Thanks for the kind words, I was expecting a little worse - maybe those are
on the way.

The following may be a bit long - hopefully our generous moderators are
having a GREAT weekend and are in good spirits to let it pass.

I have been fortunate enough to have worked with an organization that
started implementing the "Lean" fundamentals in the late 90's. For those
that are not aware of the Leaning of an organization it is based on the
Toyota Production system, and the continuous elimination of waste from a
process or processes. Most think that "Lean" is only for production
environments but can easily be used in most any field and some in the
medical community are making great strides. I have read that first pass on
a process that has never been "Leaned" there is 30-40% waste. Now multiply
that times the $$ and you can see a lot of potential savings or cost
avoidance. Also making it more "error proof", last week there was TV
coverage of the medical mistake that almost took the lives of the Twin
babies of Dennis Quaid and how the hospital has made changes to hopefully
prevent the opportunity of human mistakes. Medical mistakes are a large
contributor of deaths in the U.S. each year.

Thanks again,
cil


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======================================= MODERATOR'S COMMENT:
Posters are requested to relate comments to personal financial planning.

"CIL" <Get_ba...[at]pork.org> wrote:
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Great point; great post.

If the patient, the “customer”, has to haggle prices with the medical
industry which is haggling with the insurance companies that should be
representing their customers (more “patients”) and sometime they are the
same patients, what a joke. Please keep in mind the salaries of all of the
hagglers and think of the waste is in this process.



So what is the actual cost of the procedure and how do the Doctors know if
they are making a profit or are working for grins - we are paying for it one
way or another.



cil



<Snip
<honda.lioness[at]gmail.com> wrote in message
news:4f051df6-6968-4902-a4ec-40f894178e36[at]z1g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
- quote -

Headlined in the online NY Times at
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/14/he...er=rss&emc=rss.

Excerpt:

[K]eep in mind that doctors, hospitals and medical labs are accustomed
to negotiating. After all, they do it all the time with insurers. A
hospital may have a dozen or more rates for one procedure, depending
on whether Medicare, Medicaid or a private insurer is paying the
bill... Your request for a special arrangement will hardly confound
their accounting department. And it is usually in everyone’s interest
to avoid dealing with a bill collector.

[Specific advise from the Times article]
Don’t be shy. “Patients are often intimidated by their doctors — it’s
the white coat,”... “But if you need help, speak up. Most are likely
to help out.” Talk directly to your doctor about your financial
situation. If that makes you uncomfortable, then go to the billing
manager. The office may be able to offer you a discount of 10 to 30
percent depending on the practice (specialists may offer a bigger
break), or propose a plan in which you pay your balance in a few
installments or on a monthly basis — typically at no interest.

Offer to pay cash upfront.

Be respectful. You’re negotiating for your health, not haggling over a
used car. So Dr. Moritz cautions you not to call your physician and
say: “Dr. So-and-So will do the procedure for $300 less. Can you match
that?”

Strike a deal before you check in. If you need shoulder surgery, for
instance, but don’t have insurance — or are facing a high hospital co-
payment — call the hospital’s billing department and explain that you
would like to discuss getting a discount and why. Dr. Moritz suggests
saying, “I’d like to pay the lowest rate you give an insurance
company.”

Research your final bill, and be ready to make a counteroffer. Like
doctors, hospitals would rather be paid something than nothing. They
lost $34 billion in 2007 on uncompensated care, up 55 percent from
2002.... Find out what Medicare would pay for your condition or
surgery, since that program tends to pay less than private insurers.
You can learn that at the federal Department of Health and Human
Services database, www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov, by clicking on the
gray button “find and compare hospitals.”

Negotiate with medical labs the same as you would doctors or hospitals
(see above).