Norman Samuels Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

Dr. Samuels and the entire staff at the Center for Severe Obesity have been very supportive and professional throughout the entire process. If it were not for them, I would never have received insurance approval for my procedure. Cigna had rejected my application (3) times! Even though I met all the criteria, they were refusing to cover my procedure. My BMI was 49, I ha TypeII Diabetes, hypertesion, hyperlipidemia, pain in all of my weight bearing joints and they (Cigna) were still giving me a hard time. Dr. Samuels and Linda the office manager really went to bat for me and obtained my approval. They also have the most comprehensive post operative follow up care in South Florida. Patients are seen monthly in the office for a year, or longer if you are still losing weight. This visit includes being seen by the psychologist and registered dietitian as well as the MD and Susan the PA-C. I will be forever grateful for all they have done for me, given me a new lease on life! I have as of this date lost 108 pounds and still losing!
Dr. Samuels has been doing obesity surgery n this area for over 19 years, and has done over 2,000 cases. He has a great orientaton program and goes over all the risks, so that you are completely informed.

My first impression of him was... how cute! very nice person!
My first impression never changed. I thought he was very nice and very informative. Paced himself while speaking and describing methods. Continued to be the same after surgery.
His office and staff members were all great!
There wasnt anything there for me not to like.
Future patients should come prepared to stay in the office for a while for the 1st visit & leave with a lot of info.
He very much emphasizes in aftercare. Feels as if you dont do your part in it his part has failed.
Yes, he has an aftercare program.
The risks of the surgery were explained in detail.
I think he is a 10 in the scale from 1-10.
Both.

Met with Dr. Samuels associate, Dr. Ronald Moore and he is too COOL! I can not begin to explain how pleasant and personable he and his staff are. If there is anyone needing information on a great surgeon with tons of information and support - he is your MAN!

Here it is - ALL APPROVED! And again, Dr. Moore and his staff are on the ball to get this thing rolling - I have a date for 9/2/03! I can't begin to thank my insurance company and Dr. Moore and his staff enough. My new life is about to begin!

My initial thought "Gee, he is little". Dr Samuels is about 5' tall, if that! However, on meeting with him (group), he was very informative, explained the fact that he himself does not perform Lap, and would put us in touch with someone who does. He covered the entire operation from pre-op right through to post-op very thoroughly and invited questions and/or opinions.

very positive



it help my health.


very good and helpful.


na

that he tell it like it is.
when i left the office that day
i was on cloud nine becauce i need help.




yes

i was told of the complication.

i would rate a ten. both.

my first impression was gee he is little.. very informative and straight to the point. Everyone is so polite.

My first impression of Dr. Samuels was a very good one. He lays it on the line. He as a video that you see first and it ansewers all your questions. his staff is great. The ladys there handle everthing in a timely matter. if you go to dr.sam write down any question you might have. Dr Sam explains everthing. I give Dr.Sam and his office a 100% with the way they did everthing. and to add i have not yet came across anytning negative to say PRAISE THE LORD. THANK YOU JESUS FOR SENDING THIS DR.

distant






nice guy once he got to know me as a person



effecient and friendly




major surgery seemed to common place to him at first impression


very thorough



acceptable

Dr. Liem comes highly recommended. I sought him out after going to several seminars held by Dr. Liem and other bariatric surgeons. He is friendly, intelligent and competent. The two main reasons I chose him over other surgeons in the area: 1. He has a 0% mortality rate AND a 0% leakage rate. I have heard only good things about him and I really want him to do my surgery; 2. Unlike many other surgeons in this field, he does not require and up-front consultation fee (not covered by ins. or reimbursed by the physician)and does not make his patients pay out-of-pocket expenses for services not usually needed.

Now, here's the kicker:I have had numerous problems with his staff, for no reason I can understand.

His primary nurse, Maria, who does all the insurance work, twice refused to give me an appointment with him because she said I would not be approved by my insurance (said I didn't weigh enough although I'm 100 lbs overweight and diabetic.) I did not feel this was her decision to make,so I went to another of his seminars and spoke to Dr. Liem himself. He said he would take me as a patient and that I should call the office and tell Maria he said to schedule me.

I had my consult with him, which was fine. I liked him and was very impressed. When I went back to see his nurse for my weigh-in, she again said I wouldn't be approved. I asked her to work with me by submitting the paperwork and said I'd do the follow up with my ins.if they denied coverage for me.

It has now been 6 weeks since my paperwork was supposedly sent to BCBS. After 3 weeks, I called Dr. Liem's office and was told they had just called the ins. and had submitted additional information. At that point I called BCBS and was told there was nothing at all in the system for me. When I called back the doctor's office (I was pretty upset) and related what I had been told, I was told by another staff member, "If you don't like the way we do things, you can go somewhere else."

Since then, I have made (in the last 3 weeks) three calls to BCBS - each time they say they are awaiting further information from the surgeon's office- and numerous calls to Dr. Liem's office. No matter whom I speak to, I'm told they're going to call BCBS and will get back to me that day. Yesterday (8/24) I got the same story again, and again no return call again.

It is obvious that Dr. Liem's staff is sitting on my file, and I don't know why. At this point, I will probably have to change surgeons. A friend suggested I talk to Dr. Liem himself, but my feeling is that doctors don't really want to get involved in the paperwork or hear complaints about their staff.

Any suggestions? Does anyone know whether there's a nurses' code of ethics or something I could use to make these people help me? Or should I just chalk it up to an unfortunate experience and go to another surgeon?

If you have any input, please contact me: [email protected].

Thanks.

9/28/02: After many problems with Dr. Liem's staff, I finally got approved for surgery, only to find out that Dr. Liem is thinking of not taking BCBS anymore.

I have now switched to Dr. Norman Samuels of Ft. Lauderdale. Come to find out he is an out of network surgeon also. However, his staff is far more knowledgable and easier to deal with so I'm sticking with him. Dr. Samuels is also highly recommended and I've already gone online to check his credentials and past history. Everything looks good. Just sorry so many months were wasted with the wrong office. I am being scheduled for all the pre-op testing and expect my surgery will be early November.

I heard about Dr Samuel's from my sister n laws friend. He had the surgery and just raved over Dr Samuel's. I became interested in the surgery after following the success of Carnie Wilson. So after hearing this guy talk so highly about Dr Samuel's, I made an appointment. My 1st impression of him was.."WOW, he is so tiny" Everyone one there was so nice and most of all so compassionate. I had my consultation with a couple that had researched every Dr in the State of Florida and openly admitted that Dr Samuel's was the ONLY Dr that they liked and felt comfortable with. After hearing my sister n laws friend talk about him and meeting him and then hearing this couple talk about him, my mind was made up. Dr Samuel's would be my surgeon. I had complete faith in him. He completly explained the procedure that he does and why he prefers that procedure over others. He has you meet ongoing with Psychologists and Dieticians and personally meets with you at every visit instead of leaving it up to his staff. He is very knowledgeable, experienced and very polite.