Finding a Doctor: How to Choose a Primary Care Physician with Confidence
by bcbsm
| 2 min read
Have you ever wondered why it's important to have a primary care physician, or why you're required to have one as a Blue Care Network member? The answer is simple: A primary care physician is your partner in health care. They understand your health history and will coordinate your care, including regular checkups, routine screenings and immunizations. Specialty care, lab tests and hospitalization are also overseen by your doctor. If you’re a Blue Care Network member, you must have a primary care physician. You and everyone else who is on your plan must select one in your plan’s network and make sure we have it on file. If you don’t use a primary care physician to coordinate your care, you may be responsible for higher costs or your services may not be covered at all. It’s easy to find and select a primary care physician who is right for you and your family. If you didn’t select a primary care physician when you first enrolled, one may be assigned to you. You can always view and change the primary care physician who is on file for you and each member of your family. You can change your doctor by logging in to your Blue Cross member account at bcbsm.com, or using our app. There are many benefits to finding a doctor through your Blue Cross member account. Your member account provides reliable information to help you find a doctor, including letting you:
- Compare doctors and facilities within your plan’s network
- Determine health care providers who are near you and accept your plan
- Evaluate quality reports for doctors and hospitals
- Check office hours, locations, specialties, the types of spoken languages and hospital affiliations
For more information about finding and selecting a doctor, refer to this flyer and stay tuned for more blogs in our #HMO101 series. For health and wellness tips, follow our Facebook page. To learn even more information on your health care, check out these additional blogs:
- Everything You Need to Know About HMOs
- 10 Situations that Call for the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Mobile App
- Did You Know? Money-Saving Tools, Discounts Exclusive to Blue Cross and Blue Care Network Members
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