Kingley Health Question

I too have had trouble with NJ Direct.....

As I understand it they actually require that prospective patients present for a psychological evaluation......they then deny any testing that is done!  Even if you attempt to get pre authorization they still deny it.  They have told me that the policy specificly excludes the service even thou they require it!  This is what we call CRAZY!

Having said that they do pay towards the actual interview with the patient so, in my office, the patient does get something back anyway.

Does this help?

Dr Mike

The only problem I really encountered was with the psych eval. In order to have them pay the fee for the interview I had to see an in network psychiatrist. None of them did Bariatric evaluations. The insurance paid for the nutritional eval, and everything else related to the surgery. The thing that really upset me was that Kingley contacted my insurance after I had cancelled my appointment and had themselves authorized for payment as if I had made the request. They are out of network, so the way I found out was by a letter from NJ Direct telling me they had approved me to go to Kingley at the out-of-network benefit rate. I was livid! I can't really complain about anything with the whole experience except for Kingley. Thanks for your information!

Thank you sooo much for this information.  I appreciate your honesty.  The whole Kingley thing just seemed fishy to me and way to expensive!!!!!
Good luck on your journey!!
Kimi

Kimi


I'm sure you will do well with Dr. Mike.  I have not had the pleasure to work with him personally, but he was extremely helpful to me when I had a problem.  Many people on the board have used his services.

I too had a problem with Kingley.  I never even got an appointment after multi attempts.  It's upsetting when you need assistance with the (what seems like) mounds of insurance mumbo jumbo and you get nowhere.  Be persistant no matter what you decide and you will get through it!

Good Luck
Vicki

Thanks Vicki....
I go see Dr. Mike tonight...I can't wait!!! Alittle nervous tho as I've never been to a pysch doc before!!! Go easy Dr. Mike...LOL

I called Kingley to see what the hold up was for gettting my eval to my surgeon. My appt was March 4th and I was told by them that the eval would be sent off within 3 days. Well since I paid by check, they wait the 10 days for the check to clear before they send the eval off. Needless to say I was not happy! Never did anyone tell me this NOR is it posted anywhere at their facility. Still boils my blood when I think about it.

Thanks again....
Kimi

Your experience is important to us and we are committed to making your surgery a success for you. At Kingley Health, our program was developed in close partnership with a wide range of bariatric surgeons to ensure that you get the best quality pre and post op care, support, and guidance. 

Our role during your pre-surgical evaluation is to act as your advocate to the insurance company. We have done a large number of nutritional and psychological evaluations and have developed a good understanding of what the insurance companies are looking for in order to grant approval. We suggest a range of actions that will make the strongest case to the insurance company based on the particular situation of each surgical candidate we see.   Your insurance company is the one who approves or denies payment for the surgery. Our job is to put together as strong of a case as we can, based on the facts and information provided to us by the candidate. We do provide information to each surgical candidate on what it takes to maximize the odds of insurance company approval in addition to the candidate obtaining a successful outcome from the surgery.   

The diagnostic testing is done in order to have strong evidence as to why surgery should be done. This testing provides supporting information on each candidate’s metabolism and body composition, which are important clinical considerations that most other centers do not bother to measure. This data can be very supportive of the approval process.  Unfortunately, we are unable to review the results of the tests with you on the same day because the information needs to be processed and the reports need to be created. If you choose to come back for a follow up visit, the results from our entire testing are provided in an easy to understand, comprehensive report. 

There is strong clinical evidence demonstrating that nutrition, mental health, and exercise are essential to the success of the bariatric patient both pre- and post-surgery.   There are many avenues you can follow to get the help you need to be successful pre and post surgery. At Kingley Health, the role of our Wellness Advisor is to educate you in these areas and make sure your expectations of results from the surgery are aligned with the actions you have agreed to take. Ultimately, the choice is yours to make.  As always we thank you for your feedback and hope that this clarifies any confusion. If you have any questions you can always contact us at [email protected] 

Hi

I hope you chose Dr.Mike he is GREAT I  really enjoyed my visit with him......I notice Kingley sent you a email.....................If you read most of the emails about Kingley you will see most people were not happy with their service.

Hope all is well

Hi, my name is Ronda. I had surgery about 16 months ago. It has been a wonderful journey. My doctor was Nick Bertha, in Florham Park NJ. I started out at 250 and now weight 127.  I documented my journey through photos and totally recommend that. After the first 4 weeks, my doctor said I could go back to my full work out regiment. I began spinning and walking again. After about 6 months, I knew I need to add some weights to my work out so that I would not have lose skin. I met with one of the fitness advisors at Kingley Health. He was awesome. He did not only show me different activities to do with the weights, but was very encouraging. We meet every two weeks and he changes up my routine each time. I got the biggest compliment the other day from a plastic surgeons assistant. She said that I was "very muscular and my abs were fabulous". That is the work of the fitness advisors at kingley. People need to realize that this surgery is a tool, 90% of it is mental and hard work. I have worked hard, with the encouragement of my friends and family and a lot of prayer. God put the right people in my life to help me to succeed. He brought me to the right doctor, the right fitness advisor, the right nutritionist. I follow the guidelines and I see the results.  I have read that some are not happy with Kingley Health, but I have spoken to more people than I have read from that benefited a lot from their professionalism. The thing I like the most is that they care and want to help other succeed in the weight loss journey. It's not about money, it's about health.
Thanks for letting me share a little bit about my journey.
Take Care and God Bless. I just had a meeting with a person who is interested in the bypass surgery and could not express how wonderful Kingley has been and would 100% beneficial to her before and after her surgery. The people at Kingley both Exercise experts and Nutritionist have been wonderful and helped me become the person that was inside the large person before. They really care about the people. I am very thankful to them all.
Ronda
 

Hi Ronda,

I am currently scheduled to have surgery on May 11th with Dr. Abkin on from the same practice.  I also am working with Kingley Health.  Like you my experience since April 3rd has been very positive.  Your word were very re-assuring.  Thank you for taking the time to post about your experience.

Mary Ann

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU MaryAnn and Ronda.  Your words are comforting.  I was SOOO SAD  when I read the negative posts and wish I had come on this forum sooner .  

I too used Kingley for my evals and I paid by check for both nut and psych.  I thought I was going crazy reading all the negative posts about them because that is not my expereince and wondering if we were talking about the same place!!!!!

I paid by check and told my evals would be held until the check cleared.  They told me upfront that if i wanted my evals released ASAP I should pay be credit card or cash. I have to wait to get my surgery done because my insurance company requires 6months of weightloss program . BUT my dietitian makes sure that i stay on track. she has become more than my dietitian .

My one negative comment about them and I think they are fixing this because i have not spoken or seen her lately is they had a customer service person that was nasty .  I almost didn't go to them because of her attitude.  I hope they fired her!!!!

I also didn't like their no-show policy BUT then asked my dietitian why they have it and it makes perfect sense. Now i have found that it forces me to keep my appt and stay on track to losing my weight .

I hate to see people bash a place that takes care of its clients.  The world is full of scam places  and people that want to make a buck I don't think Kingley is one of them. I'm glad I chose to overlook my negative expereinces because I am gaining the confidence that I can do this surgery and be successful and won't become another statistic that regains the weight back .

If anyone from Kingley Health reads this.....GOOOOO KINGLEY