Before You Say Yes to a Medical Procedure.

Before you undergo surgery or any other medical procedure you owe it to yourself to invest a little time to make sure that the doctor you choose is a reputable, board-certified physician. The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) urges you to ask questions and offers the following tips to consider before you choose a physician for any type of procedure.

• If a doctor says, "I'm board certified," your next questions should be "By what board?" and "In what specialty?" It's important that you first confirm that the doctor is certified by one of the ABMS Member Boards. Then, find out if it's the right specialty board - one that encompasses the training and evaluation for the specific procedure you will undergo. For example, someone considering a tummy tuck or other type of plastic surgery might choose a doctor certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. ABMS oversees 24 medical specialty boards and sets the standards to evaluate and certify physicians. You can check, free of charge, if a physician is ABMS Member Board certified in a particular specialty by visiting "Is Your Doctor Certified" at www.ABMS.org or calling 1-866-ASK-ABMS.
  
  
• Even if a doctor is certified in the right specialty, the procedure being considered may be one that he or she performs only occasionally, so you should ask how many times the doctor has performed the procedure in the past three, six or 12 months. Ask about potential risks, recovery time and possible complications and how they would be handled.
  
  
• For surgical procedures, doctors should have hospital or ambulatory surgery privileges, malpractice insurance or its equivalent, and a medical license in addition to board certification by an appropriate ABMS Member Board.
  
  
• If you are having a procedure performed in an ambulatory surgery unit, you should make sure it is accredited by a national or state organization, which is generally recognized and accept by The Joint Commission, Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities or Inpatient Quality Indicator.
  
  
• Because most states do not make malpractice lawsuit information public, it will likely be difficult for you to find out if a doctor has malpractice lawsuits against him/her. The best way to find out is to ask the doctor directly. To learn if a physician has been disciplined or had his or her license suspended or revoked, you can check with the Federation of State Medical Boards at www.FSMB.org.