[obnurse]

good morning. My name is Mary and I moved here last week from RI. I live in the village of Virginia trace and am looking for recommendations for primary care doctors, dentist, eye doctor and vet care
TIA for your help

[villagetinker]

Mary, a lot depends on your age (over/under 65) and whether you are comfortable with Medicare part C (MANAGED healthcare) or traditional Medicare (you can go to whatever doctor you want). Village Health Care only accepts patients with 1 of 3 or 4 ADVANTAGE plans, no idea of what they do if you are under 65. There is an organization called SHINE (Seniors Health Information Network?) that provides lots of unbiased info and they have local in TV meetings, not sure if they have info for under 65.

You may want to provide some additional general info to get better replies.

NOTE: if you are looking for health insurance my stepson uses Florida Blue, they have lots of plans. No experience with any other insurances.

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

Mary, a lot depends on your age (over/under 65) and whether you are comfortable with Medicare part C (MANAGED healthcare) or traditional Medicare (you can go to whatever doctor you want). Village Health Care only accepts patients with 1 of 3 or 4 ADVANTAGE plans, no idea of what they do if you are under 65. There is an organization called SHINE (Seniors Health Information Network?) that provides lots of unbiased info and they have local in TV meetings, not sure if they have info for under 65.

You may want to provide some additional general info to get better replies.

NOTE: if you are looking for health insurance my stepson uses Florida Blue, they have lots of plans. No experience with any other insurances.

I read her post differently, I interpreted it as meaning she was seeking people's personal recommendations for a dentist, doctor, eye doctor, etc. Perhaps not, maybe she did mean insurance here. It's sure a very complicated tasks for any new resident !

[retiredguy123]

Primary care and vet - I don't know
Dentist - go outside The Villages, unless you want to get significantly upcharged. I use Dr. Lunsford in Leesburg.
Eye doctor - Lake Eye for opthalmologist exams and refraction. Also, Florida Retina Institute, but they don't do refractions. Peepers in Colony Plaza is good if you just want an optometrist for refraction.

[obnurse]

Originally Posted by Pairadocs

I read her post differently, I interpreted it as meaning she was seeking people's personal recommendations for a dentist, doctor, eye doctor, etc. Perhaps not, maybe she did mean insurance here. It's sure a very complicated tasks for any new resident !

I have original medicare and CHAMPVA as a secondary. I am looking for providers-I am all set with insurance

thanks

[obnurse]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Primary care and vet - I don't know
Dentist - go outside The Villages, unless you want to get significantly upcharged. I use Dr. Lunsford in Leesburg.
Eye doctor - Lake Eye for opthalmologist exams and refraction. Also, Florida Retina Institute, but they don't do refractions. Peepers in Colony Plaza is good if you just want an optometrist for refraction.

thank you for your info- much appreciated

[Mortal1]

Any...and I mean ANY recommendations you get will absolutely be biased toward the poster. It's a hit and miss situation. Just pick those with good reviews and give it a shot. There are plenty in all the specialties you need and since my needs are different than yours you really should ask yourself what are my needs. If you feel like sharing them then post them. you will get more useful suggestions than the blind shot you are taking.

[beckylou152]

We went to Marion Dental and liked it a lot! It is up in Spanish Springs. They did not overcharge, and their care was good.

We are still seeing our primary care doc up north. But I do think there are lots of posts with recommendations. Finding good medical care here can be challenging but we are relatively close to Orlando and Ocala. By the way, many of our friends recommend the ER on 44 across from Brownwood if you ever need one. Good luck with your search!

[chrissy2231]

Originally Posted by obnurse

good morning. My name is Mary and I moved here last week from RI. I live in the village of Virginia trace and am looking for recommendations for primary care doctors, dentist, eye doctor and vet care
TIA for your help

UHC, FL BL Med Advantage plans allow you into the Villages health care system. They have the best drs. Dr. Uyen Nguyen for primary care 352-674-1710, the best primary I've ever had!

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by obnurse

good morning. My name is Mary and I moved here last week from RI. I live in the village of Virginia trace and am looking for recommendations for primary care doctors, dentist, eye doctor and vet care
TIA for your help

Welcome, Mary!

Not much I can add to what has already been offered--maybe an echo or two--

Dentist? I've been going to Marion Dental Group since moving here and am very happy with them. They won't try to upsell you anything you don't need: twice now they could easily have sold a crown but opted to go with the less complicated (and far cheaper) way of repairing the teeth. A $13 copay is much easier on the wallet than a $600 one!

Vet? Be VERY careful and check w/friends regarding their recommendations. Much depends on the pet, area of expertise, etc., but don't be surprised if your pet's needs become much more numerous--and expensive--after a wellness exam. I've found that if they ask for all the money upfront, before any service is performed, maybe your best bet is to say thanks but no thanks.

Primary care is a roll of the dice. We've found that it is not so much an issue with the competency of doctors but of their support staff. Bad record keeping--numerous problems getting prescriptions transmitted in a timely (and accurate!) manner, hard to get in contact with. My first doctor here has an office two miles away--but to call him I had to go through a call service in the Bahamas! Calls were not given to the doctor, or the information was garbled, etc. Plus, no callbacks ever. I found it much easier to just drive there and do business with the people at the front desk, but they often had no clue. Additionally there seems to be a lot of unlicensed techs rather than licensed nurses providing services that historically in my experience were performed by nurses. People who do their doctoring out-of-town (Leesburg, Ocala) seem to be much happier with their service than those who have local doctors.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Oh, a loaded question. Healthcare is a team sport, there is the doctoring activity and the business activity of accounting, hiring, reporting, etc. If the doctor has his own small practice, he has to be all of them and then make a living, which means hiring cheap staff, cheap services, and hope he can focus on doctoring.

If the doctor is part of a larger physician network, or hospital system, then there are economies of scale with the support, back office staff, etc, and the doctor focuses more time on doctoring and less time on business administration, hiring, etc.

So that might help explain why very small practices are actually very difficult to be competitive with medical SERVICES, all of them, versus larger physician networks, and hospitals. . . same reason why large hospitals buy small hospitals

[B-flat]

Originally Posted by obnurse

good morning. My name is Mary and I moved here last week from RI. I live in the village of Virginia trace and am looking for recommendations for primary care doctors, dentist, eye doctor and vet care
TIA for your help

HI Mary welcome to TV. We come from the home of the Johnston landfill in RI, we're snowbirds and kept our doctors in RI. Sorry I have no advice but welcome.

P.S. There's a RI Club that meets monthly, it's a great group. There's even a well known retired weatherman that's a member of the club.
The Villages Rhode Island Club - Home

[mrsstats]

How is finding doctors if you have medicare and a supplemental policy like AARP?

[champion6]

Originally Posted by mrsstats

How is finding doctors if you have medicare and a supplemental policy like AARP?

Not a problem. MUCH EASIER than if you have an advantage plan that is an HMO-type.

[champion6]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

Oh, a loaded question. Healthcare is a team sport, there is the doctoring activity and the business activity of accounting, hiring, reporting, etc. If the doctor has his own small practice, he has to be all of them and then make a living, which means hiring cheap staff, cheap services, and hope he can focus on doctoring.

If the doctor is part of a larger physician network, or hospital system, then there are economies of scale with the support, back office staff, etc, and the doctor focuses more time on doctoring and less time on business administration, hiring, etc.

So that might help explain why very small practices are actually very difficult to be competitive with medical SERVICES, all of them, versus larger physician networks, and hospitals. . . same reason why large hospitals buy small hospitals

For all, here is a list of primary care medical groups that I have compiled.