Tag Archive for 'paying a doctor to do what s/he should be doing already'

As it turns out, the ransom was pretty cheap after all

Published on Monday, March 9, 2009 in Venting. 3 Comments Tags: , .

Remember the post I published a while ago that caused such a stir?

From “Are you a patient or a customer?”:
I’d never heard of “concierge medicine” or “boutique medicine” or “retainer-based medicine” or “premier medicine.” A search on Google has shown me that this type of thing is either coming to a large city near you, or is already there.

…

We already pay an exorbitant amount for health insurance, and some doctor wants us to cough up an additional $2,600 a year? For doing most of the things he should be required to do anyway? During an economy that is shaky at best?

No way.

So, my task for today is to find a new doctor, one who doesn’t view us as dollar-signs. (Luckily, we have choices! Imagine how disconcerting this would be if we didn’t!) My insurance company provided a nice online list of doctors that meet our geographical requirements, and now I get to call them to find out if they have room for new patients or if they’re only accepting new customers.

Because in our current situation, we’re no longer patients…we’re customers. And, that’s unacceptable.

And…

From “I hate paying ransom”:
I was able to find a doctor that is taking new customers patients! Yay!
But, now my medical records are being held for ransom! Boo!

Imagine how happy I was to hear that in order for the entire record to be transferred, there will be an “administrative fee” of $15 per file (so, that’s $30 for my husband’s file and mine), and that’s if I’m willing to come pick them up. To have them mailed (the new office is literally in the same building), it will be an extra $3.50 per file.

AND, it will take THREE WEEKS! Wow, that’s such speedy service!

Well, for $7, I can pick them up and hand deliver them to the new office…

I hate paying the ransom, but what else can I do?

…Technically, they’re within their legal rights to charge a “reasonable” fee and they have 30-days to turn over my records. They could file for an additional 30-day extension for “special circumstances.”

…

Granted, their definition of “reasonable” is a bit different than mine, but I guess $30 is a small price to pay for what’s left of my sanity…

Well, I think it’s time for an update!

I printed the requisite forms and mailed them in to the office. I even called to make sure they’d received them.  As we approached the 3-week mark, I was anxious to see how this would play out.  I called them to ask about the status of our paperwork. I was told it would be ready by the end of the week.

This was going to work perfectly for us, because we were going to be up in the area on that Friday anyway.

Friday rolled around, and after we ran our other errands, the three of us stopped at the hospital complex. We made our way to the third floor to pay our ransom. That’s when I asked for our forms and was handed two manila envelopes, with “No Charge” scrawled under our names.

“These are the full records?” I asked, wanting to make sure we had the right thing. In our office, you could get the last two years for free but had to pay $15 per file for the entire record.

“Yes, that’s it!” the receptionist said.

I couldn’t believe we weren’t going to be charged!  We thanked them and then hurried out, before they could change their minds.

“Did you see the stack of files!?” my husband whispered to me when we got to the hallway.

“Yes! I counted three piles of at least 10 files each!”

“Well, he has to be crazy if he thinks people are going to put up with this!”

“I know. I can’t believe they didn’t charge us!! Maybe when they saw the shear numbers of the people leaving, they realized it wouldn’t be right to charge us all for something that really isn’t our choice?” I said, just feeling lucky that they’d decided not to hold our files for ransom after all.

Because we were in the same building where our new doctor is located, we weren’t going to go home to make copies and make an extra trip back. So, we stopped at the information desk to see if they had a copy machine for public use anywhere in the complex. We’d be willing to pay for these copies, because these were ones we wanted for our own records.

The nice woman behind the counter had no idea and made a quick call. She told us to go to the Medical Records Office and that they’d be able to help us there. We found our way up there, and the woman in charge was expecting us.

Throughout this whole adventure, Claire was in such a good mood that she chatted with everyone. She was especially charming with the woman in the Medical Records Office, and we’ll never know if that’s the reason she didn’t charge us for the copies, or if it was just our lucky day all around.

Copies in hand, we made our way to our new doctor’s office.  It felt so good to close the file…literally…on what had suddenly become such a huge mess.  We were greeted with smiles in the new office, and we knew we’d made the right choice.  Time will tell what this new file will hold, but it felt so good to be free.

I hate paying ransom

Published on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 in Venting. 3 Comments Tags: .

If you pop over to The Denver Post’s parenting blog, Mile High Mamas, you’ll notice that my little situation with our doctor has been highlighted as a Hot Topic!

I’m not sure how long it will be featured on the main page, so click on this photo to go directly to the link:

You don’t have to be from Colorado to give your two-cents, so go check it out!

