Healthgrades.com and doctor reviews

[folivier]

After a yearlong rash of infections from a botched hernia mesh operation my surgeon had me do a CAT scan. He then said the mesh looked ok and there was nothing wrong. I sought out a specialist in mesh surgeries and he looked at the CAT scan and pointed out how the mesh was wrinkled up and NOT attached. He said it needed to come out NOW. I was in surgery with him the next morning.
So yes, either the doc reading the scan made mistakes or my surgeon didn’t care enough to follow up and read it himself. But the specialist doc did and resolved my problems.
BTW the original surgeon who did the hernia repair was recommended by my PCP. I should have done more research before I had him do my hernia repair.
Buyer beware!

 

[Time2]

Online reviews are beyond worthless to the point of being potentially dangerous. In this case the doc has 39 reviews despite probably treating thousands of patients. The reviews are meaningless. Who is most likely to give a review? A disgruntled patient or even a former employee who wasn’t happy. You don’t need to be a patient to post a review. Every year when the Top Docs voting starts we get numerous emails reminding us to vote for the doctors in our system. Those top doc awards mean nothing except they got all of their friends and family to vote for them.

Ignore the reviews. Trust your PCP. And ask around if anyone you know has actually been to this person.

Pretty much agree, online reviews are worthless. I just checked my doc, he has a 3.3 rating. 15 five star and 11 one star. I noted, one of the 1 star reviews was because he wasn't taking on new patients during Covid. So this person was never a patient, but gave the doc a 1 star review. Doesn't seem their opinion has much relevance. Another one star review, "the staff wasn't friendly and they're not helpful getting refills", this person was from another state, so maybe there was a reason the couldn't be helpful.

 

[Koolau]

100% this! Never hesitate to ask a question or speak up if you don't understand something or if something doesn't sound quite right.


When my wife and my mom were in the hospital, I stayed at their sides as much as I could and was able to head off way too many misadventures that would have occurred had I not been there. It's really quite scary. Medical errors are real. They happen thousands of times a day across the country at any and all institutions from the smallest community hospital to the most prestigious medical centers. Most are minor with little to no ill effects but others can be more serious.


One simple example. I took my mom to the ER. While there, she was given a dose of Pantoprazole for her stomach. Once she was admitted and up in her room, the nurse came in with meds. I asked what they were and one of them was Pantoprazole. I pointed out that she had just gotten a dose an hour earlier in the ER so didn't need another one until the next day. Now an extra dose of that would have done her absolutely no harm, but what if it had been a blood pressure pill or diabetes pill. That could have caused problems.

My latest "adventure" in medicine gone wrong: Went to dermatologist. She wanted to look at 4 spots on my face (biopsies.) She sent in the nurse to numb me up. The nurse got two of them and then another nurse came in to "attend" I guess would be the word. The first nurse left and the second nurse began to "dress" me. The doc came and and was preparing to do her magic on my face with a scalpel. I asked her if she had changed her mind about the number of biopsies. She seemed puzzled but said no. I then asked why only 2 places had been numbed. I suggested that too many cooks spoil the broth - or words to that effect. She never actually apologized. I told her that I was very forgiving for myself, but had I brought in my aged mother for this procedure (actually mom was long gone) she would not have even questioned the doctor until the scalpel hit the skin. I would not have been as forgiving. That's when I got the apology. YMMV