WLS question about process

I have already had my first appointment with Duke and at that time submitted all required test results. Does anyone know about how long it will take for my next appointment to be scheduled? It's already been about 4 weeks. And does anyone know where my patience is I seemed to have lost it when I sent in my app. for surgery.

you should call them. seriously. lots of times, they think they're waiting on some test result for your file when they already have it. you just have to call. they'll say "we still need your ..." and then you'll say "i gave that to you on ..." and then they'll say "oh, right, so you did." and then wa-la! you'll get an appt date!

Call Beth and ask her what the next steps are and what the time-line looks like. If all of your info is in, you should ask them to schedule your consultation w/the Nurse Clinician, Nutritionist and Phsycologist. Once they see you, it usually take 10 days to 2 weeks to get the notes from that appointment transcribed. If they have all of the information that they need from you ... and of course, check w/Beth to be sure that they do ... then, Beth will put your information together and submit it to the insurance for approval. Ask her when you are scheduled to be submitted for approval. Each insurance company has their own contractual guidelines re: how long they have to provide a determination ... could be a couple of days to 3 weeks w/UHC. I had UHC and got my answer in 10 business days. Once it goes off to the insurance for "determination" and hopefully approval, the ball is generally in the insurance companies court. I would call the insurance company and talk to the department that deals with determinations. Generally, you can get the phone extension of the person you speak with so that you can talk with them again. They should be able to let you know what their process is, where your "package" is in the process and what to expect next. I called every couple of days ... On the 10th day, I found out that I had been approved. (When they tell you the determination ... approved or denied, you need to find out if they send you a letter directly or if they send information to the Dr's office ... or both." I called my Dr's office and they told me congratulations that I had been approved and then told me when the next appointment was and who it was with. My surgery date was about 6 weeks after I received the approval.

I hope that this helps ... I also used Duke, so feel free to read my profile for details about the process.

B