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Published in 2006 in Utah Valley Magazine
www.uvmag.com
There is a reason surgeons are bringing their patients to the Riverwoods Surgery
Center: it is not a hospital.
Many hospitals have become so big they no longer respond to the needs of
patients or physicians, says Dr. Michael Abrams, a pediatric ophthalmologist who
does surgeries at the Riverwoods Surgery Center.
“If something goes wrong there, it will take some time to get things fixed,” Dr.
Abrams says. “You come to a place like this and anything I need to take care of
my patients happens right away.”
Dr. Abrams prefers the detailed patient care, and says his patients like it,
too.
“It’s just night and day operating at a place like this,” he says. “It is such a
pleasure.
And Dr. Abrams is not alone. Since the Riverwoods Surgery Center opened in
September 2005, it has experienced remarkable growth. Administrator Francis
Gibson attributes that growth to one thing: physician and patient choice.
“People are told every year their insurance premiums are going to rise, however
insurance companies and hospitals are reducing their health care provider
choices,” he says. “We think both patients and physicians deserve a choice.”
When the choice is the Riverwoods Surgery Center, it includes a 19,000
square-foot center equipped with the latest technology including high-
definition video monitoring for most endoscopic surgical procedures and remote
high-definition video access to view a patient’s MRI or CAT scans.
There are five operating rooms, 16 recovery bays, as well as isolation and
overnight rooms. Each room has large windows with an unmatched view of Mount
Timpanogos.
“It is an outstanding facility” says Dr. Douglas Schow, an orthopedic surgeon.
Although the facility is state-of—the- art, the cost of surgery at Riverwoods
typically runs 30 percent lower than it would at other large facilities. “That
makes a big difference in percentage of copays that a patient would pay,” Gibson
says.
Another noticeable difference is in the ambiance, comfort and rapport between
surgeons and staff. “The surgeons workwith the same staff every time,” Gibson
says. “That’s nice for patients, too.”
If your insurance plan doesn’t include the option to visit the Rivenvoods
Surgery Center for your next surgical procedure, maybe it’s time to ask why.
Call your insurance company today and ask for the choice to be yours.
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