Kevin R. Hiler, M.D., F.A.C.S.

OK I know this sounds weird but my right boob felt a little tender and larger than the left. Just for the record I am a dude but this scared me. Anyways he was able to do an ultrasound right there and order some blood work. Everything is normal but he did tell me that the cause could be excessive use of zantec (stomach medicine). Case closed.

One’s relationship with a surgeon is strange because it’s intense, yet brief. Nevertheless, I want to recognize Dr. Hiler for his awesomeness. Beyond the value of his significant experience, he was calm, funny, reassuring with the kinds of information he shared with me about my situation, and best of all he and his collaborators performed my surgery beautifully and I came through it with ease. His office staff is friendly and helpful, too. I highly recommend him.

Dr. Kevin Hiler is outstanding. In 2011 he operated on me for a hernia with great success.

I was referred to Kevin by another Dr. from CPMC. I never met this guy because he never showed up. As a healthcare professional who treats patients myself, I would NEVER make a patient wait as long as I had to wait. He cost me lost work time and parking fees without even an apology. Doctors are supposed to be responsible. So long Kevin.

Of course I was nervous the day of the surgery! I was going to reschedule my surgery day thinking that the staff maybe half asleep the day after Easter on a Monday at 7:00am, but I decided to just get it over with. But when Dr. Hiler came in to speak with me right before the surgery looking like he was pumped up and excited to do my surgery, it comforted me. It assured me that I was in good hands since he looked like he loves his job! Furthermore, he’s very pleasant and had addressed all my concerns.
Reading some of the reviews before I went to see Dr. Hiler almost made me turn around and look for another doc with perfect stars, especially when someone had mentioned that it took her a month to recover and still hurting, but I am glad I didn’t. I recovered just fine walking the very next day and actually worked from home — physically back to work 6 days later. Every person recovers differently. In general two weeks, but some may recover faster and some may recover longer. It really all depends with each person, and Dr. Hiler should not get castigated for it.
Thank you, Dr. H!

I’m a 55yo man, beefy and muscular and three weeks ago I had an umbilical hernia repaired by Dr. Kevin Hiler. He was referred to me by two other guys I know from the gym, one a few years younger than me and the other at least a decade older of similar body type and propensity to work out. They were both really pleased with Dr. Hiler and the results of their surgery.
So I called for a consult, expecting to wait months. I called on a Wednesday had my consult the following morning and was scheduled for surgery the following Monday.
I was fortunate to have just had a complete physical a week or so prior so I had current blood work and EKG available.
Dr. Hiler is a gentle and unassuming yet self-​confident man. The time he took to answer my questions during the consult was amazingly generous. I’m heavily pierced and have 3 piercings in my navel alone. He addressed this issue w/​o any hint of judgment and told me that while I would have to remove the body jewelry prior to surgery that it wouldl in no way affect my healing and the rings could be reinserted immediately following surgery.
The care at CPMC was incredibly efficient and professional, from the moment I walked in that Monday morning they were prepared for me, it was more like arriving at a 5 Star resort than an outpatient surgical facility.
The anesthesiologist Dr. Andrew Goodman was so incredibly kind and reassuring and decided that it would be best to give me an epidural given that I have problems with my cervical spine that could be possibly exacerbated by a breathing tube needed for a general anesthesia.
I was awake for the entire procedure and felt NOTHING. I did have one sligh moment of anxiety as I do tend to be claustrophobic and he offered me some sedation but I could sense that the procedure was about done and just meditated through it.
Dr. Hiler actually reinsirted my body jewelry prior to bandaging me.
I came home, relaxed the first day, expecting to have some pain when all the anesthesia wore off, I anticipated the discomfort of a heavy ab workout.
Well, I never had any pain at all, a bit of mild tenderness at the incision site but that was it.
I encountered no problems, 48 hrs later I removed the bandage to reveal a thin line of an incision and my «innie» restored to the way it was when I was 18yo.
I had to remind myself to take it easy for a few days and actually picked up a 100lb bag of concrete at Home Depot to help an elderly man get it in his car.
Had my follow up two weeks later and Dr. Hiler said I could return to full workouts.
If there is such thing as a Hernia Whisper then it is definitely Dr. Hiler.

Dr. Hiler is not your typical surgeon who thinks cutting is the best medical solution. I went to him to consider a nissen fundoplication to fix my acid reflux. After reviewing the results of my four esophageal studies (gastric emptying, barium swallow, esophageal manometry, ph monitor), he prescribed new drugs to coat my esophagus and reduce my stomach acid. His honesty and professional judgement are second to none. If I decide to pursue a surgical option in the future, I will come back to Dr. Hiler.

