NMMC doing something right

[cntryldyx3]

granny2young said:

if another hospital were to come into Tupelo the people would definitely suffer. You would get half health care. I don't see it could be a good thing myself to have two hospitals competing for the best workers. Our health care should not be about who can pay the best of the best.

Why do you think health care would suffer?I lived in a small town in Florida that had one hospital.A new hospital came in which gave excellent care and the quality of care at the first one got better.It did not have to bear the full load so the doctors and nurses could devote more quality to their jobs.Maybe if a new hospital could come to Tupelo,some good doctors would come too.That brings up another point.I feel the doctors here are to blame for many of the horror stories.Mis-diagnosis and just plain not wanting to deal with a particular group of people,are two huge problems here.I look forward to the day when the giant on the hill is brought down a notch or two.I will probably have to go back there with my husband who is a heart patient.There won't be time enough to go anywhere else.You can bet on one thing--I will watch every move they make and if they start talking
trash I know how to get them out of the room.

[King Rat]

cpurdon said:

You mean he devoted a web site to that thingyamamy body parts story? Goodness.

Thingyamamy? What the crap is that? The cuss-catcher obviously didn't like the first four letters of the word I actually wrote so I'll try it again with some formatting: Instead of "thingyamamy" I actually wrote "c-o-c-kamamy" (without the dashes.

[granny2young]

yeah, our filter don't like certain words

[TF Admin]

The filter doesn't distinguish, it just filters...heh

TF

[King Rat]

Dang filter.....

[calliope]

BIG BOY thingy

[calliope]

Sorry. Just had to try the filter myself. Funny that it substitutes "thingy" for c-o-c-k. Remember the Bible passage when Peter denies Christ, and the c-o-c-k crows? Imagine...

And when Peter had denied the Lord for the third time, the BIG BOY thingy crowed...

Heh.

[rutrow]

granny2young said:

there are many "stories" floating around out there. Some you have to take with a grain of salt, and some are serious concerns, but I dare say if you went to NMMC tonight and went into every room up there and talked to the patient, they would almost all agree they are thankful for NMMC for saving their lives and getting them well. There are so many miracles that walk out of that place every day that are not told. For some reason you only hear the bad, but no one ever seems to hear the succcess stories.

Well dang, what good some of the doctors do there is cancelled out by what somebody described as "mafia-type" collection practices. One woman I know had heart surgery there. Yeah, they did their job and saved her life. But then, the billing department mucked up her insurance information and sent it to the wrong company! Of course, they didn't get paid. But they harassed her almost to death for the bill. Told her to go down to Tupelo Finance and get a $32,000 loan to pay the bill she owed. She could not break through those hard heads to let them know that she called her insurance company and they had a check waiting on them. The idiots just didn't want to refile, but rather they wanted to harass her!

[granny2young]

that story reeks of something very wrong and is very rare that insurance was not refiled. It is their policy to "refile" insurance if a claim is denied for some reason, most of the time even without the patient knowing it. In billing, the first priority is to get the insurance company to pay, and to go the extra mile to get it done.

I am sure there are freak instances where paperwork gets messed up, but it is not the norm. This woman should not have had to do anything, because all her insurance information is copied from her card and made a part of her records.

[spitlerrulz]

As an employee of NMHS, it is amazing what goes on internally that the public never gets to hear about. Just recently, some members of my department were busted drinking during their lunch by a member of hospital management. The guilty party were asked if they were drinking and they said "no" and nothing ever happened in regards to it. It was because one of the busted persons was the secretary of the CIO.

Another incident that was swept under the rug was when two members of my department were busted having sex in a public restroom of the mall to which our office is attached to. The manager of the mall reported this personally to the CIO but nothing was ever done about it.

As with most things here in Tupelo, its all a matter of who ya know.

[rutrow]

granny2young said:

that story reeks of something very wrong and is very rare that insurance was not refiled. It is their policy to "refile" insurance if a claim is denied for some reason, most of the time even without the patient knowing it. In billing, the first priority is to get the insurance company to pay, and to go the extra mile to get it done.

I am sure there are freak instances where paperwork gets messed up, but it is not the norm. This woman should not have had to do anything, because all her insurance information is copied from her card and made a part of her records.

It don't reek from anything granny. They simply copied the wrong card and they refused to change it. Who knows what was on their minds? Somebody wasn't doing their job.

[King Rat]

I've heard the same stories too many times (and often seen the paperwork) to believe in the "freak instance" theory, Granny. Sorry. I've personally battled the billing department at NMMC and it's enough to give anyone a heart attack. My experience has been that they consider you a dead beat just trying to get out of paying from the second they pick up the phone. THEY don't make mistakes.

But I also see too many people who simply give in at the first refusal and either pay out of their pockets or try to ignore a problem that will only get worse. Two or three years later they end up with a judgement against them for a bill they really shouldn't have had to pay. People, be proactive when it comes to dealing with your insurance company and medical billing services. They are both playing a game with the consumer in the middle.

[momof3]

I understand Granny that there are alot of miracles at NMMC. However, My youngest child is 16 months old and when she was 9 months old, her ear, nose, & throat Dr. decided that she needed tubes in her ears. Granted this is not a major surgery, but when you have a 9 month old who has had an ongoing ear infection for about 3 months and is losing her hearing, it's pretty desperate. Not to mention the sleepless nights and days. He scheduled her surgery for the following week and sent us to the Surgery Center which is owned and operated by NMMC. When we went to pre-register, the lady that was at the desk requested our insurance card. Our insurance pays 80% of all medical bills with the exception of a $500 deductible. Our deductible had already been met because we had been to the doctor several times that year with ear infections. After confirming the amount that the insurance would pay, she gave me an itemized statement showing what would be my responsibility. The total of my share was approximately $1,000. She then explained that they would need to total amount paid in full BEFORE surgery. I was completely stunned. I told her that I didn't have that much money in our checking or savings account (We are a family of 5) and I asked if we could set up payments and pay $200 down and $100 per month until it was paid in full. She then called her supervisor over and she confirmed this. She said, no that the hospital was losing money doing this and that in order for them to operate, they would need the money in full. The way that we were treated by that woman and her supervisor was horrible. We left from there with me in tears and feeling like trash. (which we are not) I immediately called her Dr. and he said that he had never heard of this and scheduled her surgery for New Albany hospital. When we pre-registered at New Albany, they said that they would bill the insurance company and after receiving payment from them, they would bill us for the rest of it. Our part was about $300. That was the last time that I have ever had anything to do with NMMC. If I can help it and am conscious enough, I will NEVER go to NMMC again!

[rutrow]

Hmmm...big difference between $300 and $1000. Not very comparable in price. I have heard lots of good things about New Albany Hospital.

Operating expenses are high now that NMMC is not a county hospital any more. Got to pay the big boys I guess.

[King Rat]

NMMC tried to pull that stuff with me a few years back over a scheduled CAT scan. Their price was way over the national average and my insurance (which was Healthlink, by the way) would only pay a fraction of it. NMMC claimed to be exempt from the "excessive charge" clause of the PPO agreement and demanded that I pay the overage. I told them I would just go to Memphis and get the CAT at a fair price. They relented and agreed to accept the "national average". I demanded it in writing before having the CAT and all went well. But I wonder how many people they have screwed in that very same manner over the years?

Competition. Yes, we DO need it in Tupelo. I'm tired of helping NMMC buy new indoor waterfalls and marble floors.

<A sidenote to rutrow> That avatar of yours is ruining me. Everytime I find myself getting upset over an issue and go to write a stinging comment I see that thing and it makes me laugh.