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Our daughter has lived in Venice for almost 18 yrs now and we tried to get into her practice when we moved full time but no doctors—not even the newer ones—were taking new Medicare patients—
They always asked if we had Parts A and B and a supplement vs Advantage so I know it makes a difference if you are Medicare vs an employer’s insurance
My husband found a PCP dr who if across from Pincher’s restaurant—not far from us—who uses Sarasota Memorial and I was able to get in too—his practice recently merged/was bought out with another one which I am not too happy about but don’t want to find another doctor
My husband was a patient of Dr. Kondapalli a GI specialist here and found a dermatologist and now a dentist and a periodontist…and a good Opthamologist
And we moved in May full time
Our daughter has lived in Venice for almost 18 yrs now and we tried to get into her practice when we moved full time but no doctors—not even the newer ones—were taking new Medicare patients—
They always asked if we had Parts A and B and a supplement vs Advantage so I know it makes a difference if you are Medicare vs an employer’s insurance
My husband found a PCP dr who if across from Pincher’s restaurant—not far from us—who uses Sarasota Memorial and I was able to get in too—his practice recently merged/was bought out with another one which I am not too happy about but don’t want to find another doctor
My husband was a patient of Dr. Kondapalli a GI specialist here and found a dermatologist and now a dentist and a periodontist…and a good Opthamologist
And we moved in May full time
Make sure whatever PCP/Doc practice you have are able to see you in Venice Hospital, because if there's an emergency in the Venice area, they are compelled to take you there...if its the closest hospital.
I'm too young to know anything about A & B or supplement vs. advantage, but what combo would give you the best chance of landing a PCP in Venice? When my time comes, I'll just buy that combination.
I hope potential real estate buyers in the Venice area area reading this thread to get informed by people who have experienced the healthcare system here.
I've been in both Venice Hospital and Sarasota Memorial hospital within the past 2 years. Frankly I wasn't impressed with either one.
When I was admitted to Venice Hospital I told the admitting person that I live in a home in Nokomis. Next day a doctor comes in my room looking at my chart and says: "I see that you're homeless". Apparently the admitting person has some kind of dyslexia and she mistook Nokomis home for homeless.
Also I constantly get calls from bill collectors and other nonsense because some guy had my current number like 10 years ago. Venice Hospital never updated his file with his current phone number. And just about 2 weeks ago I got a call from Venice Hospital (thinking that I was that guy) -- saying that his car had been there since October - and it had to be moved or they were going to tow it away.
Also several months ago I went to the emergency room at Venice Hospital. I had to sit there for about 8 hours before I was looked at. This was when Covid was still pretty high in our area - but still seemed like a long wait.
When I was at Sarasota Memorial Hospital they were always bringing me the wrong meals, bringing the meal late or forgetting all together. They also scheduled tests at such time that I couldn't eat dinner or lunch - so went hungry half the time.
The cardioligist there over-did it and prescribed me like half a dozen blood pressure meds. And then when I got home all of those meds made me so dizzy I could barely stand up.
Also at that time I was very weak and wanted to go to a rehab facility to gain some strength back before I went home. SMH tried for like 2 days to find a rehab facility that had an opening and would accept my insurance. When they couldn't find anything they literally kicked me out of the hospital when I was barely strong enough to get out of bed - and told me to go home.
Last edited by wondermint2; 04-05-2022 at 06:23 PM..
When I was admitted to Venice Hospital I told the admitting person that I live in a home in Nokomis. Next day a doctor comes in my room looking at my chart and says: "I see that you're homeless". Apparently the admitting person has some kind of dyslexia and she mistook Nokomis home for homeless.
I'm not laughing at you, but your story is the funniest thing I've seen today! Nokomis = no home-is?
I'm not laughing at you, but your story is the funniest thing I've seen today! Nokomis = no home-is?
Yeah I've had some kind of bizarre things happen with Venice Hospital. For instance this "other guy" that had my phone number 10 years ago - which Venice Hospital never updated - and now they're (mistakenly) calling my number asking for this guy because his car has been at their hospital since October and they want it moved.
