WLS friendly doctor in the cincinnati area

I have Anthem PPO and my insurance does not require a referal but my surgeon does so that he can add it to the packet that is sent to the insurance to aid in quicker approval. My PCP does not like the surgery, does not believe the surgery is safe and will not write a referal. I would like to find a doctor who is more open minded about the surgery and will write me the referal that I need. I am 6;0 285 with serveral co-morbididites so I know I would be a good candidate for surgery. Can someone help me? Several suggestions would be helpful so that I can find a comfort zone with who I go to see. Thanks in advance Patrick

Patrick, be careful who you go to, with the anthem insurance. I see that you are in middletown. I would recommend my internal medicine doctor, but her office is in Miami Valley. She actually asked me if I had ever considered surgery. She has been very supportive and helpful in getting any information that the insurance or surgeons office needed. Her name if you want it is Terez Metry, Primary care of Dayton. Phone number: 937-208-4890. Keep in mind that you will have to pay a lot out of pocket because of the anthem insurance. You may have to go to someone that practices at Kettering/Southview/Sycamore because of the anthem. I hope someone else can give you some other help with names of primary care docs. My husband goes to Greystone Family Practice in Kettering-Barry Fisher and James Tytko. I don't know how they feel about the surgery though, but insurance-wise they are ok. Good luck. I feel very fortunate that I have had a fairly smooth path to surgery. I too have several co-morbidities and Anthem approved me quite quickly, but only for open RNY. They denied for lap band as experimental. The center I was going to at the time (The Wish Center in Springboro) didn't really make it clear to me that they had never had Anthem approve a lap-band, but they did do all the paper work to get the surgery approved. The problem with them will be if there is no resolution to the Anthem problem, Middletown Hospital will only be approved by Anthem until April 2005. Best of luck to you. I will be having surgery tomorrow! Dr. Fallang at Riverview Health Center, at Elizabeth Place, Dayton. Chris

Patrick, If you are willing to travel, Dr. Anne Reddy in Huber Heights is a great Doc and she understands everything we have to go through. I'd highly recommend her. Chris mentioned Kettering, and that is where I'll be having mine once United decides to play nice and approve me (they've had my paperwork for a week now). Kettering has a brand new ward dedicated to bariatrics and the surgery. It is only a little over a year old. My surgeons office is the New Life Surgery Center in Kettering and I'd recommend them as well. Everyone in that office is OUTSTANDING. If you need more information, let me know. Good luck! Sheila

Mark Schrand, MD 330 Straight Street Suite 210, Cincinnati, OH 45219 He's the best, IMO. He takes care of a lot of our bypass patients so he's very experienced. I assume he takes Anthem but I would advise you obviously to check first. Good luck, Dr. C

I go to a PCP in Franklin who then had me go to New Life Surgery Center, and Kettering Hospital. The PCP is Center for Family Medican. I go to Dr. Bedel but there are several docs in the practice. Phone 937-746-3088. New Life Surgery Center is Great. I had Dr.Hadley. All the doctors and staff are great. I also liked Ketterings new wing. Good Luck, Robin W