Would You Recommend Your Heart Surgeon?
Earlier today, I was at Borders reading a fascinating book called “The Ultimate Question” by Fred Reichheld. The book claims that YOUR customer satisfaction is best measured by one simple question, “Would you recommend this product or service to a friend?”
When I stopped to think about it, I was amazed at all the different product and service recommendations I made during the last 24 hours. The list included everything from one-cup coffee machines (Keurig) to 7-inch digital photo frames (Philips) to attorneys (Valle Associates) to gardening centers (Lowes) to…. yes… you guessed it… HEART SURGEONS.
Given my experience with heart surgery (e.g. aortic valve replacement operations), I have become friendly with several surgeons throughout the world including Dr. Ross, Dr. Hilgenberg, Dr. Stelzer and Dr. Roselli. And, while I couldn’t personally claim “customer satisfaction” for all of them (as Dr. Starnes was my only surgeon), I could account for their excellence through other patient experiences.
In light of the “The Ultimate Question”, I have an engaging question for all the patients and caregivers reading this blog. If you have already experienced heart surgery, “Would you recommend your heart surgeon? Why? Or, why not?”
If you could, please take a few moments to respond in the “Leave A Reply” section below. I imagine your thoughts would really help future patients and caregivers.
Keep on tickin!
Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery, a unique book which integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of an actual heart valve surgery patient. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.
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June 13th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
I would strongly recommend my doctor, Joseph J. DeRose Jr. at 718 405 8571. He is the Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery and Robotic Surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York.
June 13th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I would recommend my Surgeon, Dr. Michael Acker, of The Hospital of The University of Pennsylvania. I had Aortic Valve replacement surgery. I had a cardiac catherization performed in a hospital in new jersery. I wanted the best on short notice. Dr. Acker responded to my plea and his office arranged my transfer within hours and performed my surgery 2 days later. He assured me and my family that he would take good care of me and I would be fine. He made me feel confident that all would go well. His skill and his support team were the best. I have recoverd nicely and I am forever thankful that he did indeed take good care of me.
June 13th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I would ABSOLUTELY recommend Dr. William Ryan in Dallas/Plano, TX. He is a master of the Ross procedure…which he performed on me. The new Heart Hospital of Plano is state-of-the-art and the care is outstanding (menu of food is unbelievable…if you feel like eating). So, YES, I would absolutely recommend Dr. William Ryan and I have many times since my Ross procedure on 2/12/08.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I would recommend my heart surgeon Dr. Divikar Mandapoti at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital. The BEST, kind, considerate, concerned a Michaelangelo in his field. I had CABG X 4 done in Jan. 2008 and my second recommendation is for my Vascular Surgeon Dr. Edward Marcaccio of RI Hospital he just performed Carotid Artery surgery on me May 28, 2008 another Michaelangelo in his field.
July 18th, 2008 at 9:54 am
I had Mitral Valve repair using a robotic assisted device at the Cleveland Clinic on June 19th. My surgeon was Dr. Tomislav Mihaljevic and I strongly recommend both the surgeon and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. I live outside Boston and traveled to Cleveland to have this important surgery and would do it again.
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:41 pm
What if your health insurance doesn’t cover “out-of-network” surgery? I can’t believe that everyone who goes to places like the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo have their surgeries paid for by their insurance. What kind of a cost are we talking about? I don’t want to have to declare bankruptcy if I can’t pay my hospital bills.
August 15th, 2008 at 4:14 am
Drew Kirshner, M.D. performed quintuple bypass surgery on me at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore in December, 2007. The only pain I experienced after surgery was back pain due to the fact that i couldn’t sleep on my side for a month.