What is the first step in finding a new doctor who accepts Medicare Part B?

Medicare maintains a list of doctors and other providers who accept Medicare patients. The Medicare web site has a tool that gives you access to this list for doctors in your geographic area who accept Medicare patients. The tool also breaks down this list of doctors by their medical specialty. The tool provides you with specific information about each doctor, as well as where they practice and how to contact them. You can also get the same information by calling Medicare toll-free at 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227).

If a doctor is identified on this list as participating in Medicare, that not only means the doctor accepts Medicare patients but also accepts the Medicare-approved amount for any particular treatment or service as payment in full (though you're still responsible for the 20 percent copayment that Medicare Part B doesn't pay). What this tool doesn't tell you, though, is whether any particular doctor is presently accepting new Medicare patients. For that answer, you have to contact the doctor's office directly.