Questions to Ask Before Agreeing to Surgery
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Questions to Ask Before Agreeing to Surgery

   

Questions to Ask Before Agreeing to Surgery1

Carolyn Wilken2

General Questions

1. What is this surgery for? Will it eliminate my problem or slow my condition?

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2. What other treatment options might consider?

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3. What will happen if I don't have this surgery?

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4. What are the risks of the surgery and what are the success rates?

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5. Can you do the surgery on an outpatient basis and can I arrange to have appropriate care to recuperate at home instead of the hospital?

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6. What kind of help would I need? Who can help me make those arrangements?

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7. Can you recommend someone to give me a second opinion?

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Financial Questions

1. Who can answer my questions about the costs of this surgery? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What is the cost of the operation and follow-up care? Is it covered by my insurance

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3. Will Medicare or my insurance cover those costs? Who can answer my questions about costs?

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3. Do I need to clear this with my insurance company or Medicare?

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Footnotes

1. This document is FCS2235, one of a series of the Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Adapted from AARP Health Questions: How to talk to and select physicians, pharmacists, dentists & vision care specialists. Original publication date: June 2005.Visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu

2. Carolyn S. Wilken, Ph.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor, Family, Youth and Community Sciences, IFAS, University of Florida. Reviewed by: Tina Lam, MD, and Mary Harrison, professor, Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.


Copyright Information

This document is copyrighted by the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) for the people of the State of Florida. UF/IFAS retains all rights under all conventions, but permits free reproduction by all agents and offices of the Cooperative Extension Service and the people of the State of Florida. Permission is granted to others to use these materials in part or in full for educational purposes, provided that full credit is given to the UF/IFAS, citing the publication, its source, and date of publication.