Download Take This Book To The Hospital With You: Newly Revised and Updated eBook

Long story short, went to the er out of pain and fear that my appendix may burst and cause death. Quick money saving lessons learned at my BIG expense. Lesson 1. Don't look up your symptoms on the internet and don't trust Web Md or any internet medical advice because at best they err on the side of caution thanks to lawyers and at worst they direct people to the hospital money machine. Internet medical site made me think I was having an appendix problem and also said not to take a antacid which can make it worse. Lesson 2. Have strong prescription pain medication available to manage late night weekend pain to allow non hospital doctor visit. Having a loved one crying in pain and waiting hours or days till regular doctor office is open will be tough for a person to do, so its the ER or wait. Lesson 3. Try over the counter heartburn medication to see if it stops the pain your having because you don't want to go to a regular doctor clinic only for them to tell you to take over the counter pain medication which you could've done before spending the money and time going to the doctor. I didn't have any heart burn burning sensation at all, instead my stomach felt like I was punched in the gut, sometimes the pain would radiate to my kidneys and lower back. In fact from my research there have been people who went to the ER thinking they were having a heart attack only to be told it was heartburn. So I'm taking an heartburn medication for any internal pain in by abdominal area. So I go with no health insurance to the hospital er, yea I knew it would be more expensive than a regular doctor visit but as I said I was in pain and was thinking my appendix was going to burst and die thanks to Web Md. Before any test were donte my nurse practitoner told me that it was not my appendex because of the location of my pain so I was thankful for that. So I have blood work done, IV bag given to me, Sonogram, and CT scan with contrast. At the time I even questioned if the CT scan was necessary because they mentioned all the x rays it does and radioactive contrast they wanted to use. But my questions were never answered and ignored by hospital staff and the test was done anyway. After all the test were done, Nurse practitioner told me to take over the counter heart burn medication. The bill for all this? Nurse practitioner fee alone was 2 grand, blood work was 2 grand, Ct scan was 9 grand, IV bag 500 dollars. It was over 14 grand to be told to take over the counter heartburn medication. The expensive tests requested by the nurse practitioner didn't indicate to try heartburn medication, that was something she knew to try from experience from treating people who suffered the same way I was suffering so why did she request all these expensive and harmful x ray test? Follow the money.
Why so much? Because uninsured people get hit twice. They are punished with uninsured health penalty tax and with the full price of the Hospital Charge Master list. The Charge Master prices are often 10x or more the cost the hospital pays. Excellent time magazine article available on kindle for 99 cent call Bitter Pill talks about all this. There is also a excellent video called Wait Till Its Free. So in truth Medicare aka the government gets the best discount off the hospitals highly over infalted Charge Master prices and pay 35 percent but Joe public thinks the government is being billed the charge master prices. Your Gold health insurance you pay dearly for gets you a 40 percent discount on the charge master prices but again Joe public sees the charge master prices and think the insurance is paying the rest. Its a win win win scam situation for the Hospitals, health insurance companies and the government because even at the government paying 35 percent of the charge master price the hospitals are still making money profits, Hospitals are making even more profit money with insurance discount so all the health insurance companies are doing is giving Joe public a discount on the over priced hospital prices and hosptials really making money off the poor uninsured by charging them the full charge master prices. Sure I got a offer of 20 percent discount for paying in full and being uninsured. What a joke. But here is where uncle same wins too....the highly over inflated charge master prices gets write off by the hospital and then uncle SAM can come after you for taxes for the unpaid hospital bill. Also hospitals can get judgment to put liens on your property and garnish you checks. So seeing how this is huge money, I now know why none of the Over the counter medication books, home doctor books, dealing with hospital books, dealing with medical billing books have been helpful in my situation or to avoid the situation. Who wants to help Joe public when everyone else is getting rich off of him. So in truth, everything you worked for your whole life is at risk of being ripped away from a hospital visit you need to stop the pain or under threat of death.
This book MEDICAL BILL SURVIVAL WORKBOOK did help me find some billing errors and that would've saved me alot of money but both the hospital and ER doctor refused to make the correction or admit to any errors. In particular it was level billing errors. The doctor charged at a Level 5 and the hospital charged at a Level 4. Right off the bat the hospital bill dispute response letter I received it said that its review of the bill DOES NOT ADDRESS MEDICAL NECESSITY OR THE REASONABLENESS OF ANY CHARGE. But only looks at the medical records and compares it to what was done to the sucker aka patient. The hospital contracts with doctors to work the ER so even in a in network health insurance covered ER visit you can still be hit with a big doctor bill...my nurse practitioner was 2 grand for less than 30 minute face to face time. Hospital claimed Level 4 bill was correct because the doctor ordered a CT scan which to my understanding now days are given to patients like candy because its a big money maker for hospitals. Do hospital workers know how much their unnecessary services hurt patients financially becuase I don't think they would be able to sleep at night?
In short with the guidance of the medical bill dispute book...your hope is to find incorrect amount billing for what was charged versus for what was done or given to you and that takes inside knowledge to know and to catch these types of billing errors. For example you may be billed for a spark gap conductors procedure and see another charge for short burst dc conduits procedure on the same hospital bill. You would have to know the medical terminology of what they are talking about and what materials are used and what is typically done in such procedures to be able to know or dispute the charge. In this example case a mechanic or someone with experience with car repairs would know that its standard procedure to replace spark plug wires with the spark plugs and thus should not be two totally separate more expensive charges instead of one all inclusive charge.
Then Joe public has no influence once he does find a dispute error. Uninsured Joe public are completely powerless. The best that health insured Joe public can hope for is to instigate a fight between the 800 pound hospital gorilla with the 800 pound health insurance gorilla by pointing out the fact that the hospital gorilla took one to many bananas from the insurance gorilla in excessive fees and charges and thus it helps insured Joe public by lowering his total medical bill in which he has to pay out of pocket.

