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Experiences Scheduling and Managing a Surgery

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Amit
Video transcript: Hoping to record a story about my daughter. A two year old needed a surgery to remove a mole on her near right near her eye that was kind of blocking her vision. Really long process. Took us a very long time to find an appointment and we had to wait a long time while this whole thing was bothering her vision. So very frustrating process.
Matt
Video transcript: Hi, everyone. My dad passed away a few years ago, but in his final years, I was his primary caregiver. And one of the most difficult aspects of taking care of my father was health care coordination and especially related to the surgeries he needed. And I don't. I don't have a background in the medical field. I didn't have a clue how to go about these things. This was new territory for me. It was scary, and I wanted the best for my dad, and we did get through it. But I would have greatly benefited from support with every aspect of that surgical experience, you know, from the scheduling, the preparation, the aftercare. And it really could have helped me be more confident about the choices that I was making for him. And given how AI and technology are transforming for the better so many other aspects of our lives, from transportation to dining to banking, you know, it's time now to find a way to bring that technology, to make the surgical experience from beginning to end smoother and less scary.
Xena avatar
Xena
My father is elderly and has been in the hospital four times in the past twelve months. The challenge is that each time, we’re meeting a new doctor, and given my father's age, we need the doctor to understand not only the diagnosis but also his baseline function, his goals, and what risks surgery could create for his independence and recovery. We try to make sure the conversation includes best-case, worst-case, and most likely outcomes, not just whether the operation can technically be done. I find our challenge is getting the physicians to participate fully in that conversation, so while I'm getting very good at instigating it, I'm frustrated that it's not easier. Then, even when discussed and scheduled, we are often left wondering what time he'll "actually" go into surgery, but we are often left for hours after the time we were told, with no further explanation. At his age, he gets very agitated when he feels that, after taking the time to speak with the caregivers, the schedule changes with no warning.
Ajay avatar
Ajay
Usually call the office and get a schedule for preop no certain choice of day or time have to go with surgical schedule
Anonymous
Video transcript: I helped my dad navigate the healthcare system when he needed to schedule his triple bypass surgery. We needed to coordinate between three offices. His cardiology team, his pulmonary team, and his primary care physician team prior to surgery. So having to go between three different offices to get three different plans of care prior to his surgery was not an easy process. It would be nice if it was all located in one simple spot.
Logan
Video transcript: I recently had to help my mom navigate a surgery, and I left the experience feeling like what was hard about it wasn't really the surgery itself. It was everything leading up to the surgery. I was helping her do her pre op clearance items, and I missed a call from the doctor's office one day, two days later, with missed voicemails, missed callbacks, trying to connect to the right person at the right time at the office. We ended up arriving to the surgery center realizing that the updated medication list that I thought I had sent over never made it into the right person's hands. And we're standing there trying to reconcile information when now my mom is already stressed, already anxious in the waiting room, and we just could have resolved this whole process so much more smoothly before we had arrived. And I left the experience feeling like it was so silly that I can track all my packages, my Uber, my food on apps, and make things seamless, but when it comes to surgery, we're still relying on faxes, voicemails, callbacks, paper, and especially for me, as I'm facing caring for my aging parents more and more in life, I really need our surgical system to modernize in a way that's going to match our family schedules and just be more supportive.
Anonymous avatar
Anonymous
My brother-in-law had to wait an entire year before getting back surgery for an injury that was horribly painful. He had to go through physical therapy (which was not successful) and all kinds of hoops before they would let him have the surgery. As a result, by the time he got the surgery, he had nerve damage in his legs, which made him unable to walk without a cane or a walker. It has been daunting.
Kevin Mehta avatar
Kevin Mehta
scheduling and managing a surgery for someone you care for is not about working within the OR schedule or surgeons availability it’s about how many people are advocating for you, who you know, and how to work around the system of care. It’s a sad state of affairs and something needs to change.
Brett avatar
Brett
Scheduling the surgery involved seeing the doctor to decide whether to have the surgery, scheduling another follow up for testing and then organizing referrals to make sure the hospital had approved. It would be much easier if capturing insurance and basic information didn’t have to be repeated.
Kevin Mehta avatar
Kevin Mehta
The process was painful and required intense oversight.
Avani
Video transcript: As a pediatric dentist, I help children and their families navigate surgery all the time. And one thing I've always thought is, why is it so easy to book a flight but preparing or an Uber? But preparing for surgery is still so complicated. There are so many forms and instructions and phone calls and paperwork and so many unanswered questions for families. They're often anxious and it's hard to know if they're truly prepared. I love the idea of using AI and technology to modernize the surgical experience. Just like technology has transformed banking and travel and food delivery, it should make surgery easier to understand and navigate too. Anything that helps patients and their loved ones feel more informed is a huge step in the right direction. And this company does just that. So we are so, so thankful.
