Hello
I'm a surgeon - waiting for theatre as often.
This site is a guilty pleasure of mine and i thought i'd post a thread giving advice on picking a doctor after i read this really dumb thread on another chat site.
https://propertychat.com.au/community/threads/blood-sucking-…
If you can be bothered with the link - the chat talks about a poor guy who racks up big bills for nothing really in return.
His surgeon charges him thousands for an arthroscopy which is a very minor procedure. He says it helps - its called PLACEBO.
Points to learn
If you have joint pain over the age of 50 its arthritis. Live with it. Orthopods love the worried well who won't believe they are getting old until they get a scope, drain the medicare tank and pay for the privilidge. My GP friend says she has 70 year olds demanding to see a surgeon when it obviously arthritis.
The guy thought he could haggle with the surgeon. No chance.
If you don't want to pay gaps then phone, ask and shop around. Its well known amongst surgeons that the best don't charge the most - the ones who charge the most want to make the most money… duh. Sydney is overdoctored so you will get surgeons who don't charge GAPS but you may have to move west.
As an aside - i worked in sydney and i didn't find standards there any better than in the regional centres. Overall Australia has an excellent surgical tradition and standards are high. That being said training is now watered down and there are rogues who can remain solvent despite being very poor. it also means some people can end up having too much surgery - surgery leads to more surgery… ancient proverb.
How to find the best? Its actually easy. Beware chat rooms - some tech savvy docs pretend to be patients saying how awesome they are - is it a regular on the site or someone with 10 posts?
Many GP's dont have a clue who is good unless they are experienced and involved. therefore they are the GP's in the most demand so wait for them. Dont be slimey or pushy or say "i demand to see the best" - you'll get sent to the big biller - also beware of saying "what if it was your family?" - i find it insulting to suggest that i would send one of my patients to someone no good. i would simply say to the GP or phone up the surgical ward and say "Who looks after doctors when they have this done?" Doctors dont go and see hacks, they may not want chat or bedside manner - the standard of surgery and knowing when NOT to operate is paramount.
Hope this helps - i'll swing by the thread from time to time to answer q's.
Do you think health insurance is worth it?
Obviously if you have a lot of disposable income its a no brainer however before that cap and also at under 30 and over 50 y.o whats the worse that could happen?
If you saved up the insurance premium without using it you may save 30,000$ per decade.
Would there be life-saving surgery that requires out of pocket expense? Example AAA or aneurysms (ticking time bombs which are not considered urgent until 1st rupture or after an heart attack) ( Not talking about MVA's and CAT 1 trauma ) Public waiting lists for these seems to depend on severity of your condition is which can lead to worse outcomes.
Do you find there is much difference in medical products ? Is there a difference between cheap and expensive? For example stents? keyhole surgery techniques? Would you yourself pay the premium for a medical product?
What do you think of the da Vinci robotic surgical system ? Do you think Australia's medicine is on-par with the rest of the world?
Is it true that you should only go to hospital for major surgery during the day? ie. Night work is always covered with registrars and specialist is on-call.
What is the hardest specialty in medicine? (hard to get in)
So many questions hope you arent overwhelmed !