Delays in submitting paperwork for approval...frustrated!

[craftygal77 22]

I'm getting frustrated and I just need to vent. I haven't told many people outside my immediate family so I can't whine and complain to them

I finished up all of my pre-op insurance requirements with my PCP almost three weeks ago. My doctor has yet to send them to my insurance coordinator. Part of it was my fault, I didn't tell them when I was there that they needed to send my chart to my surgeon. I kind of thought they knew that was the next step. After a week I called them to tell them, they transferred me to someone's voicemail and they never called me back. I called the surgeon's office to see if they heard anything. They hadn't, told me to give it a little more time. If I couldn't get through then they could try. So this past Monday I called the doctors office again, keep getting transferred to the person who could help me, and I wind up talking to her voicemail. She has yet to call me back. So today I called the surgeon's office again, hoping maybe they can help me. Go figure, I get their voicemail. I'm frustrated because I am not able to talk to a real person. I'm not sure how long this process takes, I also understand people are busy. The least they could do is call me and let me know that they received my message. Let me know if they have questions for me, tell me that this is a long process and to stop calling them? I'm just getting anxious I've spent the past 12 months doing weigh-ins and insurance requirements and now I feel like it's all at a stand still. I'm not a confrontational person at all and I'm getting nervous because I think I'm going to have to walk into the Dr.'s office and speak to someone...I get verbal diarrhea when I have to confront things (hoping I get some confidence after surgery!!)

Thanks for listening!

[kmorri 1,689]

I would call and ask for the office manager.......and very politely let the manager know what you've been through with all the visits and all in preparation for this surgery.....and now you're finally finished and all that needs to happen is your records need to be sent to your surgeon.....let the manager know how many times you've called and left messages and how no one is calling you back..............That would be my next step....now be prepared, they will probably transfer you to the office managers voicemail...hahaha....So before you make the call I would suggest writing out what you want to tell her just like you were writing a letter and don't forget to include your phone number.....and when you get the voicemail, read your letter! .....I'm sorry you're having this problem. Good luck!!!

[japeters 44]

My suggestion is to go to your PCP office in person, it's alot harder to ignore you when you are standing right in front of them!

[J.lynn 50]

I am going through something very similar..... and I am so OVER dealing with my surgeon's office staff.

I had my second visit with my surgeon 2/24 after completing my 6 NUT visits, psych eval, and lab work.

My surgeon told me that the only thing left was an EGD, but he only does these within 30 days of surgery. So as I am getting ready to leave, the lady at the front desk tells me that they are going to submit everything to my insurance and that I should hear from them within a week or two at which point I would be scheduled for the EGD and surgery.

Stupid on my part.... I call my surgeons office 2.5 weeks later after not hearing anything. The lady tells me I need to have the EGD done before they can submit my file to my insurance. I'm pretty irritated at this point obviously... like why did we not schedule my EGD while I was there, or at least call me. Nope! Nothing!

Luckily, they were able to get my EGD scheduled quickly and I had it completed last week.

I learned my lesson this time to stay on top of them, I call them on friday and left a voicemail. Nothing. I call them again on Tuesday and left a voicemail. Nothing.

I called my insurance today, and they told me they have not received anything from my surgeon's office.

I just wrote the medical assistant an email, hoping she has the decency and professionalism to actually respond.

Beyond frustrated It's one thing to wait 6 months for the supervised diet.... its another thing to sit here and wait for weeks because of someone else's incompetency.

[Mary2016 55]

I hear ya. I am just about done all my preop testing. Called my surgeons office to make sure they were receiving results....basically had nothing. That was 2 weeks ago. I get my own copies of everything, so I faxed echo and blood work. I was waiting for the rest of the tests to come to me but they said they would call and get the results as well. That was 2 weeks ago. When I called 2 days ago to check again, nope, didn't request it yet from what the girl could tell me. This time I had results of everything. I faxed it to them and told the girl I would be hand delivering some items and would be coming in next week. At that time I am going to double check again. Very frustrating to feel like you have to do their job. I fully expect a delay when it comes time to submit to insurance. Frustrating.