Seems to me if this guys car has been their for months that he was in the hospital there and got released to some kind of nursing home or rehab facility. Or maybe now he's even dead. But IMO the hospital should have that information of where he was released to back in October. Based on my experiences with them they just seem a bit disorganized and sloppy in their procedures.
Another possibility that I thought of is this guy could deliberately be not giving his real current phone number to doctors & health facilities because he's a dead-beat and he doesn't have health insurance. Based on the large amount of collection agencies that call me asking for this guy is why I consider this to be a possibility. Or maybe he's senile. I tried doing some detective work on the internet and that's how I found out he used to have my phone number 10 years ago. But I drew nothing but blanks in trying to find out his current phone number.
Last edited by wondermint2; 04-11-2022 at 02:45 PM..
I've been in both Venice Hospital and Sarasota Memorial hospital within the past 2 years. Frankly I wasn't impressed with either one.
When I was admitted to Venice Hospital I told the admitting person that I live in a home in Nokomis. Next day a doctor comes in my room looking at my chart and says: "I see that you're homeless". Apparently the admitting person has some kind of dyslexia and she mistook Nokomis home for homeless.
Also I constantly get calls from bill collectors and other nonsense because some guy had my current number like 10 years ago. Venice Hospital never updated his file with his current phone number. And just about 2 weeks ago I got a call from Venice Hospital (thinking that I was that guy) -- saying that his car had been there since October - and it had to be moved or they were going to tow it away.
Also several months ago I went to the emergency room at Venice Hospital. I had to sit there for about 8 hours before I was looked at. This was when Covid was still pretty high in our area - but still seemed like a long wait.
When I was at Sarasota Memorial Hospital they were always bringing me the wrong meals, bringing the meal late or forgetting all together. They also scheduled tests at such time that I couldn't eat dinner or lunch - so went hungry half the time.
The cardioligist there over-did it and prescribed me like half a dozen blood pressure meds. And then when I got home all of those meds made me so dizzy I could barely stand up.
Also at that time I was very weak and wanted to go to a rehab facility to gain some strength back before I went home. SMH tried for like 2 days to find a rehab facility that had an opening and would accept my insurance. When they couldn't find anything they literally kicked me out of the hospital when I was barely strong enough to get out of bed - and told me to go home.
In regards to your ER experience several months ago at Venice hospital, around that time ( and last year as well), you'd have found virtually the same scenario no matter where you sought ER ( or Urgent Care) medical attention anywhere along the SW FL coast from Naples to Tampa and points north, and probably all over Florida. We were seeing 12-16 hour waits in the ERs in our small hospitals in Charlotte county, it was being reported at the hospitals in Collier, Lee and Sarasota county as well. They were reporting being deluged with people who had recently moved from other states,, most of whom had been unable to find primary care or other physicians and who were using the ERs or Urgent Care centers for their medical care. The news media was reporting these visits as the facilities being "overwhelmed with covid cases", though the reality was ( according to
doctors, nurses and ER employees I spoke to) that while some of these people did have covid, it was nowhere near the majority of them. They told us that a number of these people were really sick, either with chronic conditions that had been let go in the states they came from ( where healthcare waa limited to covid covid covid all the time) or acute illnesses possibly brought about by stress and whatever else. We were told that these people needed to be admitted, so filled the hospitals' capacities, which then caused a backlog of patients in the ER who needed to be admitted but had to stay in the ER, filling up the ER beds, which caused the very long waits in the ER.
We saw this in person when I took my daughter to the ER ( a last resort, ERs and medical care here are always overwhelmed during snowbird season, and they get here earlier and earlier every year) in Punta Gorda last year. She'd had a severe GI thing for several days and we were afraid she was dehydrated enough to go into kidney failure as she had one time previously. We waited for about 8 hours for her to be seen ( there were about 100 people who came in while we were there, including a number of homeless people -apparently they moved here from their northern encampments in droves too), and we could see the staff was stretched beyond the maximum and exhausted. My daughter had a critically low potassium level, and ended up taking up one of those ER beds as she received IV potassium replacement, and she was discharged the following day.
