Thursday, June 26, 2008

It is a business, after all...

Our son, unfortunately, has inherited my inferior immune system. I'm the person who catches everything..and it can't just be the common cold or stomach flu. No, I end up with some weird mutations of a common illness. My son seems to have developed this same propensity for catching rare and aggressive illnesses. We spent the day and much of the night in the hospital as he approached 3 days of profuse diarrhea and vomitting, while intaking virtually no fluids. His poor butt looks like raw meat.

I give you that background to ask this: Why are hospitals entirely inefficient in all aspects of operation except when it comes to collecting payment? We waited hours for them to decide that collecting my son's urine truly was not necessary. We waited forever for his medication to be dispensed. However, before the doctor even evaluated my son, before a decision was even made on whether to admit him or not, the financial advisor came to our room "for our convenience" to collect our payment. Here's the rub, aside from being wholly inappropriate when we are focused on keeping our sick and miserable son comfortable. If our son is not admitted and sent home we simply pay a substantial copay. However, if he is admitted the copay is waived and we pay the even more substantial sum of 20% of all services. So, our eager little bill collector was here to get our copay 2 hours before a decision was made on whether to discharge or not.

Why are hospitals slow and borderline incompetent in all facets of their operation except when it comes to collecting payment? Something to ponder....

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