Dami
Video transcript: So a long time ago I used to work as a patient coordinator at Mass General Hospital in Boston, and I used to remember patients calling in wanting to get booked for something like an mri, and the time that I would spend on the phone calls with the insurance company just to get them pre authorized for that procedure would take at least 30 minutes. And I would be there trying to get all the information that I needed. And I cannot even imagine what it's like for or someone who's already sick trying to navigate that system and not knowing what questions to ask or even how to go about that process. So anything that can help improve the scheduling process or just getting patients to get the care they need, I feel would just make a significant difference because it's such a tedious and exhausting process.
Jessica
Video transcript: When my son was less than a year old, he had really chronic ear infections so bad that from September to December, we weren't able to clear it up. It was consistent and ongoing. He was in a ton of pain, really uncomfortable. It was really hard to watch as a parent, and sleeping was really difficult. My husband and I were short on sleep, and it just continued to build up. And we made the call to get tubes, and we wanted to move on it quickly, and we were told that the appointments were months out, and we just couldn't imagine living like that for several more months and seeing our son in pain for that much longer. Fortunately, we were able to work with our doctor and get on a cancellation list and move the appointment up. But I know that's not the case for many other families. And, you know, wanting to be able to get your child help they need as fast as possible. Possible when you make that decision is really important. So, again, we were lucky enough that once he got it, he started walking two days later. You could tell the instant relief that he had. But thinking about what it was like before we got that surgery, a tough time.
Anonymous avatar
Anonymous
I had a tight window of time for scheduling a surgery for my daughter, and kept hitting road blocks related to OR and Anesthesiologist availability. The only options I was given were months away, meanwhile my daughter was in pain. I basically had to harass the schedulers over the phone every day until I was accommodated. Every phone call resulted in leaving messages and waiting for a return call. Highly inefficient process.
Marc Sorel avatar
Marc Sorel
Too many of my friends and colleagues who are caring for their elders or loved ones must deal with the added tax on their already stretched time of often labyrinthine scheduling and course of care processes for critical surgery. A simpler, faster, holistic, and more empathetic process for surgery scheduling, delivery, and post-op care would be transformative for them.
Anonymous
Video transcript: The worst experience I've had when trying to schedule a medical procedure was with this one doctor. He ordered a procedure, and then two weeks later, his office had not called me to schedule it. So I called and left them a message. And a couple days later they called me back and said that they had submitted it to the insurance. And I called the insurance and they said hadn't been submitted yet. And so then I left them another message. Now, every time I contacted this office, they never answered their phone. It went to voicemail. And whenever they would call me, for some reason, their calls would always go straight to my voicemail, which never happened with anyone else. And so we were having these conversations over voicemail, and sometimes it would take them a week to reply back to my message. So in the end, they did get the approval from the insurance, but they never called me to schedule it. They never actually ended up calling me to schedule it until maybe like. Like three months later, which at that point I had already gone and found another doctor and gotten it already scheduled, because obviously that doesn't work.
Susan
Video transcript: I was recently in for my annual physical with my internist, and because of my family history with some heart related issues and some of my lab work, she wanted to do an additional test. And I really think it's real. It's at best prudent to do it. But of course it's been denied and now I have to go back and she has to try to get it approved again. And we've done this numerous times and we always get it approved, but it is so ridiculous. It's frustrating, and it's really pennywise and pound foolish. We're trying to move the country toward taking better care of ourselves, and in order to do that, we need to have some tests to know what our risk factors are. So maybe we can change our diet, exercise more or whatever, but the way things are working right now is just foolish.
Catherine
Video transcript: My husband and I were all geared up for his back surgery in July of last year, and three days before the surgery, we got a call from the surgeon's office saying the surgery was canceled. No way around it. We did try back and forth with each surgeon's office insurance and did not work out. So surgery was canceled. So very frustrating. All the while he's walking around in pain and having to use a cane just to walk. It was resolved three weeks later, but it was just very frustrating and I feel like it didn't have to happen. So that's our story, and hopefully it doesn't happen to anyone else.
Ray avatar
Ray
When I tore my meniscus, I needed surgery as soon as someone could get me in. The wait times turned out to be unreasonable, so I ended up calling a few friends in the industry who got me scheduled within a day or two. Healthcare shouldn’t depend on having special access to get the surgery you need, when you need it.
Corey
Video transcript: Hi there. So, just wanted to share an experience scheduling surgery for my father. You know, this is back in 2022, he was having his second hip replacement surgery done. And, you know, he had lined everything up, gone to the, gone to his doctors, had all the scans, gone through all the, what we thought were the, you know, necessary approval steps to get it scheduled. So he had the date in mind. He called us, you know, all his kids and support network to tell us, you know, when we, you know, should come home to support him and be there to help in his recovery. And then, you know, two days prior to his surgery actually happening, he got a call saying there was some disruption with the insurance approval process and there was a holdup and they wouldn't be able to do surgery in the two days time. So not only was that disruptive for him, I mean, he's in pain, he's looking forward to having the surgery at this time and, you know, to get out of pain, to get some relief. I mean, I don't think anyone's ever looking forward to surgery. But. And not only that, he had to call us all, tell us, hey, I know, you know, you gave up time, you know, with your work and rescheduled all your responsibilities to come support and, you know, that had to change as well. So it was quite a trickle down effect, you know, not only did it disrupt, you know, the patient, the person ready to have surgery, but the support network and, you know, so we all had to kind of scramble and then do it all again in two weeks when it was eventually rescheduled. So it turned out to be a pretty frustrating process. You know, us being, you know, not really in the medical field. We're all laypeople, more or less, so we don't know the ins and outs of, okay, you need this approval, you need this scan, you need this doctor sign off. So if there were more ease of care and flow of information for folks like us who are just trying to, you know, either schedule our own surgeries or schedule for our loved ones, that would be very welcome because this, this most recent issue for our family certainly left a sour taste in our mouth. So, yeah, that's my story.
