Remember The 4 C’s When Picking A Spine Surgery Center
Category: Spine Surgery | Author: Stefano Sinicropi
When it comes to spine surgery, it can be hard to know whether a surgical center or a surgeon is the best fit for your specific operation. However, at our practice, we try to provide each and every patient at our clinic with what we call the “Four C’s of Patient Care.” Today, we’re going to share the four C’s of patient care, and discuss how keeping them in mind while searching for a spine care clinic can help you find the best surgical center for your operation.
Care
The first C actually stands for care, and although it’s impossible to tell what kind of care you’ll receive before you set foot in the clinic, you can get a good idea of how other patients have been cared for by checking out what other people are saying online and on social media. Look for the clinic’s google listing or Facebook page to see what former patients are saying. If there is a problem, see what the clinic is doing on social media to rectify the problem. If many patients aren’t getting answers to their problems, the clinic is clearly not providing the best care.
Comfort
If the clinic appears to be providing adequate care for their former patients, it’s time to see if they pass the second test, which is to see if they can make you feel comfortable about the upcoming operation. Set up a consultation and meet with the surgeon to undergo a physical examination and discuss your surgical options. The conversation with your doctor needs to be a two-way conversation, and you should walk away comfortable with your care plan. If you don’t feel comfortable with a clinic or a surgeon for any reason, look elsewhere. Comfort should be the easiest aspect of the four C’s for a clinic to provide a patient.
Confidence
Similar to the above point, not only should the staff and surgeon make you feel comfortable, they should also instill a feeling of confidence. You want to feel confident in that the surgeon, the surgical team and the clinic staff have your best interests at heart and that they are experienced enough to perform a successful spinal operation on your back. It’s common to feel anxious about an upcoming operation, but if you feel confident in your surgeon and their ability to handle any potential problems should they arise, you’ll find that you’re worrying less about the upcoming operation. You want a doctor who firmly believes they can fix your problem.
Convenience
This is the least important of the four C’s, but obviously it’s better to find a clinic that’s closer to your home so that driving to your appointments and rehab sessions is easier. Convenience should never trump care, comfort or confidence, but at the end of the day it’s unreasonable to travel four hours to a spinal clinic when one down the block is almost the same in every way. Convenience also goes beyond just location though, as the staff should make it easy to schedule appointments, communicate with your surgeon and answer any questions you might have.
If you find a clinic that meets all four C’s, there’s a good chance that’s a great facility for your spinal operation. To see how our clinic stacks up, click here to set up a consultation with Dr. Sinicropi.
