No referral...

I also have a PPO so I called around on my on to try to get squeezed in for the NT. I think I called three places: BID, B&W, and New England Med/Tufts. The reason I picked BID was because I liked the time frame--their time slot was an ideal point in my PG for accurate measurements. I forget the peri's name, but like I said, I never actually met with him, he just wrote the order for the scan.

As for the 20-week scan, I went with the OB's recommendation for few reasons: 1) The peri was from Tufts, a hospital I respect, 2) a friend of mine who had a high-risk pg saw this peri and liked her a lot, 3) it was convenient, because she had hospital hours at my local hospital. The only reason the OB's office offered this service was because of my age (over 35). Otherwise, I don't think they have peris do the scans. (I know for DS #1 when I was 32 a technician did my 20-week scan in the OB's office, not a hospital.)

Yes, for the NT they have to put the b/w and the scan info together before they tell you anything. It's maddening, I know. I kept asking the technician at BID if my measurements were "good" and she very coldly kept saying "They mean nothing without the b/w results." I wanted to scream. I do know at least one other person on these boards who had the b/w taken in advance of the scan so results could be discussed that day, but I'm not sure how common that is.

So much to consider, I know.

Hugs and GL!

Meg