I just shoot him a message and by the end of the day, I've either got an answer or an appt. Plus, he's got a pretty good electronic record system. It's one thing to have your doctor tell you your blood pressure is up, another to have them pull up a graph showing how it's been gradually climbing over the course of a year. And nothing ever gets overlooked because the system alerts him when it's time for a skin check or cholesterol screening.

If I ever had a to find another doctor, I'd probably start by googling and calling until I found one who isn't afraid of technology.

You ask Specklet and she tells you to go see Samantha Brody, who is the best doctor on the planet.

I can do the same for dentists.

Huh. Samantha Brody sounds perfect. Thanks, Specklet!

Another strategy: Ask the folks at the lab where you go to get your blood drawn. They deal with patients of the local MDs, and they know who has a good reputation.

cmonkey, I really really like her. Go see her! She's a great acupuncturist as well.

I will, Specklet, she looks great!