For someone who has a foot problem, trying to navigate the current healthcare system can potentially be overwhelming. For someone who has health insurance, and decides that they want to use it, co-pays, co-insurance, deductibles, and prior authorizations are common things that you can experience. If you don't have insurance the above is avoided. A common question that people have when they are looking to find a foot doctor is, "Do you need a referral to see a Podiatrist?"
If you are wanting to use health insurance, a referral may be required. If you are not using health insurance, and paying cash, a referral is not required.
What is a referral?
A referral is when a doctor, such as a primary care physician, sends the patient to a specialist for specialized examination and treatment.
The referral can be helpful for a patient to get into see certain specialists, and to address their health issues in a better way, by adding on another doctor to the medical team. This specialist usually has more knowledge on a specific area of human health, or a diagnosis, and will be able to provide their expertise, for a better outcome for a patient. The referring doctor will usually speak to the specialist, and will include information like the patient’s medical history, complaints, and symptoms, and any previous treatments,
The referral may also include test results, X-rays, MRIs, DEXA scans, or Ultrasounds.
At this point, the specialist will then examine the patient, go over their records and test results, to decide on a treatment plan. A referral can be an important part of helping a patient get the best medical care possible, and get better much faster.
Is a podiatrist considered a specialist?
A podiatrist is a type of specialist. Specficially, a podiatrist or foot doctor is a physician that is specialized in treating diseases and conditions of the foot, ankle, or lower leg.
In the U.S., a podiatrist's education includes 4 years of college, 4 years of podiatric medical school, and at least 3 years of residency training.
In podiatric medical school, future foot doctors spend the first 2 years taking general science courses like general anatomy, neurobiology, pharmacology, genetics, biochemistry, physiology, and neurobiology. In addition to these courses, there are podiatry-focused classes like biomechanics, lower extremity trauma, podiatric surgery, and podiatric dermatology.
Podiatry students also do extensive rotations at hospitals all across the country, working in clinics, seeing admitted patients, and assisting in surgeries.
The road to becoming a podiatrist or foot doctor also includes multiple board exams, which have to be passed in order to graduate from either podiatric medical school or residency.
A residency in podiatry is surgery-focused. Surgeries that podiatrists in the U.S are trained to perform include many different types of toe and foot amputations, wound debridements or surgically cleaning out wounds, bunions, hammertoes, broken bones, surgically resetting broken bones, foot and ankle joint replacement, tendon repair, skin grafts, and more.
Podiatry residents also work extensively in podiatry offices and clinics, wound care centers, and seeing admitted patients in hospitals. Podiatry residencies also include working in different departments of hospitals including internal medicine, anesthesiology, pathology, general surgery, emergency medicine, and psychiatry.
As you can see, the road to becoming a podiatrist or foot doctor in the U.S. is a long one, filled with many diverse experiences. All of this though, helps us podiatrists/foot doctors, become the best doctors we can be, be able to interact with our fellow physician colleagues professionally and competently, and best serve our patients by having an understanding and appreciation of our certain diseases, or conditions of the body can impact the health of the foot, ankle, and lower leg.
Do You Need A Referral To See a Podiatrist?
This question will have a different answer based on your situation.
If you are paying cash for your podiatry visit, at a direct care or cash practice, then a referral is not required.
If you have health insurance and want to use it for a podiatry visit, depending on the type of plan you have, a referral could be required.
One way to know if a referral is needed if you have health insurance is to look at the insurance card, either the front or the back. Sometimes if there is a referral requirement, or not, the card will have this printed on it. If you have health insurance and don't know if a referral is required for your specific plan, reach out to your insurance company.
Key Takeaways
The question, "Do you need a referral to see a podiatrist?" It can be a possibly complex question depending on if you have and would like to use health insurance. When paying cash for your medical care though, the answer is simple, no a referral is not required. A direct care or cash practice allows for much faster access and care without restrictions.
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Are you looking for a podiatrist in Phoenix? My name is Dr. Tarr, I am the owner of Direct Podiatry Arizona, to view my available appointment times, click here.