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Incredibly Effective Ways to Check Out Your Surgeon

August 29, 2007
by: Stephanie

When it comes to selecting a surgeon, I'll take skill over personality anytime. But the $64,000 question is, how do you assess a surgeon's skill? When you buy a new TV or vacuum cleaner, you can rely on Consumer Reports and talk to friends who have the same model. But there's no "Consumer Reports" for doctors, and it's infinitely harder to find someone you know and trust who has had the same surgery for the same condition.

To help you navigate the murky waters of getting the real scoop on your surgeon, here are several little known and highly effective ways to find out about your surgeon's skills and expertise:

Talk to the nurses
The nurses see the surgeon's results – they see the successes and they see the mistakes -- and they know the difference. If you need surgery ask to speak with the operating room (OR) nurses who cover that surgeon, and speak with the anesthesia personal as well. Be specific in asking them "If you needed this surgery, who would you have do it?" Do this very early in the process at the hospital you will be going to. Of course the nurses usually won't come right out and say "That surgeon's a dirtbag." But you can usually pick up on their overall opinion of the surgeon through your discussion anyway (e.g. by what they don't say, but what they omit, with their facial expressions). For example, if the nurse says, "I sent my Dad to him" that's about the highest praise there is. Conversely, if the nurse says "He's such a nice guy" but declines to comment on his surgical skills, that is a big red flag. Just be careful how you interpret what they say. For example, when ERNurse (on our Pain Forums) asked the OR nurses about her surgeon one made a face and said, "He's so *** picky in the OR," she ignored the nurse's negativity and instead interpreted it to mean that the surgeon was precise, picky about sterile fields, and wanted everything to be right – all good things.

Most people are not too comfortable "cold calling" on nurses to ask them questions in the hospital, and many times hospital policies discourage people from walking around and asking random questions. If this is the case, you can first ask to speak with the Nursing Director, tell her what you're doing and why, and use the Director's authority to gain access to the rest of the nurses you need to speak with.

Nurses you'll want to speak with include:

Operating room nurses (and anesthesia personnel), who see how the surgeon performs in the operating room
Nurses who work on the floor where surgeon's patients usually go after surgery (they see the recovery experience of that surgeon's patients vs. other surgeons patients)
If you're still not sure, you can ask to speak with the Risk manager of the hospital, who is usually a supervisory nurse. Again, she will give you just basics but the tone in which she talks with you might allow you to pick up on subtleties.

Get specific references
Ask for references from three patients, but don't ask the surgeon for these. Ask the physician who referred you to the surgeon (this will typically be your primary care physician). That way you're more likely to get a balanced view. Then, provided those patients give the surgeon good marks, ask your surgeon for two more references, and this time ask for references only from patients who have had your specific surgery for the same diagnosis.

For those of you who are wondering, yes, you can ask your doctor for references from other patients. A good surgeon will be happy to give you references and does this sort of thing all the time. A good surgeon will have plenty of patients who are happy to serve as references. And a good surgeon knows that if you're confident about your decision to have surgery and your choice of surgeon, then you'll do better after the surgery.

Ask around
You really can't do too much of this. If you have any friends who work in the healthcare field, see if they can find out about your surgeon. The healthcare universe is actually quite small when it comes to surgeons, and often it just takes a couple phone calls for someone who works in health care to find out about the reputation of a surgeon.

Know the answers to some questions
When you ask your surgeon questions, make sure you have an opinion about the correct answer to some of the questions so that, even though you don't have an MD or DO, at least you will be able to gauge the credibility of some of their answers. To do this, look up everything you can about your surgery -- there are a many free information sources on the Internet (just be sure you can trust the source). Use the knowledge you gain as a basis for an interview with your surgeon. For example, if your surgeon is recommending an ALIF for lumbar degenerative disc disease, look up the principal risks of this surgery on Spine-health.com and then ask the surgeon what they are. If he fails to mention one or several of the main risks, this is a red flag.

the very least, confirm that he or she is board certified or board eligible in his or her specialty, and see if he or she has any issues with the state medical board or other reported issues. Also read as much advice as you can on how to select a surgeon, such as 38 Questions to Ask Your Surgeon Before Having Back Surgery.

All of the above takes time, but when you consider the gravity of the situation and all the risks involved with having surgery (including, when it comes to having back surgery, the risk of having continued or even increased pain after the surgery), then it is definitely worth the time and effort.

Special thanks to the collective insights and experiences of Spine-health's active and vibrant Pain Forums for contributing most of the above points.

Good luck!

Posted by: Stephanie

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