Practice Overview

Dr. Hearon is a Board certified, fellowship trained orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in upper extremity orthopaedics.  While he provides comprehensive upper extremity orthopaedic care, about 75% of his practice is devoted to shoulder surgery. 

After retiring from the USAF Medical Corps, Dr. Hearon entered private practice in 1994 when he joined Advanced Orthopaedic Associates, P.A. (AOA).  This group practice in Wichita, KS is comprised of nine well-respected orthopaedic surgeons, all Board certified and fellowship trained.  Each member of the group has a subspecialty interest and his or her practice is devoted to that subspecialty.  Go to www.aoaortho.com to learn more about AOA and to meet the other surgeons in the group.

Practice Philosophy

Dr. Hearon is committed to delivering the best possible orthopaedic care to his patients using nonoperative methods and the latest proven surgical techniques. 

As a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), his practice philosophy is consistent with the Principles of Medical Ethics and Professionalism advocated by the  AAOS.  The tenets of his practice philosophy are as follows:

Provide individualized, patient-centered care.  Patients with the same or similar problems do not necessarily require the identically same treatment.  Factors influencing treatment recommendations may include the severity of the problem, the patient’s age and his or her response to previous treatment.  The prescription for each patient is personalized.

Educate and empower patients.  Patients and family members are educated regarding diagnosis and treatment options.  With a good understanding of the options available, the patient is empowered to participate in the decision-making process and to make an informed choice among the treatment options suggested.

Conservative treatment first.  Some clinical situations (such as open fractures or dislocations) have absolute or mandatory surgical indications.  When emergent surgical care is not required, however, we advocate nonoperative or conservative treatment first.  Elective surgical treatment for non-emergent orthopaedic problems is always the option of last resort.

Establish realistic expectations.  Patients should thoroughly understand the expected results of treatment.  This is particularly true, for example, when weeks of extremity immobilization for a fracture and/or months of physical therapy are required.  By communicating openly and honestly with patients before treatment is initiated, appropriate expectations for recovery are set.  Patient satisfaction with the care provided is thus improved.

Optimize care delivery.  Care is delivered in a compassionate manner, respecting the patient and his or her privacy at all times.  We also strive to provide cost-effective and time-efficient care as well.  In order to do so,  physician assistants and medical assistants have become key members of our health care delivery team.

Quality care requires quality time.  Personalized, patient-focused care for those empowered to participate in treatment decisions and for whom realistic treatment expectations have been set requires a significant time investment. This high quality care requires quality contact time with each new patient.  Every patient in our practice will see significant time and effort invested to solve his or her orthopaedic problem.

Latest Surgical Techniques

To provide the best care possible, Dr. Hearon regularly reviews 10 periodic orthopaedic journal publications.  Based on this literature review, the latest proven surgical methods for upper extremity orthopaedic problems are incorporated into his practice.

Some of these cutting-edge surgical techniques include the following:

Periodically, a topic of interest in upper extremity orthopaedics will be featured on this website.  Our “What’s the Latest?” section will highlight cutting edge surgical techniques and other recent developments in orthopaedics which influence our practice.

Special Interests

During his career, Dr. Hearon has developed special interest in several very specific clinical problems.  The state-of-the-art treatment he offers for these problems distinguishes his practice from many others. 

Dr. Hearon’s special clinical interests include the following:

If you have one of these specific problems or any upper extremity complaint, we encourage you to call our office at 316-631-1600 ext 338 to schedule an appointment for evaluation.  We would be pleased to evaluate your problem and provide treatment recommendations.