Message from the Founder

[Ross]

Since very few people have actually read Hanks announcement, I'm posting it here for MORE EXPOSURE!

Heart Valve Patient Survey

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Greetings ValveReplacement.com Users,

I am pleased to announce the introductioon of a new survey and education experience available from On-X Life Technologies, Inc.™ and made available to members and visitors of ValveReplacement.com. I hope that those who qualify will take the opportunity to participate. I myself have taken the survey and viewed the materials and have found them to be very nicely done.

I wish that material like this would have been available to me when I heard that I would be having my aortic valve replaced..

A link to the survey can be found on the top of this page. (Click on the On-X survey button) Viewable in the Glass and Valvereplacement styles only!

I will leave you with the following announcement from On-X...

******************************
Dear ValveReplacement.com participants:

At On-X Life Technologies, Inc.™ (On-X LTI), we have created a valve patient survey and a patient education video.

Improvement of patient welfare is part of our company mission at On-X LTI. We believe this includes provision of thorough preoperative education.

We are conducting this survey to determine if the preoperative education video we developed provides the information that valve patients need and if this information was provided to them by their physicians.

The ultimate goal of the survey is publication in a nursing or medical journal.

If you have not yet received a valve implant, you may be eligible to participate. We accept patients who will be implanted with a manufactured valve or homograft and who are willing to participate according to the guidelines. The compensation for completion of this survey is $150.

We have safeguards in place to protect your privacy and are mandated to do so by the laws of the USA.

We hope you will take time to review the patient survey and consider participation if you are eligible. We look forward to your comments and suggestions.

Thank you for consideration of our survey.

Best regards,

On-X Life Technologies, Inc.™
******************************
__________________
-----------------------------------
Hank in Arizona
Founder of ValveReplacement.com

 

[skeptic49]

I read it! I also clicked on the advert in the header for more information.

Jim

 

[netmiff]

me too ! me too !


You can send the brownie points to me . . . .

 

[Bonzo Dog]

[engages teacher's pet, goody two shoes mode] .................. Yes I read it. I did, I did!! Also looked at the survey. I also PMd the founder for some clarification. Can I collect my $1 now please.

 

[geebee]

I guess I am confused. Hank mentioned that he had taken the survey but I found the following information in the instructions:

In order to participate, you must first complete the following:

* Participation Agreement
* Preop Survey I will be completed prior to your operation for valve replacement,
* Review of Patient Education Video for Heart Valves,
* Preop Survey II will be completed prior to your operation for valve replacement but after you complete Preop Survey I and review of Patient Education Video for Heart Valves, and
* Postop Survey I will be completed between 30 and 60 days after your operation.​

Doesn't this imply that you have to be pre-op to participate or, since many of us have gone through all stages, we can still participate?

 

[Ross]

I guess I am confused. Hank mentioned that he had taken the survey but I found the following information in the instructions:

In order to participate, you must first complete the following:

* Participation Agreement
* Preop Survey I will be completed prior to your operation for valve replacement,
* Review of Patient Education Video for Heart Valves,
* Preop Survey II will be completed prior to your operation for valve replacement but after you complete Preop Survey I and review of Patient Education Video for Heart Valves, and
* Postop Survey I will be completed between 30 and 60 days after your operation.​

Doesn't this imply that you have to be pre-op to participate or, since many of us have gone through all stages, we can still participate?

Hank or someone will have to clear this up. I ran into the same thing and stopped. It was making me feel like I wasn't to be doing it.

 

[skeptic49]

I read it that you had to be Pre-op to participate. I don't have a surgery date, so I stopped there.

Jim

 

[Hank]

Clarification

Clarification

Just to clarify..

On-X set me up so that I could go through the whole survey and educational materials so that I would know exactly what it was that we were offering to VR.com users.

In it's currently released state - you are correct - the survey is for pre-op patients.

The main purpose of the program is to gather pre-op data and compare it to post-op data to guage how useful the educational materials are.

The intended target of the "Paid" survey is pre-op patients.

This was stated in the introductory post by On-X..

"If you have not yet received a valve implant, you may be eligible to participate. We accept patients who will be implanted with a manufactured valve or homograft and who are willing to participate according to the guidelines. The compensation for completion of this survey is $150."

If you have any further questions, please let me know..

 

[Duff Man]

So, how pre-op do we have to be? I'm pretty much destined for surgery, but it's 3-4 millimeters away. Is this survey for someone like me? I feel like it could be a little more specific about what type of patient they're looking for.

