November 2010

Tips for Choosing Your Medical Team

When choosing a doctor, look for someone who:

Is a Board-certified doctor. You can find out which medical oncologist are board certified in oncology by checking with the American Board of Internal Medicine at www.abim.org, the American Board of Medical Specialties at www.abms.org or The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) at http://www.cancer.net/portal/site/patient (click on "Find an Oncologist").

Is affiliated with an accredited hospital or health care center. To see if the health care center your doctor is affiliated with is accredited, check The Joint Commission. Joint Commission accreditation and certification is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to meeting certain performance standards. They can be found at www.jointcommission.org.

Has a caring, compassionate, and competent staff. All offices are busy but find one that makes you feel like you matter. If you know in advance about the office policies for returned calls, off-hour calls and the like, you will know if their office is one you will want to work with.

Other factors in choosing in doctor:

Accepts your insurance.
Get referrals from people you trust, like your primary care physician.
The doctor appreciates that you trust him or her with your life.
He or she listens and treats you with respect.
The doctor asks you about preferences about different kinds of treatment and is not threatened by new information.

The following are some specialties and subspecialties that pertain to cancer treatment:

Medical Oncology is a subspecialty of internal medicine. Doctors who specialize in internal medicine treat a wide range of medical problems. Medical oncologists treat cancer and manage the patient’s course of treatment. A medical oncologist may also consult with other physicians about the patient’s care or refer the patient to other specialists.
Hematology is a subspecialty of internal medicine. Hematologists focus on diseases of the blood and related tissues, including the bone marrow, spleen, and lymph nodes.
Radiation Oncology is a subspecialty of radiology. Radiology is the use of x-rays and other forms of radiation to diagnose and treat disease. Radiation oncologists specialize in the use of radiation to treat cancer.
Surgery is a specialty that pertains to the treatment of disease by surgical operation. General surgeons perform operations on almost any area of the body. Physicians can also choose to specialize in a certain type of surgery; for example, thoracic surgeons are specialists who perform operations specifically in the chest area, including the lungs and the esophagus.

What Do Those Initials Mean after a Provider’s name?

Healthcare professionals may be certified to provide care in special areas and use abbreviations to show those credentials. Here are some examples.

DO vs MD: The main difference between the two types of physicians is that D.O.s have been specially trained to perform osteopathic manipulations on patients. They view the patient as a 'total person" and focus on preventative care.

Registered Nurse (RN) vs Nurse Practitioner (NP): A Nurse Practitioner (NP) is a registered nurse who has normally completed either a master's degree or doctoral degree and undergone training in the diagnosis and management of common medical conditions.

Designation issued by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine-USA (NCCAOM)