How to Pick a Doctor to Remove My "X"

I know many of us have insurance through the military. Many of us get our healthcare on post. There are some of us though who choose to get our care on the outside, through a civilian doctor. Of course, if we want Tricare to pay for it, we have to go through a Tricare provider, plus if we see a specialist, we need a referral from our regular doctor, aka primary care manager. I recently had a procedure done and found out I did have a choice in who to pick. I stared at a list of doctors in my area, not knowing which one I should choose and why. So, I followed these steps.

• I googled them. I googled them one by one. Wow, one had done something I consider a bit risque (yes, it was him...I saw his photo) and another was on the State Medical Board of Health, a position that not everyone is even considered for. He was selected by the governor to sit on that board. How impressive.

• I checked which ones were board certified at American Board of Medical Specialties. If they weren't, I crossed them off my list.

• Has the doctor ever been disciplined? Check U Compare Health Care. You'll even see his hospital affiliation and where he went to school. I would've had reservations if he had gotten his medical degree on some tropical island.
  

• Practice makes perfect, right? I checked how many surgeries of this particular kind the doctor has under his belt. I asked the doctor this directly but also found out his hospital affiliation and called the hospital to get that information there too (he was right). If I wanted to delve a bit farther, I could've checked Health Grades for a fee.

• I contacted Tricare and checked out what the average cost was for that procedure, how much Tricare pays and what, if any, my copay would be. I also checked with each doctor's office and asked what their charge was. This gave me a better idea of what the cost should be..what was reasonable and what perhaps wasn't.

• I checked if any had been sued for malpractice. That in itself may not tell you enough though. Some doctors, depending on their specialty, may get sued more than others. You have to compare apples to apples, comparing doctors of that specialty to others in that field.

What do you do, if anything before you let a doctor take a knife to you?