any ideas????

hi i have never put anything on the message board. i was wandering if anyone had any ideas on how i can get my drs to speed up the process so can get my surgery done. i am losing my insurance nov 1 and i have told all the drs i have seen this. and i am working with dr. smith here in carroll ia and he let my file sit there for a month then they send it off and find out another month later they sent it to the wrong office. and my back is hurting me again really bad and my left leg is swelling up to three times its size. i am getting really frustrated. and i cant get the other drs name off of my profile. i changed from him cuz they lost my file and when i resubmitted everything they told me that i would be a long wait. well i dont have time to wait. any ideas on how to get these people to speed up and help me before i lose my insurance. if so please tell me. lynda schachtner.

This site is full of wonderful people and this state has great surgeons, but if you're looking for speed, Grinnell is the way to go. My 1st consult was July 31st and my surgery was August 12th. Dr. Schwartz is our doctor and he just moved here from the Mayo Clinic, so he's new to Iowa. There is not a big wait for him and he has never lost a patient, he;s very experienced and they have 2 other surgeons there that are wonderful too. You'll prob. get an appt quickest with Dr. Schwartz. We both saw Beth Prescott in Newton, as our PCP and she sent the approval letter that day. We have BC/BS, Alliance Select and we were both approved in about 3 weeks. Your insurance plays a big factor in the speed of this process as well. Good Luck...e-mail me if you want more info. Deb Paul

I would have to say that I agree with what Deb said. If you contact Surgical Associates and tell them that you are insured only until Nov. 1st, then I am sure that they would try to do all they can to get you in and all your paperwork processed ASAP. I know they have done it before. Good luck to you! Sheila

The new program that Mercy has in Des Moines is extremely fast also. I had my first appointment with them on September 4th. And was called yesterday to schedule surgery. My whole process took 3-4 weeks. If you go to their website www.mercydesmoines.org, there is an outline of their program and contact information.