need "lapband friendly" general physician

Hi I am new to the seattle area and need a doctor who can thoroughly examine me, hopefully find my BMI of 43 (and any other problems) and NOT hesitate to recommend lapband surgery. One that has had it and loved it would be good!! I dont need a surgeon as such (its a toss up betwen Dr Watkins and Dr Oh), just someone who is familiiar with the insurance companies requirements.....I just dont want to jeopardise my chances of approval by having a doctor just recommend I diet (been there done that, lost weight, put it back on, dieted,lost weight put it back on+++........gave up and put on more weight.....became disgusted with myself, ate, dieted, lost a bit, fell off wagon....gave up......came across lapband!!!) Any ideas?

Debra, Dr Oh is my doctor. I had a RNY Lap. and would suggest his office as many of his staff members have also had the surgery and know what they are doing when it comes to insurance. I had to option to have the band or RNY and chose the RNY because my insurance will not cover the band. I wish you the best of luck. Susan

Hi, you might also try Dr. Gabriel Alperovich through Valley Medical Center, which is in Renton. He does lapbands and fills. He is a very understanding doctor and his nurse is awesome. Just call the hospital and asked to have him paged. 425-226-3450

Thanks guys, OK now I am officially confused....are you saying that the Insurance company accepts the recommendation for treatment from the surgeon himself?? That I only need to do the seminar thing and the ball is rolling?? I was assuming it was to be from 'my' doctor...ie family doctor who is recommending and referring onto an appropriate surgeon for treatment?? Can anyone who has had to wrangle an insurance company let me know?? They have asked for a report from a physician stating that it is medically required that I have this surgery and to provide supporting data in the report (Im assuming some test results and history here). Cheers Deb

Debra, It completely depends on what your specific insurance PLAN requires whether you go to your general Dr first or just right to the surgeon. So quite honestly I would start with a call to your insurance company. Find someone nice who seems like they are willing to spend some time answering questions (call back if you need to get someone else) and find out if you need to see a general Dr first or not. You will have to see one eventually to get a physical but sometimes you can bypass the first approval/recommendation from them and go straight to the surgeon. I'm not sure where you live but I've always used the UW neighborhood clinics, specifically Dr Laura Hudgings at the Shoreline clinic. The Dr's there all know about WLS and typically don't have a problem recommending it for patients. But I would still start with your insurance company and find out exactly what they require from start to finish including what specifically constitutes "supporting data", you'll save yourself trying to second guess what they will need and perhaps getting the wrong stuff. They may want a 6 month supervised diet, specific co-morbidities, blood tests, psyc evals, nutrition counseling etc... They can be super picky and find any little reason to deny coverage for something major like this so it pays to follow their requirements to the T. Although I didn't have to go through insurance for my surgery (I'm self pay) I have worked with medical insurance companies for years and know how difficult they can be. Hope that helps and clears up some of the confusion. Corinna

I haven't read all the other posts, but I'm an Alperovich patient and truly love him! He can write your letter of medical necessity. He orders all your tests and such. He's the only one I used. My pcp didn't know what was going on until I was almost done. Not because I went around him, but I wasn't sick and didn't need to see him! Your surgeon meets with you, examines you and determines whether you're a candidate or not. Good luck Deb! Kim