Switching Doctors?

Hi. I'm new here and I have a question, please. I originally chose Dr. Baker because I knew that my insurance plan listed him as a preferred provider. Since then, I've had a hard time finding someone in his office to talk to. I have e-mailed several times, only to get a one sentence reply that doesn't really answer my questions and they take up to a week to reply. And when I call, I never get to speak with anyone. I have to leave a message and wait for them to call back. The first time I called, no one called me back. The second time they waited about 5 days to call me. They sent in letter of necessity to my ins 1 wk and 4 days ago. I contacted them to find out if they sent my records with the letter or if I needed to send them in myself, but I can't find out anything!!! I have heard many great things about Dr. Gibbs and was wondering if I could switch to him during this process or if I have to start all over. Does anyone know how to go about all of this? Thanks for the help! Karen

Hi, I had to switch Dr because Dr Wellborn couldn't take Medicare anymore and I switched to Dr Baker's office. At first they replied to my messages and emails, but now I can't get a hold of anyone. I don't know if this has anything to do with Dr. Wellborn moving into a new office (him and Dr Baker shared an office) or if they are just getting a lot of patients since they can take Medicare now. I have called 3 times last week and emailed twice, and once I emailed through their patient hub and still no reply. I am getting aggravated because I wanted to know what all they have recieved from my Dr's and what I need to get in still before I see my primary Dr. I don't want to have to pay extra money just to tell my Dr they forgot to send something in, you know what I mean. I hate to have to switch again, and Dr Baker really is a nice person and I like him and want him to do my surgery, but I want to be able to talk to someone when I have a question. Dr Wellborn's office always were there and always answered their calls or emails or atleast called me back the next day or two. Let me know if you switch and if you had any trouble doing it.

Have you ladies been to the online hub and done all of your paperwork? I drove those poor ladies nutz for the last 2 weeks and finally got a consult date and a tenitive surgery date of June 28 I called once a day weather I got a person or machine. when I finally got ahold of Becky she told me they were sooooo swamped take your list of things to get done to your PCP and have him get you started and have them fax everything....this takes time because there is only 2 of them who take things off the fax and one day when I got ahold of Christy she told me she had over 60 faxes to go through...I knew at least 6 of those pages where mine. you have to be proactive....that is why the infromation and forms are on the websight. dont loose faith! itll happen! also there are seminars and support groups and the dietary conference call to do also. I was where you are till last thursday. thats when I got my consult date. I called every day for 2 weeks and maybe spoke with someone 3 times. if in doubt about what to do...do it your self...than you know its done! lets all join hands and walk through this process together! a new life awaits! nutti

Hi Lynette, I saw my Dr over a month ago, I did all the labwork, the psych eval, had my information printed off of my cpap machine, sleep study i had done 2 years ago sent in, letter of medical necessity. Well my dr was made a list of these things to fax. I hope they have, my Dr and I have a great patient/dr relationship so I know she has done these things. I also attended Dr Baker's seminar in Feb, did the teleconference already and went to a support group meeting this month at Baptist. The only thing I lack is my hemoccult which I am taking to my Dr monday but I just wanted to know what all was sent in before I went to my Dr. I will keep calling. I understand they are probably busy because there are so many medicare patients like myself who had surgeries scheduled last february and then they were cancelled due to medicare new rules, so now we are all wanting our surgeries and there are only 3 Dr's and one hospital to do it.

Yes, I have filled out all of the information on the patient hub and had my pcp send in all of my records. I don't understand. Did you get a date before you were approved or have you already been approved? I have BCBS of Illinois and since BCBS doesn't accept lengthy faxes, Dr. Baker's office had to mail in my information. I have called BCBS several times but they say that they still don't have my information. I had also scheduled to go to a seminar, but I couldn't find anyone to go with me, so I cancelled and rescheduled. I just found out that I don't have anyone to go with me to the next one, either! Do I have to take someone with me to the seminar or can I go by myself? Thanks Karen

In a way you will have to start over. I was not pleased with Dr. Wellborn's staff so I switched. Each doctor requires you to attend his seminar. Dr. Gibbs will want you to bring all of your paperwork (from your pcp) with you, your insurance card and your completed packet (short version) to the seminar. You also must schedule yourself for his seminar. You will leave a message on Carrie's (Dr. Gibbs' nurse) or Kay's (money and insurance lady) voice mail but have no fear they will call you back even if it is after 5:00 pm. I switched and in two weeks was approved, scheduled for consult and surgery. Carrie and the staff do a great job of getting the paper work into the insurance but ultimately it will depend on how fast your insurance approves you. Also ask Carrie, what is the time frame she will tell you that she can't promise you anything but if she get it done and you scheduled asap, she will!!!! AprilGirl

Hi Karen, That is the exact reason I ruled out Dr. Baker from the very beginning of this process. I e-mailed him a few questions and I received a one sentence reply that said "I cover all these things in my seminar"...I took it as he didn't want to bother answering them and if I wanted the answers I would have to come to his seminar. I e-mailed Becky twice and never got a response. I didn't want to have to deal with that after surgery. My suggestion? Email Tina at Dr. Gibbs office, she will respond very quickly. Her email is: [email protected] Ask her this question, explain to her what the situation is and she will be able to tell you what you need to do. You won't be disappointed with Dr. Gibbs' staff. You may have to start over, but they will walk you through it. If you want to call his office, his number is: 501-227-9080...when the receptionist answers she'll ask how to direct your call, tell her you want to speak to Tina. You'll most likely get her voicemail, but leave a message, she will call you back, I promise. Hope this helps, PM me if you need anything else. Take care, Denise

This is in response to the email that was sent about Dr Bakers office ,.. I have dealt with Dr Baker and Dr Wellborn's office and fareness to both of them, the Drs are getting overwhelmed with patients and are getting more calls everyday, that is why its taking more time to get back to the patients. I do agree that you should get a phone call or some kind of acknowledgement or even an answer to your question. I also know that the reason that Dr Gibbs office can get back with you quicker is because he is not as busy as the other Drs. This is why you can speak to someone in his office or get your insurance filed quicker then Dr Bakers or Dr Wellborns office, I Dont know who the lady talked to that had a bad experience with Dr wellborns staff but I cant hardly imagine anyone there being rude or not kind to her. I have had nothing but great satisfaction with his office and staff. I do hope that you dont get discourage in your decision, please be patient with the Drs staff, they are hard working girls that are just alittle overwhelmed with the packets they recieve with both offices..

Thanks Tonya. It always helps to get an encouraging word. I am going to try again and see if they answer my questions. I am just concerned that they didn't send in my pcp's records and will waste my first opportunity. I don't want to have to appeal because Dr. Baker's office didn't send in my records! Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that they didn't. I'm only saying that they haven't answered my question about whether or not they sent them in. They wrote me back and said "Send in your records." To whom? They didn't specify whether it was to them or the insurance company. I had already had my pcp send in my records to the office. I don't know...it's all confusing when you can't talk to someone so that you can completely understand the process. Thanks for the encouragement, again. Karen

Dr. Wellborn was my surgeon and I was very impressed with him. I was having some pain issues after my surgery and he stayed in the recovery room nearly the entire day. Even though a few of my phone calls have gotten lost in the hubbub, for the most part, I am VERY pleased with the ladies at Dr. Wellborn's office. They've always been kind and answered my questions as soon as possible. Oh yea, and I've lost 25 lbs. in the last month.