Getting Started
Weight loss surgery is the first step in creating an active healthy lifestyle that will allow you to regain control of your weight. As a first step, however, you should carefully consider and strive to understand how your life will be changed if you decide to proceed.
At the outset, the journey to Weight loss surgery may appear complicated. There are many steps that must be completed and decisions to make. As you progress further along this path, you will see that this complexity is designed to ensure your safety and to give you the information and time you need to thoroughly understand what weight loss surgery will mean to you and your loved ones.
The following steps give you an overview of what you can expect as you move through this process.
- Learn about bariatric surgery: Our Education Director will assist you with this. The more you know about weight loss surgery, the better prepared you will be to make the decision about whether or not to proceed. Attending a free weight loss seminar is a great place to start. During a seminar, you can meet your surgery team and hear from people who have already had surgery. There is plenty of time to ask questions and seek additional information about weight loss surgery.
- Check the qualification criteria: After your initial consultation with the physician the Insurance Advocate will review the requirement your insurance plan requires. Not everyone is a suitable candidate for weight loss surgery. There are several medical, physical, and emotional criteria that you must meet to be considered eligible.
- Select a surgery: In consultation with your family physician and your weight loss surgeon, you will select a weight loss surgery option that suits your weight loss and health goals. Each of the bariatric surgery options has benefits and drawbacks that you will want to be aware of before making your choice.
- Select a payment option: Check with your insurance provider to see if bariatric surgery is covered by your policy. The benefits department will be able to tell you, or you can look in the exclusions section of your policy. If you are asked to provide CPT codes for bariatric surgery they are: Lap Banding 43770, Sleeve Gastrectomy 43633, Gastric Bypass 43644. If your insurance does not cover bariatric surgery, contact us and we will provide you with payment options.
- Surgical clearance: You will need a physical examination by your primary care physician within the six-month period before surgery. A copy of this examination should be sent to our office prior before you schedule an appointment.
- Pre-operative lab work: Before your first appointment, you will need to have lab results sent to our office.
- Diet records: Many insurance companies require documentation showing previous attempts to lose weight with medical supervision.
- Medical records: We will require a full set of medical records for the last five years to establish the medical need for weight loss surgery.
- Psychological evaluation: You will be asked to obtain a psychological assessment prior to receiving approval for surgery.
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