I recently had hernia surgery after being referred to Dr. Hiler and other than not really being too excited about having surgery, it went about as smoothly as possible. Dr Hiler was professional, yet had a casual bedside manner which I appreciated, and he talked me through the different solutions, his recommendation and finally the probable recovery period. Looking at other reviews here I think it is unfair to mark a Dr. down when a person’s recovery didn’t go exactly as planned since no other info about the individual was posted.
In my case I am a healthy 40 year old, not overweight, and don’t really have any other medical issues. I went in at 6:00am on Friday and was home by 10:00am. Dr. Hiler also uses a pain pump which directly treats the wound area with an anesthetic which greatly reduced any major pain for the first 48 hours. I was back to work on Monday (although moving a little slower) and now at 3 weeks I hardly think about it.
Truly a great experience considering it was surgery which is typically never pleasant. With any surgery there is typically recovery pain, but the pain was manageable and consistently declined. No issues at all with the office staff — they were great.

I had a long conversation about Dr. Hiler with a friend tonight, so I thought it might be helpful to share my perspective about him with other people. Dr. Hiler has never been my doctor. But, I did meet him while visiting a friend when he was in the hospital (calpac med center) for an appendectomy. I was causing havoc around the hospital with my buddy and offering dim sum to the nice nurses when we ran into his doctor, Dr. Hiler. I liked the guy. My impression was that he was caring, cool and very, very sharp. My friend is good now and I found out later that another friend had her appendix out by Dr. Hiler, too. Having met the man myself — and I really mean this — I would be way less stressed-​out about going under the knife if I knew the blade was in his hands.

Dr. Hiler’s excellent «bedside manner» made dealing with an uncomfortable ailment much easier. Highly recommended.

It feels a little weird to me Unilocaling doctors, but since I look up everyone I go to, I feel like it is important to do.
Years of pain, nausea, etc. and a lot of people with no answers later, I was referred to Dr. Hiler to see if I was a candidate for gallbladder removal. His office staff was incredibly friendly and I found his bedside manner to be pleasant as well. After an ultrasound and answering his questions, we decided that I needed to get rid of it!
It was my first surgery so I was very nervous, but we had a good talk pre-​op and the surgery went off without a hitch. I ate Chinese food that night (obviously against the recommendation of Dr. Hiler) and my quality of life immediately improved the minute I left the surgery center. 10 months later, I am healthy and feeling great. Thank you, Dr. Hiler!

Dr. Hiler is modest, direct, and left me feeling that I had received excellent care. He explained everything he was going to do, talked me through it as he did it, and discussed his findings.
I could not have asked for better care.

Hopefully this stays at 5 starts! I am about 4 – 5 weeks outside bilateral open hernia repair and everything is looking good. The pain was pretty bad the first few days, but Hiler had warned me. I am back to running about 3 – 4 miles a day and pain is very minimal.
He was very professional, and one of the few doctors I have ever seen when I didnt feel rushed, and felt like all my questions were answered. Certainly for this kind of minor surgery I would have no qualms about recommending my family members!

In my opinion Dr Hiler is one of the finest surgeons and doctors in San Francisco. He is no nonsense tell it like it is… which is what I really like.
I had surgery with Dr Hiler and his approach and technique were geared for effectiveness and quickness of recovery… which both occurred.
I would highly recommend him to anyone seeking a highly competent, very thoughtful Surgeon/​Doctor

Dr Hiler operated and fixed my hernia. I liked his great sense of humor, dry and very quick. Pre-​op and Op were very very good experiences. Post-​op visit was less so. My sense was that my worries and discomfort were so mundane that Dr Hiler wasn’t really interested. As he obviously knew, they all went away, it took a while, been almost six months for the internal awareness/​discomfort to totally disappear. So today — looking back it was good but could have been a bit more patient aware.

I was referred to Dr. Hiler by Edwin Hassid (a highly Unilocal rated internist if anyone is looking) to complete a relatively minor surgery. Dr. Hiler was very professional throughout the entire process, took pain to explain everything, and had a pretty good sense of humor about everything — we swapped lies throughout the entire 5 minute procedure and before I knew it even started it was over. Can’t complain about that…
I’m docking a star though (and it would definitely be more if he were a restaurant and not a doctor!) because he was running an hour behind my first scheduled surgery – after I was already prepped and everything. And I say first because I decided to «stick it to the man» and leave hoping that I deprived him of an hour of insurance fees. Anyhow, the 2^nd scheduled appointment a few days later went as scheduled.
Also beware of the parking garage in his main offices. Corners are so tight I ended up scratching my fender! And I had to pay for the privilege — but if that isn’t SF I don’t know what is

As the other reviewer said, I also had a very much longer and painful recovery than promised. Also, going to his office is very uncomfortable as he always has these young girl students shadowing him and it’s not great when he is looking at your dick.

