new and trying to find a surgeon

Thank you all for your responses.  I went to an info session at Lenox Hill Hospital last night. I have healthnet insurance and they tell me I need a 6 month supervised diet before I can submit anything to the insurance company.

Anyone have any experience with healthnet or lenox hill hospital? thanks again  Karen

OOhhh... me, me, me (though not for the Band) Dr Shah did my DS, Dr Kurian (used to be with them, now with Ren/Fielding as I mentioned above) assisted... in addition to those 2, Dr Roslin checked in on me while I was in the hospital.... unless there's someone new now, it's just Roslin/Shah.... both are awesome surgeons. Roslin is more of an "in your face", blunt, clinical, etc... not a "hand holder" but an excellent surgeon... Shah, while just as excellent, I felt had a more comforting bedside manner.  That said, you're going for the Band... without complications, you'll go home the next day so there shouldn't be any issue there. Lenox Hill Hosp. was awesome... great staff, nice rooms.... but it was HOT (and my surgery was mid-NOVEMBER)... that's my only complaint was that it was uncomfortably warm in there... get yourself a small fan you can put on your night table... you'll be glad you had it. People that know me, know I HATE hospitals... even just to visit.  my friends and family say for me to ONLY complain about the temperature really speaks volumes about the hospital. Good luck.

Tripmom.  Just to clarify Dr. Kurian is a wonderful doctor with the highest creditionals in Bariatric Surgery and is a great advocate for the obese.  I just think sometimes they overbook and most times feel like you are being rushed when you go in to see her or any doctor post op.  It's my opinion.  Now that she is at NYU the service is the SAME.  I was there a couple of weeks ago and waited well over an hour.

I can tell you from personal experience that 9 times out of 10, this is of no fault of the doctor or office staff... if you're friendly with your own PCP, just ask him/her and they will tell you.... if it were up to the doctor, they would most likely allot each patient for a half hour for a basic office visit so they could take their time and be thorough... and so the patient didn't feel rushed.  If the visit was shorter, they could either take the next patient early if they're available, or write down some notes, grab a quick coffee, whatever. scheduling (or at least time blocks) are usually dictated by the insurance plans they participate in... For example, if a doctor is a participating provider for Aetna, then Aetna tells them something like "OK, you want to be a participating provider, we require you to see a minimum of ___ patients per day (week, month, whatever time frame)... I know that for my PCP, this equates to a 15 min office visit.  Of course, they don't boot your butt out the door when your 15 min is up, but they try to move along as quickly as possible and from their own stress, may inadvertently make you feel as though you're under a timer. Just to clarify that it's not any particular doctor or group that does this... it's pretty much industry-wide, unless they aren't a participating "in network" provider for ANY plans... then you can probably blame the office scheduling manager (or head of the group) for scheduling things too tightly.

Great response Sean.  You are well informed.  I did not think about it until I read your response.  :0)