Seeking advice- please help. Provider insists husband needs to go out of network for diagnostic test

I’m not sure if this is the right sub for this, but hoping someone can help. My husband has a local GI doc who sent an urgent referral to a tertiary care center for a diagnostic test and a follow up appt for treatment options based on results. Unfortunately, our insurance doesn’t cover either of the tertiary care options within 2 hours of our home. Husband has been scheduled for the diagnostic test. I have been communicating with the local doc, the university he is scheduled with, and our insurance about this.

To summarize- the test he needs done is available locally. In network. I asked the referring doc if he could do that to avoid the drive and so that it would be in network. They said no, he has to go to the university as this is who will treat/manage his suspected condition. They said he cannot do the test locally because they want to make sure the test is completed appropriately and “with their equipment” at the university, since that’s who will treat him, and that they didn’t want to chance having the test done here and then the university having to repeat it.

I was told at least a couple of weeks ago that the referral request was pending. Now husbands appt is next week and the university said it’s still pending, and that our insurance is known for denying and recommending local/in network options.

What the heck do we do? The referral was urgent due to the nature of my husbands condition and now we’re potentially going to be canceled/rescheduled and having to start over..

Can the referring doc push for insurance to approve the referral? Their office told me that the university has their own prior authorization team who handles all of this.

submitted by /u/Informal_Salt_6088
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