Cincinnati Bandsters

[DrWatkins 5]

Amen to that.

Good luck with your surgery.

We are proctors for both band companies as well.

We accept all patients for fills regardless of where they were banded.

Over time you will see more and more surgeons doing band surgery. Our hope is that more and more surgeons will provide superior care after surgery which we take very seriously. The fact that all of our receptionists and nurses are banded and one of our surgeons is banded is awesome for our patients. It's truly hard to beat post-op support like that.

[bellesmommy 0]

Dr watkins where do you practice?

I don't feel like my surgeon istens to me

I have 3 cc in a 4cc band was banded 9/11

I have a hard time eating anything. Nothing goes down without pain

I hurt all the time. I take in less than 600 calories a day, drink protien shakes and exercise like mad and yet I don't loose and no one can tell me why.

Any suggestions?

[DrWatkins 5]

Hi Bellesmommy,

I practice at Synchrony Health Ohio in West Chester.

We have clinics in Seattle, DC & Chicago as well and I travel a lot.

I'm always happy to see patients that request and we also have two talented (and banded) nurses there, Gemma and Kristina who do most of the fills. We also have two full-time surgeons in the office, Dr Osborne and Dr. Mobley. They are both excellent surgeons and are very kind. Dr. Mobley has had the band himself as well as his wife and nearly his entire family. I think the Synchrony Health staff do a wonderful job. We strive to offer the best care after surgery imaginable and have been doing band surgery since 2002. Our band cases are nearing 4,000 (including all centers). We have lost over 125,000 pounds. You can read about the staff on the website, Synchrony Health :: Home.

It sounds like you are way too tight and need an unfill.

Band adjustments:

Perfect = feel full on small meal, not hungry between meals, easily lose 1-2 pounds per week, think your surgeon is miraculous, send your surgery practice a Christmas card that will bring tears to your eyes

Too tight = heartburn, everything wants to come back up, hurts to eat, only high calorie liquid foods will go down like ice cream and Cheetos (bad stuff), hurts to eat

Too loose = feels like you're on a diet, hungry, can eat a lot, weight loss very difficult

Hope that helps.

Brad

[Ellisa 6]

Dr. Watson,

Which insurance companies are you in-network with? What are your prices for self pays? How much are your program fees? I have fat friends and family too. I went to your web site, but it wasn't specific.

Does your practice also offer RNY or bypass?

Is Cincinnati your only facility in Ohio? Which hospital(s) do you use?

[DrWatkins 5]

Hi Ellisa,

We do not offer gastric bypass. I would never let anyone in my family have a gastric bypass. No surgeon would ever have a bypass on themselves. Obese surgeons choose the band for themselves and there's a reason for that. There are better operations now. We do offer the ROSE procedure which is an effective non-surgical treatment for patients who regain weight after gastric bypass. We specialize in gastric band surgery and have done nearly 4,000 procedures in our clinics.

Dr. Osborne and Dr. Mobley are the surgeons in the Cincinnati office (located in West Chester). They are on staff at Good Samaritan Hospital and Bethesda North Hospital. We do nearly all of our bands as an outpatient procedure - home the same day. We do these at University Point Surgical Hospital. We charge no professional fees for revisional operations if you need a port revision or a slip repair. We are the only practice that has this "guarantee". Dr. Mobley and his wife and many of their family members are banded. All of the receptionists and nurses in the Cincinnati office are banded. We have a call center and all of the weight management specialists are banded. My band practice in Seattle did over 2,500 band procedures. Now I spend a lot of time traveling to our other locations in DC & Chicago and we have other band surgeons around the country that want to join Synchrony Health which keeps us busy. If you travel you will be able to have band adjustments in DC & Chicago & Seattle and more to come. I am also a proctoring surgeon for both band companies.

We fix a lot of complications on people that went out of the country for "cheap" surgery. They end up paying way more out of pocket than if they had just come to a high quality practice in the first place. I don't recommend this approach.

We feel strongly about offering the best support after surgery possible. At the moment, we do not sign insurance contracts when the reimbursement is below what it costs to provide the service. We have seen several band clinics close down after trying to provide good care on such low reimbursement and we simply won't do that. When those band clinics close down we end up taking care of their patients (gladly). We see many patients that were banded somewhere else and are frustrated with the post-op support and they end up in our practice to be successful. We're not the cheapest. You don't want the cheapest. We're the best. We'll always be in business to help you succeed.

Many practices advertise a cheap cash price and then you learn about the hidden fees after surgery. We don't do that. Our price includes everything. It makes us look more expensive than other practices but you pay less overall because it includes everything. We don't believe in trying to be sneaky with prices. We know what it cost to provide the best care and that is what we do.

