David Elliott Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

This is a Review for Dr. Elliott now that he is in Richmond, VA. My first impression of Dr. Elliott is that he is dry, kind of boring, but well qualified and professional. I knew underneath that he had a sense of humor, but I think he is scared to show it because he doesn't want people to think he doesn't take their surgery seriously. Everything with surgery has gone very smooth. He is very, very serious about making sure you don't pick up an infection, or get blood clots, or develop pneumonia while in the hospital. Dr. Elliott also provides you with wonderful means of pain managment. He visited me 4 times total while I was at the hospital. Which is much more than i expected. He also visited my family after surgery to let them know everything went well. He also works with Ronnie the surgery coordinator, and Ronnie will be with you pretty much your entire hospital stay. He will make sure everything goes smooth and you are well taken care of. Dr. Elliott does emphasize aftercare and post-op diet. Which I think is very good. He wants you to be successful. He does address the risks of surgery, but he is reassuring that if you follow his directions that you really should not have to worry about the risks. He also does a whole bunch of preadmission testing to be sure that you are healthy enough for surgery. I would rate Dr. Elliott a 10, and I would rate his staff about a 7. I felt out of the know a lot about what was going on with my insurance, and I sometimes felt like a pain when i would call to see if there was any word on whether i was approved. My first submission to insurance was denied because I didn't have everything I needed to be approved, and I felt like his office staff should have been more helpful in telling me everything that was needed to have a successful submission the first time around. rnBut I would highly recommend Dr. Elliott to anyone considering weight loss surgery. He is absolutely wonderful, and definitely knows what he is doing.

Dr. Elliot is the best surgeon I ever had. I love! He is do nice, I will tell anyone if they shoulf see him. The staff at his office are so nice.The nurse always pick up the phone, I never got the voice mail, the insurance lady calls you back which is a plus! He came to see me a few times a day while I was in the hospital. When I went in for my 2 week check up he really care how I was doing. He is really a great doctor.

Dr.Elliott has a nice office with a huge fish tank in the waitting room. The staff is great. At first looking at Dr Elliott i thought is this little man going to work out. As i got to know his staff and talked to them all of my questions where answered. An d I know how to question people. Months before i had been sent to stanford medical and asked why if your having weight loss surgery do you have to lose weight before you lose weight? Stanford said because we said so. Dr Elliott took the time to tell me that your orgains lose weight first then the outside so for him to beable to do the surgery I need to lose abit more weight so it will make it easyer to get in there. He and his staff are friendly and very helpful. Dr Elliott and his staff has been great before surgery i had all kinds of questions and they answered all my tons of questions. all was great. I did have complcation s which where very little but it could have gone the other way my asthma kicked in before surgery as well as my heart just didnt beat right and before the surgery Dr elliott changed my time with the gal that was behind me due to those problems. Before surgery i had more test taken to make sure my heart and lungs could take it they could so at 8 am i went in to surgery. I remember going in to the operating room and the nurse asking me if i could move on to the or table and i jumped over laughting and we chatted about what was going to happen and she said she had never had a patent so happy about getting surgery. I told her this is my new birthday and the start of my new life which I am so excided about. She informed me that no one had ever told her that and she was so pleased to be my nurse. From what i remember which wasnt anything till much later in the day when dr elliott checked on me.When i was in my room .Dr elliott checked on me several time durring my stay in the hospital, he wanted to m ake sure that my lungs where good. Risks where talked about before and after as well and anything that i could ask i did. After care was great. i just think very highly of Dr Elliott and his staff. not only is dr elliotts bed side manner great but so is verything else. My appretateion goes out to him and his staff.

He's very professional and accepting, and serious! I think there's probably a crazed comic in there (albeit a quiet one), but like a trouper, he doesn't show it to us. And I don't think that's *just* because he reminds me so of Harry Shearer :o)

His track record is amazing: one fatality in over 300 procedures. While he made me aware of the risks, complications, and the "gooey" bits of surgery, I never felt alarmed or unhappy as he spoke.

I was impressed also by his staff -- efficient, friendly, nonjudgmental, professional.

In my opinion, a good "bedside manner" is at least as important as surgical competence. This is someone who wants to have an ongoing professional/therapeutic relationship over time; he's not going to get that if his patients feel insulted or unhappy.

