Neurologic & Orthopedic Hospital Blog — Drs. Cerullo & Sheinkop, Chicago

NOHC’s Stand on Direct-to-Consumer Advertising

Does direct-to-consumer advertising improve patient education or simply increase profits for those who pay to market? Until recently, a patient would be referred to an orthopedic surgeon by a family physician, a family member or a friend. Then came the era of managed care and choices were based on third party payer pre-certification and approval. More recently, the patient has looked to patient information educational initiatives as found on the Internet or in the media. But now it is direct advertising such as direct-to-consumer marketing to be found every year at this time in the non-professional magazines and National Inquirers for sale when you check out at your local drug and grocery store.

While the benefits and downsides of direct-to-consumer advertising is currently being debated within the policymaking arena, we at the Neurologic & Orthopedic Hospital of Chicago (NOHC) believe that every patient should have a consultation if so desired to become fully informed before undergoing a hip or knee replacement. Sure there are huge profits at stake for surgeons who pay to market and that’s why there is interest in blocking future anti-direct-to-consumer advertising legislation now pending in Congress. To us at NOHC, you are a patient and not another joint in a high volume commodity business.

When you come to NOHC for your hip or knee replacement, you are requested to tour our hospital and to participate in a one-on-one patient education process known as the Joint Camp. This assures that when the time for surgery has come, you are fully informed and familiar with the program and process. And because we are a private specialty hospital, there are no medical students, interns or fellows participating in your surgical experience, only area leaders in hip and knee replacement surgery. Certainly you should be aware of recent advances in orthopedic surgery that will benefit you. Such technological breakthroughs such as the High Flex, Mobile Bearing Knee Prosthesis, should be part of a patient education process but since surgeons at the Neurologic & Orthopedic Hospital of Chicago played a role in making this latest innovation possible, you can depend on us for information and avoid the seducation of those marketing tabloids.

The Neurologic & Orthopedic Hospital Blog was created to provide insightful brain, back, and joint information to people that struggle to find the right path in the maze of healthcare-related decisions they face today. The power of the internet is transforming health information and empowering people to take a front seat in managing their own health; correspondingly it has inspired Doctors Leonard Cerullo and Mitchell Sheinkop to share NOHC's cutting-edge resources with the online community.

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