10 dirtiest hospital secrets [chapter3]

5. "Yes, we take your insurance, but we are not sure about the anesthesiologist."

The last thing on your mind before surgery is to ensure that all doctors involved in the network. But because the answer is often no for anesthesiologists, pathologists and radiologists, which is a patient to do?

Los Angeles entertainment attorney and patient advocate Michael A. Weiss repeatedly turned away out of network medical management of pain in a hospital visit.

If you are alert enough, ask someone in your network. If you're seeing a doctor or go to any medical facility, call your insurance company to obtain a current list of network doctors, hospitals and laboratories. Also, if the appointment was referred by his primary care physician, the application programming staff to find specialists, hospitals and laboratories in the network. Then check with your insurance company, says Mary Jane Stull, President and CEO of the Patient Advocate, a company in South Bend, Indiana, which helps people with medical insurance claims.

Medical providers may withdraw from a network between the pre and postoperative appointment the actual date. And if you know your procedure is outside the network, call the medical providers: physicians, surgeon, anesthesiologist and hospital. It might be worth trying to negotiate a price and payment plan with the billing department, Stull said.

6. "Sometimes we bill you twice."

Find the code of medical bills, and you may find some surprises: charges for services never received or routine items such as gowns and gloves, which will not be charged separately. material errors often the reason for errors. A number added to a billing code can result in a charge for placing a catheter into an artery in comparison with a vein - which can reach a difference of thousands of dollars.

So how to find out if your bill is incorrect codes or duplicate charges? Start by asking for an itemized bill with a breakdown of all charges clearly defined, says Dr. Geni Bennetts, director of Health Promotion Resolve billing Napa, California Some errors revealing: charge for three days he was kept in hospital for night, a circumcision to newborn girl or drugs he never received. Ask the hospital billing office for a key to decrypt the charges, or hire an expert to detect problems and deal with the insurance company and doctors (you can find one in Defenders Medical Billing of America) .

His experience will usually cost between $ 65 and $ 85 per hour, a percentage of the savings, or some combination of both. You want to be your own detective billing, talk to the senior manager you can find on the funding of hospital or in the accounts to begin to unravel any code wrong.