It would be a huge help to find a book or article of the 10 most commonly prescribed Over the counter medications prescribed for emergency room visits. That way a person would know what to try before even stepping foot in a hospital ER. But I could not find such a thing and if anyone does please list the google search words used find it and specific names in the article so others to find it too. Here is a list of other useless books that I spent money on. Hoping to find something that would've been helpful to me to avoid the situation i was in or at least tell me to take heartburn medication for adobmenal pain..

The Pill Book Guide to Over The Counter Medications

ER: Enter at Your Own Risk by Dr. Joel Cohen

The Peoples Medical Society Health Desk Reference

The over-the-counter doctor

Getting the Most for your medical dollar

Over the counter drugs

Roberts Practical Guide to Common Medical Emergencies by James R. Roberts M.D.

Took this to the hospital, and laid it out....great book....purchase it if you need to go....:-)

This is a must have and read book. If you want an expose' on how the hospitals
and doctors rip us and Medicare off, this is it. You will be shocked.

The author has written a number of very good books on the subject of health care value. This is no exception. The book
places great value in reviewing hospital bills in detail to detect unnecessary charges and areas where generic drugs could provide cheaper alternatives over the long term. In addition,
the institution you choose should have a good nosomial infection
record . Many patients die from the disease they contract in the
hospital rather than the condition upon entry. Some patients
actually have family members that get jobs in the hospital to
oversee loved ones and take advantage of benefits and reduced employee costs. Board certification is another important item for
the treating physicians and surgeons. Perhaps there is no greater
benefit to the patient than having a comprehensive knowledge
of the condition being treated and the alternative treatment
modalities whether conventional or alternative medicine.
Wise utilization of the ambulatory care centers and outpatient
clinics are another important set of options for patients.
Conditions requiring continuous monitoring and post-followup
reviews are best treated in the outpatient care centers.
This volume is a treasure chest of medicinal information pertinent to any medical consumer. The work is a good value
at the price charged.

I'm preparing to have surgery in a month or so and have read MANY books on being the hospital, what to expect, etc. This book manages to combine all the "patient's rights/protect yourself" information with some very concrete questions to ask of the hospital administration when evaluating a facility. The appendix also has wonderful forms you can use for keeping track of who gives you what when, since after reading this book, you will inevitably be checking your bill with a magnifying glass (and finding numerous mistakes, as 98.5% of all hospital bills contain them, according to the author). Since this book is endorsed by the People's Medical Society, a non-profit consumer organization that I think has ties to the Rodale Foundation, it's nice to know that the revisions of this volume have input from previous readers sharing their experiences (and how the book helped them in their own hospital experience). I feel that I will be a better patient and advocate for myself as a result of reading it - and I definitely plan to bring it to the hospital!

Residents are being paid for by the teaching hospitals? No, Medicaid pays for residents, the hospitals only distribute that pay and keep a good portion for themselves. Physicians can just use a patient as a teaching case for students? Actually, they need specific permission whenever a patient is used outside of clinical care circumstances. This permission in most teaching hospitals needs to be given as an expressed written consent. Nurses run the show? The same way a stewardess runs the show on an airplane; just ask a nurse how much power they have and you will hear a lot of stories in which nurses wished they had been able to give more of an input to make the patient safe and happy.
These are a few examples of why I sent this book back very quickly. Overall, this book is full of wrong information. Using this as a template on how to communicate with hospital staff during your stay is a surefire way to alienate the staff. The reason behind the book is great, but the only important message is this: If you have a problem, talk to the higher ups - don't talk to the nurse, talk to the nurse manager. Don't complain to a resident, talk to the attending physician. Easy things like this will help during a hospital stay. This book will not!