June 25, 2012
Today is my annual stress test – FINALLY! Because of insurance policies and the new relationship my cardiologist has with the hospital, what used to be a one-time visit, complete with doctor consult, test, and review of the results, has turned into a 3-visit ordeal. All this is a result of distorted reimbursement practices with insurance companies. Here is the problem…
When the stress testing was done in Dr. V’s office, he was allowed to bill $305 for a $300 test, and given his staffing, equipment and no-show costs, a losing proposition. The hospital on the other hand can bill for 10 times that amount. To their credit, Dr. V’s group went through a long and hard decision process, knowing the impact it would have on us patients. Now, you are not allowed to see the doctor to get the orders written for the test, and have the test on the same day. Nor will the doctor see the test results the same day it is completed. And THAT scares me – my triple bypass need was identified during my test in 2008, Dr. V. immediately pulled me off a bike ride I was supposed to do that afternoon, and two days later, I was in the hospital. This time, I am roughly two weeks away from the 4-year anniversary of my triple bypass surgery, which was 4 years after my heart attack. So you see where my mind is going…
Just to be able to stay in business, over 80% of the Austin-area docs are now affiliated with the hospitals in town. But this could turn into a patient’s nightmare. While I know my docs are a very passionate group when it comes to patient care, I don’t expect to see that same level of concern from the medical behemoths.
Back to the timeline…
not being an emergency, from calling to request the test to seeing Dr. V. 5 days;
seeing Dr. V to getting a call back from the test registration clerk 7 days;
test registration to test date 5 days;
test to Doctor’s review ?
…yeah, not so good. We’ll see…
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