Dr. Blackstone's "Patient Liason" rude additude, anyone else?

Insurance companies always say different things and its very common for them to tell you something different than they tell the office.  My insurance company told me for 2 years (four times) that they don't cover it.  Terry got down to the bottom of it and found out they did.  I had issues with Blackstones office in terms of efficiancy.  No matter where you go, you must remember you are going to need to stay on top of things even more so then them.  It may mean you getting denied over something silly otherwise.  I will tell you that they are extremely good (if not the best) at getting people approved and making sure all of your paperwork is in order.  As far as Terry, I really think it was just a bad day.  Try to remember that the most important thing is the overall program and doctor.  In the end one rude person won't be life threatening but a bad program or doctor can be.

Although I had major frustrations at times pre op with some of the office I have zero regrets about the doctor and the program.  Its one of the best programs in the nation (my humble opinion after researching for years). 

Sad to hear!  WARNING: I went back for my second repair on the same issue with Dr. Robert Schuster with Banner Health in Mesa AZ as advised by my regular doctor and others - Not going into many details as it was and is very painful - Dr. Schuster and his "very rude" staff wouldn't return my calls after the redo.  I have bills well over $30k+ for something that was no done correctly the first time and Dr Rob Schuster will not take time to discuss it with me?   BEWARE I don't want this to happen anyone else !! 

Wow!  I'm so sorry you've had such a rough experience.  .... My experience with the Banner Gateway group has been fantastic!  I'll admit to not having the pleasure of meeting Dr. Schuster yet but I attend their support groups regularly and have not met one staff member yet that hasn't been over the top accomodating and kind.

Donna and Deborah totally rock! (IMO)

I hope you can resolve your differences.  30K+ is a lot of money for any of us to be without!  Are you working with another surgeon/program then?

Donna and Deborah have both been SO helpful.... so has Janice. Everyone I've met at Dr. Schuster's office has been fantastic.

In my experience at least, they've all been fantastic about returning calls and emails. They also always seem more than happy to answer whatever questions I have. I'm actually looking forward to my post-op appointment! :)

Both my son and myself had surgery at Banner Gateway with Dr. Schuster. I cannot say enough about Dr. Schuster and the entire staff at Banner Gateway Bariatric. The experience has been wonderful. We started with another provider and were not happy so we researcher and found Banner Gateway.  The Hospital Banner Gateway Hospital was Great too. Brand new, modern, private rooms, knowledgable friendly staff. I felt like I was at a country club (morphine drip helped!!)

I had VSG with Dr Blackstone on 3/23/10.

Sometime at the beginning of this year, Scottsdale Bariatric Center (Dr Blackstone's original practice) merged with Scottsdale Healthcare (they run the Shea hospital, among other things). Aparently this merger caused TONS of problems (in my own experience: phone numbers & fax numbers being changed without notifying patients, email addresses bouncing, their website is down and has been for weeks, calls to the 24-hour "hotline" not being answered and messages not returned for 2 days, and just poor record keeping). I had consulted with Dr Blackstone over 5 years ago and already knew I wanted her for my surgeon when I decided to go ahead at "do it" late 2009. Unfortunately, I too, had (and am still having) issues with several members of her nursing/administrative staff. It's not Terry that I have had problems with, but 3 other employees have had me in or near tears on separate occaisions. Having said that, Dr Blackstone and Melissa are FANTASTIC and I believe that they are without question one of, if not the, very best bariatric teams in the world. I don't know if the staffing issues are just temporary & merger-related, or if these types of things are part of doing business with them, but I don't have any regrets in choosing Dr Blackstone as my surgeon. I guess I'm willing to deal with people with no customer service and poor communication skills in order to have the very best possible medical care.

That's my two cents.

Congrats on your surgery Sara!  Dr. Blackstone is a great surgeon so hopefully the "technical difficulties" get worked out soon.  I agree that the surgeon is the main point one should consider when shopping but that customer service can sweeten the pot for a total program experience!  That's why insurances recognize programs that have the rating of "Center of Excellence" rather than Surgeon's of Excellence.

So, how are you doing?  Melting away?

WLS is an amazing journey for most of us!  .....  Great milestones are just around the corner.....

I have been floating round this site for a few months now. So I thought I would finally pipe in and share my experience. I have decided to go with Dr Blackstone. I am less than thrilled with her staff though. I know she is the best surgeon around, but her staff has been a nightmare. I have provided them the necessary medical records 3 times and was told they had everything they needed to submit to the ins. Last Friday I was told by the "auth girl" Christina that she had everything she needed and was submitting my stuff that day to BCBS for approval. Well after 3 days of no returned calls, I called BCBS and she hasn't even contacted them yet. I called her supervisor (Jennifer) and explained things to her. I received a return call saying that she checked with Christina and she (Jennifer) was told that she (Christina) needed more info from me before she could submit my case to the ins. WHAT!!!!!!???? I was told she had everything she needed. Jennifer told me I would be getting a call from Christina any minute to get the required info. Guess what? No call. This is so frustrating!!!!! Why would this girl lie to her supervisor and I think it's incredibly rude to not return a call for 3 days.

Hello you all,

 I had the Sleeve Bariatric Surgery with Dr. Blackstone on the 18th of this month and I am looking for the support groups online and I haven't been able to. Can somebody tell me how or where to go?

Thanks.