Hi everyone,

I had an appointment with my primary today for the medical clearances, she did the referrals for the EKG and XRay. Does anyone have any experience on how long that took as self paid?

She asked I held off on bloodwork until those are done, that way I was cleared before paying for them, but I'm afraid this may delay things.

Thank you!

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I didn't have to do an xray but I did have to do an EKG and a slew of bloodwork. Also, had to get clearance from my neuro and my PCP and had to do a full physical. I have insurance and from start to surgery day took 2 1/2 months. I don't think self pay would delay it. If anything, I would think it would be faster since less hoops have to be jumped through.

i was self pay. All my test were done quick because i was self pay. didnt have to wait for referrals or insurance approval. I just simply got my lab orders and went off to the cheapest places to get them done. I did bloodwork last i believe. ONe thing tho if one of your test come back abnormal then that will delay your surgery date until that gets resolved. My EKG came back abnormal. I had to see a cardiologist who then sent me off to get a nuclear stress test done. After that came back good i was all set to get my surgery date.

I’m guessing this is because if you are not cleared and you end up having the surgery at a later date you may have to get a new set of labs closer to your surgery date. From my experience labs come back pretty quick (like two or three days my last ones took) so it’s just a matter of how far they are out appointment wise. Do you already have a surgery date to get this all done by? If not you probably will have plenty of time to do your labs waiting on your date. If your really worried I guess you could go ahead and schedule an appointment for it a day or two after your other appointments assuming you will get cleared and get the orders right away. You can always reschedule if you don’t.

1 hour ago, NP_WIP said:

Hi everyone,

I had an appointment with my primary today for the medical clearances, she did the referrals for the EKG and XRay. Does anyone have any experience on how long that took as self paid?

She asked I held off on bloodwork until those are done, that way I was cleared before paying for them, but I'm afraid this may delay things.

Thank you!

Sent from my SM-G960U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

can she run ekg/bloodwork like it was routine and have insurance pay?

i had a pre op ekg yesterday and they said i could use one that’s done if it was within six months … they are quick and easy

Usually much faster if you pay out of pocket vs insurance. So many hoops to jump through. My first surgery was cash. It was very fast. Everything, tests, surgery... Etc. The latter two were insurance and there were unnecessary delays.

Thank you! She had put an expedite on it since surgery is scheduled in 26 days and I will be out of town next week. So, I should be able to have them done by tomorrow.

Honestly it has been over 5 years that I had any of these tests done and I'm freaking out that something can go wrong that will push my date.

3 hours ago, liveaboard15 said:

i was self pay. All my test were done quick because i was self pay. didnt have to wait for referrals or insurance approval. I just simply got my lab orders and went off to the cheapest places to get them done. I did bloodwork last i believe. ONe thing tho if one of your test come back abnormal then that will delay your surgery date until that gets resolved. My EKG came back abnormal. I had to see a cardiologist who then sent me off to get a nuclear stress test done. After that came back good i was all set to get my surgery date.

Yup, that's why I was worried that it may be any issue. My surgeon works differently in that the surgery date is chosen first and the program built around it. So, I knew my surgery date as soon as I did the class and decided to move forward with it but couldn't do any tests prior to 30 days and my primary Doc was booked until today.

1 hour ago, NP_WIP said:

Yup, that's why I was worried that it may be any issue. My surgeon works differently in that the surgery date is chosen first and the program built around it. So, I knew my surgery date as soon as I did the class and decided to move forward with it but couldn't do any tests prior to 30 days and my primary Doc was booked until today.

doesnt your surgeon provide all your lab orders? I never needed to see my primary tho its a great person to see to let them know about the surgery you are wanting and get their info on it and anything they suggest.

1 hour ago, liveaboard15 said:

doesnt your surgeon provide all your lab orders? I never needed to see my primary tho its a great person to see to let them know about the surgery you are wanting and get their info on it and anything they suggest.

I've seen it both ways. For my WLS, my bariatric team did all my labs and coordinated everything. That said, I was not self-pay. For a lot of my other surgeries over the years, it was more common for my PCP to do an ekg and labs, rather than the surgery practice.

doesnt your surgeon provide all your lab orders? I never needed to see my primary tho its a great person to see to let them know about the surgery you are wanting and get their info on it and anything they suggest.

They do not, but either way the surgeon is in a different town about 3 hours away.

I have coordinated with my primary to have the clearances and tests done with her since she will be monitoring my labs after surgery and the current medications I take.

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