i'm with kaiser so cal in los Angeles. i've completed the options program and am now jumping through myriad pre-surgery appointment hoops in order to get my surgery referral.

i just wanted to give everybody with kaiser so cal a shout out to say THEY ARE NOT IN CONTROL OF THIS PROCESS. be aware that you will need to be extremely pro-active in terms of your bariatric journey or an already long and involved waiting process will be made even longer and more involved.

also be aware that kaiser is farming surgeries out to ancillary facilities because they can't handle their own bariatric surgery load. this adds further complication to an already overly complicated process. i was given two choices for my surgery venue: kaiser west l.a. and an outside partner facility. i chose the outside partner facility because they have their act together and they have a considerably shorter waiting period, at least as of this moment.

my experience so far with this outside partner facility is that they are much more in control of their process than kaiser is, and kaiser has no real idea about how their outside partner facilities operate, even though they try to provide this information (which is usually inaccurate). all you really need to know is what your kaiser doctor needs in order to refer you for surgery, and what the surgeon at the outside facility needs in order to schedule your surgical consultation. my outside facility is requiring me to attend a 90-minute seminar, in which i will be given instructions and paperwork to fill out. between this seminar, paperwork, and my kaiser pre-surgery tests, i should be good to go.

with kaiser, you're going to have to steer your own ship, if you know what i'm sayin'.

Edited July 25, 201016 yr by kristykreem

good luck! let us know what happens.

down 6 now. i lost 2lbs this past week. after class tonight i am very optimistic about san diego. we went over the criteria and i will be their patient. kaiser needs to do something for their patients. i think if they get another bariatric surgery center going north, alot more people can have the surgery quicker.

Edited August 10, 201016 yr by BlaqBeary
misspellings

excellent, blaqbeary!

kaiser really does need to get it together. pretty soon, pacific bariatric will be backed up with kaiser people, too. they talked about that at the seminar i went to, and most of the people there were from kaiser. i'm glad i'm getting in before things get too out of control.

Good Morning my kaiser friends!! :001_wub:I started my options class in Corona on July 13th so today will be my 5th week its going by fast(yeah)!! I was interested in Lancaster since the weight seemed storted...but now I just saw on the board it could be longer. Can anyone update me on wait times right now? Also I see some of you are already doing oreintation...can we do that before we complete are options class as a head start?

Any info would be great Thanks!!:sad0:

Hi thin2be!

The classes do go by fast, so do try to absorb everything. Personally, I was dreading having to do the classes, and I complained about having to go, but now having completed them, I'm really glad that I did.

I finished my classes on July8th. I did my blood work, chest x-ray and ekg about 1.5 weeks ago. Yesterday I had my final appt with dr to get referral. I chose the Lancaster facility as well. Every review I have read online about Dr Yadegar has been nothing but glowing. Plus they have another location in Santa Clarita (which is where I live) where I can do follow-up appointments. I called Lancaster yesterday and scheduled my consult appt. I asked the nurse about time-frames. She said that it will really depend on your medical conditions and if Dr Yadegar is requiring more tests. She said typically from consult to surgery, it can take 2-3 months, depending on their schedule. I'm hoping that since I'm a pretty easy case and don't have many other medical issues going on that I should be able to get in sooner than later. Dr Yadegar is on vacation in Aug so the soonest I could get my consult appt was Sept 9. I can keep you posted after my appt to let you know what their timeframe looks like.

thin2be -- contact your bariatric doctor's main nurse to ask about lancaster's wait time. that's the best source for this kind of info. let us know what you find out!

Thank you.

Yeah, I agree. I want to be in there before their wait list back-up.

excellent, blaqbeary!

kaiser really does need to get it together. pretty soon, pacific bariatric will be backed up with kaiser people, too. they talked about that at the seminar i went to, and most of the people there were from kaiser. i'm glad i'm getting in before things get too out of control.

Wow I am truly blessed. I do not have a co-pay ---only for outpatient, which is 10 bucks. Office visit is 10 also and prescriptions are 5. no lab fees and any special visits for referrals are 10, but depending on the procedure/visit.

I also checked with member services regarding my insurance with Pacific Bariatric and I was told as long as it is a referral from my doctor all fees will be the same as if Kaiser completed the procedure.

Mine is the same co pay as yours. $200.00 in hospital stay,office visits are $30.00. How will you get to San Diego? If you go there how long there for? Where will who ever drives you stay? These are the out of pocket expenses I am concerned about. I was hoping to get billed for these and make payments actually. I have before. So, SD Bariatric has local or somewhat local mandatory seminars to attend? I am off to bed, got my procedures early in the a.m. Glad I found you here. Was Kinda feeling lost... :001_tongue:

@ dcokequeen...thanks for the info so far....that would be great if you keep me updated and posted Do you know how many days the hospital stay is?

@Thin2be: At my appt on Monday, I asked Dr Alskaf about hospital stay. He said for the sleeve, it is usually a 1 night stay, usually because you will be scheduled for surgery in the afternoon and they want to keep you overnight to make sure everything is ok. Kristykreem said that the Pacific Bariatric is a 3 night stay. I guess it just depends on your facility. I'm really hoping that I have all my tests done and I'm ready to go when I go to my consult next month. Then hopefully I can get scheduled right away for surgery.

@blaqberry: So happy to hear that your co-pays will be so low! That's awesome!

@dcokequeen.....Do you know if we have to attend an orientation?

I just called Kaiser and my co-pay will also be zero so my husband is going to love that I am so excited for you also...it looks like things are moving along....yeah!!

@Thin2be: I don't think I have to attend an orientation with Lancaster. They said a lot of their patients are from Kaiser, so they know what we've already been thru as far as the Options orientation and the classes. I can confirm this once I see the Dr Yadegar next month. So excited to hear about your no co-pay. Awesome!! I'm still trying to figure out what my co-pays will be. I think I will contact Wenda to find out.

hey, y'all --- member services is who tells you about your copays.

pacific bariatric is a three-day stay, so i think it's two nights and the third day is the day i go home. i'll know for sure after my day there on the 23rd and i'll let you know what i find out.

Just found out some bad news......:thumbup: according to my case worker I can not use Lancaster.... these are my options

van buren office

southbay-

west la-kaiser

crown bariatric

pacific bariatric-

Now I got to research these ones:thumbdown:

hey! i was only given two choices! you got, like, a million!