David H Kraus, MD

Meet The Doctor

What can a patient expect when they have you as a doctor?

I always try to take extra time with my patients to explain their problem and help design the most appropriate mode of evaluation and management for their specific problem they might present. My staff and I strive to provide a comprehensive approach to short and long term management issues with an evidence based approach to the individual patients care. Best practice guidelines are used in all patients care. We take pride in our ability to see patients in a timely manner. Outcomes are of paramount importance.

What is the most important factor in a doctor patient relationship and why?

Ability to listen and them communicate to the patient about their specific problem is probably the most important factor in the doctor-patient relationship. Then making sure the individual patient understands your availability to care for them, as most become very dependent on their Cardiologist for long term care if they manifest a chronic problem and finally provide continuity of care for the given patient, which over the long term may be the most important part of this relationship. This fosters a trusting relationship by the patient for their physician and leads to a long term relationship with chronic illnesses such as seen in my specialty with cardiovascular disease.

What hobbies or activities do you enjoy when you're not working?

I am a single digit handicap golfer and enjoy a great day on the course. I also like to travel in USA.

What about your line of work do you find the most rewarding and why?

We now have multiple additive therapies for cardiovascular disease that can acutely and chronically treat patients in very refined and specific manner to improve their short term and then their long term outcomes using evidenced based and well defined regimens. The most rewarding part of this profession is seeing a patient with an acute/chronic cardiac problem that maybe 10 or 15 years ago would have lead to an early demise, continue on with an active and reasonable life style for many years after the initial diagnosis. When I started in practice we didn't even have statin therapy for the treatment of hyperlipidemia nor did we know beta blockers and ACE inhibitors would help patients post MI or with heart failure. Now with the adoption of these therapies and the newer regimens developed in the last two decades we have turned short term lethal illnesses into long term manageable chronic disease states with patients really living better lifestyles all the while. The best is yet to come!