Hospitals Outrageous Billing Practices
By trafficman26 - Posted on August 27th, 2007
In regards to all of the scandal happening at the Val Verde Regional Medical Center, I thought that it was time that this issue should be thrown into the ring as well. This hospital happens to be the only place within 150 miles that offers speacialty services such as MRI, Lab, Heart Cath. and Etc. that most doctors require for diagnosis. I believe that this hospital takes advantage (administratively) of that issue. I used to have regular testing done at this hospital for my family and I when specialized tests were needed. When I started seeing two specialists in San Antonio, Texas, I started using other providers from that area. I was amazed at how I would never receive addittional bills or statements from these San Antonio facilities as opposed to the ones that I receive from the Val Verde Regional Medical Center. It rerally does pay to drive all the way up there and back. In the last five years, I have had two extensive Radilogy tests and a myriad of labwork done. The most I have paid out of pocket has probably been $5.00-$50.00 on anyof these exams, sometimes even being notified that I have a credit. Nevertheless, I am still trying to pay off hospital bills at the Regional Medical Center on tests and procedures that I had done five years ago. What ashame!! It is no wonder that this facility is falling apart. I feel that the community needs to stand up and demand that this hospital be taken over and run by a much more efficient corporation or organization. How many of us in this community receive that "Doran, Gulley, Etzel" threatening collection letter in our mailboxes every month? You know what it's about and from whom, before you even open it! I don't even think they represent anyone except the hospital anymore.
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I hate it that Jack Houton
I hate it that Jack Houton has been treated as he has since returning to Del Rio, his hometown. He is an honest person, who is a scapegoat for the company who runs our local hospital.
Also, with the election of several new board members, one has constantly stirred up trouble within the hospital, the pink ladies and patients causing more problems that it doesn't need.(She knows who she is)
As a tax payer, I consider this building (the hospital) to be mine, I have helped pay for it and run it for years........I think the local board members need to be reminded who "owns" this facility.
Hats off to Frank Larson, he will try to be a good leader, he is another honest local person.
I'm sorry but I have to
I'm sorry but I have to agree with Bill. And I've been to the emergency room several times. And each time, I always saw people there with their kids or a family member that been having problems for days, maybe even weeks, and they finally decided to go to the ER. The only times I have been to the ER is when I cut my leg open(almost down to the bone) and when I had a cyst burst, which, if anyone has had one burst on your ovary, it's a very excrutiating pain. All I knew, at the time, is that I was in bad bad pain and I needed help. And yes, even when I cut my leg open, I still waited half an hour in the ER with a bleeding leg. And that wasn't even in this state. At VVRMC I waited about an hour before the nurse even assessed my situation. I'm sure the reason I waited so long had something to do with all the false alarms they get there. Too many people do come in with stomach aches and fevers and earaches that have been going on for days, so the staff think, hey it's nothing serious, just a stomach ache. But it's not always the patient's fault. I have personal experience with the hospital and their staff. I know for a fact that they have lost a lot of very very good employees and it's hard to keep your cool there with all the buddy buddy going on with all the higher ups. There is too much corruption and too much stupidity in Del Rio. There are alot of ignorant, and just plain stupid poeple working there. But there are also alot of good, hard working, intelligent people there too. Trying to make a difference, but they need your help too. If you know its not that serious, just don't go. If its been going on for days and you think suddenly that you want something done about it, don't even think about going.
I'm a LVN at VVRMC so i
I'm a LVN at VVRMC so i understand exactly what the problems of a high fever and earaches ensue. Most of which do not warrant an emergency room visit, but if the problem happened to be serious a triage nurse would recognize it. If you wait 6 hours for it, it is NOT an emergency.
Sesco, I'm going to both
Sesco, I'm going to both agree and disagree with you here. I agree that many of if not most of the visits to the ER are simply routine and a waste of the ER staff's time. I have vented here in the past about people using the ER as routine sick call. I've seen it too many times to even begin to consider all those sick kids in there a fluke.
