how is your wls program different?

Insurance Benefits Approval Assistance
One of the main reasons that people who want weight loss surgery don't have it is because of challenges with their insurance companies. They feel lost with everything that they have do and submit to insurance companies and don't feel they have the time or energy to get their benefits approved for surgery. This is where our office comes in. Our office will work with the insurance company on your behalf and let you know how to proceed if you decide you want to have surgery. The information provided to the insurance company is based on what is provided by you on our site, and is used to determine whether you may meet certain basic criteria to qualify for coverage under your insurance company. Each insurance company's specific criteria are unknown and are not controlled by the doctor or the hospital.

Personal Consultation with your Surgeon
Prior to having any surgical procedure, you will have a personal consultation with Dr. Thomas to discuss your health, your weight loss surgery goals, your particular eating habits, and the surgical procedure that will allow you to accomplish all of your goals.

Dedicated Personal Staff
Our dedicated staff is just an e-mail or a phone call away. The weight loss surgery process is one with many questions. Our staff is here to facilitate what can be a confusing time. Our staff will help you with your insurance benefits approval, online intake forms, travel arrangements (if needed), and non-medical related questions. (Medical questions must be directed to Dr. Thomas).

Weekly Educational Emails about Weight Loss Surgery
To help prepare you for weight loss surgery, our program feels that education is key. Each week you will receive an email on a different weight loss surgery topic to help prepare you for your experience. If at any time you decide you no longer want the educational emails we can remove your email address. However, we find that most of our patients feel more prepared and empowered for weight loss surgery with more education.

Online Intake Forms You Can Do From Home
Dr. Thomas's online intake forms eliminate the need for you to make a special trip to his office. Now you can fill them out from the comfort of your home. In order to better assess your need for weight loss surgery, and to determine if you are a potential candidate, Dr. Thomas asks that you thoroughly fill out each form. The information that you provide will not only help our staff work with insurance companies on your behalf, but will also better help us assess your need for surgery. Top-of-the-line encryption technology ensures that the information you submit on our Web site is kept safe and confidential.

Online Psychological Screening Test (Test Required by Most Insurance Companies)
Most insurance companies are now requiring that a prospective patient undergo a psychological screening test. These tests can be costly and hard to schedule. Our online psychological screening test is a free service for our prospective surgical candidates. After you submit your forms, and it is determined that you meet all the WLS criteria, and that your insurance policy contains a benefit for weight loss surgery, you will be given secure access to take and submit an online psychological screening test. Dr. Thomas will let you know soon after if you passed the screening. As with all information that you provide to us our site, your information will remain confidential and not be shared with anyone without your express permission.

Message Board Access to Communicate with Fellow Patients and Post-Ops
Upon registering with GastricBypassCenter.com you will be given a username and password that you can use to access our message board. The message board is a great place for you to communicate with prospective patients, current patients, and post-op patients. The message board gives you a place to read the successes, challenges, and suggestions from others and to share your own.

Monthly Support Group Sessions
Dr. Thomas hosts a support group for post and pre-op patients as an opportunity for questions to be asked and patients to help one another.

Post-Op Nutritional Information
You will be given guidelines to help you adjust to the new eating habits weight loss surgery requires. The modifications made to your gastrointestinal tract will require permanent changes in your eating habits that must be adhered to for weight loss success. Post-surgery dietary guidelines will vary by surgeon. You may hear of other patients who are given different guidelines following their weight loss surgery that encourage weight loss success. It is important to remember that every surgeon does not perform the exact same weight loss surgery procedure and that the dietary guidelines will be different for each surgeon and each type of procedure. What is most important is that you adhere strictly to your surgeon's recommended guidelines so you too can achieve the weight loss success you desire.

Online Pre-Surgical Program
A good weight loss surgery program is not complete without a pre-surgical program to help you prepare for your upcoming, life-changing surgery. Your pre-surgical program will begin several weeks before your scheduled surgery to help prepare you for your upcoming surgery. The program is delivered to you via email and has weekly assignments to help you check your progress.

Online Aftercare Program
Dr. Thomas prescribes a free aftercare program after surgery. This service was created as a result of the hospital's medical staff identifying the critical nature of providing support to patients after they have returned to their homes and families. The aftercare program is not a service of River West Medical Center. All participation and communication in the aftercare program occurs after you have been discharged and are under the supervision of a licensed psychologist and behavioral counselor.

Studies show that this first year is critical in determining the success of a bariatric patient for long term maintenance. You build new coping mechanisms; handle eating events differently while building new habits that you will carry throughout your post-op care. The aftercare program will help you through your adjustment.

What is unique about the program is it leaves the medical and nutritional care up to the treating surgeon and primary care physician while focusing on your inner changes that are necessary to live a thinner lifestyle. It shares with you realistic techniques to adjust to common eating behaviors along with handling life issues that keep getting in the way of your success.

You can decide to do your aftercare using the on-line service or request that a manual be sent to you. Both on-line or the manual approach have the same level of service and intended result.

Online Aftercare Message Board
The aftercare program comes with its own message boards that are separate from the general ones that anyone can use. Only patients going through the program can use the private message boards to discuss the issues surrounding post-op changes and adjustments that are necessary to be a success. These boards are moderated several times a day to provide timely responses to challenging situations or to give guidance and direction on uncovering why you were overweight and how to solve those issues.