posted on September 15, 2004 01:37:49 PM new
My doc recently asked me to take some tests,some are available in his office-he has the setup and the technician will come by appt to operate the machine and i pay the doc.
with other tests,he gives me a list of medical centres(imaging etc) and told me to shop around.
Boy,it takes numerous phone calls to find out what is really the true cost-self pay versus insured,with or without radioligist interpretation,20 % discount if paid now,discount with multiple tests.
Not all centers offer all the tests needed,some are booked for the rest of the month.
Now my question is ,whether you have insurance or not,you still have to make those calls.
What if i am sick,how am i supposed to be dialing and dialing on my death bed??and getting transferred ,cutoff and getting incomplete information,it seems the answers vary every time i call.
Now i finally found one place which will do all the tests in one location and cheaper than the others,how do they manage??
how do i know if they are sending my results to India,i understand Indian radiologists are standing by to read all scans and xrays of american men,women,boy and girl!!
Do docs get somekind of kickback??
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
posted on September 15, 2004 05:51:38 PM new
Stop. Being in the radiology field for many hears I was appaled to hear that some clinics were sending scans to India for reading. I don't know that for sure but before I would have them I would find out if they are board certified as they have to be in the US. They probably send the scans through a computer and read that way. The reason they can do it cheaper is probably Radiologist probably reads them for less. Now remember if you go to a clinic and you are unsure ask the Radiological Technologist if she is ARRT registered if not you might get one that has no training. Any Tech that is giving radiation (x-ray) is supposted to be ARRT Registered. ARRT stands for American Registered Radiological Technologist.
how do i know if they are sending my results to India Ask them it is your right to know.
posted on September 15, 2004 06:10:07 PM new
thanks,or i will ask my doc,he should know,it is one of the centers he gave me to SHOP AROUND!!
But Libra,
some of the quotes they gave me on radiologist to interpret the scans is not small change,add that to the exam itself,it comes to a few hundred dollars.
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
[ edited by stopwhining on Sep 15, 2004 06:11 PM ]
posted on September 15, 2004 08:53:45 PM new
I can attest to that...But remember your health is priceless. It is you that has to be satisfied that what you are getting is an honest diagnosis. The attending physician that you go to also has to provide the same good sound advice and health care no matter what the price, be it high or low. The amount of money should have no meaning on an honest diagnosis. Good Luck....
posted on September 16, 2004 05:29:05 AM new
yes,our health is priceless.
I remember an endocrinologist sent me to have an MRI scan,turned out to be unnecessary.
He kept me waiting for a long time ,he cant believe he made a mistake.When he comes to the room,he did not even make a gesture to say he is wrong,but he waived his office visit fee .
Then he wrote a letter thanking the referring physician,the whole letter is so condescending when he mentioned me and my condition,but choke full of thanks and appreciation for the referral.
now i just found out my family practice physician has been prescribing a medication with the wrong instructions,this could be the cause of my current problem.
Anyone who looks into medical reforms better have a big picture of what is going on-doctors spent years to learn to treat patients and not much training on running a mom and pop business .
Next time you walk into a doctor's office,look around and compare the operations to a small town grocery store or a hardware store and see you find the similarities.
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
posted on September 16, 2004 08:11:01 AM new
I am a firm believer that you never do the high ticket examinations until all other more less expensive examinations do not show a diagnosis. Now a day physicians do not diagnosis but send patients to have examinations that diagnosis for them and that is wrong. When I was working we talked about that a lot. But the other side of the coin is there is always a lawyer standing in the wings to sue that physician if something is wrong. If you watch TV lawyers are advertising that they can get you millions so they are between a rock and a hard place.
Well Stop I hope things work out for you as I know what you are going through. There are some great physicians out there that will help the patient and I had one for my eyes.
posted on September 16, 2004 08:39:19 AM new
how true,doctors are lost unless they order tests on the patients.
as long as insurance companies pay,they can get away with it.
-sig file -------Life is one big happy 'All You Can Eat' buffet .
