RE: Newbie intro and STAR Band vs. DOC Band question

[Guest guest]

Cheri,

If you've been looking at the recent posts you've probably heard Maysa's story. It's long and I won't get into it again, but since you are mentioning the Orthoamerica in Columbia, MD, I thought I'd say something.

First of all, did you see Plank? I saw her recently and I really liked her. She reevaluated Maysa (when she didn't have to and free of charge) and confirmed what I had suspected all along; that her helmet from Eastern Cranial Affiliates didn't do a thing to correct her plagio/brachy. So, my first advice to you is to NOT go with Eastern Cranial Affiliates.

In our case, we ended up choosing CT in ndale, VA. The pediatrician would only write me a prescription for a DOC band and they are also closer to where we live. I have also asked people in this group and several recommended Amber. Maysa will be getting her helmet this Friday. She will be 9 and a half months.

Your son is still very young and should see great correction while in a DOC band or a STARband. I hear that the STARband lasts longer (6 months) while the DOC band only lasts 4 months. Did the orthotist in Columbia tell you how long she suspects your son will have to be in a band?

As far as insurance is concerned, we now have Kaiser Permanente and to our surprise, we were told that it would be covered at 100% from the get-go.

Good luck with it all and start early.

Leila

Maysa 9 1/2 months, awaiting a DOC band

From: ckeating08 <cherikeating@...>Subject: Newbie intro and STAR Band vs. DOC Band questionPlagiocephaly Date: Monday, October 27, 2008, 1:38 PM

Hi! I'm new to the board and had a question or two. My son Will who is 4 1/2 months old has his first appointment tomorrow at StarCranial Center in Columbia, MD. I'm so new to all of this and him being my 3rd baby and being so busy I am just now really researching things. We noticed his plagio starting by 5 weeks of age --- not getting any better with any repositioning. He also has one eye that squints more closed than they other with smiling and I think that may be related to his plagio. I'm wondering if I should have gone with CT and the DOCBand vs. the StarBand therapy? It seems that people prefer the DOC Band and some have even had to get a DOC band after problems with a Star Band. Any advice is helpful. I'm anticipating having a fight with the insurance company. It seems they automatically deny for one reason or another, so I'd hate to be going to the "wrong" place right from the get

go.Thanks for any advice!Cheri

[Guest guest]

Hi Cheri,

I am one of those people who tried the Starband and then changed to the DOCband. My daughter could not tolerate the Starband and got horrible red spots that did not fade and were concerning for potential pressure sores. After two days and several adjustments, I contacted the company and was successful in returning the Starband.

My daughter did wonderfully in the DOCband. It was definitely worth the 90 minute drive. Remember, at Cranialtech, this is all that they do.

It took several months of phone calls and letters to United to get them to pay for the DOCband as they considered it "out of network." I was persistent and called each month, and always made a record of the person I spoke to as well as the date and time that I called. I told them that I understood that their job was to try to find technicalities that would prevent the insurance company from having to pay. However, my job was to satisfy all of those technicalities. It was not easy, but my persistance paid off. However, in my case, we paid for the DOCband ourselves, so the insurance company reimbursed us, not Cranialtech. We did this because we knew we would have problems since they had already authorized payment for the Starband.

Make sure that you get a paper from Cranialtech that lists the diagnosis, treatment plan and dates, etc. Either they or you will need to submit this to your insurance company.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Candace

Pediatric physician and mother to DD in DOCband for 13 weeks

Plagiocephaly From: cherikeating@...Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:38:19 +0000Subject: Newbie intro and STAR Band vs. DOC Band question

Hi! I'm new to the board and had a question or two. My son Will who is 4 1/2 months old has his first appointment tomorrow at StarCranial Center in Columbia, MD. I'm so new to all of this and him being my 3rd baby and being so busy I am just now really researching things. We noticed his plagio starting by 5 weeks of age --- not getting any better with any repositioning. He also has one eye that squints more closed than they other with smiling and I think that may be related to his plagio. I'm wondering if I should have gone with CT and the DOCBand vs. the StarBand therapy? It seems that people prefer the DOC Band and some have even had to get a DOC band after problems with a Star Band. Any advice is helpful. I'm anticipating having a fight with the insurance company. It seems they automatically deny for one reason or another, so I'd hate to be going to the "wrong" place right from the get go.Thanks for any advice!Cheri Stay organized with simple drag and drop from Windows Live Hotmail. Try it

[Guest guest]

-Hello

I am a grandmother of a 5 month old beautiful baby boy. His name is

Rainen and he will be getting his helmet on sometime next week. what

is the difference between the DOC Band and the Star Band. I live in

Michigan and was wondering if anyone has had their kids fitted for a

helmet here.

-- In Plagiocephaly , Candace Campos <cvcamposmd@...>

wrote:

>

>

> Hi Cheri,

>

> I am one of those people who tried the Starband and then changed to

the DOCband. My daughter could not tolerate the Starband and got

horrible red spots that did not fade and were concerning for

potential pressure sores. After two days and several adjustments, I

contacted the company and was successful in returning the Starband.

>

> My daughter did wonderfully in the DOCband. It was definitely

worth the 90 minute drive. Remember, at Cranialtech, this is all

that they do.

>

> It took several months of phone calls and letters to United to get

them to pay for the DOCband as they considered it " out of network. "

I was persistent and called each month, and always made a record of

the person I spoke to as well as the date and time that I called. I

told them that I understood that their job was to try to find

technicalities that would prevent the insurance company from having

to pay. However, my job was to satisfy all of those technicalities.

It was not easy, but my persistance paid off. However, in my case,

we paid for the DOCband ourselves, so the insurance company

reimbursed us, not Cranialtech. We did this because we knew we would

have problems since they had already authorized payment for the

Starband.

>

> Make sure that you get a paper from Cranialtech that lists the

diagnosis, treatment plan and dates, etc. Either they or you will

need to submit this to your insurance company.

>

> Hope this helps. Good luck.

>

> Candace

> Pediatric physician and mother to DD in DOCband for 13 weeks

>

>

>

> Plagiocephaly@...: cherikeating@...: Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:38:19

+0000Subject: Newbie intro and STAR Band vs. DOC Band

question

>

>

>

>

> Hi! I'm new to the board and had a question or two. My son Will who

is 4 1/2 months old has his first appointment tomorrow at StarCranial

Center in Columbia, MD. I'm so new to all of this and him being my

3rd baby and being so busy I am just now really researching things.

We noticed his plagio starting by 5 weeks of age --- not getting any

better with any repositioning. He also has one eye that squints more

closed than they other with smiling and I think that may be related

to his plagio. I'm wondering if I should have gone with CT and the

DOCBand vs. the StarBand therapy? It seems that people prefer the DOC

Band and some have even had to get a DOC band after problems with a

Star Band. Any advice is helpful. I'm anticipating having a fight

with the insurance company. It seems they automatically deny for one

reason or another, so I'd hate to be going to the " wrong " place right

from the get go.Thanks for any advice!Cheri

>

>

>

>

>

> _________________________________________________________________

> Stay organized with simple drag and drop from Windows Live Hotmail.

> http://windowslive.com/Explore/hotmail?

ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_102008

>