- About
- Specialties & Areas of Expertise
- Locations & Patient Information
- Education & Research
- Accepted Insurance
- External Professional Relationships
[MUSIC PLAYING] My name is Ben Chung. I'm one of the heart failure cardiologists here at the University of Chicago. So my main interest is in identifying patients who have advanced heart failure who are really needing to get to that next step with their disease where they may need to be considered for a heart transplant, or a heart pump called an LVAD. So one of my goals in my patient care is to make sure that those patients who would not otherwise have access to heart transplants and heart pumps called LVADs, are able to have access to those therapies.
We're able to identify patients even from far away from Chicago, down in Springfield, Illinois, or Northwest Indiana, and offer them the opportunity to continue life, even beyond their heart failure. So we find those patients, we bring them up to Chicago, and we get them through the surgery, and we help manage them afterwards. I think part of my philosophy of care is making sure that patients don't feel like just because they don't live in a big city, that they can't get the kind of care that they would otherwise get in a big city.
What really inspired me to go into heart transplant and heart failure cardiology is, really, it's a kind of patient population that really-- it's almost like a cancer patient, where they're really at the end of their life. They're so limited. They're not able to get out of the house. They're unable to go get groceries, able to do the things that they would otherwise want to do.
And a transplant and heart pumps are such an amazing opportunity to give them a second chance at life, and really get them back to doing what they enjoy doing. We've had patients who, after their transplant or heart pump, are now able to travel. They're able to see their family again. They're able to golf or go bowling, do the things that they would really want to enjoy doing. And it's such a privilege and an honor to be able to give them that opportunity.
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Ben Young Chung, MD specializes in the care of patients with cardiovascular disease, including heart failure, heart transplantation, ventricular assist devices (VADs) and mechanical circulatory support. Dr. Chung's clinical focus is expanding the reach of the University of Chicago heart failure team to underserved populations in the greater Chicagoland area, northwest Indiana and downstate Illinois. He believes that compassionate cardiology care and access to advanced heart failure should be available to all people regardless of geographic region.
His research focus is in the improvement of outcomes following heart transplant and VAD. He has been published in Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation, Circulation Heart Failure and Journal of Cardiac Failure.
Specialties
Areas of Expertise
- Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs)
- Cardiomyopathy
- Heart Transplant
Board Certifications
- Internal Medicine
- Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology
- Cardiovascular Disease
Languages Spoken
- English
- Korean
Medical Education
- Jefferson Medical College
Internship
- University of Chicago Medicine
Residency
- University of Chicago Medical Center
Fellowship
- University of Chicago Medicine
Memberships & Medical Societies
- Heart Failure Society of America
- International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation
News & Research
Insurance
- Aetna Better Health *see insurance page
- Aetna HMO (specialists only)
- Aetna Medicare Advantage HMO & PPO
- Aetna POS
- Aetna PPO
- BCBS Blue Precision HMO (specialists only)
- BCBS HMO (HMOI) (specialists only)
- BCBS Medicare Advantage HMO & PPO
- BCBS PPO
- Cigna HMO
- Cigna POS
- Cigna PPO
- CountyCare *see insurance page
- Humana Medicare Advantage Choice PPO
- Humana Medicare Advantage Gold Choice PFFS
- Humana Medicare Advantage Gold Plus HMO
- Medicare
- Multiplan PPO
- PHCS PPO
- United Choice Plus POS/PPO
- United Choice HMO (specialists only)
- United Options (PPO)
- United Select (HMO & EPO) (specialists only)
- United W500 Emergent Wrap
- University of Chicago Health Plan (UCHP)
Our list of accepted insurance providers is subject to change at any time. You should contact your insurance company to confirm UChicago Medicine participates in their network before scheduling your appointment. If you have questions regarding your insurance benefits at UChicago Medicine, please contact our financial counseling team at OPSFinancialCounseling@uchospitals.edu.
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