Friend of mine is considering sleeve surgery. Anyone have any recommendations for dr in Orlando?

Friend of mine is considering sleeve surgery. Anyone have any recommendations for dr in Orlando?

Hi Missy,

The doc selection may vary based upon her payment source -- self pay vs. insurance. If she has insurance then she may be restricted to only doctors that practice at centers deemed by the insurance company to be a center of excellence. Or she may have no restrictions at all. I have UHC and my employer opted for their Bariatric Resource Program. So I have restrictions regarding which docs/facilities I can select.

I'm in Tampa, but I considered going to ORMC's Bariatric Center that is headed by Dr. Jawad because I don't like Tampa General. People on various boards really seem to like him. There is also a good program at Ocala Regional headed by Dr. Ramos. I contacted both practices and opted not to use either of them.

Dr. Ramos' practice (Central FL Surgical Svcs) wanted me to get a referral from my PCP. Why? She has nothing to do with my surgery and it isn't an insurance requirement. It's not that I don't like her.... I don't like paying $75 for an office visit that I don't need just to get a referral. Then you really have to watch out for Jawad.... I made an appointment at their office and was told the first visit would consist of a group session, a consult with the physician and a discussion with the insurance coordinator to review my benefit coverage. No issues so far. They sent me a link for the paperwork and on the last page was an acknowledgement that the group session would be billed to my insurance and if it was not covered by my insurance, I would be responsible for the $200/250 fee. This was a new one for me. Basically the info sessions provided at ORMC are free. But if you book an appointment directly with the office, they charge the $200 fee for the session to be conducted there.

If insurance isn't an issue then she might want to start researching hospitals and use their doc find search function for a list of either Bariatric Surgeons or General Surgeons that practice Bariatrics. Some people prefer certain hospitals over others.

I opted for US Bariatrics in St. Augustine -- Flagler Hospital.

Hope this helps.

Ally