Surgeo Got Me The Right Surgeon and Saved My Life

September 10, 2016

I was looking for relief. After suffering through years of prostate pain and failed treatments, I was desperate to have my prostate removed: a major, hospital based surgery. And I decided that I would go the direct route. There are many reasons why a patient might seek a direct option. For many, it will prove better than dealing with the insurance bureaucracy because so many policies are inadequate and the financial consequences so uncertain.

In my case, I needed to find a surgeon who would perform a surgery usually reserved for the treatment of cancer. This led me to Surgeo, where I got so much more than I was hoping to find. I got the kind of surgeon that other surgeons go to when they need surgery. I also got absolute financial certainty for a single flat cash price: surgeon, hospital, anesthesia, and pathology.

Surgeo may look like a web site, and it is that, but it is much more. Behind the web site is a surgeon organized logistics operation the like of which I had not heard of before. Surgeo is really an exclusive network of surgical specialists who are qualified by their peers to be included. For these surgeons, it’s not about personality or academic resume. It’s about how they hold a scalpel. I can’t think of a better way to find the right surgeon.

Surgeo also neatly and very transparently organizes and communicates service and price. I knew going in that I was in for $22,500, which would include what’s known as ancillary procedures. In this case, I was having my prostate removed. In the normal system, if I needed a lymph node removed, I’d have gotten a surprise bill. Not with Surgeo.

Surgeo also includes off-line support: email, phone, and so on. Using it was easy and the support was professional, efficient, and friendly. When I filled out the consultation form, it was shown to my intended surgeon, who confirmed I was a candidate. This saved me – and him – time and travel and expense. The rest was easy.

prostatectomy robotic surgeo surgeon surgery clear costSurgeo is a radical departure from the way healthcare is otherwise being delivered. It’s all about quality, simplicity, and common sense! For me, Surgeo delivered the quality I was looking for. It gave me choices of surgery packages and I chose the one that happened to cost the least and was closest to home, knowing that any surgeon I found through Surgeo has met the quality criterion. My Surgeo surgeon, Dr. Kella, pictured with me at left, fixed my problem better than I thought anyone could.

Surgeo made getting to the right surgeon easy. Surgeo made the financial arrangements trivial. I’m tempted to say it was as easy to shop for surgery on Surgeo as it would be to shop for travel on a travel site.

About the Author: 

Richard Thompson

Rich Thompson is a 55-year-old Arizona man with a wide variety of interests. Trained as a geologist, he has worked as a crystallographer, a staffer in a congressional office, and a lobbyist, among other positions. One relative constant in his professional life has been teaching, and he is currently teaching data science full time. He is an avid outdoorsman and wildlife photographer. The highlight of his life as a nature person was the discovery of Sonorasaurus thompsoni, a dinosaur named after him.