i have been working with my doctor out of my area to get my picc line put in for one month now, this is such a shame, the issue is the hospital in my area will not put the picc line in because my doctor is not affiliated with their hospital, my doctor is in private practice so is actually not affiliated with any hospital but they are trying to get me in a hospital down there, did any one else have this problem? should I check other centers in my area to see if they can put it in? Is it usually most hospitals policies that they won't do this unless the doctor is affiliated with them?
Posted by Sojourner (Member # 9424) on :
You will need a local physician to order your picc line. We had our out of area llmd work with our local PCP to order it.
Posted by sammy (Member # 13952) on :
Most hospitals do require an order from local doctor with "privileges" , someone affiliated with the network.
I was lucky, my local PCP was willing to cosign my LLMD's original PICC line orders. My local hospital accepted this order. They later accepted orders from my LLMD, probably in error!
If your PCP or any local helpful doc will not order the PICC for you, an independent free standing outpatient radiology center should be able to accept the order from your out of state LLMD. They do not have to follow network rules like hospitals do.
Good luck!
Posted by Amanda (Member # 14107) on :
I ended up going to an outpatient surgery center that is near my LLMD (which meant I had to travel 6 hours each way to get it installed)
Also, consider looking into an outpateint center that does vascular surgery (in addition to the radiology suggestion, which is also good idea) In a way it s better. It was cheaper than the hospital, and many times the person doing has more experience than just your regular surgeon at the hospital.
Posted by shannon12 (Member # 36149) on :
Thanks everyone, very helpful
Posted by LSG Scott (Member # 21624) on :
ok in my tough Pic process this is the best and easiest my, take it out of your hands,
From your Doctor, Take that script for the IV meds and a pic line and then find a good infusion company and turn it over to them, they can't get paid for the IV meds if you cant get a pic line put in, i used infusion company and they were amazing at getting a hospital to do the pic line it's amazing how money motivates, good luck
Posted by shannon12 (Member # 36149) on :
so I called 20 different places within 75 miles of me, outpatient surgical centers, radiolgy centers, infusion centers, and none of them put in picc lines, my doctor is calling the hospital he used to work at to try and get me in there, philadelphia, it's now been one month since my doctor recommended I started the iv's. This is such a shame.
Posted by sammy (Member # 13952) on :
Are you seeing any other local doctor or specialist that might be willing to write the order for the PICC line placement for you?
Posted by shannon12 (Member # 36149) on :
no i see my pcp here, who said he doesn't treat lyme, and the only infection control doctor that would consider iv's is not associated with a center that accepts my insurance. Now I've just given up. I just can't do it anymore , I don't have anything left in me, I just have to wait for my llmd to call me back to see if they can get me in there, if not I guess I just stay sick. Don't know what else to do.
Posted by poppy (Member # 5355) on :
I find it amazing that none of those places put in PICCs. These devices are commonly used, so why is this so hard, I wonder?
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