How do foreign visitors find a local doctor in the USA?

June 9, 2011 11:07 PM

I'm going to be visiting New Orleans with my kids. We try to go every year and this trip we'll be staying around a month. I'd like to have a regular doctor or medical practice so that I don't need to visit a hospital emergency room for something minor. We have travel insurance, and most of our party will be US citizens.
posted by Joe in Australia to Health & Fitness (3 answers total)

I'd say you could go about it the same way we do. You can search for family practice doctors on Yelp and Angie's list, read through reviews, and choose a few doctors not too far from where you'll be living.
Then call all of these doctors and ask if they'd be willing to accept you and the family as patients for a month. Not all doctors you pick will be able to accept new patients but hopefully some will. Then your biggest limitation will be whether or not they accept your insurance (Some medical practices list the insurance plans they accept on the site).
posted by babbyʼ); Drop table users; -- at 11:25 PM on June 9, 2011

You might want to consider finding a good urgent care facility. I've made use of them while traveling. The docs there are usually very good, and they generally have better hours than a "regular" doctor's office.
posted by SteveInMaine at 3:18 AM on June 10, 2011 [1 favorite]

There aren't a lot of urgent care centers here in New Orleans. We go to an excellent practice, I will message you their info so you can call them.
posted by pyjammy at 11:54 AM on June 10, 2011