After a hospital stay, it is a good idea to review your bill line by line. There are often errors made and they can be corrected, especially if you approach it in a positive manner. We all have heard the horror stories of $75 aspirins being administered, and it is those stories that cause some distrust in hospitals.
One young nurse recently had an eye opening experience as she was reviewing the bills from her husband's recent hospital stay. It appears he had been scheduled to be released on a particular day, and that wasn't communicated somehow, causing him to have to stay an extra day. There were excessive charges for administering medication 7 times per day when it was only prescribed 4 times per day. And then there was the charge for $875 for one item that she knew from her hospital work should have only been around $80. Clerical error. By the time she was finished, she had discovered nearly $7000 of incorrect charges.
If you have recently had a hospital stay, it is a good idea to make sure it is itemized and then sit down and review it. If you have questions, sit down with your doctor and not the billing departmentof the hospital. They work is clerical and they don't always have the correct history of your care. And no matter what, make sure you ask questions.
There are other options to help you come to a satisfactory resolution. Most cities have patient advocacy groups available to offer you free advice. They can direct you on what steps you need to take to get things corrected. And your state insurance commissioner can advise you if you need help with your insurance company.
Medical insurance is there to protect us in case we need it. And hospital stays are unpleasant enough without having to deal with a bill laden with codes and numbers. The hospital can decypher this for you and they will. We know medical bills can be filled with errors and you should not have to pay for things you did not receive. So do your homework, put a little effort into it, and you'll find that the resolution of the errors will work out as it should.
One young nurse recently had an eye opening experience as she was reviewing the bills from her husband's recent hospital stay. It appears he had been scheduled to be released on a particular day, and that wasn't communicated somehow, causing him to have to stay an extra day. There were excessive charges for administering medication 7 times per day when it was only prescribed 4 times per day. And then there was the charge for $875 for one item that she knew from her hospital work should have only been around $80. Clerical error. By the time she was finished, she had discovered nearly $7000 of incorrect charges.
If you have recently had a hospital stay, it is a good idea to make sure it is itemized and then sit down and review it. If you have questions, sit down with your doctor and not the billing departmentof the hospital. They work is clerical and they don't always have the correct history of your care. And no matter what, make sure you ask questions.
There are other options to help you come to a satisfactory resolution. Most cities have patient advocacy groups available to offer you free advice. They can direct you on what steps you need to take to get things corrected. And your state insurance commissioner can advise you if you need help with your insurance company.
Medical insurance is there to protect us in case we need it. And hospital stays are unpleasant enough without having to deal with a bill laden with codes and numbers. The hospital can decypher this for you and they will. We know medical bills can be filled with errors and you should not have to pay for things you did not receive. So do your homework, put a little effort into it, and you'll find that the resolution of the errors will work out as it should.
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