LaineyB
I originally chose Dr. Schweitzer at Bayview because he's the surgeon that my insurance would pay for. However, since then, I've been happy to find out that he's one of the very best. Most folks say that he's very direct and to the point , but he really knows what he's doing. I guess I'll find out next Tuesday!
When I had my consult with Dr. Schweitzer (it took 2 months to get the appointment) I was told that it would be about 4-6 weeks before I'd hear back from insurance. Then, once approved, surgery would be scheduled for about 30 days later. While I was waiting to hear from insurance, they gave me a "to-do" list. This included bloodwork, nutrition consult and they psych evaluation (Dr. Vadiya is wonderful!). Dr. Schweitzer's office seems to have a pretty good idea about what the insurance companies may look for, so they have you working on those tasks from the beginning. I didn't have to do a 6 month diet, but they did want documentation of 6 months of supervised weight loss history (my primary Dr. was able to provide this). My consult was in late March, and I got my surgery date in mid-June.
My only complaint thus far is that his new secretary (Alice) delayed in sending all of my paperwork into the insurace company for over a month. 
That held up the process by about 30 more days.
My insurance company (Johns Hopkins EHP) was awesome and didn't drag their feet with anything. Beth Adams is the nurse at EHP who coordinates all of the paperwork and approval process. She is wonderful...excellent at following up, with a very warm and supportive manner. I feel so incredibly lucky!! It seems like a lot of people really have to fight tooth and nail to get the insurance approval. I'm sure that part of the ease in my situation is that I have Hopkins insurance and was using a Hopkins doctor.
