Re: Insurance wins again???

[Guest guest]

Dr.R.

There are alot of disappointed hearts tonight.

I am afraid that, the fear this letter has put into your readership

will only do one thing. I would expect by Monday morning your new

patient apps would triple, in fear of some being left out.

I think this issue really needs alot of thought. This is not a

decision to be made overnight. It also is not fair to discard

individuals because they are insurance.

As you know, we have just won a battle in Michigan. Without

this would not have been possible. If you had a person such

as in your office to deal with insurance issues, then Debbie

could concentrate on her responsibilities other than insurance, and

take a lot of stress off of her.

It is highly unfair to allow insurance to win the war again. We have

fought a long battle, and it is appauling to think that we would let

the insurance companies wins again, because they are persistant and

difficult to deal with.This is exactly what they want.

I realize this is only half of the problem, and we must find an

answer

to the extreme increase in patient load.

I just ask of you not to make that decision to quick, and please

don't

give the insurance companies the satisfaction of thinking you are

defeated, as they come out on top again. We have fought hard to get

acceptance of you and this procedure. This is a very special family.

Lets make sure the final decision allows for the cohessivness and

love

this group has for one another, to go unchanged.

Thank you

Gardiner

MGB date 8-3-00

V

> Hi,

>

> We are overwhelmed.

>

> Our database of preop patients contains over 1500 patients and we

get 5-10

> completed new patients applications per day.

>

> I get over 500 emails per day and I simply cannot answer all of

them.

>

> Even with the expected addition of three new staff members and

operating in

> two rooms during the day our office is overwhelmed with new

patients.

>

> While this seems good at first blush, I am afraid that I can no

longer keep

> up good quality care that I want to provide.

>

> I have to use some method of decreasing my patient load.

>

> To try and decrease our patient load we have already stopped doing

elective

> revisions of other types of failed weight loss surgery and have

become

> stricter in relation to our weight and age limits. In the past we

had taken

> out a few small local advertisements and we have pulled all of

these

to try

> and decrease new patient appointments.

>

> We still have many more patients than I could ever possibly take

care of.

>

> I have reviewed my practice in detail and I have talked with Debbie

about

> what she does and what she likes and doesn't like about the job.

>

> Clearly the most time consuming and unpleasant part of the job is

dealing

> with the insurance companies.

>

> Therefore, our tentative plan is to move over the next month to no

longer

> accept insurance payment for the surgery. We could still provide

the

preop

> letters to patients and help patients file for insurance

reimbursement post

> procedure but our efforts in this area would be limited to

submitting the

> bill to the company. This would eliminate a tremendous amount of

frustration

> and paper work. The ridiculous amount of time and effort spent on

hold and

> trying to address the Byzantine rules and regulations dreamed up by

> insurers would be eliminated.

>

> I would be interested in advice and suggestions about this plan.

>

> I recognize that many patients will be prevented from having the

surgery, at

> this time but I can only do so many operations and I do not want to

> compromise the quality of the care that I provide.

>

> Please give me your thoughts and feelings about this very difficult

issue.

>

> RR

>

> Rutledge, M.D., F.A.C.S.

> The Center for Laparoscopic Obesity Surgery

> 4301 Ben lin Blvd.

> Durham, N.C. 27704

> Telephone #:

> Fax #:

> Email: DrR@c...

>

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