Bariatric team approval?

[Danielleh 48]

My bariatric team has been reviewing my chart for nearly 2 weeks. I emailed my patient coordinator asking how long it normally takes for them to review it. She messaged me back saying there is no time limit. How long did it take your team to review and approve your chart so it can be sent to your insurance?

[SorryNameTaken 85]

My doctor's office has a very organized process regarding the final appointment and sending to insurance. I had my final appointment on a Friday, my office submitted it to insurance on Monday, I got my approval on Tuesday.

Do you know what is involved in reviewing your chart or why they do it? The fact that they are reviewing it is confusing to me I suppose, since that's not something that happened at either of my offices for either of my surgeries. For my surgeries, once I met the requirements for my insurance, it was sent in for approval.

[Danielleh 48]

I was told that they review it to make sure we are surgery ready, and if we are, they will send it to my insurance.

I was under the impression that once I finish my requirements that they just send all my info to my insurance but that's not the case. I completed everything on 11/4. They didn't start reviewing it until 11/22.

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[SorryNameTaken 85]

That is such a bummer. I am so sorry you have had to wait so long. It sounds strange to me as you'd think they'd know by the end if you were surgery ready, but I am sure they have a good reason for their process.

I think I'd be inclined to speak with the office manager if it went too much longer, just to see if they could give you a more firm answer of when it's going to be sent to insurance.

Good luck, I hope they finish your review soon and get it sent to insurance ASAP!

[Danielleh 48]

Thank you! It definitely does suck. I guess their viewpoint is that they want to make sure I have everything so I can get approved and not denied. Which I understand. I'm just impatient because they made it seem like it would go super fast after I finished everything. It's been a month and theh still haven't submitted to my insurance.

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[jlb8080 45]

Oh wow, yeah, that's a long time to wait. I had to do all my requirements in one day (psych eval, meet with a dietician, meet with the doctor, they weighed me and since my BMI was at 40 they said surgery would most likely be approved).. and they submitted to the insurance the next day. That was my one and only doctors appointment I needed to be approved. I feel some doctors have a more lengthy process and I'm not sure why.

[Danielleh 48]

Oh wow, yeah, that's a long time to wait. I had to do all my requirements in one day (psych eval, meet with a dietician, meet with the doctor, they weighed me and since my BMI was at 40 they said surgery would most likely be approved).. and they submitted to the insurance the next day. That was my one and only doctors appointment I needed to be approved. I feel some doctors have a more lengthy process and I'm not sure why.

I had to have 6 consecutive months of unsuccessful weightloss attempts, the psych eval, endoscopy, sleep study, blood work, upper GI series and 2 nutrition classes.

My BMI is 44.6 I'm 5'4, 260lbs. I don't need any comorbidities since my BMI is 44 but I have 5 comorbidities. Major depression, multiple joint pain, Migraines, GERD and now Diabetes. I'm hoping I'll hear something tomorrow. If not, I'm calling friday!

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[Losingit2018 1,170]

It sounds like they may be overly busy. Maybe you need to start being a squeaky wheel and call them daily to every other day.

There is no way it should take this long to be submitted. If they had their ducks in a row, it would be ready to submit as soon as you finished the program.

Goid luck and keep us posted.

[Danielleh 48]

Right! I should start aggravating them. I'm just so annoyed because I finished the program a month ago and it seems like they're just dragging their butts. I'll call them tomorrow if I haven't heard anything today. I'm just eager for it because I'm so done feeling like crap.

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[jlb8080 45]

I would definitely be bugging them. It's the end of the year. Some people have insurance to think about. I know with me I wanted it done before January because I've already reached my deductible. I would be pushing them for sure.