In Search of the Holy Grail

Yesterday, I had another one of my famous run-ins with the health care industry.

It began that I went over to one of the hospitals that my doctor recommended to get an estimate for the HSG test. (This was after four phone calls in two days with no answer and no return call.) I then had a girl tell me that I needed a code for the procedure so that she could look it up and that even when she does get the code it would take her 30 - 45 minutes to look it up for the costs. (You're kidding, right?) I explained to the pipsqueak that my doctor's office has told me that they had nothing to do with that procedure and they sent me to the hospital for this information. The pipsqueak then told me sorry but they did have the code and there was nothing she could do for me.

I then walked over to the doctor's office and talked to the clerk. She went back to the billing office and came back to tell me that they did not have a code for the procedure since they did not do that procedure in the office. I explained to her what the hospital had said and so she went back to the billing office and explained the situation. She came back with the code (hmmmmmm) for one of the tests and then told me that the hospital that I went to does not do that procedure only the other hospital (There are only 3 doctors in our area that does this procedure).

She then called that hospital to get the rest of the codes, and it was hilarious to see her feel my pain. She was transferred to wrong numbers, voice mails, and hung up on. After 10 minutes of trying to get the "holy grail" of codes, she finally called and demanded to speak tot he CEO of the hospital. (My kind of girl!) She informed this person of what she had been dealing with and all she needed was the "magic" code. Magically, the code was provided. She stated at the end of the phone call she felt like she had been searching for the "holy grail" and felt my pain.

I then went directly to EIRMC to get an estimate there and again was sent to three different departments before finally getting someone who knew what an HSG procedure was and could give me an estimate. Ha ha!! Success! (Or so I thought . . . . ) $750! (By this time 2 hours had passed.)

After talking to Jim and deciding we should go ahead, I then went back to the doctor's office to have them schedule the procedure. The receptionist had me talk to the nurse who said that they would schedule the procedure for the original hospital that my doctor had recommended. As politely as I could, I explained to her my problems that I had and that I had been told by the billing office that this hospital does not do this procedure. She came out to talk to me directly (poor thing) and I explained to her everything that had happened, and that all I wanted was an estimate to see if this is something we could choke up. She asked me to wait a minute and she would straighten this out. 20 minutes later she came out and . . . . . Surprise! The original hospital does do the procedure, with my doctor doing the actual procedure but another doctor reading the results, and she was even able to give me an estimate. Unfortunately, because there is only a 5 day window that this procedure can be performed and that window ended the next day (today) there was no way it could be scheduled this month and has to be for next month. (Ever tried to schedule a procedure a month down the road around a "cycle"?)

Just never a dull moment!

Lesson learned: Never underestimate the power of a nurse!