We are working on our website - stay tuned!

Hope that helps.

Brad

[Ellisa 6]

Brad,

You gave a lot of (very good) advertising for your practice, but you didn't answer my questions at all.

Which insurance companies ARE you in network for? From your answer above I would think none.

I didn't ask if you were the cheapest, I asked what it costs.

A person can't take out a medical loan and say "I need enough money to not pay for the cheapest surgery." Barix and Dr. Curry's office were able to give me total prices including the hospital stay. There were no hidden costs. (My husband went to Barix two years ago, they aren't in network for my insurance.)

As for RNY and bypass, I agree they aren't the best option for me, but for some people the band might not be an option (allergies?). Those types of surgery are touted as providing more immediate results for diabetics.

Hope I don't sound sarcastic, I'm not intending to be. Chalk it up to my yummy presurgery liquid diet.

[DrWatkins 5]

Hi Ellisa,

$15,900 in the Cincinnati office covers anesthesia, cost of the band, operating room time and laparoscopic equipment, surgeon, assistant and a team of people to care for you after surgery including all of your fills for 13 months post-op. As long as you come in for your yearly evaluation we continue to provide fills at no additional charge. We have no program fee and offer free consultations with our surgeons. Psyche eval and any pre-op testing is separate and usually covered by insurance. No hidden fees.

We are currently out of network with insurance companies.

One of the great things about message boards is that you get a lot of valuable information and the more you know the better you will do with surgical weight loss.

Here is something you should know about health insurance companies. Over the past 20 years the cost of health insurance has gone way up and what they pay hospitals and doctors has gone way down. Health insurance companies have been gouging the system to the detriment of providers and patients for a long time now. (Did you see what the CEO of United Healthcare makes every year?!)

Here are some of the negatives to this predicament:

It is expensive to run a surgical practice and if you accept payment below what it cost to keep your practice open you risk bankruptcy unless you make up the difference somehow.

Some practices make up the difference by performing additional procedures that aren't necessarily necessary.

Some practices do high volumes of band surgery and then can't afford to hire additional staff needed to take care of them during their weight loss. This affects weight loss and creates frustrated patients.

Some practices make up the difference by only giving small fills so you can bill for more fills. Many insurance companies won't pay for a fill for 90 days so some patients have to wait to get going on their weight loss. This drives me absolutely crazy.

Some practices only do small volumes of band surgery and make up the difference by doing other operations. They tend to not be as passionate about your weight loss as full-time band practices and patients get frustrated. Many patients like this end up in our practice after surgery due to our extensive post-op support.

Some practices make up the difference by charging a program fee - at least this is an upfront cost and perhaps the noblest way to maintain a viable business for your patients.

Anyway, the low rates cause a lot of game playing in the industry and this is not good for patients and it drives me crazy.

I think the best way to approach it is to provide excellent care and extensive support after surgery and be up front with patients on what that costs. We are driven by doing whatever possible to acheive the best outcome and staying in business for our patients.

Oh, and the band resolves diabetes just as well as the bypass. Since band weight loss is healthy and doesn't involve muscle wasting it may take a little longer to resolve the diabetes but your weight loss is healthy and natural and you don't have to contend with the chronic disease malabsorption and you can take medications normally and don't require complicated Vitamin regimes.

Hope that helps.

brad

[Ellisa 6]

Brad,

Well, you are the least expensive for self pay of any place I'm familiar with in the region. Thanks for the information.

What do you charge for fills for patients who don't have surgery with you?

I know what you mean with regard to insurance not paying adequately. ButI can't self pay to protest that my insurance is paying too little.

My insurance doesn't cover any related care following surgery, including fills. Which seems stupid because after they've paid the big bucks for the surgery if a patient can't afford to have the fills and doesn't have improved health the insurance company will be paying even more to continue to cover the care for diabetes, high blood pressure etc. I don't know the answers to the insurance problem. Employers search for the lowest cost insurance and in order to provide low premiums insurance companies cut deals with health care providers. If the insurance were expensive enough to pay what healthcare providers charge, employers wouldn't pay for the insurance or the cost to employees would be out of reach for many families.

On a whole other subject, malpractice insurance seems to be a huge cost to providers. If only some people didn't see medical mistakes as the lottery perhaps insurance reimbursements would become more affordable.

Thanks for answering my questions. Most of the people I know who are considering it have insurance. But we still have to pay a percentage of the total cost. In my case for in network providers, it's 10% up to $750, then it's 100%. Out of network it's 30%, or roughtly $4800 (which is about what we had to pay Barix 2 years ago because they were out of network when my husband had his surgery). And I considered going there but their policy now is that the entire amount has to be paid up front and then the patient gets the insurance check. When he went, after insurance paid they billed us for the remaining balance. I can say that it was a wonderful facility since their entire practice is related to bariatric surgery. A draw back is in case of emergency, they have to send you to a nearby hospital, which wastes time.

