[FZ1Tom]

True story, and it happened to me, I swear!

Back in '91 when I busted up my leg and ankle dunking off a picnic table (that may sound pretty dumb but it wasn't the table I got hurt on, it was the freak offbalance crash landing, had tried to hang on the rim with my fingernails. Didn't work), I got a 25 mile ambulance ride down to the Hospital in AR. The rest, as they say is history. Leg and ankle broken in 5 places all told, ORIF the next morning, they kept me 3 extra days b/c my blood pressure had jumped up during surgery and they couldn't figure out a reason for it. Did a renal scan and cystoscopy, both inconclusive, sent me home with a couple meds. Turned out all it was, was they just kept making me madder b/c they kept telling me I couldn't go home just yet. Well anyways.

Some months later, I got the itemized hospital bill and read through it. Fascinating documents, itemized bills. Stryker cordless drill, $31.....general surgery, major, $2731.45....and so on. Lots of pain injections and meds. But two entries stood out. Tuesday morning, two injections, sodium pentothal 500mg. That sounds like an awful lot. Hmm.....but I got hurt on Sunday evening and had my operation Monday morning. It took them quite a bit of gas before I went under, but I definitely don't recall them doing anything of note Tuesday morning, and I certainly was awake and alert all day

I showed it to a friend of mine in college and he quipped "Son, they executed you.......and you never knew it!"

So do tell me, have I used up one of my nine lives or not? I'd bet on a billing department typo or some error, but can anyone tell me if I might actually have received those injections (I found the anesthesia they gassed me with separately, so I don't think it was used for the surgery or any other procedure). Inquiring minds wanna know

Tom

[Lys]

Firstly, sorry to hear of your execution ;-) *lol*

I just wanted to note (aloud of course ) that I'm actually shocked at the fact that they sent you an itemized bill! I live in Ontario and we have provinical health care that we never see the bills for...I'm just shocked that you get such a detailed bill after a stay in a hosptial there *lol*

I guess that really brings meaning to "informed care" no?

So did you ever call them to find out what the mistake was? ;-)

[Jamesdotter]

This reminds me of my experience with my second C/S. The anesthesiologist gave me a spinal and I was awake through the whole surgery, chatting with the anesth. about this and that. When I got the bill, it listed sodium pentothal as one fo the drugs used. I called his office and explained that I had not received the drug. The bookkeeper, who it turned out was also his wife, insisted that "Doctor always gives pentothal" When I found out that the billing was for the time elapsed and the drugs used weren't part of the bill I let the matter drop. She was not going to be convinced that "doctor" did anything different from his usual practice.

[mshultz]

Originally Posted by Lys

Firstly, sorry to hear of your execution ;-) *lol*

I just wanted to note (aloud of course ) that I'm actually shocked at the fact that they sent you an itemized bill! I live in Ontario and we have provinical health care that we never see the bills for...I'm just shocked that you get such a detailed bill after a stay in a hosptial there *lol*

I guess that really brings meaning to "informed care" no?

So did you ever call them to find out what the mistake was? ;-)

The amount of detail in the bill must depend on the hospital. My bills listed the procedures only. In order to find out what drugs I had been given, and the results of my lab tests, I had to request and pay for copies of my complete medical records ($30). Despite HIPAA, the medical records office is obviously not used to having patients request their records. I was told that most patients just request a summary, and that my request could be expensive. It was the realization that when I fill a prescription, I am given the drug name, dosage, and information pamphlet without asking that made me insist upon every record that I was entitled to under law.

[Franemtnurse]

Since our hospital has transferred to computer charting, we're not able to get our medical records locally. They're sent to a secure center. Upon your request for your records, they send you a bill. You have to pay the bill before they send you the records. The written reports are now very abbreviated, and general, with a notation at the bottom of the report that instructs the individual to destroy the them after they are read. Needless to say, I do not send for mine any longer. I get more info from my Medicare statement.