Hoops you have to jump through-

Warning: Venting ahead but helpful Hospital specific info at the end.

So, I am uber frustrated with my case manager at The Bariatric Center of Kansas City. I understand she has lots of patients.....with all the money they are making maybe they should hire more caseworkers. I had everything she needed wrapped up with a bow.... I was on the ball with all the records months before my first appointment. I was diligent. She has never asked for anything because I made sure she already had it.

I asked on NUMEROUS occasions to outline the steps for me and in what order. That way I could keep track and assure things were happening in a timely manner. I was doing this for myself AND my husband.

I asked while i was sitting waiting for my anniversary (our insurance requires that you are with the plan members for at least 3 years. Our anniversary of that requirement was May 31st) if I could be doing some of the other requirements like nutrition appointment, psych eval...etc. You would have thought I asked for the moon....then all of sudden I became an innovator! Of course it made perfect since to do these things while they were preparing to submit to insurance.

I specifically asked what I NEED TO DO TO MAKE SURE WE SUBMIT AS SOON AS THE ANNIVERSARY DATE HITS....she assured me we were on track. We weren't. I meet the surgeon thinking ..."yay all they need to do now is submit." Not the case. She decides to tell me then that i need a pre-op education class completed (surgeon requirement not insurance) BEFORE she will submit to insurance. WTF lady?!?!? I could've done that MONTHS ago!!!!! So, she says someone "will call me to schedule". I wasn't taking any chances so I stopped at the desk and scheduled myself...the first available class was June 22nd. I was FUMING! So, I can't even submit until after June 22nd then wait for approval which is several weeks then schedule for surgery! So, I called and called until I got a closer date. I took the class last week. Excited but cautious I email her and lay out all the things we have completed. She emails back and says she'll submit as soon as she can and "she'll have someone call to schedule the EGD but if it comes back positive for H. pylori it will be two weeks of antibiotics before they can schedule surgery". That was June 11th. I haven't heard from them. Luckily I don't wait around and I called to schedule only to find out that the first available date is July 16th. Obviously, I am pissed. While I was sitting on my ass doing nothing I could've had the EGD done months ago or at least scheduled it months ago and be having it this week! I emailed them today saying, "since the dr. is scheduled out 6+ weeks already I do not want to schedule upon approval and that will still give us plenty of time in case we need antibiotics." We will see what she says.

The case management there is POOR and that is me being kind. I know the surgeon is topnotch and its a bariatric center of excellence but I am EXTREMELY disappointed with everything leading up to surgery. I do hope this is not indicative of the after-care but I guess I would be a fool to believe that. It has been just a giant cluster f***. If they are going to churn patients out like a large cattle farm they should better equipped to handle the load.

End rant.

For anyone looking for info on KC Bariatric road to surgery here are some tips:

This is how my order went:

Initial Seminar- Feb 24th

Submitted all medical paperwork in Feb

Psych Dr. visit 1 (May 6th)

Psych Dr. visit 2 ( May 19th...didn't know we needed a second visit until day of first visit)

NUT visit (unnecessary since we weren't seeing her for the 6 month pre-op insurance requirement) May 22nd

Pre-OP Class (originally June 22nd, actual date was June 11th)

*** somewhere in here our stuff is supposedly getting submitted to surgery*****

EGD - July 16th

Surgery*** TBD

Surgeon requirements BEFORE they will submit to insurance

Seminar

PSYC EVALS

NUT visit

PRE-OP Class

*EGD typically required before

Assuming you are approved and test negative for H.pylori they will schedule your surgery after that. You still have the two week liquid diet req, blood work/labs and to see the Surgeon one more time.

So, if you are a planning on becoming a patient there definitely don't wait around. Classes fill up fast and your case manager might not remember to remind you about requirements and then you have weeks and weeks until the next available class/appointment/requirement opens up. Depending on your case manager you will want to be very diligent. The order is not necessarily set in stone so you should try to schedule as many things at once as possible.

I hated not knowing what I needed to do ahead of time or where I was in the process and it definitely is delaying my journey so I hope this info can help future patients.