A Tad Upset!

Hey guys, I apologize for this post...yes I am apologizing for the anger I feel! I have met several of you from the Centennial support Group and other functions throughout town, and I am truly blessed in knowing you! But I am angry this evening. You see I am a patient of Dr. Dyer, and have been undergoing my 6 month diet. Approximately 3 months ago, I was informed (wrongly) that I would be finished in Sept. with my 6 month. Right as I finished the diet, my case was transferred from one rep. at CMCWLS to another. Well here is where I get confused. Like I said, my diet should have been finished on Sept. 17. After that appointment, I emailed my insurance rep at the clinic to find out what was next the next step. I found out the task that needed to be completed and immediately set up arrangements to fulfill these said appointments. After all was finished, I gave it a week only to find out my paperwork was not sent to insurance. I was informed that we needed to wait on the transcript form the surgical consult. Once again i gave it a week. As I was following my information on the Patient Portal, I noticed my weight loss records were not checked as completed. I immediately called CMCWLS only to find out, are you ready...they only have 5 months of weight loss records. According to CMCWLS, the records they have are from May -Sept (5 months of weight loss records). Angry was not the word used to describe my emotions. i called my PC P's office to find that my WLS journey was begun in April, not May. So according to Summit Primary Care, I have 6 months of weight loss records. I know how I feel is not relevant to the care that CMCWLS gives out, but if I did not follow up on this, would I have ever known that files are missing? I have heard of the roadblocks that we face when we have WLS, especially from the insurance companies. I just never expected it from my Dr.'s office. I understand I am ranting, and once again I apologize for my feelings. Tomorrow I will call my PCP and request that the files be sent again. Hopefully we can move in the right direction. I truly love being a patient of Dr. Dyer. I think CMCWLS has the best program in town! I thing CMCWLS patients and the support group here are truly one of a kind! So, I really don't want to change services. I guess I will hold my tongue now and go to bed. Maybe I will feel better tomorrow! Thanks for listening! Scott

what a bummer!!

I had to do a lot of following up with both my PCP and Centennial...just to be on the safe side. I ran into delays and was given the typical excuses...but the badgering all paid off in the end :-) I actually didn't even start dealing w/the financial people at centennial until I had everything I needed and even then it took almost 2 months until I finally got my approval due to delays. Well, anyways, hang in there Scott.... you're almost there!!

Thanks April!  I work in behavior management for children and one of the things I tell parents when their child has a bad day at school is this..."Tomorrows a new day".  guess what, it's tomorrow!  Today will be better and good things are gonna happen! Have a great day Mommy!

Yea with the staff at centennial they are real nice and all, but It’s my feeling that I’m being treated like a cash cow, just one of countless in the heard....just Poor follow up on there part. I’m seriously thinking about dumping Dr Dyer’s office and the Centennial Center for the treatment of Obesity

1.      My original meeting which acquire over a month and a half wait to meet with Dr. Dyer was lost. So it was rescheduled a week later on a Friday 3pm as a squeeze in.  

2.    Dr. Dyer’s presentation of the surgery information/ flip chart was giving in such monotonous way ,it was liked I was his two thousands something patient he had to tell it to that day.  

3.    He told the office person (nurse already went home) that I needed some additional test done (blood clots/ breathing) but it was not needed schedule until I was approved for surgery ( why spend the money if not approve). Both were set up for the next week one on Monday the other on Friday.  

4.    The request to the insurance company was sent on October 8 2007. Cigna contact them back in two day saying they needed the corresponding surgery code. I called  one week later to Cigna to check on the status and was told they are still waiting for the code.  

5.    Call to talk to someone at 8:15am got the machine, left a message; Call again at 10:00am left another message, they did not call back. On the third time {2:45pm} I called and the lady at front desk answered I guess, she looked it up ,and said we did it right the first time when we sent it?????We sent it in with the WLS, code. I said they told me they needed the corresponding code for RNY.  Oh,She said she would take care of it.  I called back today and was told the RNY code was faxed.

Now once again I'm standing by.

 

Hey Glenn, Sorry you're having trouble at Centennial!  I love the place, it just seems like I hate it today!   If you read my response to April, you know that today is gonna be better!  So,between the 2 of us...they better watch out!  Cause I'm gonna kick butt and take names! that's right, I'm gonna kill 'em with kindness!  I'll say a little prayer that your problems can be worked out!  Hang in there buddy!

Thanks Scott, I don't hate the place, but I do believe some changes needs to take place because as more people open up to the idea of wls the place will be getting more hectic.

Well said Glenn!  I second that opinion!

Hi Guys - I believe I have talked with both of you since your original postings and I apologize for any delays on our part. Please realize that at many of your doctors offices, the request for medical records falls to the bottom of their "to do" list. As some mentioned the best way to insure everything gets to us is to pick it up at your doctors office, keep a copy yourself and send a copy to us. While certainly having records faxed is quicker, we are both still relying on machines.

We at Centennial are always trying to make our process more efficient and in doing so, recently we redistributed the insurance providers among our financial counselors to make their workloads more even. I can assure you, we all remember going through the insurance approval process (two of our finanical counselors have had surgery, another is in the process of completing her medical weight loss attempt for surgery; our assistant manager, our financial manager and I have all been through the process), we know it is a difficult time and we are dedicated to doing all we can to get you approved. I would encourage you to consider the availability of continued support (access to dietitians, exercise specialist, support groups, psychologist, etc.) when making your decision regarding surgery. Talk to patients of different surgeons, different programs, attend their support groups, get a good feeling for the overall program as well as the surgeon. If I can be of any further assistance, please contact me directly at (615) 342- 7490. Pam Davis, RN, CBN, CCM Bariatric Clinical Manager Centennial Center for the Treatment of Obesity

 

Pam, Thanks for taking time to read and respond to my post.  I understand and agree to everything you have just mentioned.  I hope you have taken time to read "What's next?" which I submitted to OH and the Yahoo site. You will notice that I have apologized for my anger as well as to Tonya for my "huffy" attitude.  If anything I said has shed a negative light on Centennial, once again I will apologize. That was not my intention!   This is a support group.  A place where people can feel comfortable in speaking their mind, as well as offering an opinion on different subjects.  I would hope that I never lead anyone in the wrong direction with how I feel.  We all feel angry or upset at times.   Once again Pam, I apologize to you and all the wonderful people who work at Centennial!  I made the center at Centennial my choice in where I would have my surgery.  I have never wavered in that choice.  Yes I got angry, but the situation was rectified the next day by Tonya, Lisa, and Candi.  I could not ask for a better group of people working  in my best interest! If you would like to contact me and discuss this, you may.  My work, home, and cell numbers are on file at the Center.  Once again you are the best, that's why I am there! Scott O'Neal

Scott, I did read your additional posts - I just wanted to make sure everyone knows if they are having any issues that they are welcome to contact me directly. We've really been on a roll this month with approvals, I'm hoping we will have yours this week. Pam Davis, RN, CBN, CCM Bariatric Clinical Manager Centennial Center for the Treatment of Obesity