Switching surgeons after packet has been sent to insurance?

Hello all--

I will hopefully be having RnY by March 2015, after jumping through many hoops. Due to some communication issues and lack of helpfulness with my current surgeon's support staff, I made an appointment to potentially switch surgeons. 

However, due to my shock, my current surgeon's office actually submitted my packet yesterday to my insurance for approval.

I just don't know if this means I can't switch surgeons now. Anyone else have a similar experience or advice?

As long as your new surgeon is also covered by your insurance (and is a COE, if your insurance requires that), it shouldn't matter to the insurance company.

The problem you might run into would be meeting the second surgeon's requirements for surgery.  You would need to get all of your information to the new surgeon (you can request that your current surgeon's office send everything in your chart), and then talk to the new surgeon's office about whether they will accept all the hoop jumping you already did for the other surgeon's office and insurance company.

Lora

Why are you switching? Is the surgeon not good? My surgeon can be a dick at times but he is good at what he does. The staff at the other doctors office may be the same. 

Many of us have had problems with the support staff of our surgeons. Who is the better surgeon??

I switched surgeons and surgeries after a hard-fought insurance battle and it wasn't a problem at all. Like ****rogirl says, if they're in your network, it's just a different name that needs to be entered on the approval letter.

Good luck!

Laurie

Okay--let me give more background to this whole situation. I started the process in March 2014. I picked the surgeon based on proximity to my workplace--he's literally right across the street and the reviews I found on him. He's done thousands of WLS and is a very nice man. I like him a lot, at least, the two times I've seen him, which was my initial appointment and right before my endoscopy. 

His support staff, well, they're a hot mess. Good things they did:  they told me what appointments/procedures I needed to have done before my packet would get sent and the amount I could potentially owe out of pocket. Scheduled my appointments for my psych consult, exercise consult and nutrition consult. Got me quickly on the books for my endoscopy. 

Not so good things: didn't give me the logs I needed to fill out for the exercise and nutrition appointments. Never gave me the binder that they give all of their patients to guide them through the process, although I have asked several times. These are things I could deal with

Bad things: they told me my insurance would pay for gastric bypass, so I began the process. In August, my boss called me in her office to ask me what insurance I was using  for my WLS.  I told her I was using our mutual insurance. She told me that she had made an appointment with the same surgeon and they had called to tell her our insurance did not cover WLS. I called the surgeon's office, and then my insurance. Surgeon's office told me I was wrong, because they had it in my file that it was covered. Insurance told me that the surgeon was wrong. Surgeon's staff told me to finish the last two things needed to get my packet completed, as they told me my insurance was misleading me. Listened to them, finished it all, packet was sent off. Not more than 8 days later, get a letter from insurance telling me that gastric bypass was not a covered benefit. I called the surgeon's office the next day to talk to them. They told me they would look into it and call me back by the end of the day. A week later, I called back, as I had not heard from them. I called three times a day, every day for well over a month. Finally spoke to their insurance guru. She told me that in my file, they had verified with my insurance on three different occasions that gastric bypass would be covered. I asked her if she would help me file an appeal. She told me no, she would not do that, but she gave me everything she could to help me file the appeal on my own. Of course, while I was on the phone with her, I got an email from my CEO telling our workplace that they were adding gastric bypass as a covered benefit on January 1, 2015. She encouraged me to file my appeal anyway, as I had met my deductible for 2014. So I did. Appeal was rejected, but the person I spoke to at my insurance strongly encouraged me to ask my surgeon to call and ask for a peer review appeal. His staff told me they would not bother him with such a request. I then decided to just wait until 2015 instead of continuing to fight. I did start calling the office again around December 1st, as I wanted to make sure that the person who submitted the packets knew to resubmit mine close to the first of the year. By December 14, I had not gotten any calls back, so I emailed the person who sends out the reminders for support group meetings for help. That was the only way I finally heard back from anyone at the office. I was told I had to make sure I emailed or called them after January 1st to make sure they resent my packet.

During this whole debacle, I had carpal tunnel release on my left wrist on December 18th. When I went to my preop appointment, I talked to the nurse about how my next surgery would be RnY. She asked me if I was having it done by the surgeon who operated and had his office at that hospital. I told her no and gave her the cliff notes version of what was happening. She told me I should just go on up there to ask them if it was too late to switch, as she was planning to have her lapband done by him.  Since I'm a librarian, as I pulled out my smartphone and started researching this doctor. He is one of the few surgeons in the nation to perform the minimally invasive gastric bypass. He's the only one in my area that does it. His reviews are outstanding, much like the other surgeon I've been seeing.

I physically went up to his office to ask them my questions about switching. The receptionist was extremely kind and helpful. She assured me it was not too late and that as long as they got my records from my current surgeon, I would not have to repeat any of the steps I had already completed. In fact, I got to make an appointment with this surgeon right away, which will be January 16th. What really impressed me while I was there is that she greeted each established patient by name. Almost everyone on his support team has had WLS or has struggled with their weight as well. 

So, both surgeons are very skilled. Both have great reviews. Both practices are COE. 

Surgeon #2 has one big advantage: I've had two surgeries at his hospital already, albeit same day procedures, and the staff there is wonderful. It's a smaller hospital, which helps. 

I've had one procedure done at the hospital I would be having the RnY at if I stuck with my current surgeon and it was an awful experience. A dear friend recently had surgery there as well and her experience was awful too, so that's potentially clouding my judgment. 

Anyhow, after hearing that I would not be the first one to switch at this point, I feel better about where I stand right now. Thank you all for the advice/feedback.