Good doctor in Denver

If I may make a suggestion. Don't limit yourself to a local doctor. I had a life threatening ailment that Denver doctors and hospital completely missed. On my own I went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Found the problem in one visit. The Mayo Clinic was not in my medical plan so I had to pay 50% for an out of plan doctor. The Mayo is an amazing place with doctors who are subject matter experts in their fields

 

It was 2007 when I went. I didn't need any referral. The admission's office wanted to make clear to me that I was responsible for the entire bill. However they did say they would bill my insurance company as a courtesy . While I was there I did ask how difficult it was to get an appointment. I was told a referral would help but not necessary. As an aside, we have many friends who live in the Scottsdale, AZ area where another Mayo Clinic is located. They tell me they just "walk in" and get admitted. But I'm assuming this is for emergencies.

My suggestion is to see if you can narrow down the field of medicine you think you need to see. Email or call that Doctor to make an appointment. They will ask you if you have a Mayo Clinic I.D. number which means you have been there before and all your info is in their system. Obviously you won't have a number. They will then send you to admissions to get your personal information. At that point they give you a number and you should be set to go. If I can think of anything else I will post here.

 

There are a lot of great primary care and specialist MDs in the Denver area, though there are a few slugs as well. If you are going to process this through insurance, you'll need to start with their list of approved PCPs and work from that. If you aren't, that opens more options but at possibly greater cost.

One option is to call a few of the local Ask-A-Nurse/ MD referral lines that various hospital groups run (Centura has one, Kaiser has one, I think the University has one). These people can help find a PCP with availability, and can slightly help focuse your search if it is for a specialist instead of a PCP. Note that they ALWAYS refer within their own system, and won't give rankings or suggestions on 'best.'

Avoid picking off a "Top Doctors" website or article (like the magazine 5280 prints each year). While there aren't any idiots on those lists, those lists are usually "as voted by their coworkers" and with no other reasons - so they aren't scientificially or data driven, they are basically popularity contests, though within their field. Likewise, ratings on Yelp and such are basically nonsense, usually only written by angry people or friends.




Note that i am an RN working locally for Centura health, though I don't work in primary care and I receive no kickbacks or rewards from them or anyone else.