Claire avatar
Claire
When my dad had to get back surgery, it was overwhelming and confusing trying to manage insurance coverage, prior authorizations, and communications with doctors.
Anonymous avatar
Anonymous
I was having hand problems and was seeing a hand specialist. Cortisone shots helped but was not a long term solution. I had an EMG test 9/2025. The test measures amplitude and latency by proving an electric stimulus to each figure and measuring how long it takes to respond. Once the results came back, surgical intervention was the only option. I was originally scheduled for 12/2025. Once that was scheduled, it was moved 3 times. I was called on 11.5/2025 and scheduled for Friday, Nov 7, 2025! We settled on 11 am. On Thursday I was called again to make sure my paperwork was correct. That turned into “we have a credit card on file and you need to pay inadvance”! My portion was just under $2k! I was getting ready Friday morning to go to the hospital for the surgery. I checked my phone at 6:30am to discover I had missed 2 phone calls at 6am. The voicemail left: “ we are all in surgery waiting for you! Where are you?” “Call us asap”. I called the number and the phones apparently do not get turned on until 7am. We raced to the hospital which is 14 miles away. I walked in and was directed to the surgical floor. When I went to reception, I was greeted with: “Nice that you could join us. We need to reschedule”. I asked if there was someone I could speak with as the scheduling error was on there part. I had confirmed 11am on at least 4 occasions within the 48 hours prior. I was slotted in around 10. My blood pressure was high from the fasting, the stress of the voicemails and the uncertainty of whether or not I would have the surgery that day. Thankfully I had the surgery and was on my way home by 1 pm. I scheduled to have the stitches removed two weeks later. That went smoothly other than the resident who removed them, left a stitch under my healing skin. Of course, that led to inflammation and required scheduling a second surgery the end of February and the second set of stitches removed by the ddoctor who performed the surgery (who is excellent!). 8 months after the surgery, my hand is healed and have full mobility. The scheduling fiasco too hours if not days off of my life. Planning on a surgery can be stressful. Having it rescheduled multiple times including the day if the planned surgery was really unpleasant to say the least. Requiring a second surgery and going through the process again was avoidable. Btw, I pause my part of the first surgery, the first stitch removal, the second surgery and the second stitch removal. Between scheduling and billing, it is no wonder why we are all frustrated with healthcare and the rising costs.
Ryan
Video transcript: Last summer I was responsible along with my stepmother for managing the preparation for my father's laminectomy. He was in debilitating pain, couldn't really walk and was sitting on a couch 12, 14 hours a day. Needed a lot of support. And so given his insurance and the requirements, they made us go through a whole bunch of stuff that we did over a six week period. We adjusted his medications, we did steroid injections, we got him physical therapy. And then two days before the surgery we got a call and said, your surgery's been canceled, but don't worry, we'll reschedule it for a month. And my dad just lost it and he of course just didn't know how to manage his emotions which meant he took it out on our family. He was angry, he was frustrated and he was in a lot of pain. And it was that moment when I thought to myself, there's got to be a better way.
Anonymous avatar
Anonymous
Getting to the right surgeon who understood the complexity of my condition who also had the right expertise was hard enough. Having Endometriosis requires a great deal of self advocacy just to get to a doctor who will listen to you. The gaslighting is real. So once I finally had a Gyn that suspected Endo, I was lucky to have also been working within the hospital system. I knew what to say, what things to ask for, and yet, getting my prior authorizations and coordinating two surgeons to be present for my surgery was not easy. I don't know how someone without my medical knowledge would have navigated that same patient experience. I only knew that it was possible to reserve OR time with a general surgeon and a specialist simultaneously because I knew the system from the inside. Initially the surgical staff wanted me to undergo separate surgeries, but I immediately reached out to my specialty Gyn surgeon and she handled it (not a great use of time for a surgeon might I add). I wasn't a normal case, no, but there were so many little details along the way that I know would have been challenging for anyone without first hand industry knowledge and access. Most patients would have taken the advice given by the surgical team and been forced to undergo two surgeries simply because they didn't know how to coordinate schedules with two surgeons and my case was rare and unusual. That's double the recovery time, for the patient, and more time off work, simply because the surgical coordinators didn't have the tools.