[journeyforlife]

ok so this thursday i meet the internist, and i'm just wondering what happens after that? if she approves me seeing the surgeon, does that mean i've qualified for the surgery? or does the surgeon tell me either way if i've qualified for it or not? just curious what everyone else had done after meeting their internist

[judst]

Are you talking about having a specialist's clearance? I didn't see an internist, I saw a cardiologist who cleared me for surgery. I'm not sure where you are in the process of qualifying. Have you already had all the many tests required? Each insurance also has their own criteria that you have to meet. I had to do a 6 month supervised diet and exercise program and had to have a psych eval and on and on. After I went through all the hoops and made sure my surgeon had all the reports they submitted my paperwork to insurance and I was finally approved 2 weeks later. (I was denied the first time because of a lost report from the cardiologist and everything had to be resubmitted)
Do you have a patient coordinator in your surgeons office that can help you with what you need to do next? That would probably the best thing to look in to since everybody's insurance and doctors are different. Hope this helps. Hugs

[journeyforlife]

Originally Posted by judst

Are you talking about having a specialist's clearance? I didn't see an internist, I saw a cardiologist who cleared me for surgery. I'm not sure where you are in the process of qualifying. Have you already had all the many tests required? Each insurance also has their own criteria that you have to meet. I had to do a 6 month supervised diet and exercise program and had to have a psych eval and on and on. After I went through all the hoops and made sure my surgeon had all the reports they submitted my paperwork to insurance and I was finally approved 2 weeks later. (I was denied the first time because of a lost report from the cardiologist and everything had to be resubmitted)
Do you have a patient coordinator in your surgeons office that can help you with what you need to do next? That would probably the best thing to look in to since everybody's insurance and doctors are different. Hope this helps. Hugs

thanks judst its abit different here in canada, i've had all the tests done, in ontario which is a province in canada we have what is called OHIP which stands for ontario health insurance plan, and it covers the surgery, i was told that the internist is the one who has to approve you to go on and meet the surgeon, i was just wondering if anyone else had the same experience or was it different for them