I disagree that if you wait 6hours it is not an emergency because the Triage nurse correctly diagnosed a problem. Triage nurses do not in general recognize anything other than a arterial wounds, snake bites, gunshot wounds, heart attack/stroke or the accompanying symptoms or someone brought in by the Ambulance as a get you in right now emergency. Walk, stagger, crawl or carried in patients with broken bones, stab wounds, high fevers etc sit in the ER until the doc gets around to them.
Now let me take a minute to address waiting on the Doc; yes docs have a life and when they get called in it takes a bit. 6 to 8 hours is inexcusable though. You take the money you do the work period. I have also watched the Doc's spend quite some time flirting with the nurses, dozing off and or just plain shooting the bull with an ER room full of sick people. Their apathy, such as yours was palpable. There are other reasons for this type of behavior but I won't go into those here. Are they all like this? No! Does it happen all the time? No! But I submit to you that it shouldn't happen even once.
Yes I understand that we need a system of priorities and yes I understand that just because I or anyone else feels like I/they have an emergency that doesn't constitute a real emergency on the ER staff's part and yes I understand that some emergencies are greater than other emergencies. But there needs to be a modicum of understanding on your part. If you are sitting around with the other nurses and the conversation goes from a healthy venting to outright anger at the patients (much like what you posted below) then you should probably step back for a second, take a breath and remember that people are only human, perceptions are each persons reality and then wade back in and deal with them with a smile.
BTW, to reply to any given comment log in and hit the reply button at the lower left of the comment box. That way no one has to fish to determine what you are responding to.
I agree. How DARE they make
I agree.
How DARE they make you wait for your "infected ear" while there were REAL emergencies occurring. How inconsiderate! They should have kicked all the seriously sick patients out so they could adequately treat your boo-boo.
How DARE they charge high prices to cover their malpractice insurance because morons like you will sue at the tip of a hat. Maybe if you were less quick to blame everyone else instead of putting the blame squarely where it belongs (which is most likely on you), health care wouldn't cost so much.
If you dont want to have a long wait in the ER, then maybe you shouldn't clog it up with BS emergencies like "ear infections" or "ear aches." Go see your family doctor and don't fill up the emergency room with your crap.
I'm going to assume you are
I'm going to assume you are responding to Misty's post from last year. I would like to point out that it really doesn't seem that she was complaining in any form or fashion about the time frame in which she was seen, although she does point it out as a matter of course. She was, and I believe legitimately so, complaining about the billing practices of the Hospital.
As a parent I would also like to point out that if you have a "child" with a high fever that you can not bring down in 90mins or less with either Tylenol or Motrin, you get them to the Hospital ASAP ear ache or not. A child does not have the physical ability to deal with a high fever without brain damage like an adult does. Also ear aches in children can pop up both quickly and unexpectedly, so many times the ER is a parents only hope to prevent long term and irreparable damage to a child.
Or were you replying to PitbullOnPatroll? If so then I would also point out to you that Ear Aches can and do pop up quite quickly. Over pressure in the ear can cause massive damage to the auditory mechanisms on anyone including an adult. Thus an ER visit and frustration at having to wait in massive pain for several hours. Or is it that you have never has a bad ear ache and have no clue as to what you are talking about?
Amor, I just want to state
Amor,
I just want to state that "Pitbullonpatrol" is not me! LOL I know YOU know that, but in case anyone else has a question to that moniker. THIS PITBULL would have to be real busted up to go to the emergency room, unless it was to see the good looking nurses that work there! LOL
Semper Fi,
PITBULL aka Pat Dugan (The ORIGINAL PITBULL)
Nah, you didn't need the
Nah, you didn't need the disclaimer, I didn't think that was you :) I figured from what I've heard about you it would take something on the order of a head on with a Semi to get you to trot into the ER.
Sorry PitBull...If you were
Sorry PitBull...If you were that busted up they would have put you down. LOL
AIM HIGH....Flat Border Smiley (aka Border Smilely)
And I'm sure they're just
And I'm sure they're just waitin' fer ya, Pat. You are the real PITBULL.
Bill Sontag
Feature Writer
Southwest Texas LIVE!
