Calling Dr Frantzides....

Hi Jennifer: I went for my consult with Dr. Frantzides on July 30th and got my surgery date the same day. I am having mine on August 31st. 10 days to go. From all of my research I have come to the conclusion that Dr. Frantzides is at the top of his profession! I feel in good hands. Good luck to you. I hope you are approved! Joy

Anne, Everything you've heard about Dr. Frantzides is true. He's a wonderful physician and does his best to get you approved with your insurance. You can expedite things by having your pcp prepare a letter of medical necessity. This needs to be forwarded to the doctor. In addition, most insurance companies require a consultation with a dietician and some require the psych evaluation as well. I was a candidate for the Lap-Band so I used the information that was submitted by the previous physician (letter from doctor & dietician, psych eval. was not required). I also wrote the letter for my pcp and simply had her sign it. If you'd like some suggestions on the latter please feel free to email me. I opted to do all my lab work through ENH to prevent a delay, and if you can do the same I recommend it. Lastly, you'll need a recent physical and it has to be done no more than 30 days prior to your surgery. In the meantime, start documenting your co-morbidities and all restrictions you have due to your weight. Make note of any medically supervised diets you've attempted and all the others as well (Weigh****chers, Jenny Craig, etc.). These items will mentioned in your letter from Dr. F. Contact your insurance company to determine what your out of network benefits are, because he is not an in network doctor for BCBS. Do the same for the hospital as well. They should be in network though. Verify any deductibles if applicable and find out if you've met them already this year. Most importantly, ask your insurance company if your out of pocket expenses have a cap. Please note, BCBS does not pay out of network physicians directly. The check will be mailed to you. As such, you'll be required by Dr. F. to provide a check which will be held until you receive the payment for services from BCBS. Best of luck to you. Please feel free to contact me if you have additional questions. Regards, Gabby

Dr. Frantzides performed my lap RNY 2/18/03. I am now down 112 lbs. I also have BCBS PPO and was approved after only 1 week. That was 1 1/2 years ago and I understand the BCBS is undergoing a lot of policy changes as far as WLS is concerned right now. I hope that your approval comes as quickly as mine did. Dr. Frantzides' office submitted all my insurance paperwork and all I had to do was show up. Feel free to email me if you have anymore questions. Sabrina

Hello Anne I must agree with the other posters that Dr. Frantzides is the best he works with all situations I'm on medicaid and while the hospital and all pre-op things are covered his fee is not. His office staff is great and I'm looking forward to going to his support group meeting next month. I have to pay a small fee to the Dr. him self but trust me when I tell you it is so worth it. Yes you do get your surgery date the same day. Now I'm waiting for 10/18 to come and now I want to move the date up by three weeks so I'm going to call his office tomorrow to see if that's possible. You basically pick your own date. The staff sets you up with all of your pre-op work orders and you just go and get them done. I am very happy I have switched to Dr. Frantzides. He loves what he does and looks foward to giving you back your life. good luck to you Anne you made a wise choice.