Selecting Your Primary Care Physician

Your primary care physician (PCP) is an important member of your healthcare team. Your PCP provides your annual exams, preventive care screenings, handles your routine illnesses and most minor injuries, recommends prescription medications and will refer you to specialists and hospitals when necessary.

How to Select or Change Primary Care Physicians

You need to select a PCP when you enroll with any HMO health insurance plan. The information below will help you with the process. If you’d like to speak with someone, please contact Customer Service at (800) 445-5747, option 3. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, 8 am – 5 pm.

Enrollment/Change Forms

Your HMO provides you with an Enrollment Packet which should include an “Enrollment/Change Form”. All forms have an area to indicate the Provider Identification Number. Some forms ask for both the PCP ID# and the IPA or Medical Group ID#.
Here’s an example of what the Provider area on a typical HMO enrollment form might look like:

Some forms ask for the doctor's name, others for the number and some for both or just the IPA number. It can be confusing, and not providing the numbers yourself might mean you'll be assigned to a medical group that doesn't include all the services you want.

Enrollment form help is just a click away! You can view or download step by step instructions for your health plan here...

Identify the Doctor of Your Choice

It’s easy to find a Hill Physicians’ Care Provider. Click here for our Online Physician Directory, which allows you to locate a doctor close to your home or workplace. At the bottom of your search results you’ll see a link where you can print your results for convenient reference.

If you’re not sure how what to look for in your doctor, here are some
Tips on Choosing the Best PCP for You.

Where to Find the ID#’s

All of health plans affiliated with Hill Physicians Medical Group have online directories. Once you have located your preferred doctor using our directory, it’s time look at the directory of your health plan and search for him or her by name. Then look for the number that corresponds to Hill Physicians.

We know this may be confusing so click here if you’d like more information on where to look for these numbers in your specific health plan...

Why It’s Important to Choose Hill Physicians as Your Group

You may wonder why it is important to select a doctor via Hill Physicians Medical Group? There are several reasons:

By choosing Hill Physicians as your medical group, you are eligible for all of the Clinical Programs and Value-added Services available to our members. Learn more details here.
The Hill Physicians’ network of doctors is so large that if you ever wanted to change physicians you can do so easily while keeping the clinical and value-added services offered to our members.
You enjoy flexibility with Hill. Your primary care physician (PCP) can refer you to a specialist in our network without waiting for administrative authorization. And you can self-refer to anyone in our network for vision, mental health and OB/GYN services.

But, these advantages are only available if you select Hill Physicians as your medical group and a Hill Physicians doctor.

Download a brochure on how you Get More with Hill Physicians.

Tips on Choosing the Best PCP for You

Here are some tips to help you select a PCP that best meets your needs.
Select the PCP specialty that fits your "age" needs. Some PCPs specialize in adult care, others in children.

General and family practice are specialties that work with patients of all ages, including children, adults and seniors.
Pediatrics is the specialty for children (birth to teens). Internal medicine is the specialty that works only with adults.
Geriatrics is the specialty that works with older adults.
Use our Physician Directory to select three or four physicians to consider. Be sure to select physicians that you believe best meet your needs.

You can use questions like these to focus your search:

Would you prefer a physician with an office close to your home or close to your office — or both?
Do you need a physician who offers extended weekend and/or evening hours?
Do you prefer a physician who can accommodate specific language or cultural needs?
Do you prefer a male or female physician?

Do a little research on the physicians you have selected.

Before you make your final choice, you may want to check out the following:

Ease of making appointments. Call the physician’s office and ask questions such as, “How long do patients typically wait to get an appointment?” and “What’s the wait if I am ill or need immediate attention?”
Educational background, board certifications, hospital privileges and professional affiliations. You can use our Physician Directory to get information on a physician’s educational background, board certifications and hospital affiliations — or you can contact our Customer Service Department.

You also can check for information with the California Medical Association and other professional medical groups for information.

Make an appointment for a routine visit with your new physician. Even if you’re healthy, a visit will give you the opportunity to meet your physician and the staff and to familiarize yourself with their office procedures. That way, when you are ill or have an emergency, the office will already have your medical information.

Download our helpful tips on 10 Ways to Prepare for Your 1st visit

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