 

[skeptic49]

Confused

Confused

"If you have not yet received a valve implant, you may be eligible to participate. We accept patients who will be implanted with a manufactured valve or homograft and who are willing to participate according to the guidelines. The compensation for completion of this survey is $150."

If you have any further questions, please let me know..

Hank,

The survey web site says:

You must be a heart valve replacement candidate and then receive an implanted valve in order to complete this survey. It does not matter what type or brand of valve you have implanted.

So I think this is confusing since according to this paragraph you could have a tissue valve inplant and that would also qualify. Am I missing something?

Like Aaron, I'm probably going to need an AVR (I'm at Va 1.1 to 1.4 cm2) sooner rather than later, but I can't detemine from the web site what the time frame for surgery is to qualify one for the survey.

Jim

 

[skeptic49]

Digging a little deeper on the survey site, on the "participant's Agreement" page there is this:

By providing the information requested above, I grant permission for employees of On-X® Life Technologies, Inc. (OnXLTI) to verify my status as a heart valve replacement candidate by contacting my heart surgeon. I give permission to my heart surgeon and her/his employees to verify that I am a candidate for heart valve replacement and/or that I have received an implanted heart valve and to verify the date of the valve replacement surgery by answering "Yes" below.

So, I take it that you have to have "pulled the trigger" and already have a patient/provider relationship with a surgeon to qualify. At least that's the way it appears to me.

Jim

 

[Ross]

I'm trying to see if I can't get someone from On-X to clear this up for us.

 

[Ross]

Hi Ross:

Thank you for asking.

Please feel free to post this message on the forum for On-X Life Technologies, Inc. The preoperative window was not specified so let's say within one year preoperatively as confirmed by your physician's office. We will alter the survey to specify this preoperative window in the next week or two.

We look forward to other questions as they arise.

Best regards,

Catheran Burnett RN BSN
Manager, Clinical Projects and Education
On-X Life Technologies, Inc.?
www.onxvalves.com
www.heartvalvechoice.com

 

[skeptic49]

Hi Ross:

so let's say within one year preoperatively as confirmed by your physician's office.

Hummm...let me get out my crystal ball and see how much time I have. My cardio sure can't tell me.

What about the discrepancy between valve types...mechanical/homograft is specified in one place, while the other reference says any kind of valve?

Jim

 

[Ross]

I suppose email her and ask. Sorry, I don't have the answers for you all.

[email protected]

 

[skeptic49]

Sorry, Ross. I didn't mean to pressure you. I sent this email to your contact aat ON-X:

Dear Madam,

I am a member of the Valve Replacement Online Forum, and a potential future recipient of an aortic valve replacement. I have two questions.

1. For purposes of the survey, do you accept candidates who will be implanted only with either a mechanical valve or a homograft, or does the valve type not matter?

2. For many asymptomatic individuals diagnosed with aortic valve disease, the date of future surgery is difficult or impossible to determine by our cardiologists. Would it not therefore be wiser to set clinical indicators to determine eligibility (age, aortic valve area, cross valve pressure gradients, etc?)

Thank you for your help.

James Kelly

 

[skeptic49]

Reply From On-X

Reply From On-X

Here is the reply to the email in my post above:

Hi Jim:

Thank you for your observations.

We accept patients with any type of valve replacement implant, tissue or mechanical or homograft. I believe this is explained well in the survey description. We will not accept repairs for the postoperative survey. If a patient is not sure of repair vs. replacement prior to surgery, we will compensate for the first two forms at the rate of $50 for both
but not for the postoperative form. Maybe we need to explain that a little better.

If your cardiologist is watching you, you should have a fairly good idea that you are having surgery well in advance. That is the best we can do given the uncertainty of valve disease. This may mean we miss a few patients due to urgent developments.

In the next week or two, we will consider your comments and determine if we need to add or change verbage.

Finally, please forgive the format of this message or errors as I am typing from a Blackberry.

We will let you know more soon.

Best regards,

Catheran Burnett RN BSN

 

[Lisa in Katy]

I read Hank's original message, but was very disappointed. I thought it said MASSAGE from the Founder and was ready to sign up!!! Actually, like others, I'm not qualified.

 

[marie]

I read Hank's original message, but was very disappointed. I thought it said MASSAGE from the Founder and was ready to sign up!!! Actually, like others, I'm not qualified.

So that's what's going on. Shoots I thought I was getting a MASSAGE as well. So I'm not qualified either but I would be if it was a MASSAGE.

 

[skeptic49]

MASSAGE? What kind of place is this, ladies? (LOL!)

Jim