my mom is calling a few more docs in new york to to see if they take my insurance. if i find one and go see them how do you know if the doc is good or not for mvd? thanks michelle
Research, recommendations, references and a gut feeling.
My friend is a nurse in neurology at Winthrop Hospital in Mineola NY - they are affiliated with Stony Brook University Hospital which my dr is part of. Dr.Jefferey Brown is pretty prominent at Winthrop. People travel from all over to have surgery by him. I have not researched him so I can’t say for sure either way, but it doesn’t hurt to call him.
"Good" is relative, of course. But there are indicators. In my opinion, a "good" neurosurgeon for the MVD procedure should be doing at least four of them EVERY month (one per week). The last thing you need is to be on the front end of somebody's learning curve, no matter how well intended they are. Another pertinent question to ask the doc is "what are your MVD outcome statistics for patients like me?" Related is "how often and for how long do you do follow-up outcomes surveys with your MVD patients?" If he/she isn't doing surveys, then at least consider dropping them like a hot rock and telling them you don't consider their lack of concern to be a positive recommendation. Few docs -- even the good ones -- will refer you to a former patient as a reference, but that also is worth asking about.
Another general measure would be to look up the doctor by name in the many doctor ratings services on the net. Read the comments and see if any of them pertain to MVD.
I wish you well,
Red
Richard A. "Red" Lawhern said:
"Good" is relative, of course. But there are indicators. In my opinion, a "good" neurosurgeon for the MVD procedure should be doing at least four of them EVERY month (one per week). The last thing you need is to be on the front end of somebody's learning curve, no matter how well intended they are. Another pertinent question to ask the doc is "what are your MVD outcome statistics for patients like me?" Related is "how often and for how long do you do follow-up outcomes surveys with your MVD patients?" If he/she isn't doing surveys, then at least consider dropping them like a hot rock and telling them you don't consider their lack of concern to be a positive recommendation. Few docs -- even the good ones -- will refer you to a former patient as a reference, but that also is worth asking about.
Another general measure would be to look up the doctor by name in the many doctor ratings services on the net. Read the comments and see if any of them pertain to MVD.
I wish you well,
Red
I picked mine because he learned under the inventor of MVD.
Dr. Ken Casey - Southern Michigan - wrote the book "Striking Back" - I hope you have been able to order a copy - answers hundreds of questions!
I'm a patient at NY columbia Pres in NYC. They take United Healthcare. The MD to see there is Dr. Guy Mckahn.