Referring a Patient to Dr Andrew Choong
For general practitioners, physicians and surgeons in Singapore and the region: how to reach Dr Choong directly, what is seen the same day, what to send, and what you will get back.
Direct line for doctors: +65 9027 8636 (call, WhatsApp or Telegram). Dr Choong answers himself unless he is operating, and aims to reply to messages within the hour during the day. If he is in theatre, the clinic team on +65 9376 8688 or enquiries@drandrewchoong.com will reach him.
Urgent cases are seen the same day, including evenings and weekends. Call Dr Choong and he will arrange to see your patient at the Mount Elizabeth Novena urgent care centre. If your patient is already at another private hospital, that can usually be arranged instead. A suspected ruptured aneurysm, acute aortic dissection or acutely ischaemic limb goes by ambulance (995) to the nearest emergency department; call Dr Choong on the way, and if that is any of the private hospitals in Singapore, he will meet the patient there.
Dr Andrew Choong is a vascular, endovascular and aortic surgeon at Mount Elizabeth Novena Specialist Centre. He runs a single-surgeon practice: the doctor you speak to is the doctor who sees, scans and operates on your patient, and who writes back to you. He treats the full range of vascular disease, with a subspecialty interest in complex aortic work, and accepts referrals for assessment, for an opinion only, or for ongoing shared care.
What to refer, and how urgently
| Problem | Same day | Within the week | Routine |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aortic aneurysm or dissection | Symptomatic or tender aneurysm; rapid growth on serial imaging; dissection on medical management with new pain, malperfusion or uncontrolled blood pressure; endoleak with sac expansion after a stent-graft placed elsewhere. | Abdominal aneurysm at or near the repair threshold (about 5.5 cm in men, 5.0 cm in women) or any thoracic aneurysm; a patient told elsewhere they are "unsuitable" for repair; second opinions. | Incidental small aneurysm for a surveillance plan; lapsed follow-up after EVAR or TEVAR; family screening in heritable aortic disease. |
| Suspected DVT or PE | Red, hot, swollen leg; a duplex scan is arranged in the vascular laboratory the same day or the next working day. Breathlessness or chest pain with a swollen leg: emergency department first. | Confirmed DVT where catheter-directed treatment, a venous stent or anticoagulation planning is in question; superficial vein thrombosis extending towards the groin or knee. | Post-thrombotic swelling, recurrent DVT, anticoagulation review. |
| Leg arterial disease and diabetic foot | Rest pain, a new ulcer or gangrene in a diabetic or arteriopathic foot, an acutely cold or pulseless limb. | Non-healing wound, deteriorating claudication, absent pulses with a wound at risk. | Stable claudication, screening of high-risk diabetics; Dr Choong's approach is endovascular first wherever the anatomy allows. |
| Carotid disease | TIA, amaurosis fugax or minor stroke with a carotid stenosis: the benefit of intervention is greatest in the first two weeks. | Asymptomatic stenosis found on imaging, for a plan. | Surveillance of known stenosis. |
| Varicose veins and venous disease | Bleeding from a varicose vein (after first aid); rapidly spreading phlebitis. | Venous ulcer or skin changes at the ankle; painful phlebitis. | Symptomatic varicose veins, leg swelling, aching or heaviness. Treatment is usually a local-anaesthetic day case; purely cosmetic veins are assessed but treatment is not an insured indication. |
| Dialysis access | A fistula or graft that has stopped working or is bleeding; a patient with no usable access. | Poor flows, prolonged bleeding after needling, steal symptoms, a failing catheter. | Pre-dialysis planning and access creation. |
If you are unsure which column your patient belongs in, call. A two-minute conversation is quicker than a wrong queue.
How to refer
- Call or message Dr Choong on +65 9027 8636 with your name, practice and the one-line clinical question. For routine referrals a message is enough; for anything in the same-day column, call.
- Send the referral letter and results to enquiries@drandrewchoong.com, or hand them to the patient. No referral letter is needed for the patient to be seen, but most Integrated Shield and corporate plans require one for claims, so a letter helps your patient.
- The clinic books the patient around your urgency, not the next free slot. Tell your patient to expect a call from +65 9376 8688. Routine new patients are usually seen within a few days.
What to send with the referral
- Your letter, with the question you want answered and the patient's main comorbidities and medication, in particular anticoagulants and antiplatelets, renal function and diabetes control.
- Previous imaging as images, not only reports: CT angiography DICOM files for aortic and arterial cases, duplex reports for venous cases. Scan images cannot be attached to email: message Dr Choong and you will be sent a private Google Drive or Dropbox folder link to copy the DICOM files into; the scan transfer guide has the three-step version you can forward to your patient.
- Operation notes and implant details for any previous vascular procedure, including stent-grafts placed elsewhere.
What you will get back
- A letter after every visit, written by Dr Choong, with the findings, the ultrasound result, the plan and what, if anything, you are asked to do. For urgent cases you hear the same day, by phone or message, before the letter.
- A call for anything that changes management, for example a finding that needs admission, a change to anticoagulation, or a decision to operate.
- Your patient back. Shared care is the norm: surveillance scans, blood pressure and risk-factor management stay with you where that suits the patient, with Dr Choong reviewing the images. He does not take over general care, and he says so to the patient.
- A written opinion without a consultation, if that is what you asked for: records review within 24 hours of receiving everything, a full aortic second opinion within 48 hours.
The vascular laboratory
The clinic has its own vascular laboratory. Arterial and venous duplex and aortic ultrasound are done at the first visit wherever the schedule allows, with Dr Choong reviewing the images himself, so most patients leave the first appointment with a diagnosis and a plan. You are welcome to refer for a scan only, with the report back to you, where the clinical question is a scan question.
Insurance, panels and letters
Dr Choong participates in the main Integrated Shield and corporate panels and works within every panel's fee guidelines; the current list is on the payment and insurance page. Pre-authorisation letters, medical reports and specialist letters for insurers are prepared by the clinic; please copy insurer correspondence to insurance@drandrewchoong.com. Fees are discussed with the patient as a written estimate once the plan is clear.
Referrals from outside Singapore
Doctors in Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Philippines and further afield refer patients for aortic opinions, complex arterial work and planned venous treatment. The same direct line applies; messages in English are preferred, and WhatsApp, Telegram and Viber all reach +65 9027 8636. Records are reviewed before the patient travels, so that the visit confirms a plan rather than starting one, and a written summary goes back to you after each visit. The international patients page sets out the sequence, hospitals, estimates and interpreter arrangements, and short overviews exist in Bahasa Indonesia, Khmer, Burmese, Vietnamese, Filipino and Chinese that you can send to your patient.
About Dr Choong
Dr Andrew Choong trained in vascular surgery in the United Kingdom and Australia, holds a PhD and the European Board of Vascular Surgery fellowship with its Gold Medal, was Associate Professor of Surgery at the National University of Singapore, and has over 100 PubMed-indexed publications. He is the only Singapore-based member of the Montalcino Aortic Consortium. He performs open, endovascular and hybrid aortic repair, including fenestrated and branched stent-grafts, thoracoabdominal and arch work, alongside the full range of arterial, venous and dialysis-access surgery. Read more about Dr Choong and his research. He is glad to meet referring practices and to speak at GP and specialist meetings; message him directly.
Andrew Choong Vascular Surgery, Mount Elizabeth Novena Specialist Centre, 38 Irrawaddy Road, #09-22, Singapore 329563.