Bariatric Medicine Institute

The care I received was excellent. My rating is solely because of the incompetent billing office. I paid the amount I was responsible for. After my surgery, they billed my insurance for over $100k, but they billed it incorrectly so it was denied. They took their sweet time re-billing and by the time they finally did, it was past my insurance filing deadline, so it was denied again. Three years later, they are attempting to bill me for $23k…all because THEY BILLED IT WRONG. I have an explanation of benefits from my insurance company showing I am not responsible for the amount, but that doesn’t seem to matter to them, so now I have to wait for it to go to collections so I can send the EOB to the collection agency showing I don’t owe this. DO NOT GO HERE. Go to the Bariatric Clinic at St Marks instead

I really wanted this to be a good experience, and there are parts that were a good experience. It would be dishonest of me to give BMI a one star rating because of an employees failure to communicate effectively. My initial experience started with Kim, at first she told me I had to have a doctors recommend, but once I had explained to her I was working with another surgeon but decided to come to BMI, then she was willing to help me. Everything at the beginning was very smooth, I chose Dr. Medlin based on my grandmother just having bariatric surgery with him and having a good experience. I was advised he was out of town so I waited a few weeks, it was worth the wait to me. The day of my consultation is where everything went down hill. Dr. Medlin asked me what surgery I was interested in and I told him based on insurance and the benefits I was looking for I wanted Gastric Bypass. He quickly shut that down letting me know that BMI does not provide Gastric Bypass anymore, that they only offer the Duodenal Switch. I explained to Dr. Medlin that my insurance did not offer that as an option, to which he quickly reassured me his insurance team would "figure it out." I took that response and moved forward. I had a great experience with there nutritionist and was feeling very optimistic about things. The following day I received a call from Lori. I would just like to add here, Lori is the most down to earth person I have EVER talked to, I could tell she really cared about my situation. Just like I had tried to explain to Dr. Medlin, Lori explained that because my BMI was not high enough, they would not cover the Duodenal Switch. So she kindly gave me some other options including the Gastric Sleeve which I politely declined. After this phone call, I decided to politely air my grievance and experience by email, I chose to save face, and not post a negative review for a simple miscommunication. Darren Cluff was fast to reply the next morning, thanking me for choosing to email him, instead of posting a review. Also included in that email, I quote "I spoke to Dr. Medlin on the phone about your situation and he said he is happy to entertain doing a Bypass for you if you want to discuss it with him again." I thanked Darren in another email, expressed optimism in working with Dr. Medlin again. Also in the meantime I called Lori because I had additional insurance questions. She helped me schedule a new appointment with Dr. Medlin and everything was well. Then I check my email again this time to find an email from Darren stating that Dr. Medlin changed his mind and that it was better for me to go to another surgeon, or select a different surgery. Yes this email was frustrating because why couldn't they just say no to begin with, not give me a second thought of hope, and waste my time a second time. I expressed my frustrations to Darren again, only for him to just make excuses for his practice, and blame Lori for making the appointment. I told Darren it was shameful to blame Lori, and his response was "I can assure you that I am not offending Lori." I could care less if Darren offended Lori or not. The fact of the matter is, he needed to take ownership for his and Dr. Medlins failure to communicate. Not only did they fail to communicate once, but twice. Also in my initial email I had asked Darren why they keep Gastric Bypass as an option on there website. Again, he just made an excuse for himself and his clinic stating that they keep it there because they perform a few per year. Instead of making changes to prevent this same frustration from future clients with insurance. The moral of the story is, Dr. Medlin is very kind, and confident. But BMI as a whole lacks the ability to communicate, and Darren lacks the ability to take ownership for his clinics miscommunications. While I do have the entire semi-unprofessional email thread between Darren and myself, I think the text, and specific detail regarding my experience does this review justice. Id encourage you to do research on the different clinics here in Utah such as Rocky Mountain.

So I had a surgery years ago and i was told that i should go with the duodenal switch because people with my bmi the other surgical options did not statistically show long term success. So I went with the doctors advice and choose the ds. Well during my surgery there were complications, on the surgeons part, that made it impossible to finish my surgery at the time was instead given one of the other surgical options with the much lower success rates. The surgery itself lasted 3x as long as expected which wouldnt have been an issue except that no one informed my family about what was going on or why it was taking so long which caused my wife to have an anxiety attack in the hospital. The botched surgery also landed me with a 3 day stay in the icu. The surgeon only visited me in the hospital once and never reached out to me to try to make it right and finish the surgery I was originally scheduled to receive. And, of course, the years went by and the surgery failed and i gained a significant amount of weight back. That was the one thing they were right about. So my advice to people out there is this. Your insurance will only cover one weight loss surgery in your lifetime. Do not waste your one chance to get the help you need on a provider that will not own up to mistakes and dont care about the emotional and physical health of the patient once the check from insurance has cleared. Check for better options then BMI.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about the BMI institute and their team. This is a long process but they made every step so easy for me. Im 6 weeks post op and feeling so good. Im grateful that I have access to a full team of people to help me. Im a high maintenance person, I always have lots of questions and need to have a clear plan and this team nailed it!! And they have continued to help me after surgery with diet and workout plans. I wish I had done this 10 years ago and would definitely recommend them to anyone looking to get weight loss surgery.

