Finding a primary physician

[franybill]

Thinking of relocating in the near future to the villagesAnd wanting information on finding a new primary physician. Can anyone share their experience?

[jeriteri]

We sent you a private message.

[Dan9871]

We choose to go to a doctor at Villages Health when we first moved here. It took over two months to get our first appointments. From talking with some of our neighbors, I think it takes longer now. After that, we could get and an appointment the same day but almost always with an NP, but if the NP found something grave, our primary doctor joined the NP at the meeting. Appointments are just about always on time, and there is no rush to finish them.

My wife has had some severe health issues, and we feel our doctor and Villages Health has done an excellent job taking care of her. We have been satisfied with the Villages Health.

In any case, there are lots of doctors and groups of doctors down here, and it might take a few tries to find the one you want. We were lucky and liked our first choice, but I know some of our neighbors went through a couple of doctors before they found one they felt did a good job for them.

[villagetinker]

OP, the first thing you need to do is to become familiar with the health care here. The Villages Health ONLY takes 3 specific ADVANTAGE plans (if you are over 65) and does NOT take Medicare and supplemental. Contact Florida SHINE SHINE - Home (http://www.floridashine.org/) to get specific information. They have meetings in the villages, or you can call. If you go with Medicare, you will NOT be able to use The Villages for primary health care doctor, you may be able to use their specialist (all very confusing). If you go with the UHC ADVANTAGE plans, you may have trouble finding the specialist that you want to use, this happened to us, so we left and went back to Medicare. NOTE: there are very specific restrictions on going back to Medicare.
In any case you need to educate yourself on the health care here, the villages health care works very well for some people and not so well for others. Also, if you travel a lot, make sure you carefully review coverage with the ADVANTAGE plans, when we were looking into these, we discivered (a few years ago) the entire state of Colorado was NOT covered at all.
SHINE will help a lot witj the info you need.
Good luck.

[DAVES]

Thinking of relocating in the near future to the villagesAnd wanting information on finding a new primary physician. Can anyone share their experience?

We are ex-New Yorkers an had access to debatably, the finest hospitals in the world. The Villages, you are not likely to have access to the person who wrote the book on it whatever it is.
Most patients are on medicare. Your care, is dictated by medicare. For example, a doctor is expected to see a patient every 15 minutes-4 an hour. The doctor comes in to see you.
You say hello and you've used up half of the allowed time.

My opinion, many doctors around here are simply burned out.
It is a tough job. Too many of your customers are sick and too many die each week.

[DAVES]

We choose to go to a doctor at Villages Health when we first moved here. It took over two months to get our first appointments. From talking with some of our neighbors, I think it takes longer now. After that, we could get and an appointment the same day but almost always with an NP, but if the NP found something grave, our primary doctor joined the NP at the meeting. Appointments are just about always on time, and there is no rush to finish them.

My wife has had some severe health issues, and we feel our doctor and Villages Health has done an excellent job taking care of her. We have been satisfied with the Villages Health.

In any case, there are lots of doctors and groups of doctors down here, and it might take a few tries to find the one you want. We were lucky and liked our first choice, but I know some of our neighbors went through a couple of doctors before they found one they felt did a good job for them.

I did not publish my doctors name. Unfair of me-perhaps. I do like him. Perhaps, like publishing your favorite fishing spot and the next time you go there finding it full of trash, old beer cans etc.

Choosing a doctor is in the end a matter of personality. You mention your doctor seeing you as scheduled. The reason why some doctors around here always keep you waiting is truly simple-overbooking. It is true that emergencies can pop up unexpectedly. You as a patient should understand that.
Humanity, simple good manners calls for just saying I'm sorry you were kept waiting.

The best way to find a good doctor is to ask a medical professional. I'm not sure why. Perhaps law but it is very difficult to get medical people to comment about others. So we are stuck with opinions from your neighbors who may not be at all qualified to judge.

[Dan9871]

At Villages Health Medicare appointments are almost always on time and are scheduled for a half hour. Neither my wife nor I have had ever had a doctor cut off an appointment to get to another patient.

[gatorbill1]

I've been with Premiere Medical for primary care and am now with Florida Heart (FHV) for primary care. Never in 9 years have I been rushed out of an office visit at either place. I also go to Citruss Cardiology twice a year and never rushed out of there. Good doctors all around TV. Do not need to use Villages Health System to get good care.

[NotGolfer]

At Villages Health Medicare appointments are almost always on time and are scheduled for a half hour. Neither my wife nor I have had ever had a doctor cut off an appointment to get to another patient.

We too, go to The Villages Health and don't have complaints at all. I have some serious health issues and have found providers that have taken great care of me, and them. Anyone can go to the Specialty Clinic, which some will say you can't. You may need a referral however. You will hear A LOT of folks using disparging remarks about the health-care here. I have spoken with dr's about that and resoundedly the comments come back with "Those folks will find those things anywhere!" I have to agree. The Villages would be considered a more rural area, despite the growth here. It's NOT a metropolitan area with a university or a teaching hospital. People move here from places like that and are used to the care they always had "up north", or wherever they moved from. I personally believe that here, things are improving from when we 1st moved here.

