That's great to hear about efficient monitoring hours at SG! That's why I love my current clinic...I was in and out....but I don't have to make an appt. I can just walk on during set hours.

I started with Cornell, which I hated, but I'm at Long island IVF now

What clinic were you at in NYC?

I live in Herndon and go to the SG Fair Oaks office for monitoring. Hours are 7a-9am. They run like a well oiled machine--in and out in about 20-30 minutes if I pick a 7:15am monitoring appt.

Thank you both for the input! Seems like it's not unusual for this to happen. I never would have thought of this.

12:32 - I am currently under Federal BCBS with no IVF coverage. So I'm assuming yout paid OOP for IVF with your clinic in NJ? SG definitely helped you out with billing. They will cover monitoring and blood if it's billed as timed intercourse or as a complication...but as soon as the insurance knows you are doing ART, the won't cover anything.

I just imagine this is going to be a pain in the butt - my head is spinning - but thank you SOOOO much for the suggestions. I think this can work out. Maybe my NY clinic can order my meds while I'm in NY and I can just bring everything down to VA. I'm so glad I found this website! Now I have to figure out which clinic to use in VA. I was thinking about getting a consult with Marci Cook just because she's close to where I'll be living. But since SG and Dominion are already on board with dealing with this type of situation, maybe it's best to schedule consults with them. Stress!

Dominion will also do monitoring services, at least they did a few years ago. I was cycling with a NYC RE, and had Dominion lined up to do u/s and blood work. I ended up not using them because I got pregnant instead, but they were all set to do it.

Anonymous wrote:Wow! You just gave me some hope. I am going to call my doc tomorrow and see what he thinks. The only problem is if I change my insurance, they will not accept it in VA for monitoring. But at this point, I would be willing to pay out of pocket since I would just be paying for blood work and US. I'm even wondering if the new insurance would reimburse me. They cover 50% of costs for out of network providers. I'm assuming you didn't have an insurance issue?

I didn't have any insurance issues. In fact, I think the disconnect worked in my favor. I was on a plan that said it did not cover IVF or any associated services (BCBS Fed). SGF told me that on this plan it would cost ~$400 each time on this insurance. But my monitoring appointments came out to be a $40 copay each time. I don't know if it was because of how it got billed to the insurance or because of the physical separation between those services and the IVF retrieval or what. I'm not sure how it would work out for you, but that part was smooth for me.

There were a few times where results didn't arrive at my clinic within the window that they preferred. They closed earlier than SGF and wanted time to review, and sometimes my clinic had to call and track those down. You can give your clinic the direct number of the outside patient monitoring coordinator and that helps facilitate this on weekdays, but there were a couple of times on a weekend or holiday where it seemed more difficult to track them down. This was not the norm most days, and would be perhaps not an issue at all if your clinic closes at 5:00 like SGF and not earlier. I would say it's not a deal-breaker, but just a bump in the road worth being aware of so you can work out a communication plan ahead of time between the two clinics.

Anonymous wrote:Wow! You just gave me some hope. I am going to call my doc tomorrow and see what he thinks. The only problem is if I change my insurance, they will not accept it in VA for monitoring. But at this point, I would be willing to pay out of pocket since I would just be paying for blood work and US. I'm even wondering if the new insurance would reimburse me. They cover 50% of costs for out of network providers. I'm assuming you didn't have an insurance issue?

FYI shady grove will be about 400 OOP for each monitoring appointment.

Wow! You just gave me some hope. I am going to call my doc tomorrow and see what he thinks. The only problem is if I change my insurance, they will not accept it in VA for monitoring. But at this point, I would be willing to pay out of pocket since I would just be paying for blood work and US. I'm even wondering if the new insurance would reimburse me. They cover 50% of costs for out of network providers. I'm assuming you didn't have an insurance issue?

Anonymous wrote:So how did that work - did your NJ doc prescribe the meds? What if you needed a medication adjustment during the cycle? Which doc would make the call?

I am the PP who had a doc in NJ and did monitoring at Shady Grove. Shady Grove only took my blood and processed it and did ultrasounds. The ultrasound techs at SGF would tell me the measurements of follicles, the count, lining thickness, etc. but they would never speculate about when I would trigger, whether a cyst looked problematic or not, etc. It was some information, but not as much as you'd get at your main office. Then they would send the results to my main fertility center and they would call me to discuss. The NJ center did everything else. They interpreted the results, made med adjustments, prescribed everything, told me when to trigger, did the retrieval and transfer.

Oh gosh. That's what I was afraid of. I love my clinic here and how efficient everything is. The first clinic I went to was Cornell - horrible. Now I go to Dr. Brenner at Long Island IVF.

Who's your doc in NY? I used to live in NY and went to two clinics there and had success with IVF for my first. 9 switched to a clinic down here for my second (shady grove). It was a much different experience and part of me wishes I stayed with the NYC clinic.

So how did that work - did your NJ doc prescribe the meds? What if you needed a medication adjustment during the cycle? Which doc would make the call?

No, I didn't think of that. What do you mean - do the retrieval and transfer with my doc in NY and do monitoring in VA? I feel like my doc in NY wouldn't be ok with that - I guess I could ask...just seems complicated. What also drives me crazy is I would have IVF coverage if I stayed in NY...but the plan won't be accepted in VA.

Have you considered sticking with the current doc in NY and doing monitoring down here? I was in a similar situation and stayed with my NJ doc and did monitoring at Shady Grove. I think both weekday and weekend monitoring hours were the same at K St (like 7:00 to 9:30 or something). If you go to Rockville location I think they go later with monitoring times, but for satellite locations they needed time to transport the blood to Rockville for processing.

I'm moving from NY to Herndon in January and am in search of a new RE for IVF/unexplain infertility. I had 3 failed IUI's and was planning on moving to IVF next year, but just found out I'm being relocated for work. Although I'm happy about leaving NY, I LOVE my current doctor and clinic, so I'm very upset. Not only that, I'm a federal employee and had to pay OOP for the IUIs and meds. I was planning on changing my insurance in January so I would have IVF coverage, however, the plan with coverage is only accepted in NY/NJ. No other federal plan has federal coverage in the VA area. Fabulous. So, I'll be paying OOP again.

Anyway, I was doing some research on RE's in the area and came across Marci Kook, Shady Grove, and Dominion Fertility. Flexibility with monitoring hours is a big deal for me. My current clinic is wonderful - I rarely have to wait more than 10 minutes and I am in an out very quickly. I only saw my doc at my initial consult but he was always available by phone, which I was fine with. I loved all of the nurses. I had a terrible experience at the first clinic I went to. I always saw the doc at every appt but she was HORRIBLE. She was always in a rush and nothing was explained to me. I spent about 6 minutes in her office at my consult and I left feeling more confused than ever. Whenever I asked her a question at my appt, I felt like I was bothering her.

So, I'm looking for a doctor that's not in a rush and is willing to explain everything to me when I have questions. I don't have to see him or her at every appt. I am looking for a place where I can be in and out quickly. My new job starts at 830am and I don't know how they are going to be if I come in late occasionally. Which clinics have walk-in hours and which clinics have specific appointment times for monitoring? Also, what are weekend mintirong hours?

Thank you?