Dr. Jawad
| Osceola Regional Medical Center | |
| 700 West Oak Street Kissimmee, Florida 34741 (407) 846-2266 Click Here for driving directions and a map | |
Okay guys here is the deal that they have now. The seminars in Orlando and Ocala on Saturdays are for people that have not made the decision. Dr J is present and answers all the burning questions you have. I went in April the 14th I think and than made the appointment for the office visit. This is when they determine if you will be able to have it barring the completion of the tests. You may or may not meet with Dr J as he does have surgery that day I know because I am having surgery on the 2nd and Linda M is having it on the 3rd.
The office appointment will consist of a group meeting with all the other people and will expld the process again and the risks. They will weight you and have you pay the initial fee of $250. Than after the group session you will be taken back for a one on one with Kevin. It can be a long day depending on when you arrive as it goes in that order. I was the 3rd person to sign in that morning and I was out by 12:30. Odalys will also meet with you and give you an insurance sheet because while you were with the group and Kevin they have been checking with you insurance for what is needed.
Than it is your job to get all the records and tests completed. You need to make sure that all the test results are also sent to the office because sometimes they do not get sent. It is a game of keeping on everyones butt to make sure it is done. My appointment was on April 20th and I was approved by May 29th. I have BCBS of Florida State employee.
The person that helpped me the most was this board and also Dr J forum. If you need help getting to it let me know. I can sent you the link.
Also I met and wonderful person name of Jan Ocala and she was at my Ocala seminar. She is going to be my angel on the 2nd.
All I can say is if you get your own records everything goes better. I also wrote letters to my Insurance company. Dr J will give you a sample letter that you PCP needs to write for you as well. It all is in the booklet that Odalys gives you and I used it as my bible as I made my appointments for the tests. They may throw in another test like they did on me because of my age I needed a stress test. Cleaned that one with no problem.
Keep in mind that the seminars are information only and are in a big group. The office appointment is the commit time.
We also have support meetings that I have attended and plan to continue to attend after. My pre-op appointment is on the June 28th. If you need anymore info that I can give email me either from my profile or [email protected]
Good luck both of you.
Sandy
Sandy, you're sweet, but I'm not that wonderful a person, I assure you!!!
Let me say something to you guys about Odalys. Her mission in life is to get you all approved and she's working with SEVERAL insurance companies, none of which are fun, and she's working to get ALL new patients approved. If she doesn't get people approved, she will not be keeping her job for long!
So while it may seem that things take a long time, I also think it's important for you the patient to do as much leg work as you possibly can in order to make Odalys' horribly daunting job as easy as possible.
If you go to the seminar in Ocala or Orlando, they do like you to register first, but would never turn anyone (or support people) away and there's no charge for this 2 hour seminar. Someone discusses who can have surgery and what the insurance process is in a general way. Then Dr. Jawad goes over the history of obesity, the nuts and bolts of the surgery, how it changes people's lives and in Ocala they have a patient who can tell you what it's REALLY like to live as a postie. That patient would be me! If you want to progress from the seminar, you can make an appointment. At that appointment, all the patients sign in and then sit in the outer lobby and there's several speakers. Then each patient is called back as described above.
After all the paperwork is submitted and all testing is complete and you've been approved and scheduled for surgery, THEN there's a pre-op day that takes place on the Thursday before the week of surgery. This is pretty much a day long event and you have to have your support person there at the same time.
Dr. Jawad does have angels that visit in the hospital on day 2 but Sandy asked me to be her special angel even though everyone loves Rusty! I usually visit on Thursdays.
More questions?
Jan,
I used your letter and I think it really helped a lot to get it moving fast. I also threatened to call them each and every day until I was approved because they could not give me one person to call and that I was not getting the customer service I was paying for. I like to think it was the letter and not my attitude.
Sandy
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