[HSF] double negatives

[Tea Acuff]

We have skewed view of charges. I used to be amazed at how close the cardiologist bill for a patient that I managed after a cath came to surgeons bill. H and P, cath, daily visits, ekgs, sonos, followup etc. Maybe that has been trimmed some, but i bet it is still close.
tea


----- Original Message ----
From: A <alsadd at ksu.edu.sa>
To: OpenHeart-L at lists.hsforum.com
Sent: Saturday, July 7, 2007 5:11:11 PM
Subject: RE: [HSF] double negatives


Very interesting indeed and reminds me of an amusing incident. I called my
lawyer in Portland Or once to ask a question. We have settled the account
before and nothing was due. I was pleasantly surprised to get a bill in the
mail few weeks later for $ 150.00 charge for a 3 minutes phone consultation.
What do you think? Of course I paid it without any questions. We are still
good friends but business is business

Ahmed

-----Original Message-----
From: openheart-l-bounces at lists.hsforum.com
[mailto:openheart-l-bounces at lists.hsforum.com] On Behalf Of Ben Bidstrup
Sent: Thursday, July 05, 2007 5:54 AM
To: OpenHeart-L at lists.hsforum.com
Subject: Re: [HSF] double negatives

>Michael has translated the teaspeak very well and without the 
>superfluity of verbage   that we often see or rather read.

Why should an MD not have a price list for phone calls, for reading 
and interpreting reports and investigations and so forth.

A lawyer will charge even for the due care and attention associated 
with perusal of documents.

Why - well the insurance companies won't pay for one so they get 
ticked off. (Let them refuse lawyer's bill for phone calls or 
photocopying etc,)

We need to stand united but that is rare - we are a profession that 
allows division and conquest!

Why also - it is lawyers that make the laws so they are able to 
practice self preservation of their race.


>The short answer is that we are easy targets.  We keep taking it on the
chin
>and coming back for more.  Everyone complains that we make too much money
>and yet (at least in the US and probably everywhere else) they want instant
>access to top doctors, top health care, top everything 24 hrs a day.  Here,
>in the US - July 4th - national holiday, took me an hour to drive to work
>(usually 15 minutes) to meet with a family about an upcoming operation - at
>their convenience.  Try calling your lawyer today (even if it is a crisis)
>or your stock broken, insurance agent, real estate agent, plumber, etc.
>Sure, you may get ahold of them (at their vacation homes, on the golf
>course, trout fishing) - but just wait for the bill for that 15 minute
phone
>conversation.  Besides, they dont even have to pay for their health care -
>again, people do not appreciate or even understand the value of the
services
>that they require/want.  Then, on the other side we work our butts off and
a
>fluke accident happens or something out of the ordinary (so what if the
>patient is a non-compliant overweight poorly controlled diabetic smoker)
and
>everyone wants to place blame.  Now CMS (medicare/Medicaid) is publishing
>AMI/CHF 30 mortality statistics, patient satisfaction results, and I guess
>the latest is that patients must sign a form agreeing 2 days in advance to
>getting discharged - and if they disagree then it goes to a unbiased
>moderator (hmm - who is going to pay for that???)  We take a stand on
>something and we get marked for abandoning our patients, our hospitals, or
>oaths.  And, yet here on this National Holiday - just try to get ahold of
an
>administrator or supervisor if you have a problem.  I am not complaining,
>that is the way things are and that is why we chose this field.  My
>patient's families hug and thank me for saving their loved ones in their
>time of need - that I why I do this.  We are expected to be perfect - at
>times I dont mind that reputation as I strive for it and families at times
>recognize that is not the case when the see how hard we work and how much
we
>do care.  It sure beats the alternative - people expect their lawyers to
>be...... (fill in the blanks).  If people are satisfied in life being
>mediocre and having other expect that of them and expect to live and die by
>a timecard/hourly rate/billable hours then fine.  I am looking to buy a new
>condo to live and the developer "does not negotiate on price" - fine, when
>he comes in the hospital and needs "my" services then he can pay full price
>also.  OK, enough rambling.....We are not the bad guys in all of this - the
>system is - yes there are bad, greedy, apathetic doctors (and probably a
few
>that can be classified as "terrorists") - but in the end, are we not all
>passionate zealots - if not martyrs for our causes?
>
>
>-michael
>
>
>On 7/4/07, Tea Acuff <tacuff at swbell.net> wrote:
>>
>>Speaking of double negatives has anyone noted the sense of incredulity in
>>the reports on the Muslim doctors in the UK who played a part in the
>>terrorist attacks. This is from the same media sources that usually talk
of
>>our (as physicians) failures, negligence, and greed. The concept of
killing
>>healers is really a contradiction deep in the psyche of the West despite
its
>>mouth piece preference for jaded pseudo sophistication.
>>
>>tea
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-- 
Ben Bidstrup FRACS FRCSEd FEBCTS
Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon
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