Daniel J. Hoh, MD, Gainesville FL

I would warn anyone to not have surgery with this Dr. I am in agony 7 months later and need a wheelchair. Terrible bedside manner.

In early September of this year, I had a cervical laminoplasty by Dr. Hoh. He and his entire team could not have been more professional and caring. As the wife of a retired surgeon from St. Petersburg, I would probably be considered a little on the critical side. But I only have very positive comments about my entire experience with Dr. Hoh and with Shands. They made what could have been a very scary experience, a positive one giving hope and encouragement. I am feeling better each week and know that I will soon be back to all of my previous physical activities. I have total trust in Dr. Hoh and his team as well as the amazing staff of Shands.

I always am suspicious of salicious reviews. Glad I went to Dr Hoh - he and his staff treated me with the utmost respect and provided plenty of information regarding my diagnosis. His bedside manner was empathetic yet professional. My local experience led me to seek a more responsive physician - The Tallahassee neurologist's nurse called me to tell me I had a brain aneurysm and the local neurosurgeons would be giving me a call but she gave me a phone number just in case they didn't. I was stunned. This occurred just before Memorial Day weekend. I
spent over 4 hours calling the neurologist's office trying to get information and schedule an appointment. Someone would pick up the phone put me on hold and then I would be disconnected 10 minutes later. I started researching online and found Dr Hoh with his many years of experience and Shands reputation. Thank you Dr Hoh and your excellent staff!

As a cardiologist with 30 years of both academic and private practice experience, I feel that I have ample experience to comment on the evaluation that I received at the University of Florida Neurosurgery department Gainesville under the direction of Dr Daniel Hoh. From the outset emails were not responded to. Check in and the Radiology process were courteous and well performed. That is the end of my pleasurable experience. From that point forward, it was a complete waste of my time.
Next was my experience with the Neurosurgery department. I was evaluated by a PA only who did not seem to know how to properly do a neurologic exam or do a proper history. Then the neurosurgeon came in, never once laying his hands on me, or evaluate anything other than make me walk forward and backwards across the room. In the preceding short period of time, he had evaluated the x-rays that were just taken and MRIS that i brought and conjure up a diagnosis. The diagnosis again was based on a sub-optimal evaluation done by a PA, no substantive physician evaluation and a rapid XR and MRI review. I am not disputing his diagnosis however, I am disputing the manner in which he came to that diagnosis which makes me question his findings. I was pleased to hear that I did not require surgery, but strongly disagree with the last two words at the bottom of the evaluation stating "high risk" That determination is generally left for someone like me, a cardiologist, to give an opinion on. I had actually undergone A cardiology evaluation including a right and left heart catheterization, and a pulmonary evaluation including a pulmonary function test as well as a 6-minute walk test three weeks prior to his evaluation. I am well aware that University surgeons love to take on pristine low-risk cases to maintain their good stats. I did evaluate his notes which are full of inaccuracies and downright lies. Many of the things listed in there we're actually not even performed.
I would recommend that people who have evaluations obtain a copy of their records and have someone go over the evaluation with them so that they would know what the physician is saying that they did and confirm that it was actually done. With the advent of electronic medical records it has become so easy to use check boxes to indicate that something has been done what in in fact it actually has not.
The practice of medicine requires a comprehensive history and physical which were severely lacking by Dr Daniel Hoh of the department of neurosurgery at the University of Florida in Gainesville. I never would refer a the patient there for an evaluation. I expect far more from myself and my students than I received there. I can only hope that other departments at the University of Florida have better oversight of their physicians and are more accurate in their evaluations.

Dr. Hoh performed my Microdiscectomy surgery. His team was very professional and did a good job of explaining everything in advance. Every person from check in to post op was pleasant and courteous. Dr. Hoh is an excellent surgeon and I felt good being in his expert care. I traveled from out of town for the procedure because I wanted the best possible care and they delivered.

Dr Hoh misdiagnosed me. He made me wait a few months in order to schedule my surgery as he diagnosed me as chronic and stable. This was a surprise to me because previous surgeons who reviewed me stated they were worried because although my back problems have been long term, they are rapidly progressing in severity and I’m at risk of being paralyzed if I don’t have surgery soon.

