Wheelchair Request Slows Down

On October 15, 2009 we had our first appointment with Rehab Institute of Chicago (RIC). You can read about this visit at The Process Begins for a New Wheelchair. On November 5, 2009 we had our second appointment with RIC. I wrote about this visit at The Wheelchair Process Continues.

One week after the second visit with RIC we checked with the medical supply company about the Letter of Medical Necessity only to be told that the person in charge of creating the Letter of Medical Necessity, which will be forwarded to my doctor for a signature, had to unexpectedly take some time off work. I understand that the unexpected happens so decided to wait another week and check on the progress of the Letter of Medical Necessity.

On Thursday November 19 I sent an email to the person in charge of the Letter of Medical Necessity to check on the progress. I received an email in reply stating that they are still waiting for the physical therapist from the Rehab Institute of Chicago (RIC) to send them the Letter of Medical Necessity. They told me that they would send RIC an email asking about the progress of my Letter of Medical Necessity. On Friday when my wife P. followed up with RIC by phone, she was told the person who was to write my Letter of Medical Necessity had taken the day off work.

It has been two weeks since we were at RIC finalizing what I needed and which wheelchair best fit my medical needs and now I find out that nothing has been done about sending my doctor a Letter of Medical Necessity for her signature. I wonder if we hadn’t followed up with the medical supply company how long my request would have sat on someone’s desk with no progress.

Even after the medical supply company receives the Letter of Medical Necessity from RIC, they have to send it to my doctor’s office. After the doctor signs the letter it must be returned to the medical supply company. Then they must create a document containing the Letter of Medical Necessity and a quote for the wheelchair. The insurance company must decide if they will pay for this new wheelchair or not. If the insurance company approves the request, the medical supply company creates an order and sends the wheelchair order to the manufacture. Because these wheelchair are all custom built, the order is placed in their wheelchair build queue.

As you can see there are many, many stops in this entire process where the wheelchair request can either be lost, or just sit on someone’s desk waiting to be uncovered. At the risk of being labeled a pushy pest, I will continue to keep a close eye on the progress of my new wheelchair request.