One of the things you will need to do (sooner or later) after you move to Arizona is find a new family doctor. You may think that because Arizona is a haven for retirees, doctors should be plentiful, right? Well, that may not necessarily be the case and coming from the Midwest you may have a rude awakening.
My family was always used to going to a clinic and having all the specialties including your primary care physician under the same roof. We were also used to having office hours in the evening as well as limited Saturday hours. It’s a little different here!
What I quickly found out is almost all doctors have office hours from 8 am to 5 pm Monday thru Friday with a break for lunch at mid-day and no hours on Saturday. I’m sure there is a practice somewhere in the valley that is open on Saturday, but I haven’t seen it. I did find a chiropractor with late hours one day a week and one Saturday a month but that’s it.
So, you’ll need to change how you can book appointments and then you’ll need to consider that from late October thru late April there will be the Snowbird factor (see my blog post on Snowbirds published October 2023). What I mean is loads of seniors will now be competing with you for appointments and you will find it more challenging to see a physician.
There is also the billing dilemma that you will really need to pay attention to. While most practices will take your insurance, you definitely will need to verify that before your visit. You can also expect to pay any co-insurance or deductibles BEFORE you see a doctor They don’t bill you after your visit and there’s nothing wrong with that. The issue becomes if there is a billing error in your favor (insurance paid more than expected) – the wait for repayment can be a long time.
When you are a full time Arizona resident you learn to work through these obstacles. You book as far in advance as possible, you utilize the many urgent care facilities in emergency situations. Urgent Care facilities are plentiful and easier to find than hospital emergency rooms. There are several hospitals currently being built adding more availability to the area so that is something to look forward to.
Hopefully you find a practice that you like. It took me 3 tries to get a primary doctor that I liked and that I felt understood my health concerns. If you don’t like one, try another. Make use of my friend Google and the online tools that grade doctors like Healthgrades.
Now you’re really #TRANSPLANTED