Bang! Regardless of spending this lifetime trying hard to keep my engine and karma clean, last summer I was hit by a stray karmic bullet. (Dog gone it! I knew I should have worn my karmic bulletproof vest that day.)
Vroom! Just like that I was immediately carted off to the Never Never Land of medical doctors, medical tests, more medical doctors, and more medical tests.
By good fortune, the karmic winds shifted, however, and I was blown into the path of Dr. Kevin R. Hiler.
From my extensive and intensive experience working with Dr. Hiler, I can honestly place my hand on a Buddhist bible and swear under oath that he is a rare gem in a health care system that’s gone SICKO.
No stone is left unturned under Dr. Hiler’s watch and the patient will never fall off the tightrope under his care. He works around the system.
Because of Dr. Hiler and the magnificent team of medical specialists (he took great care in matching me with), and my acupuncturist Janis Feichtmeir, I am here today writing this review and continuing to stir up as much good karma as possible in this lifetime.

Dr. Hiler is incredible.
I had stomach problems starting in January, and nobody could figure out what they were. After months of XRays, Ultrasounds, and all kinds of other tests, my doc finally sent me Dr. Hiler’s way.
He immediately diagnosed correctly, eased my fears, and took my gall bladder out with ease. I’m all better, and I couldn’t be happier with him!
He’s also just a GREAT guy!
**Update**
I brought Dr. Hiler’s review down, not because he’s not amazing — he is a great doctor!, but because I’ve gone through hell since the bill was issued.
Hiler’s office uses an outside biller, and she doesn’t have enough experience to do things correctly when it comes to unusual situations (I had two primaries — and yes, that is possible). So the office owed me a refund, and even though Blue Shield was on the phone telling them to send me the check, they refused and insisted on sending it back to Blue Shield. It takes Blue Shield forever to process and now, seven months after my surgery, I’m now still waiting to get my money back. It’s ridiculous.
Again, I’d like to reiterate that everything with my surgery was great and I really am happy that Dr. Hiler was my surgeon. Just be prepared to deal with the BS that comes with them not doing their own billing.
**Update**
I was too nice last time I updated. Currently I am owed over $ 530 that Dr. Hiler was supposed to refund to me directly. His office refused, and sent it to the insurance company, and now i’m going through hell trying to get the insurance company to process it and get it back to me. Every time I call to check they tell me it’s still processing because the doctor was supposed to send it to me directly. There are too many good surgeons in this city to settle for one that let’s his office treat you like sh** after it’s all over. Especially when dealing with medical bills, $ 500 is a lot of money.

In August of 2004, I was referred to Dr. Hiler with a possible hernia. It was a lump on my abdomen and it wasn’t causing me any pain. Dr. Hiler diagnosed it as a hernia and I opted to have it proactively patched. He said the recovery would be 3 days, but I couldn’t work for a month. I could barely walk for 2 weeks I was in so much pain. I still have residual pain to this day and frequently irritate the area when exercising. The patch in my abdomen is hard and doesn’t flex like the surrounding tissue.
I consider the surgery a huge mistake, but I chalked it up to a learning experience until recently. Last week, I found another bulge on the other side of my abdomen. This one hurt a little bit. I had an appointment with Dr. Hiler for an unrelated surgical matter, and he diagnosed the 2^nd lump as another hernia and suggested a second operation. He suggested a direct procedure, non-​laparoscopic.
I was not interested in having another month-​long recovery process, especially if I didn’t need to have the procedure, so I got a second opinion with another surgeon. The second surgeon said surgery was unnecessary, and that I probably didn’t even have a hernia, or if I did, it was very small! He diagnosed me with a pulled muscle and said if I did develop a hernia in the future, he would recommend a laparoscopic procedure with a flexible patch, not the chop and plug that Dr. Hiler recommended.
I can’t tell you how disillusioned I have become with the medical community. I can’t help but wonder if my first surgery was even necessary and that I went through all the trouble of recovery for nothing, or worse, increasing the chance that a hernia may reappear. I can’t help but wonder if in both instances, Dr. Hiler was too eager to recommend surgery simply to drum up business. I elected to have the initial surgery because I was concerned about my insurance being discontinued and at the very least, Dr. Hiler did nothing to disabuse me of the notion that the pain I suffered and continue to suffer would be worth the few thousand dollars the insurance saved me.
Dr. Hiler is very nice to talk to and very persuasive, but please get a second opinion if you are thinking of going through a surgery like this. Any surgery is serious, recovery is long and painful, and you will never be the same as you were before they cut you open. Even though hernia surgery is common, it’s not to be taken lightly. Find out all the facts and all your different options before agreeing to any particular procedure. The surgeon may not volunteer information relating to all your different options, may attempt to push you into surgery when it’s against your best interests, and may minimise the negative aftereffects of the procedure. I feel that this is what Dr. Hiler did in my case.
To be fair, I would rate the second surgeon with a single star as well. His demeanor was completely dismissive and rude, and his examination room smelled like homeless. He acted like I was wasting his time.