How would you or did you go about deciding on the surgeon for your surgery? I'm starting the process for the Gastric Sleeve. I have checked into two programs and I'm trying to decide which to go with. I started this process in June. I'm looking at Franciscan Center for Weight Management in Federal Way, WA and Virginia Mason's Bariatric Program. With Franciscan I was able to get in for an appointment within 3 weeks of inquiring for a consultation. I meet and liked the surgeon that would being doing my surgery - Dr. Troy Houseworth, MD FACS during this consultation. He said he uses the da Vinci Robot to perform surgery which studies show reduce the potential for leaks and reduces hospital stays. It took me 3 months to get an appointment with Virginia Mason and in my consultation I meet with a PA and was told I would not meet face to face with Dr Jeffery Hunter, MD until I have completed all the steps required by my insurance company to have my surgery. I have found information on the internet that Dr Hunter is identified as one of the best Bariatric Surgeons in the Seattle area, but I'm concerned that I don't get to meet him until it's time to schedule the surgery.

I'm looking for feedback on what other's experience was selecting a surgeon and does it seem reasonable that I should not expect to meet with Dr Hunter before hand when I'm trying to make this decision? Does anyone have any experience with either of these programs you can share? If so and you've used them can you tell me why you went with that particular program? Thanks for any feedback.

My primary doctor recommended him. But I still checked out his credentials. He developed the Bariatric program at the Cleveland Clinic and at the Loyola University Medical Center here in Chicago. He teaches both bariatric and robotic surgery at the hospital which is a Center of Excellence.

I met him on my first visit and then about three weeks before surgery.

I met my pstchologist on the first visit and will see her again for my two year check-up in December.

I still meet with the bariatrician and nutritionist every three months until that two year mark.

ASK ALOT OF QUESTIONS....DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH....MAYO CLINIC HAS A GOOD RESEARCH SERIES OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE OPERATION AND THE POTENTIAL PROBLEMS......THE SURGEON THAT DID MY OPERATION NEVER TOLD ME ANYTHING ABOUT THE POTENTIAL OF HAVING NEUROPATHY AND NUMBNESS IN MY FEET,LETS,HANDS.....SEVERE PAIN IN MY FEET........DO ALOT OF RESEARCH BEFORE......ALL THE BEST......

I had to go into my insurance list of providers, then first had to narrow it down to "Center of Excellence" surgeons only or they would only cover partial, there were 2 in my areas so I asked several people at work as to who they went with, then read any review I could, I set up appointment and I really liked my surgeon so I went with me, unfortunately he was on an emergency on day of surgery but I allowed his partner to do the surgery since he was the other doctor mentioned to me.......... Make sure you and your surgeon click or you won't be happy, my insurance doesn't need to have you go through PCP first, only that you meet the requirements

I'm in Seattle & my insurance required that I go to a center of excellence. I decided on Puget Sound Bariatrics with Dr. Kaufman because he performed emergency surgery (totally unrelated to WLS) on me a few years ago and saved my life. It seemed like the obvious choice when looking for a surgeon to give me my life back! Scheduled for September 8th!

There were several highly regarded surgeons in my area. However, after researching, I found only one that accepted my insurance.

Insurance and the office. I requested a different doctor and was told NO you have this one.

I'm also using Dr. Kaufman at the Puget Sound Bariatrics. He is so incredibly personable, non judgmental and very upbeat and positive. The whole staff at their location wants you to succeed and makes it a great place to be. Because they just do bariatric surgery, they have all the amenities to make larger people feel comfortable, so you're no squeezing into small uncomfortable chairs, etc.

Insurance and being the closest.

I started with the list from insurance then picked the 2 closest locations, then looked each location up on hospital compare. Choose a hospital then looked up each surgeon at the ASMBS, to see if they were there and what Thier specialty was. I work at a hospital doing data analysis and part of that is reviewing pt. Outcomes. I don't care how friendly or nice they are you don't really see them. You want one that knows thier stuff and many times those types of surgeons are not good at the one on one conversation. In my experience the worse they are with interpersonal communication the better thier surgical skills.

One other thing: you want to see how they deal with adversity. Forget stats - they can fake stats. I had the biggest problems with the surgeon not recognizing thigns and not listening to me. How that whole situation and the since like has been handled speaks volumes. You don't want someone giving a lawyer to you insinuating they'll come after you for repeating what is in your records, what the surgeon is on record of saying, comparing it to laws, records, medical research, pointing out discrepancies.

You also don't want them talking about you to people they just met off the street and saying what is in your medical records, especially when it is wrong.

You know. I don't even know. I didn't look into surgeons really. I use the University of Cincinnati network so that's where I went for Bariatric. They have a nice center and 2 surgeons and I don't know. I went to the seminar and it just felt right. Plus the surgeon was at the seminar so that was pretty cool.

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Honestly.... I went with the least expensive all inclusive surgeon I could find who practiced at a Bariatric Center of Excellence.

Don't get me wrong, once I found him, I did my research, and would have changed my mind if any red flags appeared, but they didn't.

I'm self pay, and was willing to go out of state, but not out of country.

I had a good experience

I have to admit I chose the center and surgeon because a family member is an employee there, so I had a lot of information about them. However, I would look to a few different factors...

What is the experience of the surgeons in the practice? The practice I'm using completes more than 1,500 procedures per year. My surgeon has completed over (I think) 3,000 procedures.

Is the facility certified as a Bariatric Center of Excellence? Some insurance requires this and some doesn't, however it does indicate that the practice complies with the highest degree of standards.

Read the patient feedback. Places like this forum and others are great places to see what other patients think of the surgeon, the practice and their experience.

Ask lots of questions - I found that most everyone I encountered was happy to give you the information you need to make an intelligent, informed decision. If a surgeon or practice isn't willing to allow you to be informed you should think twice about committing to them for such a significant medical procedure.

How would you or did you go about deciding on the surgeon for your surgery? I'm starting the process for the Gastric Sleeve. I have checked into two programs and I'm trying to decide which to go with. I started this process in June. I'm looking at Franciscan Center for Weight Management in Federal Way, WA and Virginia Mason's Bariatric Program. With Franciscan I was able to get in for an appointment within 3 weeks of inquiring for a consultation. I meet and liked the surgeon that would being doing my surgery - Dr. Troy Houseworth, MD FACS during this consultation. He said he uses the da Vinci Robot to perform surgery which studies show reduce the potential for leaks and reduces hospital stays. It took me 3 months to get an appointment with Virginia Mason and in my consultation I meet with a PA and was told I would not meet face to face with Dr Jeffery Hunter, MD until I have completed all the steps required by my insurance company to have my surgery. I have found information on the internet that Dr Hunter is identified as one of the best Bariatric Surgeons in the Seattle area, but I'm concerned that I don't get to meet him until it's time to schedule the surgery.

I'm looking for feedback on what other's experience was selecting a surgeon and does it seem reasonable that I should not expect to meet with Dr Hunter before hand when I'm trying to make this decision? Does anyone have any experience with either of these programs you can share? If so and you've used them can you tell me why you went with that particular program? Thanks for any feedback.

Did you decide on a surgeon? Dr. Anwar with Francisian in Federal Way is my surgeon. I have a surgery date of January 7th! Yay! I am so excited!

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I went with Dr Troy Houseworth at Franciscan. My surgery date is March 1, 2016. I'm glad to finally be moving on to this stage of the journey.