How long did it take?....

How long did it take to get a preop date from Barix in Ypsilanti for anyone once everything was sent into their insurance department ?  I am just curious so I know if and when I should call them and bug 'em to get it going.   Thanks Patti

This probably won't answer your question ... because I had my surgery at Hurley in Flint.  But when I attended the informational seminar at Hurley, they set appointments to see the surgeon right then and I had an appointment a couple weeks later to get things moving.  Hurley is good at keeping on top of things and returning calls promptly.  So if Barix isn't aggressive with getting your appointments scheduled, it sounds like you need to keep on top of them. Pam

Hi Pam, Thanks for your response. It is funny you mentioned Hurley because my pcp is Dr. Minasian, he is the head of Hurley Bariatrics. He is an awsome pcp too.  This may seem lengthy but I will try to shorten it.  Originally I had my seminar at Barix and in the mean while getting approval thru bcbs of michigan I needed a letter from my pcp documenting the 12 month diet (at that time it was 12 months required since then it has dropped to 6 months) my then, pcp did not support wls so I found Dr. Minasian who said it needed to be done at Hurley.  So that all seemed good to me since his position with them and the geographic location.  I met with Dr. Kralovich, and nothing about him really grabbed me but I still planned on going thru the process at Hurley.  I don't care for the staff when they make you feel like you should know everything that is being or needs to be done.  My phone calls are not returned and I feel like I keep being put on the back burner even after they have everything to get it going.  .......  So...... in the process my sister was banded at Barix and they are using the new Realize Band by Johnson and Johnson.  She is doing great and her experience has been a good one.  Everyone returns call and they get you approved because that is all they do.  It is like a herding farm, they keep em rolling in.  So in my research I decided I would want the new and improved band at Barix and gave Hurley and Dr. Minasian the info on the band so that I could go thru them with it if I could.  They don't want to use the realize so here I am in a situation where I can go either place but I will be trading something for another, like, the band I want trading for convienance and location, local support and I still can not find any info on Dr. Kralovich except for one person that had him and she had a history of blood clots and sadly passed away following surgery.  Not too promising. so I have sent all into Barix but in the future if I need any surgery the local Hurley surgeans will not work on me because I am someone elses patient? So it is a dozen of one and a half a dozen of the other and I dont want to short my self of the better band but I dont want to short myself the conveinence of good medical support.   Sorry so long but since you mentioned Hurley, you are the lucky one.  Thanks for letting me get all that out. have a great day.   Patti

I also had to do the 12 month diet history for BCBS --- actually had to do it twice because I discovered that my original PCP didn't bother taking notes during the first 12 months.  Thankfully I was able to do my second 12 months at Hurley Health and Fitness with Dr. Obeid as my referring physician.  I also met with Dr. Minasian.  He's not the of Hurley bariatrics, he's just the staff physician.  But he's very good and I enjoyed my appointment with him.  He really takes the time with his patients to get to know them and understand their medical history.  he went over my medical chart with a fine toothed comb to make sure everything was in order before my surgery.  If I hadn't already found a new PCP who was outstanding, I would have switched to him.  Yesterday I had 2 different questions to ask staff at Hurley. And of course I didn't know I had the second question until after I'd already called and left a message with the first.  LOL!  So I left messages for both - one for the NUT, one for the nurse.  I got calls back within 1 hour from both. I'm sorry you had problems with Hurley.  I don't personally know who Dr. Kralovich is.  My orignal choice of surgeon was Dr. Obeid, but he had a stroke and is not doing surgeries right now.  So my second choice was Dr. Farhan.  He did a great job with me.  I did a quick check and it doesn't look like Kralovich even has an OH profile - which I'm surprised about.  I'll have to mention to Hurley next time I'm there that they need to get that up and all the other surgeon's stats updated.   Even though you're not having your surgery at Hurley, you're still welcome to attend the support group meetings.  The next one is Monday at the Hurley Bariatric Center at 5:30pm.  Not sure what the topic is this month.  I'm planning to attend.... I'll be the one who walks in late around 6:10.  :-) Pam

Im in the exact same boat......  Its to the point of wanting to bug them but yet, not bug them.  :)

Yes, exactly!  What surgery are you getting?

After a lot of thought and reading we decided that the lap-band would fit me and my life the best.  So, we wait....  The last contact they said "We have everything we need and we'll be in touch".