Mayo Clinic

JLH · Post by **JLH** » Sun Dec 26, 2010 9:34 am

Star Tribune (Minneapolis): Feds Accuse Mayo Clinic Of False Billing
The U.S. Justice Department has accused the Mayo Clinic of submitting false claims to Medicare and other federal programs for lab tests it never performed (Lerner, 12/20).

Post by **tex** » Sun Dec 26, 2010 11:04 am

Shame on them for getting caught - they must have been pretty flagrant, because to be honest, I though that was standard operating procedure for most hospitals, these days.

Tex

MaggieRedwings · Post by **MaggieRedwings** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 7:08 am

I agree Tex.

Just think that when I went through the rabies shots last month I finally got to see the hospital bills. A real revelation. Suture removal was $132.70 for each visit. I called then and said what sutures - I didn't have any. Come to find out that taking the band aid off the cut was suture removal.

LOve, Maggie

JLH · Post by **JLH** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 8:56 am

WOW!

Post by **tex** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 10:41 am

Maggie wrote:Come to find out that taking the band aid off the cut was suture removal.

Thanks for a good laugh this morning. The problem is, though, while it seems funny, all those "little" items on hospital bills costs this country millions of dollars every day, and it's all so unnecessary, and so pathetic that they continue to get away with it, since it's SOP. And it's the hospitals that are doing that billing, not the doctors.

Love,
Tex

JLH · Post by **JLH** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 1:45 pm

It's really sickening that they can charge that much for taking off a bandage.

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 3:53 pm

I went to see a physical therapist to get some exercises for my elbow and the nurse wanted to weigh me and take my blood pressure. When I asked her why (knowing that they can charge the insurance for every little thing they do) she didn't know--it was just standard procedure. Uh-huh.

Post by **tex** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 4:38 pm

When I went back for a few followup visits after my surgery last February, the first time, an intern actually removed the staples that were left from the surgery, but the second and third times only required that someone, (again, interns), look at the incision, to make sure that a small section that had split open was healing properly. I had to pack it with gauze, daily, to absorb the fluids that drained from it, so the only things that they had to do, were to peel off a bandage, (that was not much more than a big band-aid), and pull out the gauze, and eyeball the incision, and tell me that it looked fine.

I've forgotten what the doctor fee was, (it wasn't totally unreasonable), but the hospital charge, alone, each time, for less than 15 minutes of total time in a sparse, approximately 8' x 10' "exam room", was, (if I remember right), either $314, or $341, . If hotels could charge that same rate for a room, even if the lower number is used, in 24 hours, the total bill would amount to $30,144.

Of course, the hospitals don't use those rooms for 24 hours a day, but still, imagine what it adds up to every day. They surely use each room a dozen or so times each day, and they have dozens of rooms for that purpose.

That's a heck of a return on their investment.

Tex

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Tue Dec 28, 2010 7:55 pm

Paying for the free health care they have to give to people without insurance who show up in emergency rooms for treatment. Well, that's perilously close to a political comment, so I will stop there...