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Originally Posted by Dayswalters  Thank you for the awesome advice. I would not have known to do that. How do you get a patient advocate? I think my son could use one since we know so little about the process. Also, how do we go about asking insurance for another opinion. I love this doctor and think he knows what he is doing but I would get a second opinion on my puppy, so there's no way I wouldn't want one for my son. Do you know where we can find patients rights when it comes to insurance requests? I'm trying to learn this on the fly, so any advice is appreciated. Thank you again for your prayers. I have contacted several prayer groups that will be praying for him tonight and again as a group on Sunday. I believe in the power of prayer since I have experienced miracles doctors said would never happen. |
Pick out the doctor you want, call his office to be certain they take your insurance, have his specialty, phone number, address at hand and just call the Pre-Certification/Pre-Authorization number on the back of the ins. card and tell them what you want - they will approve it & give you a precert#and a letter in the mail. If he doesn't take your insurance, ask the precert nurse to approve him for out-of-network consultation as your network doesn't have another specialist you trust in it. You may have to pay up front and file for your own reimbursement if his office won't file on your insurance but most do nowadays.
Just call the hospital main number and ask for the Patient Advocate's name and phone number. If they don't have a Patient Advocate, ask for a Social Worker or whomever they employ to help patients deal with all the issues of serious disease testing, diagnosis and treatment. The hospital chaplain should be able to steer you to further patient help also. Get his number from the hospital switchboard. He's a great resource for any patient as he deals with issues like your son is having daily and is well aware what's available.