Hanger vs. Cranial Tech. in NJ

[Guest guest]

Hi...

My son is 5 months old with plagiocephaly. We live in NJ. I had an evaluation

with Cranial Tech in Paramus but they are out of network. I was very impressed

with them and have read good reviews. I was told that Hanger Prosth. is in my

network but I wanted to know if anyone has experience with them and if they

would be recommended. I have to call to make an appointment but I really dont

want to waste time. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance

[Guest guest]

Hello

My daughter is almost six months old and she has brachycephaly.

We went for an evaluation at Cranial Technologies about two weeks ago and I was

also very impressed. Unfortunately, Cranial Technologies is not in-network under

our United Health Care policy.

Since the evaluation, I have been trying to educate myself on

brachycephaly as well as trying to understand what our insurance will and will

not cover.

In my research, I have learned that there is a New Jersey Mandate on Prosthetic

and Orthotic devices. Basically, this means even if your insurance does not

normally cover a helmet/band they are obligated to follow this New Jersey

Mandate as long as they continue to be a Health Care provider in NJ.

So, we can use Cranial Technologies, but they will only cover the treatment/band

at an out of network rate and after our deductible has been met.

We located an in-netwok provider Nouveau Prosthetics and Orthotics located in

Hazlet and town. We went to Hazlet for an initial consultation today. They

use the Starband. They are in-network and the cost of the treatment would be

covered 100% after our $250 deductible.

The orthotist was very knowledgable and had lots of experience. Certainly

someone I would recommend. I'm just not sure about the helmet. It seemed a bit

more bulky with less opened area for venting.

My husband and I still need to talk through our options over the weekend. My gut

is that we may wind up using Cranial Technologies even though it will cost us

alot more. I think the treatment will also be a quicker process with the Doc

band 2-4 months vs 3-6 with the Starband.

Unfortunately, I don't really have any first hand information about the Hanger

Band. I do know that it is alot less expensive. I guess my only question would

be why is it so much less expensive?

Hope some of my information/experience is of help???

>

> Hi...

>

> My son is 5 months old with plagiocephaly. We live in NJ. I had an evaluation

with Cranial Tech in Paramus but they are out of network. I was very impressed

with them and have read good reviews. I was told that Hanger Prosth. is in my

network but I wanted to know if anyone has experience with them and if they

would be recommended. I have to call to make an appointment but I really dont

want to waste time. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance

>

[Guest guest]

Our son got a DOC band from the Paramaus CT last week and has been doing really

well so far. The people we dealt have been great, but I don't really have

anything to compare them to. Hanger was in-network for us and CT is not, but the

closet Hanger is almost two hours away vs. 25 minutes for CT. Also, I have heard

a lot of great things about CT and Hanger, but have never herad about any

negative experiences at CT like I have at Hanger. That being said, the

individual orthostist is the most important thing and that could vary at either

place. The DOC band is a lot more open than others and there seems to be less

shifting and fit issues with them (judging by posts here and on other websites).

On thing I still don't understand though, is why the DOC band is so much more

expensive. I think the bottom line is that they know parents will pay whatever

they have to in order to help their children, and they have the best reputation.

$3800 is a lot for a little piece of foam/plastic and adjustment appts. Also,

the price went up $300 this year from last.

>

> Hi...

>

> My son is 5 months old with plagiocephaly. We live in NJ. I had an evaluation

with Cranial Tech in Paramus but they are out of network. I was very impressed

with them and have read good reviews. I was told that Hanger Prosth. is in my

network but I wanted to know if anyone has experience with them and if they

would be recommended. I have to call to make an appointment but I really dont

want to waste time. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance

>

[Guest guest]

My daughter wore a starband for brachy a few years ago. She wore it from age 5

to 10 mo. It was a long time. I really don't know if the results would be

different with a docband or if the time would have been less. We went to a very

experienced ortho in the SF bay area, and there was no docband provider in the

area. You can see sydney's pictures in the photos section if you're interested.

As for cost I think with docbands CT sets the price across the country and is

very involved in running each office etc. For starband the orthos operate

independently and set their own prices, but order the orthotic devices (starband

etc) from the main company. So prices vary widely. In the bay area our band was

about the same price as a docband would have been at that time. We were lucky

that our band was fully covered by insurance.

-christine

sydney, 4 yrs, starband grad

> >

> > Hi...

> >

> > My son is 5 months old with plagiocephaly. We live in NJ. I had an

evaluation with Cranial Tech in Paramus but they are out of network. I was very

impressed with them and have read good reviews. I was told that Hanger Prosth.

is in my network but I wanted to know if anyone has experience with them and if

they would be recommended. I have to call to make an appointment but I really

dont want to waste time. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you in

advance

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much for all the replies. It's nice to hear what other parents

think and do. I am not yet sure which we will go to but I will make an appt with

Hanger to check them out. Thank you!

Anisha

> >

> > Hi...

> >

> > My son is 5 months old with plagiocephaly. We live in NJ. I had an

evaluation with Cranial Tech in Paramus but they are out of network. I was very

impressed with them and have read good reviews. I was told that Hanger Prosth.

is in my network but I wanted to know if anyone has experience with them and if

they would be recommended. I have to call to make an appointment but I really

dont want to waste time. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thank you in

advance

> >

>