doctor / hosptial paying question

[Disneylush]

My son had an eye infection so I took him into the doctors office and they told me it was nothing. The next day he woke up and his face was swollen and he couldn't open his eye so I took him right down to the ER and found out he had a really bad infection. I feel like I don't owe my doctors office anything.
Has anyone had an experience like this?
Am I wrong for thinking I don't owe them?
Any tips on fighting them?

 

[wendy46001]

I'd call your doctor, ask to speak to the office manager
and tell them what happened...remember he/she isnt the doc
so be nice...and ask for you co-pay/payment back or a credit....normally they will comply because a majority of patients have to come back in for a follow up visit

 

[C.Ann]

I'd call your doctor, ask to speak to the office manager
and tell them what happened...remember he/she isnt the doc
so be nice...and ask for you co-pay/payment back or a credit....normally they will comply because a majority of patients have to come back in for a follow up visit

This sounds like good advice.. Hope he feels better soon..

 

[Traveliz]

Actually yes I have had this happen.

My daughter was having problems and went to the prompt care/ER at the hospital and was told it was pink eye and here's a prescription and if its not better in a week go to a doctor.

Three days later it was really bad and took her to her doctor who walked her physically into an eye care center and she didn't have pink eye she had an eye infection which resulted in the subsequent loss of vision in her eye and a corneal transplant.

Oddly we never received a bill from the prompt care/ER which made the misdiagnosis. The eye center had contacted them and we can only guess they didn't want to open themselves up to more problems.

But yes I would say something to the office.

Liz

 

[denisegold]

Did you have to pay for the whole visit out of pocket, or just an insurance copay?
I would call the office like the others said and explain, but I wouldn't get angry if they don't refund you. Medicine is not an exact science. Your obviously had "moms" intuition to bring him to the doctors, but my guess is his eye didn't present as an infection at the doctors office, and then it got worse. There is so much overuse of antibiotics nowadays, that some doctors shy away from prescribing without enough symptoms (or a + culture). (and rightly so, since many parents demand antibiotics for their kids for every sniffle).

Tips: Does your doctor have privledges at the hospital you took your daughter to? That may help in your argument, you took her to the next best place when the doctor was no longer available after hours (for an ongoing problem). (a place where the doctor also works).

Don't bother with the office staff, just ask for the billing dept. If you get no where with them (and esp if you did pay out of pocket, and don't have insurance), then I would speak directly to the doctor. Still be as nice as you can, and just explain what you told us.

Good luck, let us know if you get anywhere.

(this post brought to you from a nurse of 18 years! )

 

[momto2inKC]

While it would be great, I really don't think it's common practice.
I went to the ER while at Disney and was mis-diagnosed with a sprain, when I found out after I got home that it was actually broken. I'm still stuck paying the $2,000 bill to the hospital in Florida even though they mis-diagnosed me, on top of all the dr bills I acquired once I got home.

 

[Disneylush]

when we went to the doctor his check was swollen and the eye was half shut. The doctor didn't even touch my son let alone look closely at his eye.

I have a 20% 80% plan with a 1000 deduct and will be paying both bills in full out of pocket.

I plan on calling them first thing in the morning. I wanted to get your thoughts and get my papers all in order.

I will let you know what I find out.

I did this a few years ago with a dentist who told me my tooth was fine it was an ear infection then went to the doctor and they said no it was a tooth problem. I went back to the dentist and found out that yes it was a tooth that was really bad and seen by the naked eye by asst. #2. I then made the dental office pay for my doctor visit, and all dental visits because they left me in pain for four days longer then should have been.

 

[CajunDixie]

Do you have insurance? Ask your insurance company to help you.

 

[Kidnurse]

Unfortunately medicine is not an exact science. When you go to the doctor's office, you're not paying for a 100% guarenteed fix for your problems. You pay for a service, that service being an examination by the doctor, lab tests etc etc. Therefore I really don't think you're going to get any kind of refunds or anything since the doctor did do an exam and make a decision on how your child presented to his office on that day at that time. Medical conditions change (as you stated that on day 2 he could no longer open his eye), so sometimes that makes a difference in healthcare professionals being able to diagnose conditions more easily.

