Choosing a surgeon is a big decision. The person performing your procedure directly affects your outcome, your recovery, your risk of complications, etc. Despite this, most people spend more time researching a car purchase than they do evaluating the surgeon who’s about to operate on them.
Part of that is because the process feels pretty standardized. You get a referral from your primary care doctor, you show up at the consultation, and the surgeon seems competent and confident. But what if that’s not enough?
Here’s how to approach the decision:
Verify Their Credentials and Board Certification
Board certification is the baseline. It confirms that the surgeon has completed the required training in their specialty and passed examinations demonstrating their competence. A board-certified surgeon in the specialty relevant to your procedure has met a standard that non-certified surgeons haven’t.
You can verify board certification through the American Board of Medical Specialties website. Check that the certification is in the specific specialty that matches your procedure. A general surgeon who is performing a spinal procedure is a very different situation than a board-certified orthopedic spine surgeon or neurosurgeon. The more complex your procedure is, the more specialization matters.
You can check the surgeon’s license status through your state medical board. This tells you whether the license is active and whether any disciplinary actions have been taken. Not every disciplinary record disqualifies a surgeon, but you deserve to know about it and make your own judgment.
Ask About Their Experience
Surgical outcomes are strongly correlated with volume. Surgeons who perform a specific procedure frequently tend to have better outcomes, fewer complications, and shorter operating times than those who perform it occasionally. This relationship has been well documented in countless studies.
Ask the surgeon directly how many times they’ve performed the specific procedure you need. Don’t be shy about this question. Any surgeon who is offended by a patient asking about their experience with a specific procedure is raising a red flag. Good surgeons understand that patients are making an important decision and welcome the opportunity to discuss their qualifications.
You should also ask about their complication rate for the procedure as well. Every surgery carries risk, and honest surgeons acknowledge that rather than suggesting complications don’t happen. What you’re looking for is a surgeon whose complication rate is in line with or below the published averages for that procedure.
Evaluate the Hospital or Surgical Facility
The surgeon is one half of the equation. The facility where the procedure takes place is the other half. The reality is that hospital quality varies a lot. Things like infection rates, readmission rates, patient safety scores, and outcomes for specific procedures all differ from one facility to the next. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services publishes Hospital Compare data that allows you to look up these metrics for any Medicare-participating hospital. The Leapfrog Group provides independent hospital safety grades. Both are free and accessible online.
Evaluate the Administration
Surgeons don’t operate in isolation. They work within systems run by administrators who make important decisions. This includes complex choices on things like staffing levels, equipment budgets, scheduling, patient-to-nurse ratios, etc.
“A 2021 poll conducted by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 70 percent of people trust their doctors, but only 20 percent trust hospital administrators,” Wilt Injury Lawyers explains. That gap is important data to know. It means that while the person performing your surgery is probably excellent, the system around them may be cutting corners.
Pay attention to how the facility operates during your pre-surgical interactions.
- Are the staff responsive when you call with questions?
- Does the scheduling process feel organized or chaotic?
- Are your records being handled accurately?
- Is the communication between departments smooth or fragmented?
These operational indicators reflect the administrative culture of the facility. And whether you realize it or not, the culture affects patient outcomes in ways that don’t show up on a surgeon’s resume.
Get a Second Opinion
For any significant surgical procedure, getting a second opinion is not insulting to the first surgeon. It’s just responsible decision-making. A second opinion confirms the diagnosis and may surface alternative options that the first surgeon didn’t discuss.
Some surgeons are more conservative in their approach and may recommend monitoring or non-surgical treatment before resorting to surgery. Others may recommend a different surgical technique that offers advantages for your specific situation. The only way to know whether the recommended approach is the best one for you is to have another qualified surgeon evaluate your case.
Finding the Right Surgeon
Choosing a surgeon is a decision worth investing real time and effort in. The credentials, the volume, the facility, the administration, the communication style, and the validation of a second opinion all contribute to a choice that you can feel confident about when you walk into the operating room. The surgeons who are worth trusting with your procedure are the ones who welcome your scrutiny rather than discouraging it.
