How do I find a family doctor and a pediatrician, and what is urgent care?

Question

Accepted Answer

Pick a primary-care doctor and a pediatrician from your insurance plan’s network directory, usually inside one of the large systems: Banner Health, HonorHealth, Mayo Clinic or, for children, Phoenix Children’s. Urgent care is a walk-in clinic for problems that cannot wait for an appointment but are not emergencies; emergencies go to 911 and the emergency room. In the US you choose your own doctors, and the main constraint is your insurance network: a doctor “in network” costs you the plan’s copay, one outside it can cost many times more. Start from the insurer’s directory, then book with a primary-care practice near home; the large systems cover the whole Valley and let you find doctors, urgent care and hospitals by location. For children, Phoenix Children’s runs pediatric primary care, specialists and urgent care across the metro. Urgent care centres handle fevers, sprains, cuts and infections the same day without an appointment, at a fraction of an emergency-room bill; the emergency room is for chest pain, serious injury, breathing trouble and anything life-threatening. Knowing the nearest of each before you need them is worth ten minutes on move-in day. Bring translated vaccination records: Arizona schools and child care require proof of specific immunisations or a signed exemption, and the state health department publishes the schedule and forms. If you are between jobs or newly arrived, the Marketplace plan you buy determines the network, so choose the plan with the doctors in mind.

How do I find a family doctor and a pediatrician, and what is urgent care?

Sources

Related questions