Question:
Does everyone have to have all the psych,pt, dietion appts?

Does every person have to have all of these appts? I know that the medical testing is nesessary, but does New Start (St. Louis) require psych, PT, dietition appts beforehand? If they do, do they tell you who to see or do I have to search through my provider directory and choose? Do they submit all of this to the insurance Co for approval or do they begin the insurance fight and them mail in results of the other testing as they become available? Thank you..    — cherokey55 (posted on April 2, 2002)

April 2, 2002
Somebody at customer service should be able to answer your questions. My ins. approval didn't go thru Kaiser at all, but rather "Health International" in Phoenix, AZ. A wonderful caseworker/nurse told me everything I needed to do to get approved, which included just about everything that gets mentioned her, except for seeing a nutritionist. Once all my test reports, etc. were compiled, she forwarded them to a group of Drs. to review - and hopefully approve. She got the info to them at 2pm yesterday and called me at 6pm to tell me it was a done deal. Jumping thru the myriad of hoops was harrowing at times, but I think in a way this is good. If you are willing to go thru all it takes to get this surgery, it really reinforces your commitment. If when you call your ins co. the rep sounds clueless, ask to speak with a supervisor...
   — rebeccamayhew

April 2, 2002
Yup. fraid so. It was pretty easy though. In one day I went down to Forest Park hosp. (here in st. louis) and pre-registered and saw dietition, anestition,had all labs and met nursing personel and even got to see where I'll be after surgery is done. The only appt. I had to make on my own was with the shrink. Good luck and excuse the spelling.
   — Dana L.

April 2, 2002
I never had to go through anything like that. The only thing they had me do was talk to the dietician, but that was only about post surgery eating. The hospital/ physician's office should automaticaly bill your insurance.
   — dolphins94

April 2, 2002
oops! Sorry! I'm ahead of you. I called new start, went to the seminar, spoke to the doctor and staff. Chose a Surgeon, waited for him to submit my letter of need to insurance company. Bugged the crude out of them for about a few weeks was approved. Called Forest park hosp where I'll be having my surgery, set up the appointment for everything to be done in one day. It was still easy, although I had to be there fairly early in the morning. It is a good idea to have new start mail you the papers to be filled out before you get to the seminar, that way you are ahead and more attentive to the surgeon and staff and may be able to pull them to the side and ask questions as I was able to. Lenore at new start was a very big help also. I also checked around a bit to see is my insurance company would even consider this surgery payable, luckly they did. I hope this answer helps. Sorry about my first submit.
   — Dana L.

April 2, 2002
These are fairly common pre-op consultations or evaluations, but not standard procedure for every WLS patient. Sometimes it is a requirement of different insurance providers, and sometimes it is the particular surgeon's routine to order these evaluations. Neither my surgeon nor my insurance providers required them pre-op. My surgeon has a registered dietitian as part of his office staff who meets with each patient. Best wishes!
   — Diana T.