Health Services
EMERGENCIES HAPPEN
When they do, call 911.
For a mental health emergency in New York state, call 988.
LOOKING FOR URGENT CARE?
For immediate, non-life threatening issues, do a quick internet search to find the closest facility. Call to confirm that your insurance is accepted and/or what type of payment options exist.
PROVIDERS
Finding a healthcare provider is typically driven by your insurance company. Ask your insurer for a list of providers/specialists your coverage allows, or log-on to their website and search the online directory. To have this information at hand, you may be required to set up a secure online account with the insurer and/or medical group with whom your provider works. This can be an important tool to track coverage, visits, payments and more.
Other items to consider when selecting a provider:
- Hospital affiliations
- Board certification
- Special office policies, like cancellations, billing etc.
- Online portal for communication
- Legal actions history
- Provides information on education, certification, hospital affiliation, legal actions, and health plans accepted.
- Tip: Confirm insurance information directly with the office; ask about specific policies and practices.
New York State Department of Education Office of the Professions
- Search for certain medical specialists, including mental health resources like psychologists and clinical social workers, who require licenses to practice in New York State (psychiatrists are covered in NY Doctor Profile above).
- Information on licensed status and any enforcement actions.
- Tip: Search by “Licensee name” and “Profession”
Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade
- Find “Safety Grades” on more than 2500 hospitals.
- Grades are based on data indicating how well a hospital protects its patients from errors, accidents, injuries and infections.
- Tip: See their advice and videos on how to evaluate hospitals and stay safe.
Complementary health providers are alsoreferred to as alternative or functional medicine providers.
There is no one source to vet complementary care providers – so research is all the more important. Guidance from the National Center for Integrative and Complementary Health (a program of the National Institutes of health) suggests the following:
- If you need names of practitioners in your area, first check with your current healthcare provider or insurer. Also helpful – an area hospital or medical school, professional organizations, state regulatory agencies or licensing boards.
- Find out as much as you can about any potential practitioner, including education, training, licensing, and certifications. The credentials required for complementary health practitioners vary tremendously by state and discipline.
- Explain all of your health conditions to the practitioner, and find out about the practitioner’s training and experience in working with people who have your condition.
Don’t assume that your health insurance will cover the practitioner’s services. Contact your health insurance provider and ask; plans differ greatly in what complementary health approaches they cover.
When searching for information on health services, some websites offer ratings or rankings. It can take some effort to understand how the scores are built. What you can do is make sure the sources of data are relevant and credible. Do peek under the hood and consider the data being used – does it seem meaningful for this purpose, is it voluntary or is it an industry requirement, is it objective or subjective? If the data is not being well-explained, use caution.
Take special care with ratings based strictly on consumer reviews. They have a use, but also have limitations, especially in healthcare. The sample size is likely too small to be representative, may be biased, and/or may not reflect the complexity of treatment involved. When viewing these sites, look for patterns in the comments.
Use what you learn to develop questions for a provider about the type of care you seek.