President Obama Gets Educated On Robotic Heart Valve Repair
In case you missed it…
Last Thursday, President Barack Obama visited The Cleveland Clinic for an inside look at its model of healthcare and how it utilizes health information technology for operations including heart valve surgery.
The president’s tour included a demonstration of robotically-assisted heart valve repair. According to The Associated Press, The Cleveland Clinic has performed about 500 robotic heart surgeries using the da Vinci Surgical System - more than any facility in the country - with 0 percent hospital mortality and 99 percent success.
During its presentation to President Obama, The Cleveland Clinic suggested that minimally invasive heart valve repair results in shorter hospital stays, accelerated recovery and costs less when compared with traditional open heart procedures.
The Cleveland Clinic has been ranked the no. 1 cardiac care center by U.S. News and World Report for the past 15 years.
Keep on tickin!
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About The Author: Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. This unique book integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of 78 former valve surgery patients to help patients and caregivers better understand the problems, the opportunities and the realities of heart valve surgery. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.
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July 27th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Adam - this piece prompted me to write again - something I was planning to do after surgery but wanted to do now - you may remember me - I was asking a while back if anyone had experience with HealthNet regarding robotic assisted surgery for mitral valve repair. At that time - while my procedure had been approved - I had been denied the robotic approach. Here is the update. With the help of an advocate I was able to file an appeal - I followed the process vigorously - sending daily faxes with updated information including the fact that I had uncovered that HealthNet had overturned this type of denial in the past - as recently as a month prior - my appeal was denied and their denial upheld - I then filed with the State of California Dept of Insurance. That same day I sent a fed ex letter to the president of HealthNet and copied several of the companies PR staff and board members. The jist of the letter was to say that while I will respect a policy I felt I had been not treated equally compared to other HealthNet customers. It took only 4 days and they reopened my case and approved the robotic approach. I am scheduled for robotic repair surgery this Friday 7/31/09 at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach CA - I look forward to sharing my story of surgery and recovery and if I can ever help anyone esle with a similar challenge.
Regards
Linda Garbett
July 29th, 2009 at 7:04 am
Linda,
I am also scheduled for robotic mitral valve repair on August 6th at St. Joseph’s hospital in Atlanta. I would like to contact you if possible either before your surgery or during our recovery process. My email is janicehknapik@yahoo.com.
August 3rd, 2009 at 8:33 am
Is there any way I could have a mitral valve repair at this wonderful Cleveland Clinic? There are NO minimally invasive heart facilities in South Africa. The idea of being split from neck to navel for open-heart surgery terrifies me.
Jackie Keeton
Cape Town