Question if you had WLS at Duke

I am a little curious how long it took for Duke to contact you for your first appointment after your application was submitted? It's been almost 2 months and I haven't heard anything. Does this sound right? I have BCBS State Ins so I don't think that has anything to do with it. Any suggestions, comments?

3 months from when I turned in the paperwork in person until I met with Dr Torquati.  I could have had the surgery done within 2 weeks of that date except he wanted me to see a kidney specialist and that appt could not be booked for two months.  They will have your file just about ready to file w/bcbs by the time you meet with the surgeon.  I have bcbs state plan and had no problems with that portion.

That's a long time......and I thought two months was a long time. Thank you for replying.

I had my surgery about 3 years ago and a lot has changed since then. That said, I'd give them a call and ask them for a status and also ask them if they can tell you generally what to expect.

Wishing you all the best as you make this life changing journey.

Call them.  REPEATEDLY.  There's no excuse for 2 months.  I was told 45 from the date of application, and it took about 50ish days I think for them to finally call me - and that was only after I started calling every 3-4 days for updates.  You have to ride Duke to get things done.

Thank you for your input. I did  start calling several times this past week, I get a voice mail 80% of the time. I guess I'll keep calling. It's a shame to have to hound a doctors office though.

It took them one month to contact me after my application was submitted.  I went in for my iniital appointment, then it took them another 2 months to call me back to schedule my follow up appt to get a surgery date.  I called and emailed numerous times and had actually went to see another surgeon about going with his program because I was so frustrated with the lack of response from Duke.  Once they finally called me back, everything has gone very smoothly, but it was a bit of a pain.

One other thing you may want to check on before you make your appts there, most insurance companies are denying any psych appts at Duke because of the billing codes Duke is using.  I received two denials from BCBSNC, one for the initial psych appt at Duke that BCBSNC required me to have to qualify for surgery, and one for the pre-surgery group appt I went to.  The two bills are close to $400.  Just something to ask about so you don't get an unpleasant surprise.


Good luck with your surgery!

Took 2.5 to 3 months before I got my initial appointment.  Frustrating, I know.

I turned in my paperwork in September, didn't get an initial appointment until December, then didn't get a surgery date until March. They average 3 months in regards to contacting you. It's annoying. You can call and call, but it will still take forever.

Aside from the long waits for phone calls, long waits at the actual clinic, Duke is a good place.

I think part of the problem is that as of July 1, BCBS is only approving WLS at a Center of Excellence. This means that everyone in the triangle area has to go to Duke. This will create a bottle-neck into getting an appointment with the surgeon. Once you are in the system, things progress, but not quickly. I went to the informational meeting in the beginning of April. My first appointment was in mid-May. My surgery was scheduled for early July. Don't give up ... it just might take longer than you were anticipating. It will be worth it in the end.