Roc W. Bauman, MD, FACS, FASMBS Bariatric Surgeon Medical Director at CMC-NorthEast

I found Dr. Bauman to be very nice and more than willing to answer any and all questions.

Aftercare is very important with Dr. Bauman. My first post op visit, he let me have it. I hadn't been drinking enough protein drinks. Believe me, I changed after that.

You also are required to attend a 1 yr. program with a diatitian. She has been very helpful also.

Surgical competence is more important to me, and I think this is his strong suit too.

The only negative I had was his office staff. He has since moved, and I think has some new office personnel. Hopefully things will get better now.

Dr. Bauman was very thorough and caring. I liked him very much and trust him. He is very honest and to the point. His staff is excellent. He told me my life would change forever and I would have to be disciplined. He emphasized aftercare very much. Yes he has a structured aftercare program. He told me up front that this is very serious surgery and could end in death or complications. Out of 1 to 10 I'd rate him a 20. Surgical competence and beside manner are both very important and I feel safe in his care.

Love, love, love Dr. B.! He is reserved like most surgeons but is very down to earth and grounded. He is not surgery happy and wants you to make the best decision for you. He belives that the best surgery is the one with the least amount of time on the table that will benifit you to use the tool he is providing you with most effeciently. His office staff might leave a bad impression with you but please please don't hold it against him. I think he knows how she is and is trying to deal with it the best way he can. Dr. B. beleives in a complete after care program and insists upon it. You meet with a nutritionist and an exercise physiologist afterwards to help ensure you are on the right track!

My initial consult was with Dr Bauman in May 2003. Found him to be very complete in his information, risks, benefits, answering my questions. Being an operating room Nurse myself, I am very upfront with surgeons. His reaction when he found out I was an OR Nurse, with a big grin,he said, "She's one of them :)"

I have great reports about Dr Bauman from others that I work with who have worked with him in surgery and I am totally confident in him.

Can't wait til the approval comes!

Dr. Bauman is the best! He is very quiet but has no problem answering any questions and does take what he does very seriously. He does also have a sense of humor and treats people with great respect. He has a great aftercare program through a nutritionist which includeds a visit with an exercise instructor. He also makes you go to an endocrinclogist before and after surgery. There is also a support group for his patients run by the nutrtionist once a month. I would rate him a 10!

I was very impressed with Dr Bauman from our first meeting, but my experiences with his staff have been less than stellar. I was told that my request for surgery would be submitted to CIGNA the same afternoon (2/3), but when I checked with CIGNA later in the week, they had not received it. I called Sharon to verify she had sent it because I assumed that CIGNA was at fault, but Sharon said she was backed up and hadn't faxed it yet. She planned to do so over the weekend. I called CIGNA again Tuesday and still no paperwork. I left word for Sharon to call me, but she didn't return my call. I called again on Wednesday and she said that she planned to fax it either Friday or over the following weekend. CIGNA finally received the request on 2/18, but lost it and Sharon had to fax it all over again. 4/03 I have been denied and am waiting for the official letter so that I can appeal the decision. In the meantime, I have decided to go with the Lap Band procedure as soon as Dr Bauman is ready to start doing it.
5/03 I sent Sharon my appeal letter with some additional information. I wanted to ask if she thought that a letter from my regular Psych would help, but by the time I was able to catch her between patients the package was already in the mail to CIGNA. I'm not hopeful that this appeal will be successful anyway, so I'm just waiting for the Lap Band.
7/7 My experiences with the office staff have improved 200% lately. I don't know if they were just understaffed earlier in the year, but I am finding them to be very responsive and have now scheduled my Lap Band for 8/8. They don't always have all the answers I would like to get, but through no fault of their own, and they do try to get them for me. Dr Bauman is no longer accepting CIGNA, but I still consider him the best and it's worth it to me pay up front and gamble on reimbursement.

First consultation is scheduled for 1/13/03. 1/10/13: Appt w/Dr Melkonian has been cancelled, they are having a problem with my United Healthcare. I called to make an appt w/Dr. Bauman. I need to complete an online survey and they will call me back. At this time, they are taking appts for MAY. I've read the comments about him and he's obviously very popular.
4/14/03: I met with Dr. Bauman. I watched a video in which he explained the process and the pros and cons. Than I sat down with him and was able to ask him questions. He is very nice. He is extremely intelligent. And he does have a sense of humor. I had already met with the dietician and the endo dr, plus I had all my tests. Sharon told me she would send in my letter of medical necessity that day or first thing in the morning. May is booked, hopefully I'll be approved in 2 weeks and can get a date in June.
5/5/03: It has been very frustrating to deal with his office staff. I called many times regarding my letter to the insurance co, and I left numerous messages for Sharon, but I NEVER received a return call. I even e-mailed her w/no response. I finally was able to talk to her on 4/30 and she had not even sent in my paperwork to the insurance co! I feel the office staff does not have concern for the patients. There were times they were rude and times I was given misinformation.
I am very aware of the power they have over me. I feel that if they dont like me they can put me on the bottom of the file!

I had surgery January 3, 2003. I had the best surgeon, Dr. Bauman. I had surgery around 7 am, was in my room by noon and up walking by 2:30 that afternoon. Dr. Bauman and his staff are very caring and concerned people. They seem to understand the battle the overweight people face. I was very informed when I went for my first consultation. He provide even more information to me. Follow up was wonderful. I returned twice to his office the first 2 weeks about concerns I had. Each time he saw me and even ordered test to make sure everything was okay. I love the support group. The only improvement I would make is to have support person assigned to each new patient. Someone who can give "been there done that" advice. I would love to have someone in my area to walk with and discuss WLS with.

I was very impressed with Dr. Bauman. He came highly recommended from my primary care doctor. I have remained impressed wih him and the entire program. It is a process which is involved and takes a while to complete. The whole process has been very well explained and the most helpful part is the support groups This is where I have received the most insight to the surgery and most importantly the process after the surgery.
Dr Bauman's staff has been fine to work with. I have met with the Doctor twice and the staff has been very kind. They were also responsible in setting up the other critical appointments to get ready for the surgery.
I do not really have any negative response to Dr Bauman or his staff. I do feel the most successful patients are the ones who are motivated and will commit the rest of there lives to a healthy lifestyle.
Aftercare has been emphasized a great deal. At this point (2 days before my surgery) I can't imagine not feeling hungry and eating a great deal of food. But I have scheduled a year in advance with the nutritionist, and they have set an intake plan for me for at least the next three months. The support group meetings (twice a month) are the most anticipated meeting for me after surgery. Just to know there are other people that look, feel, and understand the person you are and want to become.
The risks of the surgery were explained in very much detail. But with a support group to ask, the risks seam to be a small percentage. This speaks very highly of Dr. Bauman. The main complement of Dr Bauman is he is a very good surgeon and he goes the extra step in the immediate post operation days to make sure the patient is recovering well.
I would rate him very high at this point, and his competence and manner are both great.

I really feel he is the best. He most certainly requires a lot of pre-consultation work. This is the only type of surgery that he does and I felt very comfortable with him even though he was rushed that day. He is very direct and doesn't sugar coat anything. In fact, I don't really like the hospital, Northeast Medical in Concord, NC but I wanted Dr. Bauman bad enough that I am willing to deal with the hospital.

3/24/03 - I am 2 weeks post-op and can't say enough good things about Dr. Bauman. He has the nursing staff well trained for post-op care. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. The more I read about other surgeons the more I am convinced that I was lucky enought to get the best!