I'm not sure what it says about me that I'm the current Yelp Duke of Methodist Hospital.
Oh wait. I do know what it says. It says I'm getting older with spina bifida and I've had a lot of recent health concerns. After dealing with cancer in 2023, follow-up care revealed the presence of a nice collection of kidney stones. My oncological urologist referred me to Dr. Rivera, a member of the same IU Health - Urology practice who specializes in kidney stones.
As the previous doctor had completed all the necessary exams and tests, Dr. Rivera could eventually pick things up and move forward fairly quickly (though there was a couple month wait for the actual procedure). I went in for surgery this past week (Lithotripsy was not an option for me) and spent one night inpatient.
The surgery itself went quite well. I'm currently home recovering. I made it known early on that I needed trauma-informed care due to my background. Dr. Rivera did a nice job of making things happen including ensuring an available female anesthesiologist.
Dr. Rivera explained things well and took time to answer questions. He leans toward the cautious side and was obviously aware of my history. We had one appointment prior to the actual surgery date and will have another one in a month or so. He made it known that he was experienced with ostomies (which I have) and spina bifida (which I also have). If anything, I think the trauma piece threw him off a bit, though he adapted well.
My discharge instructions were clear. I also appreciated that he actually visited the morning after surgery - sometimes at IU, you only get the resident (who also visited).
If this review were based solely on surgery performance, it would be a 5-star review. However, as is often true with IU for me, there were a couple administrative glitches. First, I was scheduled for a "virtual" appointment with him for pre-op. Nearly the entire world recognizes virtual as meaning electronic, however, this ended up being a telephonic visit. Theoretically, this could have been better if made more affordable. However, my insurance (one of Indiana's leading insurers and one he should have been well aware of) doesn't cover telephonic visits and thus was denied. I ended up with a full office visit cost that was really unwarranted considering it was his office that scheduled it virtually. So, that's something I'd watch for as I don't know too many insurance companies that will pay for a phone call. In fact, I've never had a physician charge for one (including my other urologist in his same practice). That was a healthy out of pocket expense that didn't make me happy.
Also, I spent far too long in recovery because there were no beds (and was told at one point I could be there all night). This wasn't the doctor's fault, of course, but my attitude is simple - don't do the surgery if you can't actually treat the patient.
My attitude with IU tends to be "Great clinicians, horrible administrative policies." In some ways, that's true here and it's definitely what keeps this from being a 5-star experience. However, I refuse to go below 4-stars - quite honestly, the surgery went really well and addressed significant concerns quite well. He did the job I needed him to do - he's knowledgeable, incredibly personable, and adapts to the individual's needs. It would easily be 5-stars if IU's own policies and procedures would back up his quality care. read more