Re: Odd experience with CT

October 24, 2009

Hi -

Your situation has me extremely curious. At what point did they say they would

make a band for him? During the consultation? Or was it over the phone when you

called to make an inquiry about banding older babies and set up the consult?

Because I remember they told me on the phone when I called that yes, they do

band older babies, but there was no guarantee they would band my son until they

did the evaluation.

I don't think it has anything to do with whether insurance covered it or not.

People are denied insurance coverage all the time and still get the band. I can

only imagine that maybe the person you had a consultation with said they would

make it, and then when someone at headquarters (probably Jeanne Pomatto-Hertz,

the creator and CEO - she's very hands-on and involved in the whole band-making

process) saw the measurements and report from the consultation, decided that his

head shape was too mild to make an effective band. There has to be enough plagio

present for the band to have the proper holding points to be effective.

Otherwise, it's just gonna keep their head warm and not do much good. When you

called back later, did you express your frustration in the misinformation you

received? Was there any further explanation given?

Were you scheduled for a DSi when you left that consultation? Because a DSi of

course starts the process of making the band if that was the decision. I'm

curious why anyone else was even shown 's measurements and photos if it had

already been decided to get him a band, do you know what I mean? Typically you

go for the consult, if they say yes, you schedule a DSi and that is what is sent

to Phoenix for the band to be made. Typically Phoenix wouldn't see any photos or

measurements, etc., unless there was a question as to whether the band was going

to be made. So that makes me wonder if the therapist was very certain in her

decision to say they would make a band for . And if she wasn't, did she

convey that message clearly to you?

I can't remember, did Kathy post pictures of to our group?

Jake-3 (DOCBand Grad 9/08)

>

> All,

>

> [This is , Kathy's husband]

>

> After thinking about it more, we're starting to wonder about what exactly

> happened with CT. We took our son there for an evaluation, they did

> the eval, said they would make a band, and started the insurance check &

> pre-approval process. Then after the insurance came back saying they

> wouldn't cover it (not a surprise) CT started saying that they couldn't make

> a band for him. It was odd, their insurance co-ordinator sounded surprised

> that I wanted to pursue it after the insurance denied it, and said I had to

> get approval from the office manager. I talked to her, told her that we'd

> be happy to pay for it out of pocket, and made it clear that we didn't have

> unrealistic expectations.

>

> So, my question is, why were they checking with insurance if they actually

> couldn't do a band? Shouldn't they determine that first? Would they have

> made a band if insurance had approved? The people who did the final

> determination never even saw in person, just his photographs and

> caliper measurements. I offered to pay for a real scan to double check, but

> they said it wouldn't make any difference.

>

> - (father of , 17mo)

>

October 24, 2009

Hi,

This is Kathy. It was during the consultation they said they would

make the band. At first they said it was not recommended. Then I very

clearly asked, "Would you put a helmet on him?" and the consultant

said "yes". She gave us no guarantees it would help, but she said it

could. I was very happy since I thought most likely it would help at

least some, and doesn't need that much improvement. I asked the

consultant if he could get to normal, and she said "he could". So,

yes, the consultant seemed certain they would do a band and if she was

not, she definitely did not convey that message to us.

We asked about getting a DSi while there, but the consultant said the

insurance was more likely to pay if it was preapproved. We didn't

expect the insurance to pay since it would be 's second band, but

we decided to wait just in case. Since already has the Starband,

we felt it was not as urgent as it would otherwise be. I noticed CT

was not busy as we left and the consultant had a break, so I think they

had time for a DSi. We had even talked with them beforehand about

possibly getting one the same day as the consultation.

It is so very discouraging! Can they really determine for sure a case

is too mild from only two dimensional photos and inaccurate hand

measurements? Also, it seems that question should be answered before

querying our insurance. The question of whether they would make the

band came up immediately after our insurance denied. That is when our

case was sent to the manager.

I just want to do all we can for before it is too late.

Thanks,

Kathy, mom to , almost 17 months

P.S. We posted the Starband scans, but no pictures. And one piece of

good news is the forehead improved. I'm convinced some of the bulge I

saw was swelling from the helmet since it was so hot and now it has

cooled down.

nwilkens2275 wrote:

Hi -

Your situation has me extremely curious. At what point did they say

they would make a band for him? During the consultation? Or was it over

the phone when you called to make an inquiry about banding older babies

and set up the consult? Because I remember they told me on the phone

when I called that yes, they do band older babies, but there was no

guarantee they would band my son until they did the evaluation.

I don't think it has anything to do with whether insurance covered it

or not. People are denied insurance coverage all the time and still get

the band. I can only imagine that maybe the person you had a

consultation with said they would make it, and then when someone at

headquarters (probably Jeanne Pomatto-Hertz, the creator and CEO -

she's very hands-on and involved in the whole band-making process) saw

the measurements and report from the consultation, decided that his

head shape was too mild to make an effective band. There has to be

enough plagio present for the band to have the proper holding points to

be effective. Otherwise, it's just gonna keep their head warm and not

do much good. When you called back later, did you express your

frustration in the misinformation you received? Was there any further

explanation given?

Were you scheduled for a DSi when you left that consultation? Because a

DSi of course starts the process of making the band if that was the

decision. I'm curious why anyone else was even shown 's

measurements and photos if it had already been decided to get him a

band, do you know what I mean? Typically you go for the consult, if

they say yes, you schedule a DSi and that is what is sent to Phoenix

for the band to be made. Typically Phoenix wouldn't see any photos or

measurements, etc., unless there was a question as to whether the band

was going to be made. So that makes me wonder if the therapist was very

certain in her decision to say they would make a band for . And if

she wasn't, did she convey that message clearly to you?

I can't remember, did Kathy post pictures of to our group?

Jake-3 (DOCBand Grad 9/08)

>

> All,

>

> [This is , Kathy's husband]

>

> After thinking about it more, we're starting to wonder about what

exactly

> happened with CT. We took our son there for an evaluation,

they did

> the eval, said they would make a band, and started the insurance

check &

> pre-approval process. Then after the insurance came back saying

they

> wouldn't cover it (not a surprise) CT started saying that they

couldn't make

> a band for him. It was odd, their insurance co-ordinator sounded

surprised

> that I wanted to pursue it after the insurance denied it, and said

I had to

> get approval from the office manager. I talked to her, told her

that we'd

> be happy to pay for it out of pocket, and made it clear that we

didn't have

> unrealistic expectations.

>

> So, my question is, why were they checking with insurance if they

actually

> couldn't do a band? Shouldn't they determine that first? Would

they have

> made a band if insurance had approved? The people who did the final

> determination never even saw in person, just his photographs

and

> caliper measurements. I offered to pay for a real scan to double

check, but

> they said it wouldn't make any difference.

>

> - (father of , 17mo)

>

October 25, 2009

/Kathy-

Is there a way that you can visit another CT office or get a second consult/exam

from someone else? We have had a wonderful experience with CT in Austin, and

they even call me after all the appointments since my husband takes , and

I inevitably have questions afterwards.

The only other option I could see would be to call the president directly and

ask for her opinion. If she really is that involved, she would want to make

sure that no one is treated badly; that's just good cust service!!

Keep us posted!

Grauvogl (Ogreletmama)

Mother to , banded since 08/23/09

San , TX