Often your local doc in SoMD will refer you to the surgeon within his system (eg medstar) whether that surgeon is the best one for you or not. For any kind of elective surgery you want to do your own research and anonymous recommendations from the internet can be part of that.
You hit the nail on the head. At MedStar (the only real provider in the area), they basically give you a printout of every MedStar doctor that practices in that field and its up to you to ennie-meenine-miny-moe.
I had the 1st of 2 done Friday at St. Mary's with Dr. Tushar Samdani. The 2nd next week with same. My only gripe is with the hospital itself. I specifically asked the person who called to schedule HOW MUCH TOTAL TIME IS THIS GOING TO TAKE; FROM THE TIME I GET THERE TO THE TIME I LEAVE. 90 minutes was the answer and she told me what TIME THEY WANTED ME THERE at 0905. This is mainly because I am imposing on a friend to take me there and babysit me, per the hospital's requirements, and I wanted them to know exactly how much of their time I needed.
Well, I get there before 0900 and go in pretty quickly, do the undress and answer the same questions I've already been asked 3 times before. I also double-check with the admitting nurse about they time. "They told me this whole thing is going to take about 90 minutes. Is that right?" "That sounds about right."
1100 comes and I'm still sitting there freezing 2 hour later. I call the nurse and ask what time the procedure is scheduled for. 11:35. So, why did you ask me to get here 2.5 hours early and tell me the whole thing would take 90 minutes? Well, we have to admit you and ask the questions. Well back at ya, that took all of 15 minutes! Sometime after noon they finally roll me in. Keep in mind that this is a routine procedure that they said would actually last for about 15 minutes (Time in the op room, not recovery and all that).
I asked her to go tell my friend what the realistic time schedule was since she had been expecting to leave 30 minutes ago. They never did.
When they call to schedule next week's procedure, I am going to specifically ask what time the procedure is scheduled to start and I'll be there an hour before, regardless of what time they want me there.
From what I've experienced, my conclusion is that the health care industry is a bit of a joke as far as consumerism goes. There is no real way to comparatively shop for a doctor other than anecdotal recommendations from other people and anonymous comments on the internet, if there even are any. The Medstar site lists customer ratings for the doctor, but they are cumulative, nothing more than xx out of 5 stars based on inputs from anonymous people. You can't even read any specific comments from any of the supposed people providing these ratings; maybe the whole thing is gamed.
Then there is trying to find out what this stuff is going to cost. I asked the surgeon for a ball park estimate. He had no idea, he doesn't handle that part of the business. I asked his coordinator, she had no idea, told me to call my insurance company. I asked her why I would call them when her company is the service provider. Silence. Basically, you pay whatever they say it costs. End of story.
A few years ago, I had planned to lose weight and go back to my righteous weight. I wanted to get a body density scan to determine by body fat ratio. The book I was reading said it should cost from $50-100 based on the author's personal experience. No way was I going to go in blind and then end up with a $2000 bill. So, I called MedStar to get a cost estimate. I had the exact medical name for the procedure. At first the operator sent me to billing. They told me I had the wrong dept. On the 3rd call I had to raise my voice to this same operator and make her listen to what I needed. I finally got to the right person after an hour or so. She knew exactly the procedure I wanted but couldn't find the price because there was more than one "CODE" for it. She promised to call me back the next day. I never heard from MedStar again.
We need a Jeff Bezos to get in there and revolutionize the medical industry. We should be able to have an Amazon-like system to shop for doctors and do price comparison shopping for basic services. Unfortunately, there are too many barriers right now to allow the consumer to win. First of all, there is insufficient competition. I have NEVER SEEN my primary care physician because every time I call for an appointment, the 1st available date is 30 days away. Secondly, we have the insurance companies, and now the government, standing in between us and the providers. Too many people get their insurance provided free by their company or the government and this essentially destroys the free market system.
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