SOrry to hear he's sick. I hope he feels better soon!

 

[jmkford4]

I am glad you are calling. IMHO, it sounds as if the doctor should have taken a swab and sent it in. I am not a DR, but a child's eye being swollen like that? I have had serious pink eye but not that bad.

Secondly, a similar thing happened a few weeks ago with our 1.5yo son. He was taken to the urgent care and told he had a virus, even though he had terrible boogers (for 5 days) and a fever for one. Took him to his ped the next morning and said he had a double ear infection and a sinus infection. My ped is against quick antibiotics and makes us wait 3-5 days for the same reason. He said my poor son's ears were so infected that there is no way that they could have been that infected in 12 hours. He said that Dr was out of line.

I was so mad I did not call to get a refund, b/c I feel I would have been inappropriate.

I do avoid that urgent care, and tell everyone I know my story.

I hope your child feels better.

 

[LKHomemail]

My son had an eye infection so I took him into the doctors office and they told me it was nothing. The next day he woke up and his face was swollen and he couldn't open his eye so I took him right down to the ER and found out he had a really bad infection. I feel like I don't owe my doctors office anything.
Has anyone had an experience like this?
Am I wrong for thinking I don't owe them?
Any tips on fighting them?

Not sure do ya have insurance or not ? If ya are using insurance w dis then ya can call up them and ask them to get involved and tell them you were not satisfied with the services rendered and consequently you had to take him to the ER for treatment which caused them and ou to incur additional expenses. If the diagnosis / treatment had been right da 1st time ya would not have needed to return to ER which is more expensive for the insurance to pay or for you to pay out of pocket if that is da case.

If insurance won't fight da battle for ya, then i suggest you ask the DR to call ya direct. leave a message w/ the doctor's office asking for the Doc to call you anytime within the next day or two and leave a couple good contact numbers the doc can reach ya at. tell da doctor that unfortunately, your son had an infection, you had to go to ER and pay more money. you think that the doc should write off the office visit for ya. can he / she speak to the office staff about this. maybe try 1/2 of visit if ya have too ? somethin is better than nothin.

if they won't help ya / did you pay w/ cash or credit card. if credit card, you might be able to use the dispute process.

 

[belle's mom]

Several years ago my daughters hand(her palm and little finger) was swollen and tender when she woke up one morning. She was staying with my mother for the day and I asked her to keep an eye on it and call me if it got worse. When I picked her up it was a little more swollen but she was not in much pain so I took her home for the night. About five hours later her fingers looked like stuffed sausages. I took her to the E.R. because it was spreading and it was a Saturday. We spent about four hours in the E.R. and they did alot of tests and came to me saying "we don't know what it is come back at noon tomorrow." Okay, no problem I'll come back. When we went back it took maybe 5 minutes for the new doctor to tell me it was celluitis and gave me a prescription for her.

The part that ticked me off was receiving the bill with two E.R. visits charged, I would have rather sat there for a few more hours and not get the second charge. I ended up disputing it with the hospital because the second visit was less than 9 hours from the end of the first visit, and the staff on duty being incompetant was the reason for the second visit. Needless to say, they took the second charge off my bill.

 

[Disneylush]

First off this happened about 6 weeks ago... my son is fine.
The day I took him to the Doctor's office was the day of my grandpa's funeral and I couldn't take him right away in the morning when I would have liked ot bc we had ot be at the church. So I walked right and asked when urgent care opened and I was an hour early but they said they were ahead with appts and he could be seen. The doctor didn't even touch him or look closely and said "it is a virus" so we left. The next morning at 6:00am he woke up crying that it hurt and was now down into his cheek down to his mouth! So I took him into ER and it was celluitis. The ER doc said the peds doc should have known. So I waited for the bill to come and now I will call. I have 20/80 insurance with a 1000 deduct, which he hasn't hit yet.

I wil let you know tomorrow what I find out