Dr won't give me blood lab results unless I pay for "interpretation" visit (blood pressure, doctor)
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I went to doctor November for annual exam. (Obamacare)
While I'm there, dr says, oh by the way, I require a "follow up exam" for first time preventive exams. NOW she tells me? So I say okay...it's to go over my lab results, I figure, or whatever. I will have to pay for it out of pocket because of my deductible. Cost anywhere between $65 and $101, they tell me.
Next week I go in to give blood for standard lab work. (They only do it on certain days.)
Then a couple of weeks later, I go in for what I think is a followup exam to discuss lab results and general health. But that's not what it is. She wants to do a whole new physical exam. Weight, blood pressure, oxygen, etc. Everything that had just been done a couple of weeks before. I say no, that I wasn't prepared for this (I secretly figure this is some insurance scam)...I don't want to weigh and such right after Thanksgiving. I pig out at Thanksgiving, so this would be a false picture of my health (I'm in excellent health). So I leave, without having it done.
I just rec'd a "past due" notice from the dr office for $65 that ins co won't pay because it wasn't really a "preventive exam," supposedly. ??? This is my first notice, so it can't be past due.
I call dr. office this morning, and ask them when they first sent the "notice," since it says it's "past due." Girl who sent the letter isn't in. I then ask to be sent a copy of my lab results, since it has been paid for. She refuses...she's not authorized to do that, unless I come in for the nurse to "go over the results" with me (that's the follow up exam that turned out to be a real but fake exam?).
In this state, I've read that patients are entitled to receive their blood work without having to go through a doctor. In other words, I can go into a lab and get it on my own. So this dr office is supposed to give me my results, but is refusing.
Anyone else heard of this? Who would I complain to about this? (I'm stuck paying the $65...you can't argue with invoices they say you owe.) But do I really have to go to a lab and pay to get lab work on my own, when it's already been done and paid for?
If you can't get around the $65 fee, you can do what I have done as I live on fixed income -- if I feel billing is not fair etc, I will tell billing dept the best I can do is $10 a month etc..they take my credit card on the phone, they want $10 vs nothing. They will keep up on the billing.
My 4.5 month hospital/rehab saga has left me with stacks of copays I feel are not fair, as for starters I was NOT given a dx to get me healed faster. Doctors negligence I believe. I was entrusted to doctors and they failed me for months.
It sounds like a scam operation trying to churn the bill. I fell for that at my former cardiologist's office. After a visit and some tests which I already had the results on I get a call that I need to come in for another appt. I figure the doctor has something he wants to go over with me so I go to the appt. A nurse comes into the room and asks if I had any questions. I say no, I'm here because I was told the doctor wanted to talk to me. They didn't have anything to talk to me about and it was the end of the visit. I got billed for it too. I never did see the doctor. He's no longer my cardiologist.
Sending you the test results is something usually covered by the initial visit charge. If they won't give you the results and insist on getting paid the $65, file a complaint with your State's Consumer Protection Office, with the State Medical Board, and with JCAHO (though it is possible that office isn't under JCAHO). Responding to all of those groups is going to cost them a whole lot more than the $65 and giving you your results.
I would add that a nurse is not licensed to practice medicine and likely cannot legally interpret the lab results for you unless it is a Nurse Practitioner they want you to see.
I've learned to read my labs pretty well. If something is WAY out of line, then it's worth a visit to doc for their help, then I am willing to pay or not. If some readings/ranges are a bit out of line, then I do my research and work on getting into better ranges.
I'm one here who avoids drugs as best I can and so go to work with all that is out there to help ourselves.
If you can't get around the $65 fee, you can do what I have done as I live on fixed income -- if I feel billing is not fair etc, I will tell billing dept the best I can do is $10 a month etc..they take my credit card on the phone, they want $10 vs nothing. They will keep up on the billing.
My 4.5 month hospital/rehab saga has left me with stacks of copays I feel are not fair, as for starters I was NOT given a dx to get me healed faster. Doctors negligence I believe. I was entrusted to doctors and they failed me for months.
Oh, I'm paying the $65. The ins. co. didn't, so I have to, it seems. Whatever.
My problem is with not getting my blood test lab results because they refuse to give them to me without another "exam" so they can discuss them or interpret them for me.
All patients have a right to their medical records, is my understanding. And in my state, in particular, there is a statute specifically saying that patients don't need a doctor's release to get blood test lab results.
Oh, I'm paying the $65. The ins. co. didn't, so I have to, it seems. Whatever.
My problem is with not getting my blood test lab results because they refuse to give them to me without another "exam" so they can discuss them or interpret them for me.
All patients have a right to their medical records, is my understanding. And in my state, in particular, there is a statute specifically saying that patients don't need a doctor's release to get blood test lab results.
My MD sends me copies of my annual labs. I have hard copies. And now they offer this portal online service but I plead tech ignorance. If they want a fee to send me hard copies, I'd pay it within reason.
It sounds like a scam operation trying to churn the bill. I fell for that at my former cardiologist's office. After a visit and some tests which I already had the results on I get a call that I need to come in for another appt. I figure the doctor has something he wants to go over with me so I go to the appt. A nurse comes into the room and asks if I had any questions. I say no, I'm here because I was told the doctor wanted to talk to me. They didn't have anything to talk to me about and it was the end of the visit. I got billed for it too. I never did see the doctor. He's no longer my cardiologist.
Sending you the test results is something usually covered by the initial visit charge. If they won't give you the results and insist on getting paid the $65, file a complaint with your State's Consumer Protection Office, with the State Medical Board, and with JCAHO (though it is possible that office isn't under JCAHO). Responding to all of those groups is going to cost them a whole lot more than the $65 and giving you your results.
I would add that a nurse is not licensed to practice medicine and likely cannot legally interpret the lab results for you unless it is a Nurse Practitioner they want you to see.
Thanks. Yes, sounds like it was a cost scam, and they're holding my blood test lab results hostage.
I'm just going to pay the $65...that's an insurance thing, BASED UPON SOME INACCURACY IN THE DOCTOR'S RECORDS, because preventive exams are supposed to be no charge to the patient under the ACA. But to make things simple, I'll just pay it.
It's not getting my blood test results that irks me. It's paid for. They're mine. I'll send a letter asking for them, so I'll have that in writing. Then I'll file complaints if they don't send them to me.
I'm so glad to know that I'm not the only one who's been scammed for extra visits.
I would not be making a return visit to that doc! We are lucky we have a portal that we log into and the results of any tests are posted usually within a day or two. Only occasionally has my husband had to see the doctor concerning a blood test result, but only when there is an issue that needs to be addressed.
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