Health: Finding good doctors in Berlin.

Someone on the "Berlin Scholars" listserv recently asked about finding a good doctor in Berlin. I fretted about this for a while after moving here, and I think a lot of people worry about it.

Here's the response I wrote for the group:

"I think finding a good doctor is a particularly difficult challenge for expats (short-term or long-term). I'm not in Eli's neck of the woods so I can't make a specific recommendation, but I think it's not a bad idea to look for someone who's a Chefarzt/Chefaerztin at a clinic or hospital. You can find a Chefarzt at institutions in your area via this web site:

http://www.arzt-auskunft.de/index.html

Look for titles like Prof. Dr. med. or Priv. Doz. Dr. med., click on the name, and the description should confirm if the doctor is a Chefarzt/in or not and provide other details (contact info, insurance info where relevant, etc.) Some listings even mention if a doctor speaks English or not--though in my experience the people in top positions at clinics and hospitals tend to speak English, regardless of whether or not that's mentioned in an online bio.

Other useful online doctor search engines are:

http://www.aerzte-berlin.de/_php/therapie30/fach.php3
and
http://www.calladoc.com/.

It's a blunt instrument, but the Chefarzt title is the only easily accessible indicator for finding doctors who have distinguished themselves in a positive way."

In the U.S., publications like New York magazine will run special issues on "New York's Best Doctors," and whatnot. They don't do that here in Berlin. Anecdotal information from German acquaintances is not particularly reliable, particularly given the surprising number of people here who put their faith in things like homeopathy. If you're not networked into the medical community here, looking at the Chefarzt title is the best way to go--at least, it's the best that I've been able to think of. If anyone has any other ideas, please share.

Many accept all types of insurance, but some Chefaerzte limit patients to people who are privately insured or "Selbstbezahler." Most expats, I suspect, are privately insured or Selbstbezahler.