evaluating eye surgeons

Tomorrow I see the first of a couple of surgeons who might operate on
my cataracts.


I chose these docs because, in each case, one patient I happened to
know thought that person was good.


It would be nice to be able to get some sort of additional input,
either official or anecdotal, on these doctors' competence. How does
one do this?


So far, I have not found a good way to learn either which surgeons in
the area are the best, or whether any particular one is good or not.
It often seems unhelpful to ask other doctors, who are usually loath
to comment on their colleagues.


But I would like SOME assurance of the reputation or experience of
these people, other than just what I can get from talking to them.
There must be other sources of info, but I'm not sure where.


What does one do? Help.


thanks,

Liz

Indy
(city currently in a haze of barbecue smoke)

In article
<2f275d74-80ae-4ef6-8fad-(E-Mail Removed)>, Liz
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> So far, I have not found a good way to learn either which surgeons in
> the area are the best, or whether any particular one is good or not.
> It often seems unhelpful to ask other doctors, who are usually loath
> to comment on their colleagues.

I never had any problem asking my primary doctor for recommendations.
He gave a list of three or four and mentioned that one had did the
surgery on his wife. Then I stopped by their offices to see what their
offices were like. I also asked friends and relatives. After compiling
all that I picked one the one I perceived as best for me.

--
Charles

This discussion is continued from the earlier post

"locating a good surgeon"

at

groups.google.com/group/sci.med.vision/browse_thread/thread/
119f8629c9191f59#


Oops...

I didn't that realize my earlier post on this same question had
actually APPEARED - Google seemed to have eaten it, as it has eaten
two others - so I unwittingly reposted the same question tonight.
Sorry!

In reply to the earlier responses....

> Contact the IOL manufacturers. Find out if there's a surgeon that THEY use for THEIR trials.

Good idea; will do.

> Several major ophthalmic device companies use Dr Wallace for
> consulting and teaching. He has invented devices used in eye surgery.
> He is a member of the American Society for Cataract and Refractive
> Surgery. And Dr Hertzog instructs at USC in eye surgery

Drs. Wallace and Herzog sound excellent. But flying to LA and staying
there in a hotel, eating at restaurants, taking cabs, etc., for the
operation and recovery would add enormously to the cost of each
surgery, and followup visits would be equally difficult and expensive.

Shouldn't there be good cataract/refractive surgeons in Indianapolis,
or in Chicago? Chicago is only 3 hours away, and I have friends to
stay with there.

If so, how to locate?

Thanks,
Liz
Indianapolis, Indiana, east-central USA

In article
<7a328e8a-67e3-4dab-996d-(E-Mail Removed)>, Liz
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Shouldn't there be good cataract/refractive surgeons in Indianapolis,

Of course. They should be easy to find.

> If so, how to locate?

As I mentioned ask your doctor for recommendations. Also ask friends
and coworkers. Also a city the size of yours may have a consumer rating
service. Here we have the Washingtonian which every year rates the 100
best doctors and the Washington Checkbook which also rated doctors.
Check your local library. Do you have Yelp? They have reviews of
doctors although I have not used Yelp for that yet.

--
Charles

> > Shouldn't there be good cataract/refractive surgeons in Indianapolis,
>
> Of course. They should be easy to find.
>
> > If so, how to locate?
>
> As I mentioned ask your doctor for recommendations.

Will do.

>Also a city the size of yours may have a consumer rating service.

Those are pretty weak here. I'd rather hear from people in the
medical and vision field. We have the Indiana U. medical school here,
I think, but not sure how to approach them.

thanks,
Liz

On Sep 7, 8:37*pm, Liz <fraternobom...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > Shouldn't there be good cataract/refractive surgeons in Indianapolis,
>
> > Of course. They should be easy to find.
>
> > > If so, how to locate?
>
> > As I mentioned ask your doctor for recommendations.
>
> Will do.
>
> >Also a city the size of yours may have a consumer rating service.
>
> Those are pretty weak here. *I'd rather hear from people in the
> medical and vision field. *We have the Indiana U. medical school here,
> I think, but not sure how to approach them.
>
> thanks,
> Liz

Asking doctors can be of help.

I DO think IU has a fairly good reputation. They could, at least
provide leads.

Ditto Kresge Eye in Detroit area -- either for recommendations or the
surgery, if it works out that way.

Sadly, Liz, you can Google this very question, and/but you'll find
very little that /really/ provides comfort.

Word of mouth is often good. Asking eye docs in whom you have faith
who THEY would send THEIR spouses/parents to is often a good idea.

For me, though, it was the guy that the IOL mfgrs used for clinical
trials. My wife's PRK had an exceptional outcome ... though I wasn't
thrilled about her having refractive surgery in the first place.

There's probably also a "Who's who" for corneal and refractive
surgeons. Board certification is a must. They should have done /
thousands/ of these.

Asking for referrals?? You think they'd refer you to the UNhappy
patient? Nah. I question the value of that.

FWIW, here's the conventional wisdom....

http://www.articlesbase.com/vision-a...on-755009.html

Good luck!

> I DO think IU has a fairly good reputation. *They could, at least provide leads.

Yes, I think so too. The problem is who to ask. Right now I have an
appointment to see one of them, because I couldn't figure out any
other way to actually talk to someone.

> Sadly, Liz, you can Google this very question, and/but you'll find
> very little that /really/ provides comfort.

The main problem is that some of those surgeons who are known to be
technically competent are, like so many doctors, too busy and brusque
to answer questions. It's hard for me to relax about this!