And I agree that these message boards are great places to get information. So thanks for adding yours. I'm have no doubt that there will be people in your region who are self pay will be interested.

[DrWatkins 5]

We will accept any patient regardless of where they were banded. We do charge for those fills but I honestly can't remember what the Cincinnati office bills for those. I would have to call the office.

For an insurance company to pay for the surgery and not pay for any of the follow-up care seems absolutely insane to me, but don't get me started on insurance companies. That's like donating food containers to a homeless person without any food in it and thinking you are helping the person.

Anyway, we're all in this together. The cool thing is that it is extremely gratifying to help people lose weight. I feel extremely blessed. You guys do amazing stuff. It's changed my life and I haven't lost a pound.

[Ellisa 6]

For an insurance company to pay for the surgery and not pay for any of the follow-up care seems absolutely insane to me, but don't get me started on insurance companies. That's like donating food containers to a homeless person without any food in it and thinking you are helping the person.

Not only do you think you are helping the (homeless) person but you are continuing to spend more than the cost of the food for crime prevention, or subsequently housing them as a criminal. I used to work for a Community Action, so don't get me started on that subject! And yes we have homeless and hungry people in rural SE Ohio.

Doesn't make sense but Anthem and Medical Mutual both pay only for the surgery. Our surgeons include some aftercare as part of the surgery. But my husband is 2 years out so we have to pay for his. We just make sure we put enough in our flex spend accounts. At least that's pre tax. LOL But in reality, after the first year, I think he's only had one visit. And he's still losing.

Again, thanks for adding to the message board. And as you are expanding your business, remember there are a lot of obese people in SE Ohio. But then our access to adequate health care is not the greatest for anything.

[DrWatkins 5]

Good points Ellisa,

I think we will see lots of changes in health insurance coverage of the band until the market settles out.

It is still very new and everyone's learning.

[eyeball 0]

I'm in cincinnati and hoping to get banded in the new year.

I have tricare insurance and have been reading that in Dec 2007 they amended the manual and now DO INCLUDE lap band. I hope that info is correct.

I have a seminar with Dr. Curry on 1/3.

I am so excited I can hardly breathe.

how long does it usually take to get things rolling?

[Jazzywoman 0]

I'm in cincinnati and hoping to get banded in the new year.

I have tricare insurance and have been reading that in Dec 2007 they amended the manual and now DO INCLUDE lap band. I hope that info is correct.

I have a seminar with Dr. Curry on 1/3.

I am so excited I can hardly breathe.

how long does it usually take to get things rolling?

Dr. Curry's staff is the best. You actually talk to a human when you call. There are no "press 1 if you wish to talk to.." It's a REAL human!

I had my seminar on 27th of September. My family dr. was away for vacation the first part of October, so I couldn't get my records released until the end of October. Then from the time my paperwork was in, and I paid the fee to dr. c's office it took just about 1 week from the time dr.c's office sent in the request to get approval from Anthem. My nutrition class was on Dec. 7th, so were my pre-admission tests, and then it was just hurry up and wait.

I could have had my surgery in early December, but I opted for Dec. 27th because I'm a teacher and didn't want to take off time from school. I'm keeping it to myself, and not letting anyone know at work.

Call your insurance company and see what their requirements are to have surgery. Some require a supervised 6 month diet, others just require certain BMI's or lower BMI's with comobidities.

I made sure that I knew exactly what my insurance required before I went to the seminar. I even asked for the person's name from the insurance company, and kept it in a little notebook, every time I called. Even dated the entry.

Also remember, there are fees that might not be covered by insurance. My nutritionist, wasn't covered, but everything else is. If you haven't reached you out of pocket requirements for your insurance, then you might have more fees.

Anyway.. good luck with your plans. Even right now, 1 day later, I don't regret doing this. I'm in a little discomfort, but I know that it will pass.

Hope this helps.

Mary

[eyeball 0]

thanks for your advice!

what is the fee you paid dr curry at the beginning?

my insurance is tricare, and I've read on these boards they will be covering lap band. I know that for gastric bypass you have to be so much overweight AND have additional listed issues or be 200% over ideal wieght and I think I am the latter.

I am not sure of what they don't cover but for normal everydays stuff there hasn't been anything YET that they haven't covered.

woohoo!!!

[eyeball 0]

also...when I had anthem through my employer ANY weight surgery was completely excluded even if you paid for it on your own and then got sick from it...they wouldn't cover that hospital stay.