Emerson Hospital Center for Weight Loss Bariatric Center

my first consultation was on 1-6-11. dr lautz was very short with me. he seemed a little cold to me. i waited a little over two hours for him to see me less than five minutes. the lady at the front desk was sort of rude and very rushed with everyone. i saw eileen when i was done and she just seemed over worked and overwhelmed, though she did seem to know what she was doing and set me up for all of my pre op appoinments. i hope that as time goes on my visits with dr. lautz gets better.his office is very very busy. i was unable to get a surgery date at the consultation appointment but the eileen told me that she would be in touch later in the week.

i am very hopefull that he will do a great job due to all the positive chatter in the waiting room. this was all based on my personal experience.

I felt like he was listening to me and what I had to say. He went over my revision and everything about it was great.

he is approachable;
he is extremely busy;
he was yawning probably because he looked tired;
during appts get ready to wait;
competent and caring;

Dr. Lautz is a very competent and dedicated surgeon. He is never too busy to answer your questions and is very well educated. I have reccomended several people to him including my lovely mom.
His office is busy and long waits for appointments but he is worth the wait. He also does conversions so you can trust that should the need arise you will not have to find someone new.
Aftercare is very important to Dr. Lautz and his team, he genuinly wants all of his clients to have good health . They are never judgemental in any way. There is never any "getting into trouble" if a rule was not followed or there was weight gain.
He was very clear about the general risks of surgery and what measures can be taken to minimize them. He also offers his own personal stats on the risks ( ie. general risk of death within the first 30 days is whatever and his average is so and so) Very nice since his stats are so awesome!
I would give him a 100 on a scale of 1-10.
He is an extremely skilled and well educated surgeon in a premier hospital with a wonderful bedside manner.... this is a rare combination and should be treasured.

Q- What was your first impression of him/her? rnA- I liked Dr Lautz from the minute i met him, very professional and mild mannered perhaps even shy acting. Prior to meeting Dr. Lautz i was going to do a lap band but after meeting him realized the procedure he used is what i neededrnHe seems to keep a professional distance from his patients that i don’t care for but understand.rnrnQ- How did your impression change over time? rnA- I still really like Dr LautzrnrnQ- How would you describe his/her office staff?rnA- I would describe his office staff as busy, very busy and needing to slow down a bit on thursdays when seeing patients.rnrnQ- How much does he/she emphasize aftercare? rnA- As for after care you are given a protocol to follow seems it is up to you to follow it and your success im sure will depend on how much you do. There are regular appointments set up post op with both the doctor and a nutrionist and support groups available.rnrnQ- How did he/she address the risks of surgery? rnA- Very well with plenty of information and statistics.rnrnQ- How would you rate him/her overall? rnA- I would give Dr. Lautz a 9.9 out of 10 only penalizing his office manager for being overly self assured.rnrnQ- Which is better, surgical competence, bedside manner, or are both great?rnA- Both are great but the no brainer is surgical competence. You can be the nicest guy in the world but if you don’t know what you’re doing surgically i don’t want you near me.rnFortunately Dr. Lautz has both outstanding surgical competence and a good bedside manner.rn

I met Dr. Lautz for the first time yesterday. He came highly recommended by several people I know. He took his time talking to me, was nonjudgemental and seems to really love what he does. I was immediately impressed with his knowledge of WLS and his ability to listen. I am in the nursing field and know that finding a doctor who is both competent and pleasant is rare. Dr Lautz is both! I feel truely blessed to have found him.

I initially had surgery scheduled with another surgeon, until I went to a pre-op seminar that Dr. Lautz was conducting. As soon as he walked into the room, I knew I had to re-schedule my surgery and have him instead. He exuded confidence, patience, kindness, and compassion. My initial surgery would've been in October 2008, but changing surgeons pushed it out until April 2009, and the wait was more than worth it. Dr. Lautz is beyond amazing!

I loved this man. He was very nice and made me feel at ease. He answered my questions and advised me of the risks before surgery. The only con I have is to say the poor guy always looks exhausted. I am almost 5 months post op and 63lbs lighter.

My first impression of Dr. Lautz was that he made it his business to know everything there is to know about WLS. As our relationship has grown, I've seen that this impression is spot-on. Between the first time we met (at the informational meeting) and my first appt., he'd been to two different seminars discussing the effect of WLS on type 2 diabetes.rnrnDr. Lautz's office staff are caring, competent and fun. How they all keep it together in such a busy office is beyond me. His assistant, Eileen, is a pistol. She's efficient, effective and funny! They are all great! rnrnI'm less impressed with the resident physicians on his team. They were the doctors I saw during my hospital stay after my surgery. I felt that they didn't really take the time to help me understand why they wouldn't discharge me, and just kept saying 'no, you're not going home today'. Never explaining to me why. One in particular, Maria something, even gave me someone else's prescription when they finally did discharge me!rnrnWhat I like least of Dr. Lautz is that he is SO bloomin' busy. I also don't like his teeny, tiny waiting room. Being that specifically deals with obese (morbidly and then some) people, and the room is always full, it is really a claustrophobic feeling sitting in a tiny room (with 'normal size' furniture) of HUGE (like me) people.rnrnFuture patients should know that although Dr. Lautz is a very busy surgeon, he is a very caring doctor. He is a quiet man who takes the time to actually listen to the patient, and to act accordingly should there be a problem. He and his team are very into aftercare. I see a him, a nurse practitioner and an RD ongoing after surgery. I am not discouraged in asking any questions at all. rnrnDr. Lautz was very upfront with me regarding the risks of surgery, but he also tempered the risks with the benefits. He made it a point to make sure I understood all the risks, as they are currently known. rnrnOverall, I give Dr. Lautz two thumbs up. I believe that he excels at both surgical competence and bedside manner. I find the superior bedside manner to be very unusual in a surgeon, so I really didn't expect it in Dr. Lautz. rn

I really liked Dr. Lautz. He was very no nonsense, tell it like it is, which I like. He made sure that not only was I fully aware of the risks and benefits but also that my husband was aware as well. He made sure that neither of us had questions. The only thing I really didn't care for was that after my surgery he didn't go talk to my husband and let him know how things went. I thought that was kind of crappy. It would have taken 2 minutes, but it would have meant the world to my husband. With that said, I'd still recommend him to anyone. He knows what he's doing and you just can't argue with that!