On January 24th, 2011 I endoed my bike in a snowbank, broke my collar bone, finished riding my bike to the bus stop (the bus waits for no-one, whether you be animal, mineral, or vegetable), and rode the bus to Provo, Utah, where there was an Instacare I knew I could use with my plan. When you break a collar bone pretty much all they can do is strap you into a figure eight, put your arm into a sling, and let you go. So that is what the Instacare did. They also urged me by way of a flier with some office details on it to set up an appointment with Dr. Brent Rich in about two weeks, so he could help me rehabilitate the shoulder joint. I duly made the appointment, and showed up for the first time in his office on February 2, 2011. I waited a reasonable amount of time in the lobby (maybe 10 minutes), and then was taken back into the office. The X-ray tech took me to the x-ray machine, and took 2 or 3 X-rays. This took about 5 minutes. Then I was walked back to my little room where I waited for the doctor for about 10 more minutes. Dr. Rich came in--a very friendly, competent fellow. He looked at the X-rays with me, noted the break on the bone (it was not hard to see), and showed me two exercises I could start doing--walking my hand up the wall, and dangling my arm down and rotating it in little circles. I showed him that I had some swelling in my arm, and he wrapped a compressible bandage around it. He then told me to come back in two weeks, and left. Total time spent with the Doctor: 10 minutes maximum. Closer to 5-7, really. I did not so much as take my shirt off. You can imagine my surprise a month later when I received a statement totaling services in the amount of $655.00 for the visit. Here is the breakdown: 02/02/2011 SURGERY $389.00
02/02/2011 OFFICE VISIT $209.00
02/02/2011 RADIOLOGY DIAGNOSTIC $50.00
02/02/2011 MEDICAL SUPPLIES $7.00 I wish I could bill $655.00 for maybe 10 minutes of work (or 15 minutes if you throw in the radiology tech's time too. However, judging from the tech's general surliness, I doubt he gets a very large portion of the kitty!)! Now, to be completely honest, due to a contract with the insurance company, Dr. Rich did not get the full $389 for the spurious "surgery." He only got $289.23. However, the question remains: what in the above description could possibly qualify as more than just a general office visit? What action did he perform that could be called "surgery"? With the help of the insurance company, I challenged this charge. The challenge was quickly responded to by the good doctor: apparently the "surgery" consisted of his wrapping my swollen arm with a compression bandage. This single act constituted "reducing" my broken bone, and so the charge was legitimate. I'm glad that my wife did not charge me $389 every time she had to re-wrap this bandage during the following week! So what are we paying for when we pay for a normal office visit? Should this fee be considered only something that reserves a chair for us in a doctor's office for a short amount of time (about 25 minutes) without any services at all? If I go to a hotel, $209 will pay for two nights in a fairly nice establishment, complete with swimming pools, workout rooms, and a spa. Given this, $209 to just sit in a small, cheaply furnished room with a utilitarian sink in it for less than a half-hour seems fairly steep. So, according to my way of thinking, the basic office charge includes actual attention--skilled attention--from the doctor and his staff for at least a half hour I do not mind paying for surgery when I have received it. If Dr. Rich had put a cast on me, or fitted me with a more comfortable circle eight (which, no doubt, would have meant an additional MEDICAL SUPPLIES charge), somehow straightened the clavicle, or put something back into a socket where it properly belonged I would not protest in the least. The bottom line, however, is that none of the above took place. Absolutely no surgery was performed. Even worse, when challenged, the doctor defended this spurious charge. That is why I will not return to this medical practice again. |