I had a d-loop/sleeve enhancement with Dr. Cottam this month and was extremely impressed with his knowledge and skill as a surgeon, as well as his caring demeanor. I don't believe you will find a better surgical center than BMI Utah anywhere in the world. I travelled out of state to acquire the best possible care and was in no way disappointed. The staff made the process very smooth and safe. Every detail was covered and every precaution taken to ensure my comfort, success and well being. The OR nurse and recovery nurse were both top notch as well. They operate like a well oiled machine and because they were both thorough and efficient, my surgery went well, without a hitch, and soon I was home and recovering. You cannot put a price on good health, and it is a shame that insurance companies sometimes throw out obstacles to receiving such great care. I believe the reviewers who experienced delays or unexpected charges were probably hindered by their insurance companies and not by BMI Utah. Every interaction I had with every staff member was helpful and positive. What matters most is the skill of the care team and you will not find a more skilled team than at BMI Utah. I highly recommend them and have great respect and gratitude for the work that they do. I believe it will greatly enhance my health and longevity. Thank you Dr. Cottam and BMI Utah!!

Recently underwent Gastric Sleeve procedure with Dr. Cottam. BMI has assembled a wonderful team that seamlessly integrates with another wonderful team at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center. I can’t say enough great things about every single person involved in my experience. 110% recommend this wonderful group of people. Don’t hesitate…take charge of your health and your life, they will help you on your journey!

I have worked in the medical field for over 20 years. I feel I have a pretty good understanding of insurance and patient care. I started the process of doing bariatrics with another facility in April of 2021. I had all my prerequisites done by the end of May. Then I had to wait until the middle of July to get into the doctor. Even though I had been a patient of their office for several years, and was not new to bariatrics It took this other office 7 1/2 weeks after my visit with the doctor to send in my pre-authorization to the insurance. 7 1/2 weeks!! They had had ALL the documentation since the end of May. Thankfully a friend suggested I have a back-up plan. I called Bariatric Medicine Institute and the process was like night and day. By the time the other facility got around to sending my authorization over, my insurance would no longer except release for surgery from my primary care physician. Of course, because I needed another physical, it took nearly 2 months to get in. I ended up seeing my doctor’s nurse practitioner to get the physical done sooner. Filed my own appeal and got the surgery approved. They called me and told me they didn’t know how it had been approved because they hadn’t sent in an appeal yet. ‍ I was then told that the doctor wouldn’t be able to fit me in before the end of the year, but I could see one of their other doctors. wow! I just had to take another day off of work so I can come take his class. I had already hit my out-of-pocket max for the year which was the main reason I started the process in April. I had asked bariatric medical institute to wait until I’d heard back from my Insurance before trying to process an authorization. They had been so kind to keep in contact with me over the months and as soon as I asked them to send the authorization in they processed everything on their end and I was approved within three weeks. I had done my research on Dr. Cottam and felt very comfortable with him. I would highly recommend Bariatric Medicine Institute not just because of the excellent standard of care I received, but they made me feel like I wasn’t just a number. They were all patient and kind, and would respond to any questions or concerns within a timely manner. Dr. Cottam’s office staff is competent and proficient in what they do. My overall experience with them has been practically painless. If you are looking into bariatrics this is the place.

Dr Cottam is great! He repaired my Hiatal Hernia in April and then performed my gastric sleeve in August. I'm halfway to my goal weight from starting with the diets in Mid-March. Best thing I've ever done. Tracey and Andrea have been very supportive from the start. They've answered any questions I've had. I'll get support from BMI for as long as I need them. Don't hesitate to call BMI for a consultation. You won't regret it!

I had sleeve surgery with Dr. Medlin recently. My husband and I are both very impressed with him and with his staff. Professional, knowledgeable, respectful, and they communicated really well with us through the entire process. I definitely recommend him.

Having been morbidly obese for 30+ of the 44 years of my life so far, I knew bariatric surgery was my last resort. I started the process with BMI and my insurance company in Nov 2020. I was quickly approved and given the support of their dietician and fitness experts. I underwent duodenal switch with Dr. Cottam in March 2021. 8 months later I am down 110lbs, my type 2 diabetes is in remission, I have energy and motivation I didn't know existed. I am grateful for this tool and the unwavering support of every single employee at BMI. My only regret is that I did not have this procedure 20 years ago.