How can I find a list of surgeons who accept Medicare for anterior knee surgery?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around finding surgeons who accept Medicare for anterior knee surgery, focusing on how to compile a list of qualified doctors. Participants explore various methods for gathering this information, including referrals and online resources.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that the friend's primary care physician (PCP) could provide referrals if they have recommended anterior knee surgery.
  • Another participant notes that if the friend has plain Medicare, finding a specialist who accepts Medicare should suffice, while an advantage plan may have different requirements.
  • Participants discuss the challenges of using Medicare.gov for finding surgeons, with one noting difficulty in narrowing down searches beyond orthopedic surgeons.
  • One participant proposes a two-pronged approach to finding acceptable physicians, suggesting cross-referencing lists of surgeons with those who accept Medicare payments based on how patients arrive at the physician.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the importance of referrals and the role of the primary care physician, but there is no consensus on the best method for compiling a list of surgeons or the effectiveness of various online resources.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about the specifics of Medicare plans and the implications for finding surgeons, indicating a need for clarity on the requirements for referrals and insurance acceptance.

WWGD
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Hi All,
A non-tech-savvy friend needs anterior knee surgery with doctors accepting medicare. How would I go about collecting several Drs satisfying the needed conditions? Unfortuantely, from what I have seen, the info is spread about many web pages, so that a comprehensive search, i.e., containing all reqs, returns no hits. Ultimately, I would like to have a list of surgeons and send a few emails to verify they satisfy the search conditions. I don't know if I can do some scraping from Medicare.gov, or if someone has better ideas.
Thanks.
 
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WWGD said:
A non-tech-savvy friend needs anterior knee surgery with doctors accepting medicare.
Has he been told that by his primary care physician? If so, that Doc should be able to give some preferred referrals. If not, how do they know they need anterior knee surgery?

I'm not all that familiar with Medicare, but I would think that going to a specialist would require a referral from their PCP, no?
 
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berkeman said:
Has he been told that by his primary care physician? If so, that Doc should be able to give some preferred referrals. If not, how do they know they need anterior knee surgery?

I'm not all that familiar with Medicare, but I would think that going to a specialist would require a referral from their PCP, no?
Thanks Berkeman. I will ask her that. She just told me she needed it and asked me to look for someone well-qualified accepting Medicare. I am not very familiar with it myself. Will ask and follow-up.
 
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If she has plain Medicare (as opposed to an advantage plan) and the specialist accepts Medicare insurance, that is all that is needed. If she has an advantage plan, then that plan specifies what is required.
 
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WWGD said:
Hi All,
A non-tech-savvy friend needs anterior knee surgery with doctors accepting medicare. How would I go about collecting several Drs satisfying the needed conditions? Unfortuantely, from what I have seen, the info is spread about many web pages, so that a comprehensive search, i.e., containing all reqs, returns no hits. Ultimately, I would like to have a list of surgeons and send a few emails to verify they satisfy the search conditions. I don't know if I can do some scraping from Medicare.gov, or if someone has better ideas.
Thanks.
I'm not clear from that how much work you have done on Medicare.gov, but it does indeed have a doctor search function.
 
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russ_watters said:
I'm not clear from that how much work you have done on Medicare.gov, but it does indeed have a doctor search function.
Thanks Russ, yes, I tried it. I can only narrow it down to Ortho surgeons, if I try to narrow it further I get zero hits. I am trying now WebMd, but I will have to narrow down for Medicare accept.
 
Sometimes the acceptance or non-acceptance for payment by an insurance plan, of and for care provided by a particular physician, can depend on the path by which you arrive at the decision point.

There are conceivable instances in which a person is insurably eligible or ineligible for the same care by the same physician, depending pivotally upon how the person got to that physician.

I think that you and your friend should take a two-pronged crossover-intersectional approach: (1) find a list of acceptable physicians, and cross-reference the candidates against a set of insurer-acceptable lines of approach to them; (2) find a list of by-your-insurer-possibly-payable providers, and cross-reference that list against a list of acceptable physicians.
 
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