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Patients are by far the worst kind of customer to deal with. So maybe if the costs were disclosed upfront ("I can perform an ultrasound if you have pelvic pain,
by hycaria 8y ago
Patients are by far the worst kind of customer to deal with. So maybe if the costs were disclosed upfront ("I can perform an ultrasound if you have pelvic pain, but it will cost you/your insurance xxx") we wouldn't come to such he-said-she-said extremities. But I guess it's pure fantasy in the USA where I've heard medical costs can be negotiated... How could they announce full price / insurance coverage when you're about to get the exam done if it's not even settled yet ?
- mynameisvlad 8y agoWhy can't the costs be disclosed upfront? Whenever I go to the dentist and I need to have some work done, I get an estimate telling me how much it costs and how much they expect the insurance company to cover. This isn't rocket science, it can easily be calculated, and should be, as you said, for the benefit of everyone.
- hycaria 8y agoAs I said, I don't live in the US but I've heard that there, bills are negociated by insurances afterwards. It's a shame that the patient has an unexpected bill to pay (and I think a good part of trouble/resentment stems from there). Here it seems like they were not warned about it (whereas we are where I live) and that's the only reasonable explanation I could think of. But maybe someone from there can shed light on why the exam the patient agreed upon came back as an unexpected bill, instead of incomprehensible downvotes ?
- dfsegoat 8y agoI too wonder why the MD side of healthcare doesn't work more like this in the US. I was actually very taken aback recently when I needed to get dental work and was presented with costing info about 10 mins after my visit started. It did feel a bit greasy, I must admit - but I get that the point is for everyone to be on the same page before the procedure. edit: I now recall that I did use Urgent Care for awhile for healthcare while uninsured - in the US - these are basically "fixed menu" clinics. They have a menu of services / costs for cash.
- Clubber 8y agoI had a dentist present something for me to sign while I was under the laughing gas.
- mynameisvlad 8y agoAll of what I said was with a US dentist. They're out of network but I honestly don't even care with the level of service they've given me. Every visit I feel at ease, and they always walk me through everything using photos and showing me on the x-rays. They never bullshit me and have always made sure I understood why they were doing what they were doing and what they are looking for and are concerned about.
- conanbatt 8y agoBecause the dentist will diagnose you first. When someone says they have a headache, you dont know if he needs an MRI that costs thousands of dollars, or aspirin which is cents. And also, each insurance pays differently for the same service. You can always go as a patient to an all cash-clinic, which will have fixed pricing, but then you throw away the benefit of your insurance.
- mynameisvlad 8y ago> And also, each insurance pays differently for the same service. Yes, and the provider knows more or less upfront how much each insurance provider will cover. My dentist can handle this just fine for every single procedure and I'm out of network. They've never been wrong. The coverages are fairly standard as are in/out of network fees.
- conanbatt 8y agoI work in healthcare, I assure you you dont know. Because it depends on the service you are going to provide, the time you have, the procedures you are going to do, and that is done during the visit, no before service. When a doctor has to file a claim with an insurance,he has to pick between 10s of thousands of codes and then out of different procedures, that have different values based on how much documentation is gathered, that changes per insurance, and then the insurance will renegotiate. I am in the business, I can tell you its impossible to know what the insurance company is going to pay.
- mynameisvlad 8y agoPlease, tell that to my dental office that's been doing just that for over a year for me personally, and I'm sure many more years for everyone else going there. Plus, I'm not even in their network and they can somehow figure it out. The codes are standardized for different procedures. If you know that you're doing procedure X, Y and Z and are billing against provider A who you've already billed before, then you know more or less how much they're going to pay for those three procedures based on experience and the standard in-network cost for those procedures. It's not like an insurance provider is suddenly going to reimburse half the cost for shits and giggles. Everything is fairly standardized and theres only so many variables you have to deal with.
- tabtab 8y agoRe: Patients are by far the worst kind of customer to deal with. Sorry, but if your org has no patience for patients (pun intended), then you are in the wrong biz. It comes across as, "Our business would be smooth if not for pesky humans."
- hycaria 8y agoYou are obviously overinterpretating what I've written. For many very comprehensible reasons, the patient/caregiver relationship is difficult. Why wouldn't they ease it with reasonable "contract" (prices, procedure you'll go under) both parties agree upon, and why everything in this story seems unexpected is beyond me. Agreeing to an exam and discovering you're due money for it afterwards is annoying. This should be clear from the get-go, otherwise you're exposing yourself to trouble considering you're already working in a tensed environment.