Re: Rose... RE: Seeking advice/ information

[Guest guest]

Ruth, I can't remember this--do you go to IU Med Center or am I mixing you up with some other wonderful, cheerful, kind person?

Ramblin' Rose

Moderator

A merry heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22

Reply-To: Neurosarcoidosis To: Neurosarcoidosis Subject: Rose... RE: Seeking advice/ informationDate: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 17:26:17 -0000

Rose, A whole lot of the specialist require a referral from another doctor here. I am not sure why. PC wanted to make sure the dizziness wasn't from my ears...which has fluid (and probably a little sarc monster in there too) ly I don't get it either, but in the past few months my PC seem to want to see me for every little thing. I think they see me as a "cash cow" for insurance. I have been going to this pc for 9 years. But then I've had some major illness this last year so maybe they are just being careful. Yes I am going to go in with my list this time.Thanks so much for the support!HugsRuthLoved you poster!!!

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[Guest guest]

Sorry--I missed part of this. They want a referral because they want

to bill for consultation visits. If they don't have a referring

doctor they have to bill regular office visits and don't get paid

quite as much even though they do basically the same amount of work.

The only difference is they don't have to send a letter to your pcp.

>

> Rose,

> A whole lot of the specialist require a referral from another doctor

> here. I am not sure why. PC wanted to make sure the dizziness

wasn't

> from my ears...which has fluid (and probably a little sarc monster

in

> there too) ly I don't get it either, but in the past few

months

> my PC seem to want to see me for every little thing. I think they

see

> me as a " cash cow " for insurance. I have been going to this pc

for 9

> years. But then I've had some major illness this last year so

maybe

> they are just being careful. Yes I am going to go in with my

list

> this time.

>

> Thanks so much for the support!

>

> Hugs

> Ruth [)]

>

> Loved you poster!!!

>

[Guest guest]

Wow, Carla! That's great to have insider information! You know, if it's Medicaid or Medicare, I really can't blame them for trying to get a little more reimbursement. When I look at my reports of the charges, what Medicare paid, & what the provider wrote off, it's pretty pathetic.

Maybe you can answer this question that has bugged me for years: Back in 1999, I spent 2 days in the hospital for atrial fibrillation, which is when the sarc was discovered in the hilar nodes. My family doctor spent maybe 15 min. total in 2 visits. When I saw my facesheet, he had listed stuff like Irritable bowel syndrome, which I hadn't had for years, obesity (when I was maybe 20# overweight at 5'10"), and something else that was totally irrelevant to my hospital stay. Someone told me that the more diagnoses he listed, the more he could charge for the hospital visits, even though he didn't do anything about those other conditions! Is that true? If so, it's particularly galling, because his bill was something like $150 for the first visit & I'm thinking about $75 for the second (remember, 1999). Meanwhile, an internist friend who was a critical care specialist, came to visit me, found out that no one could give me the results of my cardiac echo, went immediately to read it, came back & explained the results, then spent about an hour talking about the a.fib & treatment options. His bill was: ZERO! At that time I had traditional insurance, so didn't need a referral, but he didn't even charge me. Now he is not the stereotype doctor; he really doesn't care about money. He left here 2 or 3 years ago, to the sorrow of most of the town, to move to Oregon, where he became a "hospitalist," who sees only patients in the hospital, in critical care, which he enjoys the most anyway. He is a very unconventional doctor, kind of like "House," but nice, and I would trust him with my life. So those of you in the Pacific Northwest, I don't know what hospital he's affiliated with, but his name is Bixler, if you are ever in dire need of a brilliant doctor who cares about his patients.

Anyway, as usual I got off track. Again, Carla, thank you for sharing your expertise with us!

Ramblin' Rose

Moderator

A merry heart is good medicine. Proverbs 17:22

Reply-To: Neurosarcoidosis To: Neurosarcoidosis Subject: Re: Rose... RE: Seeking advice/ informationDate: Mon, 03 Sep 2007 03:19:17 -0000

Sorry--I missed part of this. They want a referral because they want to bill for consultation visits. If they don't have a referring doctor they have to bill regular office visits and don't get paid quite as much even though they do basically the same amount of work. The only difference is they don't have to send a letter to your pcp.>> Rose,> A whole lot of the specialist require a referral from another doctor> here. I am not sure why. PC wanted to make sure the dizziness wasn't> from my ears...which has fluid (and probably a little sarc monster in> there too) ly I don't get it either, but in the past few months> my PC seem to want to see me for every little thing. I think they see> me as a "cash cow" for insurance. I have been going to this pc for 9> years. But then I've had some major illness this last year so maybe> they are just being careful. Yes I am going to go in with my list> this time.> > Thanks so much for the support!> > Hugs> Ruth [)]> > Loved you poster!!!>

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[Guest guest]

no problem at all. there are different levels of visits in the

hospital and the more he " addressed " during the visits or in his notes,

the more he could charge for. the other doctor was rare to find--wish

he was in KY. medicare doesn't usually like to pay more than one

doctor a day which isn't fare to the ones that really do the work.

your right about them not paying much either. people without insurance

usually end up paying much higher prices than insurance companies to

make up for it and that seems backwards to me--soap box issue--sorry.

Carla

[Guest guest]

no problem at all. there are different levels of visits in the

hospital and the more he " addressed " during the visits or in his notes,

the more he could charge for. the other doctor was rare to find--wish

he was in KY. medicare doesn't usually like to pay more than one

doctor a day which isn't fare to the ones that really do the work.

your right about them not paying much either. people without insurance

usually end up paying much higher prices than insurance companies to

make up for it and that seems backwards to me--soap box issue--sorry.

Carla