Toba
07-01-2010, 06:46 PM
A year or two ago, I had a breast biopsy at the hospital where my husband has worked for 21 years. The doctor that is on staff at the hospital (meaning he is a salaried employee of the hospital), not only staff but head of the surgical unit. I was very, very groggy when he did the needle insertion while I was getting another mammogram before surgery. We had gotten a bill from him not long after the surgery for $50. DH asked his boss about it, because in every instance before, a salaried doctor can not then re-bill the patient under his own name. (Plus if we go to DH's hospital, any hospital service, including the service that a salaried doctor provides, is covered 100%) So we did nothing about it. I think he sent one more bill and again DH called his boss (who is the head of basically anything to do with finance there) and his boss said he'd take care of it.
Cut back to present day ... I got a weird message on my answering machine last evening. It was a lawyer's office saying they had an old debt of mine that my DH was working on with them. Apparently, he said he would pay the debt but he needed to know who the doctor was ... it's the same doctor. Then she (the law aide) went on to list the entire course of events leading up and after the bill .... meaning that I had a breast biopsy, deep lymph node tissue that was benign, on and on. My husband, being employed by a hospital for those 21 years and who can rattle off any Joint Commission violation or HIPPA law at will), couldn't believe what he was hearing. He is so angry that he's talking about suing for HIPPA breach (I know he's just yapping, we've had a very, very bad day today which I'm sure I'll write about in a bit).
Any other healthcare workers that know about HIPPA laws want to chime in? He hasn't had a chance to talk to his boss today, and likely won't see him until Tuesday after the holiday.
Cut back to present day ... I got a weird message on my answering machine last evening. It was a lawyer's office saying they had an old debt of mine that my DH was working on with them. Apparently, he said he would pay the debt but he needed to know who the doctor was ... it's the same doctor. Then she (the law aide) went on to list the entire course of events leading up and after the bill .... meaning that I had a breast biopsy, deep lymph node tissue that was benign, on and on. My husband, being employed by a hospital for those 21 years and who can rattle off any Joint Commission violation or HIPPA law at will), couldn't believe what he was hearing. He is so angry that he's talking about suing for HIPPA breach (I know he's just yapping, we've had a very, very bad day today which I'm sure I'll write about in a bit).
Any other healthcare workers that know about HIPPA laws want to chime in? He hasn't had a chance to talk to his boss today, and likely won't see him until Tuesday after the holiday.