How can I be referred to your program?
Referrals can happen in one of two ways:

1. Self-Referral: You as a patient may call our office and refer yourself for an appointment.
2. Doctor Referral: Your doctor may refer you. This type of referral is
most helpful if your insurance requires for you to have an authorization number to see another doctor not on their insurance plan.

When our office is called for a referral, there is specific information that will need to be provided. Your name, address, phone number, date of birth, social security number, type of insurance, name of family doctor with address and phone number and your current height and weight will need to be given to our office staff. The staff will obtain a standard medical history by phone. An appointment with a new patient information packet will be mailed to you. Please fill out the patient registration form along with the gastric bypass questionnaire and bring them with you to your appointment. You will not be seen until they are completed. If you have had any type of previous obesity surgery and you are seeing us for a consultation, please bring a copy of your operative note and discharge summary from your original surgery with you to your appointment, along with any pertinent x-rays or reports.


Will my insurance pay for my surgery?
This depends on your insurance company. Every company has an “Exclusion” section that explains what that policy will and will not pay for. If your policy states that it excludes the surgical treatment of obesity, then it will not pay for the Gastric Bypass operation or any tests or clinic visits pertaining to the surgery. It would be helpful if you would check your policy before your first visit with us. If your insurance will not cover the surgery, then you will be responsible for paying your surgeon’s fee in full, ten days prior to your surgery date. If this is not collected, then your surgery will be cancelled.

If an authorization is needed for your first visit to our office, it is your responsibility to get authorization prior to that visit. We would also like for you to remind us that you need an authorization before we schedule any consults with other physicians, tests or future appointments so that we can promptly take care of the paperwork before your appointment. If you do not remind us to get the authorization, then the scheduled appointment or testing will not be covered by your insurance and you will be responsible for paying the bill.

On your first visit to our clinic, it is very important that you bring your insurance card with you so that we can make a copy of it to go into your chart. We refer back to it many times during your care.

What can I expect on my first visit?
Initially, you will talk with a nurse about your medical and surgical history and she will review with you information about the surgery. The doctor will also meet with you at this time to answer any questions that you might have. If you are accepted as a candidate at this visit, then your evaluation tests will be scheduled as soon as possible. On average, your date of surgery will be approximately four to six months following your initial visit. This may vary from patient to patient.

What does the evaluation testing consist of?
These are tests that your doctor has determined that is needed to help to prepare you for surgery. Your doctor will decide which of these tests are necessary for you. The tests may include:
Lab Work
Hydrostatic Weighing
A picture of you to go into your chart
Psychological Consult
Cardiology Consult
Pulmonary Consult
Upper GI (Barium x-ray of the stomach and intestine)
Ultrasound of the Gallbladder
Upper Endoscopy
Colonoscopy

What is a Decision Visit?
Once all of your evaluation testing results has returned to our office, your decision visit will take place. This visit consists of discussing the risks, benefits and alternatives of the surgery with a nurse or your doctor. It will give you the opportunity to ask important questions and to review what you have learned about the operation. The results of your evaluation tests will be reviewed with you at this time.
After this visit is complete and you are a candidate for surgery, our office will move forward in obtaining approval from your insurance company for your surgery.

How is insurance approval obtained?
After your decision visit has been completed, our office will send the necessary information to your insurance company in order to obtain prior approval for you to have this surgery. This process takes about six to eight weeks to complete. Once the approval has been received, our office will call you with an appointment to come to our clinic for your History and Physical appointment and a date for your surgery.

What is a History and Physical?
This will occur one to two weeks before your surgery. Either a Physician’s Assistant, Family Nurse Practitioner or a Surgical Resident will see you in our clinic. They will do a physical exam and will also ask you questions pertaining to your family history, medical history and surgical history. You will need to bring all of your medicine that you are taking with you to this appointment.
After this part of the appointment is complete, your doctor will come to talk with you about the surgery and answer any questions that you might have. You will then sign two consent forms. One gives your doctor permission to operate on you. The second one gives permission to use blood or blood products during your operation if necessary, although this is rarely required.
One important thing to remember is that you MUST bring a family member with you to this appointment so that the doctor can talk with them about your surgery. If this is not done, then your surgery will be cancelled.
After your clinic visit is complete, you will then be given a packet of information that you will need to take to the hospital to Outpatient Admissions. A nurse will check you in and your paperwork will be reviewed. All necessary tests will be obtained such as lab work, EKG and Chest X-ray. A consultation with the anesthesia department may also be required at this time.

What is an anesthesia consult?
Some of our patients will need to be seen by the anesthesia department prior to their surgery. This will be done if you weigh more than 350 pounds or if your doctor feels that it is necessary. During this consultation, an anesthesiologist will talk with you about the risks of being put to sleep during your surgery. You will also be evaluated for the possible placement of a tracheostomy. This is a surgical opening in the windpipe. You may also hear it referred to as a “trach”. This will help to make sure that you will be able to breath without any problems during your surgery.