> Word of mouth is often good. *Asking eye docs in whom you have faith
> who THEY would send THEIR spouses/parents to is often a good idea.

It IS a good idea, one of the best; I just literally don't know any to
ask. It's hard to get started, and seeing people by appointment for
the purpose of asking them is slow and expensive (but am doing it
anyway as any action is better than none).

> For me, though, it was the guy that the IOL mfgrs used for clinical
> trials. *My wife's PRK had an exceptional outcome ...

Will call them. Have their numbers.

> There's probably also a "Who's who" for corneal and refractive
> surgeons.

??

> http://www.articlesbase.com/vision-a...ou-should-know...

Thanks Neil, this is helpful.

cheers,
Liz
Indianapolis

On Sep 9, 12:24*am, Liz <fraternobom...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > I DO think IU has a fairly good reputation. *They could, at least provide leads.
>
> Yes, I think so too. *The problem is who to ask. *Right now I have an
> appointment to see one of them, because I couldn't figure out any
> other way to actually talk to someone.
>
> > Sadly, Liz, you can Google this very question, and/but you'll find
> > very little that /really/ provides comfort.
>
> The main problem is that some of those surgeons who are known to be
> technically competent are, like so many doctors, too busy and brusque
> to answer questions. *It's hard for me to relax about this!
>
> > Word of mouth is often good. *Asking eye docs in whom you have faith
> > who THEY would send THEIR spouses/parents to is often a good idea.
>
> It IS a good idea, one of the best; I just literally don't know any to
> ask. *It's hard to get started, and seeing people by appointment for
> the purpose of asking them *is slow and expensive (but am doing it
> anyway as any action is better than none).
>
> > For me, though, it was the guy that the IOL mfgrs used for clinical
> > trials. *My wife's PRK had an exceptional outcome ...
>
> Will call them. *Have their numbers.
>
> > There's probably also a "Who's who" for corneal and refractive
> > surgeons.
>
> ??
>
> >http://www.articlesbase.com/vision-a...ou-should-know...
>
> Thanks Neil, this is helpful.
>
> cheers,
> Liz
> Indianapolis


I took two minutes ... for grins ... and set about searching for a
corneal/refractive surgeon in the Indy area ... in the way that /I/
might (presuming I didn't know a soul) ... if it were my eyes.

Starting with the online website for the _Journal of Cataract And
Refractive Surgery_, I did a keyword search for Indianapolis. My
thought was ... who works there who is well-published on the subject.

First player?

Francis W. Price, Jr. MD
http://www.pricevisiongroup.com/doctors.html#price

If /I/ had to pick a starting point -- the first cataract doc that I'd
want to be evaluated by -- this is probably where I'd start.

If I didn't feel comfortable with /him/, then I'd still look to /him/
for recommendations.

That's offered:

a) With the strong caveat that I know NOBODY in the biz, in Indy,
and/but

b) In the hopes that A NAME OF A SPECIFIC SURGEON ... might be a
helpful next step.

Best of luck!

Neil

On 2009-09-08, Liz <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>> > Shouldn't there be good cataract/refractive surgeons in Indianapolis,
>>
>> Of course. They should be easy to find.
>>
>> > If so, how to locate?
>>
>> As I mentioned ask your doctor for recommendations.
>
> Will do.
>
>>Also a city the size of yours may have a consumer rating service.
>
> Those are pretty weak here. I'd rather hear from people in the
> medical and vision field. We have the Indiana U. medical school here,
> I think, but not sure how to approach them.
>
> thanks,
> Liz
>
>
Would your optometrist recommend or have some ideas about cataract
surgeons? as well as someone who did many as in "practice makes
nearly perfect"?

When I was seeing the optometrist about new glasses, he said the
eyes have become too bad for corrective lenses & setup appointments
with the ophtalmologist for cataract surgery. This is with my HMO
& they do alot of cataract surgeries in the area; many older type
patients. The HMO was also opening a second "office" for the
cataract surgery. Think that the hmo docs do lots of cataract
surgeries.

So now, I can see about 20/25, use 2.50 readers & 1.25 computer use;
thought I would have to replace a pole lamp because it was "dimming"
except now it is very bright; colors look different & it is a new
world. Been wearing glasses since 3rd grade & the last prescription
was +14.00 & +9.50........

Neil Brooks wrote:

> Word of mouth is often good. Asking eye docs in whom you have faith
> who THEY would send THEIR spouses/parents to is often a good idea.

What makes you think they'll tell you the truth? The AMA is just another union,
and the members don't cross picket lines.

My mom loved her ophthalmologist. He did her cataracts (old style, and he
never asked her whether she wanted near or distance vision). He also examined
her eyes 4 times a year and somehow missed the macular bubbles (that the tech
noticed, but the doc didn't think it was important enough to ask for the film
before the tech went on a 3-week vacation) that caused her to lose functional
sight. The retinal specialist she went to afterward spent half an hour on the
phone talking me out of suing the quack, complaining to The Board, or picketing
his office. I only agreed because I knew I couldn't get one doc to be a
witness against another doc who hadn't actually killed a member of the
witness-doc's family.

You have to find somebody who is both knowledgeable and has nothing to lose by
telling you who's a quack and who's not. I think a nurse in the appropriate
department of the local hospital would be such a person, providing you can get
him/her to talk.

My mom loved the quack and recommended that I go to him too, which I did. I
would have castrated him with a dull bread knife if I was sure I could get away
with it.

--
Cheers, Bev
==================================================
Segal's Law: A man with one watch knows the time.
A man with two is never sure.