Introduction

According to Dr. Richard Nahas, deciding to see an orthopaedic surgeon is both a relieving and anxious experience. In most cases, people are recommended to an orthopaedic surgeon by their primary care doctor. However, you can choose your own. Let’s figure out how you can choose the best orthopaedic surgeon.

The Details

  1. Referrals – Instead of just going with the first orthopaedic surgeon recommended by your primary care doctor, ask for a referral list. You can also ask for referral lists from friends, family, colleagues and other healthcare professionals. After you get those lists and make one for yourself by combining them, you need to do your own research to narrow down your choices.
  1. Research credentials – When you choose an orthopaedic surgeon, board certification is essential. Such certifications aren’t just pieces of paper. They give you basic information about the doctor’s skills, experience and training and allow you to assess if they are fit to provide you orthopaedic care. Apart from certifications, research if the doctor has a history of disciplinary actions or malpractice claims against them. 
  1. Consider their experience – All orthopaedic surgeries are not the same. Some are very simple while others are extremely complex. That’s why you need to choose a surgeon who has a lot of experience in surgeries that are similar to yours. Ask the surgeon about the number of patients they have treated with a similar condition as you. If you’re aware of the type of procedure you need, ask the surgeon how many times they have conducted such procedures. Don’t forget to ask about complications either.
  1. Gender – You obviously need the best surgeon for the job and gender should have nothing to do with it. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case in surgeries. Patients need to discuss all kinds of intimate and personal information with their surgeons, and you may not be comfortable discussing all that with a surgeon of the opposite gender. Apart from that, surgeries for different genders can be very different and that’s why you need to know how many patients the surgeon has treated of the same gender as you.
  1. Hospital quality – Your surgeon’s hospital is going to be your hospital and that means you’ll need to inspect the quality of the hospital as well. Research the success of their orthopaedic department and other details about the hospital quality and protocols adopted by them. A hospital of higher quality will have fewer complications and comparatively better survival rates than others.
  1. Patient reviews – There are websites like CareDash and RateMDs where people can leave a review about their doctor. Check out those websites for patient reviews of your doctor. Apart from that, you can use Google and other resources to check patient reviews of the hospital.

Conclusion

Dr. Richard Nahas suggests that you use the tips mentioned above to choose the best orthopaedic surgeon for yourself or a loved one. Your mobility is in the hands of these surgeons and that’s why you need to be careful while choosing one.