[jeriteri]

Hi there, We've had The Villages Healthcare for 4 years now and can't complain at all. From surgeries to 6 month checkups, it's all good. We have the $80 each a month with eye, dental included. $0 for primary doctor, $15 for a specialist, no referrals needed in network. Beautiful facilities in various areas of The Villages with very little wait time when you check in. Most people that complain about the insurance have insurance from their employers or spouses and don't want to change so they nock the system but we for two have appreciated the care. By the way they have a $0 a month plan available as well in which you pay a little more for specialist and higher yearly out of pocket cost, I think $5,000. I don't work for them, you asked and this is our opinion. Good luck with your search and your move to this wonderful place.
Jerry and Teri Lea
Healthcare Providers - The Villages Health (https://thevillageshealth.com)

[JoMar]

At Villages Health Medicare appointments are almost always on time and are scheduled for a half hour. Neither my wife nor I have had ever had a doctor cut off an appointment to get to another patient.

Agree, have never been cut off by a doctor or NP. Having 30 minutes with a doc allows time for deeper discussions. Docs outside the system do cut appointments short....we have many in our neighborhood that had to go outside when TV went to their UHC association. Most changed because they had employer paid premiums but they have experienced declining levels as this place has grown. HC is a very personal choice.

I should add that the care within TV health care system is consistent from care center to care center. In the event your doctor retires or takes another offer, the system will find another doctor for you and all your records, history and specialists will be consistent. If that happens outside the system you might need to find another doc on your own in another practice unless it is one with some size.

[gatorbill1]

I have been told that after initial visit with primary dr in TVH system, you are probably going to see a PA in future visists??

[Dan9871]

I have been told that after initial visit with primary dr in TVH system, you are probably going to see a PA in future visists??

When you get a same or next day appointment, it will probably be with an NP or PA. For a hospital follow up, the appointment will likely be with an NP or PA too. For recurring or annual appoints it will likely be with your PCP. You can always get an appointment with your PCP but typically will take a month or more to get it scheduled.

Depending on what the NP finds or what the topic of your appointment is your PCP may end up joining in on it even though he was not scheduled.

BTW this was how it worked with the PCP we had in MA before we moved to The Villages.

Even though we don't all ways get an appointment with your PCP one time our PCP came in on his day off for an appointment with my wife because of the particular health issues she was having.

We've found the system at Villages Health works very well. We think the quality of care is excellent. Having on-time doctor appointments is great, it's something we have never had before.

But the best thing you might do is call one of the Health Centers and schedule a tour. You can ask those kinds of questions and get answers from the source.

But, many of our neighbors don't go to Villages Health and feel they are getting excellent care too, so make sure you check around.

[bassfish]

The doctors here are the worst. My husband is on his 4th primary doctor now in just 2 years. We have to go outside the Villages for some doctors. The hospital is even worse.

[gatorbill1]

When I go to see a dr - I want to see a dr, not a NP or PA - doesn't need to be "my" pcp, but a real dr.

[retiredguy123]

When I go to see a dr - I want to see a dr, not a NP or PA - doesn't need to be "my" pcp, but a real dr.
I agree. NPs and PAs do not have the same level of experience, knowledge, and accountability as MDs, and the copays and insurance reimbursement should be substantially less.

[NotGolfer]

When I go to see a dr - I want to see a dr, not a NP or PA - doesn't need to be "my" pcp, but a real dr.

You can request that....I don't agree that you only see a NP or PA following a hospital stay neither. This hasn't happened with my spouse. I prefer my NP as I saw her prior to TVH and followed her. She knows me and my issues. Most of the folks complaining, I will agree with the OP that stated this---are doing so because they carried ins. here from their employer or spouse's ins. and didn't want to change that. That's fine but it's not a reflection on TVH. What changed was an ins. issue and not anything to do locally. Stuff is changing nationally....so far we're happy to be here and it's been great to have our records following us if we see a specialist etc. Also the hospital can access them as well and you don't have to fill out MORE paperwork. You might if you continue seeing doctor's outside.

[JoMar]

The doctors here are the worst. My husband is on his 4th primary doctor now in just 2 years. We have to go outside the Villages for some doctors. The hospital is even worse.

So I assume you are now outside the system and don't use either of the Central Florida Health facilities?

[BAT777]

I agree 100 %! We hate the thought of moving back to the cold but in New England we don't have to wait to see a specialist. My husband just got out of the hospital after being transported from Urgent care. Unfortunately his appointment was with the specialist the day after he was admitted was given to another patient. That was 4 weeks ago and he still hasn't been able to reschedule until the end of this month. The last thing the doctor at the hospital said to him was to see a specialist. He is still sick and this is NOT right..Oh yes they had him see a PA nurse that works at the Gastrologist office but was no help scheduled an appointment for the end of July! This is just so unbelievable-my husband should not have to suffer. The Villages keeps growing yet the medical profession is so screwed up.

[Northwoods]

My spouse and I are both with The Villages Health. We're extremely happy with the plan and with our Primary Care Physicians. We've both had health issues and surgeries in the past 2 years - we picked the surgeon we wanted and felt we received excellent care. In the future if we have major heart issues we can go to The Cleveland Clinic... if cancer is in our future we can go to MD Anderson in Houston (both 'in network" and both are arguably the top center for that condition in the US). I'm sure there are good physicians around The Villages that aren't part of The Villages Healthcare. It's a personal choice. I'm just extremely selective about my PCP because I want someone very smart who will find issues early. I've found that at The Villages Health. I don't want to search locally to see if I can find someone as good outside of TVH. But again... people have found physicians they like. So it is a personal choice.