How Do I Choose the Best Epilepsy Specialist?

An epilepsy specialist is a doctor who diagnoses and treats seizure disorders. There are many things to consider when you are trying to choose the best specialist, and board certification and experience may fall at the top of your list of priorities. You also can consider recommendations from others who have this health condition as well as the opinion of your family doctor. Additionally, such matters as insurance, treatment approaches and philosophies, and even the technology used in a specialist's office may make a difference.

When you are trying to choose the best epilepsy specialist, you may do well to select one based on experience. Ideally, the specialist you choose will have extensive experience helping patients not only with epilepsy in general, but also with the particular type of epilepsy you have. You may also consider specialists based on the type of patient they usually treat. For instance, if you are looking for a doctor to treat your child, you might prefer one who specializes in treatments for children rather than a doctor who is primarily focused on adult patients.

Board certification may also factor into your decision. A doctor who is board certified in neurology has met strict standards for his specialty, gained experience, and passed rigorous exams. With this type of preparation, you may feel more confident about your doctor's ability to provide effective treatment.

You can also consider recommendations when you are trying to choose the best epilepsy specialists, including those that come from your family doctor. If you have friends or family members who have epilepsy, you may find them an excellent source of specialist recommendations as well. Epilepsy support groups also can prove to be good sources of recommendations. Additionally, you may find online medical databases that list practitioner ratings you can use to help make your decision.

In many cases, choices are somewhat limited by the terms of your health insurance contract. Some types of health insurance will only cover epilepsy specialists within a certain network while others allow you to have more say in whom you use. Additionally, there are some insurance policies that will allow you to choose outside of a particular network but then require you to pay a portion of the practitioner's fees.

Often, approach and philosophy matter a great deal when you are trying to choose the best epilepsy specialist. You may prefer a doctor who uses state-of-the-art technologies in his practice as well as up-to-date treatment approaches. Additionally, you might do well to choose an epilepsy specialist who has a health philosophy that is as close to yours as possible.