POST-OP UPDATE: I've just noticed that the main scar he left me is shaped like a star. I'm told that's unusual. Really, how could I not love that?!

From my first impression to even after surgery I have been very impressed with Dr Elliott. The more I have been his patient the more impressed I am with him and his staff. After finding something was wrong with my heart, he had more tests done before surgery to make sure I would be fine. We found the problem and it should be corrected soon they want to wait till i have lost all my weight before they do anything about my heart. Dr Elliott and his staff went over everthing that has to do with the surgery and make sure you understand what your about to go threw. He and his staff are very careing and I am so glad that i picked him. From the staff to Dr Elliott everyone there are very caring and they make sure you feel comfortable about what your about to undergo. If all medical staff and drs where the way this staff and dr is there would be better medical all around.

My first impression of Dr. Elliott was that he seemed very professional. Almost TOO professional. He doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humor. Or maybe he has one and it's just not compatible with mine. Oh well.
The office staff is very nice and supportive. They also understand that I travel appx. 70 miles to get to my appointments, so they don't book impossible times.
The thing I liked least about Dr. Elliott is that he doesn't seem to have a sense of humor. He's very serious about his work, and I respect that, but please.....LIGHTEN UP!!!!
We haven't really gotten into the subject of aftercare yet. Maybe I can update this later.
Overall, I would rate Dr. Elliott very highly. He seems to be very competent. But I think his bedside manner needs improving. To me, competence and bedside manner are of equal importance.

My first impression of Dr. Elliott was very serious and to the point. After a few minutes though I saw a softer more relaxed side of him. His office staff is very efficient and helpfull. There was nothing to dislike about Dr. E. Future patients should know that even though he seems distant at first, he is very kind and sympathetic.Also very informative to make sure you are content with your decision to proceed with this surgery. He is very adament about aftercare and since I am an hour away from the hospital is having me stay in town for a week after surgery in case of any complications. Dr. E went over all the risks evertime I saw him. I rate Dr. E a 10 so far. I think a Dr. needs to have both surgical knowledge and bedside manner. They entertwine.

The only thing I have come accross so far that was bothersome was that since I am paying for the operation, there were a few kinks to work out as to where to go to pay and who takes the money.

<b>July 13, 2005
What can I say about Dr. Elliott? Well he went over my medical history and he was pleased to see that I have been trying to do prepare myself for wgt loss, he made me feel good about myself. He is concerned and he shows that. I was very impressed the way he talked to me as a human being rather then just a patient.
The office staff is very nice and have a sence of humor which is always a plus with me. The Dr asked Stacy to send off for my medical approval and she sent it off that day rather then "getting to it as soon as she can".
To anyone who is considering seeing Dr Elliot I would highly recommend him I have met and seen 4 to 5 Drs that do this surgery, The office is very nice and clean knowbody is rushing you where you don't feel you have time to think. Very calm and very informative.
I will update as I find out my approval for the surgery...

Excellent surgeon. Continues to provide wonderful care. Obviously, would highly recommend.

I liked Dr Elliott from the very first time that I met him. He was very kind and considerate of my state of health and seriousness of my condition. I was not able to walk without a cane and then just barely, I was unable to sleep without using a machine and my diabetes was out of control....He advised me of my surgery and what I could expect. He had me go thru a thorough heart exam since I was close to 400 lbs and gasping for breath if I took more than a few steps. He never made me feel like I was a bad person or grotesque and his staff were equally as kind and considerate as he was. He emphasized aftercare but I had been downsized from my job and my husband had cancer and had surgery 2 weeks after my surgery so I was unable to attend group meetings on a regular basis. We eventually moved to Arizona in May of 2004 and I did not see Dr Elliott again until Dec 3rd for my year check up. At that time I had lost 152 lbs and he was thrilled and amazed at the new me. He has a military background so he was very competent and serious but very thorough and commanded and received respect from the nursing staff at the hospital and I was happy with both. The hospital billing and my room left alot to be desired. Care was not the best, but then they were short staffed and it was Thanksgiving week. They did create some billing problems for me but it was finally resolved and my insurance did pay them.