In the meantime, I have an update to the saga!

I was able to find a doctor that is taking new customers patients!  Yay!
But, now my medical records are being held for ransom!  Boo!

Imagine how happy I was to hear that in order for the entire record to be transferred, there will be an “administrative fee” of $15 per file (so, that’s $30 for my husband’s file and mine), and that’s if I’m willing to come pick them up.  To have them mailed (the new office is literally in the same building), it will be an extra $3.50 per file.

AND, it will take THREE WEEKS!  Wow, that’s such speedy service!

Well, for $7, I can pick them up and hand deliver them to the new office and maybe even fill out paperwork at the new office while I’m there.  But, $30 for copies!?  They just got done putting all of their records into an electronic format, and you can’t tell me that it takes 3-weeks and $15 a file to click on “print” on a computer screen.

I hate paying the ransom, but what else can I do?

I want to turn them in for fraud, but technically, they’re within their legal rights to charge a “reasonable” fee and they have 30-days to turn over my records.  They could file for an additional 30-day extension for “special circumstances.”  It would be my luck that “complaining on your blog about us” would qualify as a “special circumstance” so I should just be glad to get this over as quickly as possible.

Granted, their definition of “reasonable” is a bit different than mine, but I guess $30 is a small price to pay for what’s left of my sanity…

And, just to add to the pleasantness of the entire situation, guess whose office number was busy for a majority of the morning?

Gee, maybe he’s trying to justify charging us $2,600 a year for his personal cell phone number.

;)

Edited to add:  Click here to read the next installment of this saga! :)

Are you a patient or a customer?

Published on Monday, January 26, 2009 in Venting. 27 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

At the first part of January, my husband and I received separate envelopes from our doctor, one addressed to each of us.  Inside was a fancy-shmancy brochure about the new practice he was going to be starting.  He was “announcing exciting changes” and told us that his practice would be “personalized.”  It would also have “limited enrollment.”  He said these changes would be taking place in March and we could call him right now to find out more or we could stay tuned for further details.

We didn’t think much of it.  Is he moving?  If so, we’ll find a new doctor.  It’s inconvenient and annoying to look for a new doctor, but not as annoying and inconvenient as it would be to change locations.

Just this last Saturday, we each got another envelope from our doctor.  This one was thicker, containing several pieces of paper.  This must be the explanation about the new exciting changes!

The letter was lengthy and started out by saying that he’s establishing a “concierge medical practice.”  He will be offering “highly personalized medical care, exceptional service, and a strong focus on prevention and wellness.”

Okay, great!  But, don’t we already get personalize care?  The service is what it is, and I’ve never had any complaints.  Prevention and wellness have always been a priority.

I’m confused.  What’s changing?

He goes on to say something about how he’s been practicing internal medicine for over 10 years, and something about current time constraints and how he will now be unhurried and we won’t have to wait to see him.

The letter is 7 paragraphs long and goes on and on.  It mentions that he has included a detailed description of his new practice along with a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Page.  I skim the rest of the letter, still somewhat confused as to how this is all going to affect me, and then I turn to the accompanying material.

Maybe he’s moving offices?  Well, if he is, we’re finding another doctor.  I love having all our doctors at the same medical park, the same location as our hospital.

Nope, his address is the same.  It’s one of the questions on the FAQ.

Again, I’m confused.  So, what’s changing?

Then, I get to the Patient Agreement Form.

Let me summarize this lengthy and very-legal-looking paper.  Seriously!  It’s longer than a standard 8 ½ by 11 sheet of paper:

In order to remain with our doctor, we need to pay a Patient Membership Fee.  Wanna know what kind of money we’re talking about?  Check this out:

  • Individuals 45-yrs and older**  = $1,850/year
  • Adult Couple 45-yrs and older**  = $3,400/year
  • Individuals 44-years and younger **  = $1,450/year
  • Adult Couple 44-years and younger**  = $2,600/year
  • Unmarried dependent child of member 16 to 25-yrs**  = $300/year

**(age as of March 1, 2009)

WHAT!?

And, it’s NOT COVERED BY OUR INSURANCE.

EXCUSE ME!?

So, let me get this straight.  My husband and I will need to fork over $2,600 a year in order to be seen by our doctor.  Oh, if that amount is inconvenient in one large chunk, you can pay half of that now and another half in September.

This cost is in addition to what we pay for our insurance.  Now, for the record, we have excellent insurance.  My husband’s employer pays oodles-of-thousands of dollars to insure us.  We pay a fraction of that cost, but our portion still equals thousands of dollars a year.  It all comes out of the paycheck, so we don’t have to come up with that money on the fly, but it’s not free healthcare.