His staff was extremely condescending to me, and kept changing procedures for how things were going to happen, particularly his assistant, Greta. I realized that that attitude was scaring me away from Shands. They seemed to have trust issues with me, and it worried me that they may not believe my after surgical pain. I was treated like I was wasting their time for asking questions.

After a few months of waiting, I was about to schedule surgery when something Greta said made me worry. I went back and reviewed Dr Hohs notes he wrote immediately after my last appointment on the UF portal and realized that the surgery he was planning to do had already been done successfully. He was planning a fusion of two vertebrae that had already been fused. He had declined to do another surgery that had been recommended to me by at least 3 other highly trained neurosurgeons; a discectomy to replace the bulging, herniated disc where the correct fusion was supposed to happen and some removal of bone Spurs displacing my spinal column. He failed to look at my images and read their associated reports, and claimed his notes, spread out over numerous paragraphs, a letter to my referring surgeon and in different areas of the portal, contained numerous “typographical errors, ” including in the diagnostic sections. In other words, a typo that occurred 5 times in 5 different places. A typo that would have resulted in the wrong surgery in the wrong place, and would have ignored associated discectomy that was recommended by others to be done in the same surgery.

I consider myself very lucky that I caught this error; it was not caught by Dr Hoh or his staff, it was caught by me. I am very lucky I did not go forward with this wrong surgery. I am now at Mayo Clinic, where the correct surgeries are planned, a fusion where it needs to happen, not where it’s already been done, as well as a discectomy and some bone spur removal.

I wasted a few months because I trusted Dr Hoh, if I’d fallen badly and become paralyzed in that time, he would be liable for that. I do not recommend this doctor and I hope you take my recommendation seriously. This man could have cost me my ability to walk, he wasted a lot of my time, and his staff treated me horribly while it all happened.

A “typo” written out in numerous different places can present a massive issue in the medical field. There’s no way I’d trust this man with a scalpel.

Dr. Hoh was my mother’s surgeon twice at USC hospital in Los Angeles. He was great both times and helped her so much. I would love to reconnect with him.

Dr. Hoh was my husband’s physician for his spinal fusion. My husband had 2 prior failed discectomies and was in a lot of pain. Although Dr. Hoh may be a good surgeon he has absolutely no bedside manner and he treats the patient and family like we are either incompetent or that he more important things to do than to discuss what to expect during and after surgery. He explained prior to surgery that my husband’s foundation was crumbling. This was his explanation of what was wrong with my husband’s back and why he needed a fusion. He talked like this to my husband and my husband is a retired physician!

At my husband’s post op appointment Dr. Hoh was not even going to explain the X-rays or exactly what he had done for my husband during surgery! He actually said he did not remember my husband and that he does several of these surgeries every week and really doesn’t remember any of them unless something goes wrong! He had told my husband that it would be a 2 day stay and it ended up being a very difficult 5 day stay but but Dr. Hoh said he didn’t remember why! I said I thought it might be helpful to review the patient’s chart before you enter their room.
I just don’t think it’s worth it to be treated this way as there are many other choices out there. I think a physician should make sure you know exactly what to expect both pre and post op and that they feel comfortable and confident before they leave. That is just basic medical care!

Dr. HOH explained everything explicitly in terms that were understandable. He relieved my fears. He made me feel very comfortable.

Dr Hoh did an ACDF after having problems for 2 years. From the moment I woke up from the surgery the pain and the numbness going down my left arm was gone. Post OP while the swelling was going down I would have some come back or new kind but it wouldn't last more than 24hrs or so which the PA explained would happen during recovery. My range of motion in my neck is better than expected. I would say 5 weeks out I'm at 95 percent with looking directly up being the only limit. The only downside to Dr Hoh is that you have to get him to explain what's going to take place and what to expect, he'll do it but in an abbreviated version in my opinion. He may have just been really busy that day, I don't know but I still gave him 5 stars. His office staff is also outstanding in the hospital and to communicate with.

I had two previous back surgeries that failed to resolve my serious back problem. Dr Hoh operated and I have been pain free for 8 years.