Choosing the right physician to treat your varicose and spider veins should not be taken lightly. Although varicose and spider veins are almost never life or limb threatening, incorrect or poorly done surgery and other treatments can do far more harm than good and can leave behind permanent pain and scars. Choice of surgeons should always be viewed as a major decision and should be made only after you have done your ‘homework'. Check out the physician online. Check the state medical board to verify his credentials. Ask to speak with patients that have already undergone the same treatment you need. Most importantly of all: Ask questions!

1. Ask your doctor where and when they were trained and by whom.
2. How long have they been doing these procedures and how many have they done?
3. What is their success rate?
4. What problems have they seen with these treatments?
5. What can you expect after treatment?
6. How long will it take to see the desired results?
7. What can you expect in the future?

These and other questions will go a long way towards making you feel satisfied that you have done your due diligence prior to submitting to any medical or surgical treatment. What are some mistakes to avoid? A few important ones are listed below.

Mistake #1 - Choosing a doctor based solely on insurance coverage.

Most insurance plans have panels of ‘participating' physicians. These are doctors that have signed a contract with certain insurance companies to provide services to the company's clients at fees that are set by the insurance company. Frequently, insurers demand that only certain procedures be done by that physician regardless of whether or not that is best for that particular patient. So the physician is forced to ‘pigeon hole' the patient into a particular procedure just because the insurance company pays better for it than for an alternative procedure that might be more costly to the company but better for the patient. A good example of this was when insurance carriers specified that the Closure® catheter procedure be done instead of the laser catheter. The laser catheter is faster, cheaper, and works better, yet some insurers were only paying for the Closure procedure... clearly not in the best interest of the patient.

It is also important to realize that just because a physician is on the insurance company's ‘panel' does not mean that they are experts in vein treatment. In fact, there are few if any true vein specialists (phlebologists) on ANY insurance panel. The insurance company wants you to pick one of their panel doctors because they don't have to pay them as much as they might a ‘non participating' physician. Picking one of their docs is cheaper for THEM, and therefore they think it's better for YOU. What do you think?

Mistake #2 - Picking a doctor based on ‘convenience.'

Doctors are popping up all over the place wanting to do your vein treatment. Vein disease treatment is the hot new field in medicine, and no wonder... millions of people in the U.S. are afflicted with varicose and spider veins. The treatment for this is seen as fairly lucrative compared with the sometimes measly reimbursements paid to physicians for routine primary care visits. Many physicians are trying to attract patients for vein treatments to supplement their incomes from their regular medical practices. These ‘fly by night' operators often have little or no hands-on training, sparse if any actual education in vein disease, and pitifully little actual clinical experience performing these delicate and highly specialized vein treatment procedures. Oftentimes a physician interested in beginning vein treatments will go to a weekend seminar on ‘How to Treat Varicose and Spider Veins'. A medical device company with a sales booth at the seminar will sell them a device that treats veins and deliver it to the physician's office right away. The company sales rep (not a physician) even helps them do ‘a case or two' and then the physician is on their own. Just like anything else in medicine, experience counts. You don't want to be among the first 10 cases your doctor has done!

Picking a physician because their office is ‘close to my house' is a recipe for disaster. Not all vein specialists are alike. The most conveniently located doctor may have only done a handful of patients like you. Another doctor across town might see 5 patients a day just like you! Which one do you think will do a better job? If your child needed brain surgery, would you pick the neurosurgeon just around the corner that just got out of training or the world renowned brain surgeon 50 miles away? Now fixing varicose veins isn't exactly ‘brain surgery' (it's a lot less stressful) but it's still important. You want it done right the first time. Having to go see another physician to fix the mess that the first one made is never a pleasant experience.

Mistake #3 - Picking a physician based solely on price

The old saying ‘You get what you pay for' also applies to medical care. The person that price shops for surgery will get exactly what they are looking for: inferior quality work done at the lowest possible price. Those are patients that we do not want at the Vein Center of Charlotte. Your body is not like a government contract…you do not want to go with the lowest bidder. The lowest bidder is the lowest for good reason. Experience and skill are never discounted. We are well aware that vein treatment can be costly. We will work with you at every step of the way to help you get the best possible care for every dollar you spend. Remember that poor work done elsewhere that fails to correct the problem is not worth the savings.