Finding a Lasik Eye Doctor in Baltimore Maryland
If you want to live your life free of eyeglasses or contact lenses, then you should definitely consider LASIK surgery (Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis). This procedure is one that can give you back your eyesight so that you never need eyeglasses or contacts again. The surgery is one that involves the reshaping of the cornea with the use of a laser. The following are some tips for how to find a reputable doctor in Baltimore to perform LASIK eye surgery.
One of the first ways to find a LASIK eye doctor in Baltimore is to ask your friends, family members, and coworkers if they or someone they know has had this surgery. This way, you can get some firsthand recommendations, referrals, and advice from the people in your life.
Next, you definitely need to glance through the telephone book. This way, you can compile a list of doctors in your area and know who is out there. Once you have this list, you can follow up with the doctors and see what they charge and can then research the reputations and reviews of the doctors online.
Lastly, if you want to find a great doctor to perform this amazing eye surgery, then you should use the Internet. Here, you can find reviews, ratings, and tips about Baltimore area doctors who perform LASIK. From this information, you can be sure to get a good idea about the reputation of different doctors in the area.
Baltimore Maryland Hospitals
Baltimore, Maryland has a rich history of quality medical care and a number of fine hospitals, doctors, and other health care professionals.
Baltimore is home to Johns Hopkins Hospital, one of the top ranked hospitals in the world. Johns Hopkins, world-renowned in many areas of treatment, including oncology, eye care, emergency care and many other treatment areas, has patients form across the globe. Johns Hopkins also has a satellite facility, Johns Hopkins Bayville Medical Center.
In terms of award recognition, Harbor Hospital has achieved a unique distinction in ratings of regional hospitals. For the third straight year, Harbor Hospital has earned the Excellence Award for Quality given by the Delmarva (Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia) Foundation.
The University of Maryland Medical Center is another outstanding facility, located a short drive from Baltimore. Cardiac care, transplants and many other major medical procedures are performed at this state-of-the-art Medical Center.
Maryland General Hospital is also an affiliate of the University of Maryland, and a great health care provider.
Another University of Maryland Medical Center affiliated hospital is the Mt Washington Pediatric Center, one of the finest providers of children’s care in the nation.
Yet another University of Maryland affiliate is Kiernan Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Center, the largest provider of rehabilitation care in Maryland.
Another such provider is the University Specialty Hospital, which provides for non-critical but long term care for patients that have multiple complications that require multi-faceted treatment, continued hospitalization and care.
Veterans can find care in Baltimore at the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center, one of the best of its kind.
The Kennedy Krieger Institute is a specialist in children’s care, caring for children and teens with developmental disabilities through direct patient care, special education, professional training and research.
Union Memorial Hospital is another great facility, regularly rated in the Top 100 Hospitals nationally. Union Memorial is considered a Center of excellence for orthopedics, hand surgery, sports medicine and other specialties.
Some excellent religiously affiliated hospitals in the Baltimore area include St Agnes Healthcare and the Sinai Hospital of Baltimore.
These are some of the primary hospitals in Baltimore, a city that stands out in the provision of medical care.
What’s Wrong with Me? Does the Internet Know?
Why I am feeling this way? More and more of us find the internet a great place to start.
You wake up in the morning with a weird symptom. Thinking to your self, ” Wow, never had that happen before.” You are probably part of the growing population that knows the number of great resources that are available on the web. Doctors understand this also, so they are making sure you can find them easily.
When you are searching about health concerns it is not your typical use of the internet. This is serious, its not games, recipes or chatting with friends. We feel more comfortable with the easy and private access the internet gives us to the latest information. Every new day brings new advances in health care and search engines can easily deliver the up to date information we desire.
Even the comfort we experience for basing a decision on a recommendation from a friend has carried over to the web. Online communities have become a great resource for finding out how others have fared with the same issue. The best resources are those that give you local information and comments form your neighbors about their experience and how they were treated. We all can take a sense of pride in making sure to leave our experiences on these forums knowing it can help others.
Luckily the medical profession is on the bus with us patients. They know we use the internet to research health concerns. The best doctors or dentists have easy to find web pages that answer our questions. They show they care by keeping up on the latest treatments and cures and providing that information. They also make sure that people will spread a positive word about them through our online communities.
Baltimore Area Primary Care Physicians fight for equal pay
Doctors are fleeing the Baltimore region at an alarming rate. Many primary care physicians in Baltimore and Baltimore County can no longer make enough money to justify keeping their practice in the area. Many have already switched to an expensive boutique practice model or decided to close down all together. The residents of Baltimore may be soon forced to travel over state lines to see a family doctor.
The facts are in and they don’t look good for the private practice primary care physicians. A survey recently completed by the Government Accountability Office reports that Baltimore and vicinity ranks dead last out of 319 areas of the country in physician reimbursement. Baltimore area physicians are reimbursed on average 73% of the national average. This would not be so detrimental however the area has some of the highest cost of living at 118% of the average. The problem is concentrated in the state of Maryland. Areas just a few miles away, over the state lines in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia are not as affected.
This reimbursement rate is hurting our doctors and legislatures need to make some changes. Compounding the problem are the high rates of malpractice insurance for Baltimore doctors. Maryland tort laws have not been reformed to reduce the amount of coverage needed by the doctors. Doctors who are already having trouble scraping buy are then forced to shell out $100,000 or more a year in malpractice insurance premiums.
There are alternatives for the physicians. Companies are coming in and wooing the doctors with the promise of big paychecks if they join organizations which charge yearly fees to each patient. Patients are required to pay retainers to the doctors in order to use their services; these boutique practices can charge as much as $4,000 per year. This is a tough pill for most Baltimore residents to swallow in the current economy.
The good news is that some doctors realize the need for change and our standing up for their practices. In order to keep medicine accessible to all and keep the traditional family practice in the area, they are petitioning citizens to reach out to elected officials. Baltimore residents need to contact their local politicians and send a message to Annapolis. Politicians need to know that we want to keep our family doctors in Baltimore and they deserve to make a decent living doing what they love.
The Internet is knocking, Medical Professionals, are you there?
No, well everyone else is.
Every year a larger percentage of the population is web enabled. A growing number of potential patients are out there and looking on the internet for information you could easily be providing. Like most in the health care field you probably have a website, an internet doorway for patients. Do you know what type of information they are knocking on your door to find?
eMarketer estimates that 63.4% of the US population uses the Web at least once per month, and that nearly seven out of 10 Americans will do so by 2013. Not only is the size of this population impressive but so is the staggering growth of their use of search engines. Google in a recent month received 33.5% more visitors then from the previous year.
That is a potentially large number of people looking for health care information. To communicate with this type of internet user you need to speak their language. Some have even now dubbed this crowd, e-patients. Estimations of the e-patient population have shown they make up 75% of all internet users. (Pew Foundation)
These users differ from the average web surfer. They have a much more serious concern, their health. E-patients want current information to base important medical decisions. They also trust the opinions of others in online communities where word of mouth recommendations are prevalent.
Even though speaking with a doctor is still the preferred source of medical information; the audience using the internet as their primary resource is growing. You are only their first option slightly more than half the time.
Start bringing them through your door using a marketing strategy that radiates to a growing population. A population that believes the internet is one of the acceptable channels to gather medical information. Become a reliable open source of information on the web and you will see the results that are possible.