[J.lynn 50]

I still have not heard back from my Surgeon's office. I don't know what to do at this point but wait ... I have left 3 voicemails and 1 email. I am tempted to go up there and speak with them, but my surgeon works out of 2 different offices and I haven't figured out their schedule yet. It's too late today, but I am going to call my insurance tomorrow and see if they have submitted it yet. I'm getting so upset.

@@Mary2016 Stay on top of them! Hopefully your surgeons office is more professional than mine has been.

[Mary2016 55]

Good luck J. Lynn!

[craftygal77 22]

And I figured getting the paperwork to the surgeon would be the easy part! lol My insurance coordinator said she would call my PCP and request my records for me, not sure how long I need to give that before I call and check. We should all be skinny from all the "running" around we have to do and all the hoops we have to "jump" through. Good luck guys! Keep us posted as to how you're coming along.

[J.lynn 50]

So I called my surgeons office this morning, they actually answered! The lady I talked to said that their insurance person was out sick but that she was working on my letter of necessity and that they needed the surgeons signature. Then they would fax everything to my insurance Monday. We will just see about that. [emoji849] This has been a test of patience for me. I'm non-confrontational so I didn't mention the fact that they have not returned any of my calls or voicemails in the last 2 weeks.

[Loudy227 96]

I finished my testing 15 days ago and I told the coordinator I was done and she said she would pass along that info to the person who deals with insurance. I've heard nothing so yesterday I emailed my coordinator. I'm guessing a lot of people were out of town last week around Easter.

I just with they would update us regularly. Let me know I haven't fallen through the cracks. They tell us in the packet not to call and email every day when we're being submitted. But I (and my insurer) are paying a lot for their services. Most medical practices apparently need better office staffing.

Every medical test, too, seems to take forever to get the results.

Waiting for other people to do their job...hate it! I hate to bug people, but my experience is iy pays to be the squeaky wheel. I'm also a believer in showing up in person. And I hate confronting people, too. But people are much more sympathetic to a face (teary, if necessary) than an email or voice-mail.

Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

[J.lynn 50]

I'm so pissed right now I could cry.

So I called my surgeons office 3 times the week of April 11th and the lady confirmed that my letter of necessity had been completed and my info had been faxed to my insurance. I played phone tag with my insurance and my surgeons office and not surprisingly, my insurance never received it.

I didn't call at all last week because the lady agreed to give me a tentative surgery date and that she would continue trying to fax my information over.

I called my insurance yesterday just to confirm that they had received it, of course they didn't.

I called my surgeons office this morning and spoke with someone else. She stated that the person who I had been talking to before has been on maternity leave since end of March and that I'm an idiot who apparently dreams up conversations in not so many words. Now we are back to waiting for the medical biller to write my letter of necessity.

The medical biller is severely sick and has now been out for over a month.

This is so unprofessional. As an office manager myself, if I had someone of significant importance out on extended leave and no one else who could cover the position, I would bring in a temporary replacement. Not lie and play games with my customers. I am so disgusted.

[Womanvsmirror 314]

I'm sorry that you are having to go through these additional hoops. I couldn't imagine the stress of waiting through all the testing and weigh in's then waiting for submission, then waiting fro approval. Hopefully the silver lining is that once received you will be approved lighting fast . I do want to thank you for sharing this, it definitely reminded me that I need to be pro active. My last appointment is this Friday and i just called and left a message for my surgeons insurance coordinator, I want to make sure they have all test and clearances and that if anything is needed from me I have time to get it (they are in another state) . I also intend on asking , how long after this last visit will my file be sent to Aetna.

[Womanvsmirror 314]

I just received a all back from the office and they have everything they need, except the surgeons letter and dietician (who i have to see that day), will not be done that day. It may tae a "few days", that make me nervous. Knowing that a patient is coming close to submission why not pre write the letter so that it can be signed and dated after the last appointment?