Question:
I thought my consult would be with the surgeon but it was w/the nurse? Is this normal

I was disappointed I didnt meet with thesurgeon one on one? I met with the nurse who said I met the criteria..is this normal? I read everyones profiles and they met with HTE SURGEON?    — ezbnmeroe (posted on January 17, 2006)


January 17, 2006
I personally would not stand for my consult being with anybody other than my surgeon. Jerry Christean
   — jerry C.

January 17, 2006
I had to go to an all day educational orientation class, and then meet with all kinds of people, and then I met with the Surgeon. I would definitely make sure I got to meet the Dr. before the surgery. best of luck, Sandra
   — Sandra.M

January 17, 2006
When I went last week for my consultation I meet the Nurse Practicioner, Surgeon and Dietician that day, but I talked to the Nurse First. It could be the office policy to make sure your a good canidate before you see the actual surgeon. I had all my paperwork finished when I came in and because I'm on medicare I don't have to have prior approval like regular medical insurance. Call them back to see what the next step is and if you have to have more documentation and all.
   — Deborah Joyner

January 17, 2006
Jerry gave you good advice. For me, I know that having a long-term relationship with my surgeon has been instrumental in my reaching and maintaining goal. If I felt put-off by his process, I don't think I would have felt as comfortable as I have when issues have arisen. Certainly, there are many questions that I will ask the nurses directly given their expertise and compassion-- but initially, I think that I would have wanted to have met the surgeon. After all, given the competition among bariatric surgeons, you have a right to evaluate him.
   — SteveColarossi

January 17, 2006
My first meeting was with the nurse. It is understandable if the practice is very busy. The nurse does quite a bit of pre-screening and education that can be unnecessarily time consuming for the surgeon. I met with everyone else - nurse, dietician, etc. and my final meeting was with the surgeon. I was already set on who I wanted to do my surgery, so it wasn't a problem.
   — koogy

January 17, 2006
I would not let anyone operate on me before I had a consult with them.
   — slseaman

January 17, 2006
I met with the physicians assistant initially and then met with the Doctor a few days before surgery. He has such a good staff that are his right hand he can focus on learning better techniques and pain management. That was the only time I saw him and I don't feel jipped at all. He did his job during the surgery and that is what counts. I'm 3/12 months post-op.
   — REDHEAD

January 18, 2006
I would not want to meet with anyone but the surgeon, I met with mine for an initial consult and will meet again with her after I have insurance approval. Maybe for your first visit the nurse sees you to asses your readiness to be submitted to insurance for approval but I would insist on meeting with the surgeon prior to having your surgery or find someone else.
   — classite

January 18, 2006
Although I haven't had my consult yet, it will be with the surgeon. This is were you have to stand up for yourself and TELL them you want to reschedule a consult with the surgeon. Ain't nobody cutting or poking a hole in me that I haven't met yet. I'm sure the nurse was very knowledgeable, but she not the one doing the operation.
   — the7thdean

January 21, 2006
graduated med school in '65 makes him eligible for medicare this year, maybe he was napping if it was later in the day so he assigned the task to his nurse, was he paid the full consult fee, his profile list that he does a lot of Aetna work, they pay 350 for a consult and that is for the DOCTOR, not his nurse, thats what they paid the nine bariactric surgeons they had me see while they decide that they will have to approve out of net coverage for Dr Gagner for my surgery,(special case.)
   — walter A.




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