And, I dare argue, that there is no such thing as free healthcare.  It costs someone somewhere something…but I digress.

That being said, we get what we pay for; we would be in a precarious position without our coverage.  We have excellent insurance, and I’m so thankful for it.

So, what is our doctor going to be giving us for our $2,600 a year?

Let’s take a look at his handy-dandy little list:

  • Comprehensive annual medical exam
  • Same day or next day appointments
  • Little or no office waiting times
  • Longer appointments when needed
  • Preventative Care
  • Direct phone access to me or my nurse during office hours
  • His personal cell phone number
  • House calls and selected nursing visits (may be offered)
  • Home Rx delivery (TBD on a case-by-case basis)
  • Coverage for when he isn’t available
  • Hospital care (he’ll work closely with the physician on call at the hospital)
  • Your annual exam results will be made accessible to you
  • Convenient email access for non-urgent health issues or questions
  • Focus Group Meetings about health issues.
  • Counseling with patients and families about living wills and powers of attorney

Wow.  That list looks rather extensive!  But, let’s break it down:

  • Our insurance already covers the cost of an annual exam, and it had better be comprehensive.
  • We have no problem getting in to see a doctor if we have an emergency.
  • We haven’t had to wait incredibly long in the doctor’s office, but guess what?  We expect to!  It’s a doctor’s office!
  • I’ve never been rushed out the door because my 15 minutes to talk to the doctor was up.  (In fact, if we’ve had to wait in the waiting room, it’s because appointments ahead of us are taking longer than scheduled.  What goes around, comes around.)
  • I’ve always been able to leave a message for him and his nurse during office hours…IT’S DURING OFFICE HOURS.
  • If he’s been out of the office, it’s never been an issue to see another doctor or a nurse practitioner in the office.
  • In the event that we’d need hospitalization, he would be kept in the loop.  They just put all their medical records into an electronic format to help facilitate that!
  • I’ve always gotten the results to my annual exams.
  • Both our insurance company and the hospital we use provide email and phone support for non-urgent health issues or questions.
  • The part about focus groups was extremely vague, but it looks nice on his little list, and the last time I checked, it was best to get legal advice from a lawyer, not a doctor.  (Plus, we already have our living wills and powers of attorney all set.)

So, by my calculations, we’d be spending $2,600 a year to have his personal cell phone number, have the possibility of a house-call and maybe someone would bring us our prescriptions.

I’m appalled.
I’m flabbergasted.
I’m done with this doctor.

I’m extremely bothered by this, and I can only imagine how I’d feel if I really had a great personal relationship with this doctor.  I mean, we have been seeing him for over five years, but we’re healthy.  We haven’t been in to see him a lot, but he was someone we trusted when we did need to use his expertise.  We ended up with him because he was in the same practice as a doctor that came highly recommended to us.  That doctor wasn’t taking new patients, and this guy was.

I’d never heard of “concierge medicine” or “boutique medicine” or “retainer-based medicine” or “premier medicine.”  A search on Google has shown me that this type of thing is either coming to a large city near you, or is already there.

In my opinion, if my doctor doesn’t want to work with the people who can’t afford his “exceptional” services, I don’t want him as my doctor.  Since when is it okay to check my wallet before you check my blood pressure, especially after you’ve already seen my insurance card?

The ethics on this seem fuzzy at best.  I imagine that he has consulted a team of lawyers and experts on this, so I wouldn’t be surprised if all the necessary ethical and legal matters have been checked off on a list somewhere, but this is ridiculous.

We already pay an exorbitant amount for health insurance, and some doctor wants us to cough up an additional $2,600 a year?  For doing most of the things he should be required to do anyway?  During an economy that is shaky at best?

No way.

So, my task for today is to find a new doctor, one who doesn’t view us as dollar-signs.  (Luckily, we have choices!  Imagine how disconcerting this would be if we didn’t!) My insurance company provided a nice online list of doctors that meet our geographical requirements, and now I get to call them to find out if they have room for new patients or if they’re only accepting new customers.

Because in our current situation, we’re no longer patients…we’re customers.  And, that’s unacceptable.

So, what do you think?  Do you agree or disagree?  Am I totally off-base here?  How much would you pay out of your own pocket to continue to be seen by your doctor?  When is enough, enough?  Please, leave me a comment!  I’m curious to hear your thoughts!

EDITED TO ADD: CHECK OUT THE NEXT POST FOR AN UPDATE