Dr Geller Fans!!!

I hate to hear that about Nortons downtown.  I know they did great years ago when my niece was born there. lol  Only other thing I have had there was a ultrasound a few years back. I know Suburban is a good hosp.  Rightweigh does to, they just happen to not pass the center of excellence stuff that my insurance requires.  Ofcourse they are appealing but no tellin how long it will take. Dr Geller runs the program at Suburban now.  I dunno how long he has.  I know the downtown one already has its certifications as being a center of excellence.  Not all insurances require it. I went to another seminar tonight and found out my only other options around here is Dr Rod and Dr Allen.  I had already been thinkin about usin Dr Allen and talked to a couple ppl that had family members to have surgery with him.  They seemed pleased but have heard alot of negatives about the staff.  The others in Nortons program dont operate on ppl with my insurance and no other hospitals around the area are a center of excellence. Sucks after reseacrhin over 2 years then finally startin all this several months ago only to hit a brick wall and have to change surgeons when I should have already of had surgery. Thank you so much for replying to me.

An insurance company setting the criteria of what hospital you can use is new to me.  I never heard of that.  It's  unfortunate that they can dictate what hospital to use and I'm surprised that Suburban didn't meet their criteria seeing as it is one of the better hospitals.   I'm not saying that Norton's downtown is bad, but just if you had a choice, Suburban is better.  Good luck on getting through Dr. Allen's office.  I think Dr. R. does do it open but I think Laporoscopic is better .  Sounds like you have a lot of red tape to get through. Keep us posted on how long it takes.  Hopefully you'll be able to get it done before the year is out.   Good luck!! Deneen  

I just wanted to respond to some of the comments above.  The Suburban Hospital Bariatric Program did not get full approval from the Surgical Review Committee which is one company which oversees the Center of Excellence designation. (American College of Surgeons is the other). The Suburban program still has provisional approval. The deficiencies that were cited are being evaluated and the application process is still underway. Unfortunately, provisional accreditation is not enough for the Medicare policies. The Center of Excellence only applies to the Medicare patients at this time. The Center of Excellence designation does not affect anyone with commerical insurances.  The Suburban program had a site visit in early February and we were promised we would hear the results in 90 days. After 160 days, we did receive the notification that we did not get full approval. I expect the appeals process to go our way, but given the last response was much longer than expected, I really don't expect the process of appeal to go quickly either.  My office should have contacted the Medicare patients who are affected to inform them of this news. If you are a patient with Medicare insurance, and we have not notified you, then please call the office and we can direct you on how to proceed. We have some patients who were scheduled for surgery in March 2006, and their surgeries had to be cancelled because of this COE process; I would direct them to the Norton downtown program which did receive the COE full approval months ago because I do not know when this process will be complete at Suburban Hospital. For those of you affected by this, I share in your frustration.  Sincerely, David R. Geller, MD Medical Director Norton Suburban Hospital Bariatric Surgery Program Bariatric Surgeons of Kentuckiana 4001 Dutchmans Lane, Suite 1E Louisville, Kentucky 40207 (502) 893-7151, fax (502) 893-7020 [email protected]

Hello everyone, I can promise u from lots of on hands experience... you want to wait, if at all possible, for Dr. Geller or Dr. Shina to do any surgery.  I have had both of these wonderful surgeons in my life... my life of which I owe them. They have a level of commitment to their patients that I have never seen by any Dr.  in my 45 years of life. They have seen how bad it can be, they know when you are in real danger and I assure you they will go the extra miles to see you through ... making many personal scarfices to get u to that other side. Please take my message to heart because I have been there and back!! Best of Luck!! Suzanne

I know they are both great surgeons.  I would never say anything bad about either of them.   I met Dr Shina and was very impressed with him.  I made up my mind to have the surgery after tryin once again on my own.  I started researching this surgery over 2 years ago.  Then started the process back in January only to hit a brick wall the other day. From what I was told they have been battling medicare for over 2 years with things.  I am to the point that I cant take a chance on waiting a few months again only to be told that its a no go cause of a denial on certifications and stuff.  Im not gettin any smaller really and my many comorbids sure arent any better.  Too funny when they call u a light weight and ur worse off then some that are super m/o. Well not funny haha but I am hoping u know what i meant.

I know Dr Allen is a great doctor too, so I am not worried about that.  I just know its not all that easy to get through to him sometimes.  One day at a time I guess... Thanks so much for your reply...