I can do ya'll one better. A
I can do ya'll one better. A little over a year ago I took my 10 year old to the emergency room for a high fever and a bad ear ache. We were seen within a 6 hour waiting period. Our insurance paid for most of the bill, but we were billed a separate charge for the ER doctor, which I paid close to two hundred dollars. Now here's the real kicker. A year later I have received another bill saying we owe three hundred more dollars for the same visit and that the hospital has attempted to get a hold of us several times in this matter, NOT! Now here comes the threatening letters from our favorite law offices. Two months ago I requested for some proof of the old bills that supposedly had been sent, and nothing. So I called again the following month and still nothing. It's been a month since I have last called and I have yet to receive any kind of a bill. Go figure, the sad part of it is that if I owe then I owe and I am more than willing to pay. But I can't pay without a bill and I will not let them belittle me or threaten me with a law suits. I have proof of contact, I have the time and date of the calls/requests and names of whom I talked to. I refuse to give them upper hand!
I feel your pain, i once
I feel your pain, i once went to the ER for an Ear Infection i got there about 12:00 Mighnight and wasn't seen till 6am, now thats totally outrangous. After a week later i got a bill for $300+ in the mail for the 6 hrs waiting and a shot for the pain for my Ear. then a week later i got a other Bill for ER Service which came around too $250. $500 Total just for a shot and the longest wait ever.
It's true what they say about Val Verde Medical Center, You Never Come Out the Same! Or Never Come Out Period.
An ear infection may or may
An ear infection may or may not be viewed as an emergent condition. Did you know you had the infection earlier in the day? If not, why did you not take care of it with your primary physician then?
The emergency room is a place for people in real trouble, and there may have been a bunch of them ahead of you or coming in even while you're there. It's not a first come, first served sort of place.
And I doubt you had to wait for six hours to be "seen." A triage nurse should have checked you out within minutes to determine whether your situation was more important than others.
As for the bill, you can hardly go to the emergency room for a hangnail and not expect to pay through the nose for it. That's the cost of taking up space and doctors' and nurses' time in that environment. The prices may be outrageous, but you knew that before you got there.
Bill Sontag
Feature Writer
Southwest Texas LIVE!
Today, I received a
Today, I received a statement from the hospital concerning an accident involving one of my sons. It stated that we owed an amount that was paid! I called the hospital and was notified that they have a new auditing company and to ignore the statement. She was shocked that the incident occurred in 10/06 and that this continued to be on the ledger. I received an apology, but, it was still disturbing.
I know what you mean about
I know what you mean about going to San Antonio. I can get an MRI, get the films within ten minutes and hand carry them to my specialist and I wind up paying about $55 copay. The same MRI at Val Verde Hospital costs me $250, my doctor won't consider looking at them because they are not that accurate and I have to wait considerably longer for the films. Sometime back I was told by a few folks in the medical field here that the MRI machine at our hospital was hit ot miss about a 50% chance of getting a true image. When we were seeing the orthopedist in Uvalde we paid about half as much copay for x-rays as we did at Val Verde and the service was FAST from the data taking on thru getting the films FAST. Migraine headache that my Rx meds won't get rid of, a quick trip to one of the clinics in Cd. Acuna and for about $30 to $40 I get taken in as I walk in, given an IV injection wait a while to see if the injection will work or if another injection is necessary and then migraine free back home. I've been able to drive myself back on an occasion when I had no driver. Val Verde Hospital - I waited 2 1/2 hours once to be seen for my migraine. Then when I was seen I got rid of the headache alright but was so doped up I'm still not sure who brought me home and was groggy twelve hours later.
Unfortunately San Chalupas will live on indefinitely, it doesn't have to compete in the real world since it is tax payer fed.
When Dr. DiBlassi etal get their clinic open I will be there - Thank goodness some one has had pity on the poor people of Del Rio and is trying to bring us modern day reasonably priced medical care. As for San Chalupas - Ijust thank my lucky stars each and every day I don't get unfortunate enough to be taken their on a stretcher becuase that is the only way you will get me their.
PEACE