What patient characteristics will a physician take into consideration before suggesting surgery?
Patient age and surgical risks are taken into consideration. An elderly patient with severe concurrent diseases who is considered a high risk for a surgery might be better served by non-surgical treatment of esophagitis and reflux. On the other hand, young patients on a PPI theoretically will need to be treated for the rest of their life, which may be decades. There is the inconvenience and expense of taking medication for the rest of the patient’s life, which can be considerable, especially if the reflux is hard to control and the patient is on large doses of medication.
Related Questions
- How should I appropriately bill for an office visit where the physician evaluated the patient and it was decided that surgery was needed? What is the appropriate modifier to bill for this service?
- What patient characteristics will a physician take into consideration before suggesting surgery?
- What if the patient experiences pain after surgery?
