It appears that my youngest child, who is 5 months, is likely going to need surgery for a semi-rare condition. This will be confirmed via MRI or CT scan in the next couple of weeks, but an initial read from the doctor suggested that he believes that it is headed in that direction. My wife and I obviously hope that this is unnecessary, but want to start to get out in front of this.
Based on what I can gather, given that the procedure is not super common, we would be wise to seek out a hospital that has specialized expertise. A very quick read by me suggests Mayo Clinic or Boston Children's. How does one go about getting in to those places? Right now, we are dealing with Children's Hospital in Plano. My assumption is that they are going to refer us to their own pediatric cardiologist after imaging takes place. Do we just call whichever hospital we want to go to and make an appointment? Is a referral needed? I thought about calling my insurance company, but am wondering if it would be wiser to first work directly with the hospital and have them recommend the procedure rather than just asking insurance permission to travel to do this (and giving them the opportunity to try to refer us back to somewhere closer or less expensive).
Sorry if these are dumb or very basic questions. We are obviously very concerned for our son and trying to get him the best care that we can.
Thanks for your time.
Based on what I can gather, given that the procedure is not super common, we would be wise to seek out a hospital that has specialized expertise. A very quick read by me suggests Mayo Clinic or Boston Children's. How does one go about getting in to those places? Right now, we are dealing with Children's Hospital in Plano. My assumption is that they are going to refer us to their own pediatric cardiologist after imaging takes place. Do we just call whichever hospital we want to go to and make an appointment? Is a referral needed? I thought about calling my insurance company, but am wondering if it would be wiser to first work directly with the hospital and have them recommend the procedure rather than just asking insurance permission to travel to do this (and giving them the opportunity to try to refer us back to somewhere closer or less expensive).
Sorry if these are dumb or very basic questions. We are obviously very concerned for our son and trying to get him the best care that we can.
Thanks for your time.
