The first steps on your journey to weight loss surgery is to attend a seminar. You must also complete and return a packet which details your health and diet history, and your insurance information. When your packet is received, our insurance coordinator will verify your benefits with your insurance provider. HAVING BARIATRIC BENEFITS DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE APPROVED! Your chart (made from your packet) will be reviewed by a medical professional in the surgeons’ office. You will receive a telephone call from the surgeon’s office following this chart review. If you have benefits and are a good candidate for surgery, you will be asked to schedule a day of consult appointments at the Central Baptist Hospital Weight Loss Surgery Center in the Hamburg area of Lexington, Ky. If you do not have insurance benefits, the insurance coordinator will discuss self-pay and financing options available. If one of these options works for you, we will then schedule your consult appointments at the Central Baptist Hospital Weight Loss Surgery Center in the Hamburg area of Lexington, Ky. Your consult appointments are usually all scheduled on the same day. Plan on being in the Center at 7:30am and leaving by 4:00 in the afternoon. Please do not eat or drink anything after midnight the night before your consult day. We will be drawing labs (blood) to evaluate your lipids, cholesterol, blood glucose, blood counts, thyroid and metabolic system. We will also ask you to drink a solution that helps us check your stomach for the bacteria that causes ulcers (H-Pylori). You will receive a lunch break, but should consider bringing a healthy snack, especially if you are diabetic.

On your consult day you will see:

Nutritionist: He/she will identify your nutrtional and educational needs. You will learn basic dietary information necessary to boost your nutrtional status for surgery, and help you succeed after surgery.

Psychologist: You will have a psychosocial-behavioral evaluation and your ability to incorporate nutrtional and behavioral changes before and after surgery will be evaluated. If you have a known or suspected psychiatric illness, you may be referred to further counseling before approval for surgery can be granted by our psychologist.

Bariatric Nurse Educator: In this pre-operative class, the nurse will compare and contrast the types of surgery available at Central Baptist Hospital. Our goal in this class is to present the information so that you may make an informed choice about the type of weight loss surgery that suits your needs and lifestyle.

Clinician Visit: One of the physicians’ assistants or a nurse practicioner will conduct a physical examination of you and disucss your health history with you. If the need for further pre-operative testing is indicated, the clinician will discuss this with you during this visit. Additional testing could include but is not limited to, pulmonary function tests, chest x-rays and heart studies.

All of the specialists you saw on your consult day will write an evaluation or report. These documents are given to the insurance coordinator. When all additional test results and study reports (those discussed in your clinician visit) have been received, all documentation is mailed to your insurance provider. We cannot send incomplete documentation to the insurance company, we must send everything at the same time. When the insurance company receives your documentation from our insurance coordinator, they will either approve or deny your benefits. This could take up to 90 days!

If your insurance provider approves your benefits, you will receive a call from a scheduling nurse. If you are notified by the insurance company that you have been approved before we contact you, please contact our insurance coordinator at 859-543-5177 ext. 20; we will need an approval number from your insurance provider. When the nurse calls you, she will schedule any tests necessary for surgery (specific labs, x-rays, studies). These tests and studies are those needed for a safe surgical procedure, for example, we may need to repeat your EKG if you have a heart problem. We may need to check your potassium level if you have been taking a diuretic (water pill). We won’t repeat tests unnecessarily. The nurse will also schedule your pre-operative visits in our Center. This will be another full day of classes and appointments.

If your insurance provider denies your benefits, our insurance coordinator will call you to discuss self pay options and/or the appeals process.

On your pre-operative day you will see our internal medicine doctor for pre-surgical clearance and watch two videos:
an informed consent video:  a pre-operative educational video specific to your anticipated surgery.

You will also attend a pre-operative educational class in which you will learn:

• Your pre and post-operative diet Pneumonia and DVT prevention

• The benefits of support groups

• Skin prep for surgery for infection prevention

• What to expect at Central Baptist Hospital

In most instances, you will see the surgeon after you have completed the above list of classes and consults. If you and the surgeon agree upon a surgical course, you will be taken to our scheduler. She will schedule your surgery and any last minute tests required for a safe surgical procedure (referred to as pre-admission testing or PAT).

This is your last stop before SURGERY!