New Patients

Dear Future Patient,

We appreciate your interest in our expertise, and we would like to welcome you to our specialty practice. We offer our patients service that you simply will not find in other surgical practices. For example:

• Since there is still no adequate substitute for genuine "face-to- face" time between patient and surgeon for discussion of important issues, we reserve a full hour for your initial consultation session and 30 minutes for your follow-up visits. You will not be rushed, and all of your questions will be answered.
  

• We recognize that long waits in the office are both unnecessary and unreasonable, so we promise that you will not be kept waiting more than 30 minutes past your scheduled appointment time. We also hold evening office hours for the convenience of patients with busy daytime schedules.

Many patients come to us from significant distances at the referral of other orthopaedic surgeons. Our patients often have complex problems that need intensive time and effort to treat comprehensively, without Managed Care short-cuts. Our philosophy is to either "do it right" or not do it at all. In our practice we are not satisfied until you are satisfied that you have received the best subspecialty care available anywhere. Other things we believe you will appreciate about our practice include:

• Office locations in safe communities that are convenient to major highway access, with abundant free parking. 
  

• You will know your surgeon's educational background and expert qualifications before you see him (feel free to review our professional resumés or our full curriculum vitae elsewhere on this website).
  

• If surgery is needed, you will know whose hands will be doing the work! We guarantee to personally perform your surgery, without delegation to an assistant surgeon or apprentice physician. We attend to every detail of your surgery, from start to finish, and never schedule surgical procedures in two operating rooms at the same time.
  

• As long as you are an active patient in our practice you will never be charged for telephone consultations, consultations between surgeon and physical therapist, medical record copying or the processing of medical disability forms.

Perhaps most importantly, you will experience the confidence and trust in your surgeon that is so important for a successful physician-patient relationship. It is our practice to recommend only what is best for you, not what is best for your insurance company. The so-called "experts" today uniformly say that our traditional approach to the practice of medicine simply cannot survive. We intend to prove them wrong.

We want you to be fully informed about all aspects of our practice before making your appointment, so please review the other information on our website before calling to reserve time on our consultation schedule. If you have any further questions or wish to make an appointment, please call or e-mail either of our two patient service representatives (Donna Ciminale), or one of us personally. We look forward to meeting you, and we will do our best to meet your expectations.

Sincerely,

Alexander Sapega, M.D
Board Certified in Orthopaedic Surgery
Specializing in Arthroscopic and Reconstructive Surgery of the Knee

Michael L. Sidor, M.D.
Board Certified in Orthopaedic Surgery
Specializing in Arthroscopic and Reconstructive Surgery of the Shoulder and Elbow
Joint Replacement: Knee, Shoulder and Elbow.

International Patients

The staff surgeons at our Knee and Shoulder Centers have a long history of servicing an international clientele. We have been pleased to treat patients from :

We offer the most highly specialized skills and advanced surgical procedures for the treatment of knee, shoulder, and elbow problems available anywhere in the world. While brain surgery or organ transplantation may require an international patient to travel to a U.S. University-based medical center, that is not the case for knee, shoulder, and elbow surgery. The best care in the world is available right here at our conveniently located suburban centers, without the impersonal approach, safety risks and other difficulties often associated with treatment at inner-city teaching centers here in the US.

Not only are our specialty surgeons former University team physicians and/or directors of University Sports Medicine programs, but as private practice physicians now they perform their surgery personally, having no obligation to allow physicians-in-training to perform their cases. This is probably the most important issue facing any patient coming to America for treatment at an advanced center; ie, will the surgery be done entirely by the physician you came here to see? In our practice, you will never need to concern yourself with that issue. Every last detail of your treatment is personally performed and directed by either Dr. Sapega (knee cases) or Dr. Sidor (all shoulder and elbow problems; and any knee problem requiring joint replacement). That is the reason why such a high proportion of their patients are either physicians, nurses or their family members. Surgery will take place in a technically sophisticated suburban surgical center with pleasant and friendly staff and competent anesthesia personnel. You will not be subjected to anesthesia physicians-in-training, practicing anesthetic procedures on you as they learn. Your anesthesiologist will be experienced and interested in providing you the most pleasant and complication-free surgical experience possible. The surgical care program we offer represents the utmost in comprehensive responsible, patient oriented service.

Our offices are located only a short drive from the Philadelphia International Airport, and our International Patient Coordinator can arrange local transportation and nearby lodging for either a short or an extended stay. We can assure you that you will not receive any of the "HMO-style" medical care that has become so prevalent in the United States. Our surgical practice does not contract with any HMO’s, so we have not needed to dilute down our staff resources or standard of care. You are treated entirely as a private patient and as a guest of The Knee and Shoulder Centers, at all times.

If you need physical therapy before you leave, our surgeons know the premiere knee and shoulder therapists in the Philadelphia region and can arrange for your treatment with them, as needed. We also provide you with detailed, written physical therapy protocols that you can take back with you, to finish out your rehabilitation in your home country. We can communicate with your physical therapist there, if any questions arise. These well established physical therapy protocols help minimize the amount of time you need to stay in the United States for your treatment.

If you are interested in obtaining more information about our International Patient Treatment Program, please contact our International Patient Coordinator via E-mail at kneeandshoulder@comcast.net; You may also call Ms. Donna Ciminale, directly at (001) 856-273-8900.