Primary Care Doctor referral

[Bettie]

I made an appointment to see Dr. Harry Lever at the Cleveland Clinic , and I will be going there on April 21st. A couple of days ago I received a reminder about the appointment and a list of things to do. One said that I may need a referral from my family doctor, but this wasn't even mentioned in the material that I received several weeks ago right after I made the appointment. I made the appointment for a 2nd opinion. I'm wondering if anyone else needed to have a referral in order to see him.[/b]

[felixdacat]

Re: Primary Care Doctor referral

Referrals are an insurance thing and more specifically a HMO thing.
This all depends on what type of health insurance you have. Contact your insurance company ASAP.
If you do need a referral it will probably be no big deal. Dr. Lever's office should be able to provide documentation to assist you if your Primary Care Physician needs any convincing.
The 3 major HCM Clinics know of the tremedous need to be evaluated correctly, and I believe most of the insurance companies don't argue to much about it.
Good luck with your evaluation.

[Sarah]

Re: Primary Care Doctor referral

the letter I recevied from them said to make sure you had a referral if you needed one.

my insurance (thank heavens) is a POS and he is in network (can you believe it) so I paid $15 to see Dr. Lever!!! without a referral.

call your insurance company if you don't know what you need or don't need.

S

[Bettie]

Re: Primary Care Doctor referral

Thank you for all of your information about referrals. I contacted my doctor and he said that he would give me a referral and there will be enough time for me to get it before going to Cleveland.

[Lisa Salberg]

Re: Primary Care Doctor referral

You would be seen without the referal but may have problems with your insurance, as noted above, so it is good that you check it out before you go.

Good Luck!
Lisa

[Bettie]

Re: Primary Care Doctor referral

Thank you Lisa.
I just had my appointment with Dr. Lever on April 21st at the Cleveland Clinic. It was an exhausting but interesting and rewarding day. I was there from 7:30 am until 7:00 pm that evening.
When Dr. Lever first checked with the stethoscope he could hear something in my carotid artery and wanted me to take an ultrasound to check that. The test confirmed that I have moderate narrowing of the carotid artery and he prescribed 10mg of lipator a day for that.
Dr. Lever confirmed my doctor's diagnosis that I do have HCM with severe obstruction. He prescribed 40mg of cosgard a day and I am to let him know how well my body tolerates that. He also wants me to take one baby aspirin a day.
The Dr. and the technician both said that I did well on the stress echo test. I don't have symptoms with HCM except for fatigue. I stayed on the treadmill for 6 min. , but I do have to admit that I was breathing pretty hard with S.O.B. by the time that I was done.
Dr. Lever also had me fitted with a Holter Monitor before I left.
Dr. Lever asked me how I found out about him and the Cleveland Clinic, and I told him that I had found Lisa Salberg's website, and that I had also talked with her on the phone. He said that they had really been getting referrals since she started her website. Last year he said that they had 365 new cases of HCM and many of them were due to Lisa's website. So thank you Lisa for all of your hard work and dedication to educating the public about HCM
Dr. Lever asked me to come back again in 6 months. He is such a fatherly person and he wanted to know when I was going home and which route I was taking. I feel that I am in good hands with him as my doctor.

[Lisa Salberg]

Re: Primary Care Doctor referral

You are very welcome. Dr. Lever is a very kind man and a wonderful doctor. I am sure you are in good hands.

Be well,
Lisa