From our 8 hour wait in the ER waiting room, and overhearing the conversations around us, as well as talking to some of those people, we can verify that most of them were recent transplants who had been unable to find PCPs. In some cases they had turned away from urgent care centers that were already full beyond their capacities.
Thx for sharing your story. So much for the fear mongering claimed in post #11 in this thread
If I had a do-over, I'd had moved a bit further North to escape the Venice Hospital footprint. Being younger than most arund here, and in good health, we didn't emphasize healthcare enough in our home-buying decision, but 4 years ago was nothing like it is today either. Hindsight is 20-20.
How could we have known that no concierge Docs practice in the Venice Hospital footprint.
If our health deteriates to the point that medical care becomes much more important, I could see that pushing us 15-25 minutes further North....unless they tear down Venice Hospital.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Travelassie
In regards to your ER experience several months ago at Venice hospital, around that time ( and last year as well), you'd have found virtually the same scenario no matter where you sought ER ( or Urgent Care) medical attention anywhere along the SW FL coast from Naples to Tampa and points north, and probably all over Florida. We were seeing 12-16 hour waits in the ERs in our small hospitals in Charlotte county, it was being reported at the hospitals in Collier, Lee and Sarasota county as well. They were reporting being deluged with people who had recently moved from other states,, most of whom had been unable to find primary care or other physicians and who were using the ERs or Urgent Care centers for their medical care. The news media was reporting these visits as the facilities being "overwhelmed with covid cases", though the reality was ( according to
doctors, nurses and ER employees I spoke to) that while some of these people did have covid, it was nowhere near the majority of them. They told us that a number of these people were really sick, either with chronic conditions that had been let go in the states they came from ( where healthcare waa limited to covid covid covid all the time) or acute illnesses possibly brought about by stress and whatever else. We were told that these people needed to be admitted, so filled the hospitals' capacities, which then caused a backlog of patients in the ER who needed to be admitted but had to stay in the ER, filling up the ER beds, which caused the very long waits in the ER.
We saw this in person when I took my daughter to the ER ( a last resort, ERs and medical care here are always overwhelmed during snowbird season, and they get here earlier and earlier every year) in Punta Gorda last year. She'd had a severe GI thing for several days and we were afraid she was dehydrated enough to go into kidney failure as she had one time previously. We waited for about 8 hours for her to be seen ( there were about 100 people who came in while we were there, including a number of homeless people -apparently they moved here from their northern encampments in droves too), and we could see the staff was stretched beyond the maximum and exhausted. My daughter had a critically low potassium level, and ended up taking up one of those ER beds as she received IV potassium replacement, and she was discharged the following day.
From our 8 hour wait in the ER waiting room, and overhearing the conversations around us, as well as talking to some of those people, we can verify that most of them were recent transplants who had been unable to find PCPs. In some cases they had turned away from urgent care centers that were already full beyond their capacities.
Thx for sharing your story. So much for the fear mongering claimed in post #11 in this thread
If I had a do-over, I'd had moved a bit further North to escape the Venice Hospital footprint. Being younger than most arund here, and in good health, we didn't emphasize healthcare enough in our home-buying decision, but 4 years ago was nothing like it is today either. Hindsight is 20-20.
How could we have known that no concierge Docs practice in the Venice Hospital footprint.
If our health deteriates to the point that medical care becomes much more important, I could see that pushing us 15-25 minutes further North....unless they tear down Venice Hospital.
Yeah, as I understand it the Venice Regional hospital ( formerly Bayfront name now changed to Shorepointe, which doesn't change much, IMO, about the place) has less than a stellar reputation, not unlike its sister hospitals here in Charlotte county.
We've had mixed experiences in those hospitals, some good, some not so good.
I thought at one time they were talking of tearing down the Venice Regional- one of the problems with it being on the island, so not as accessible in the event a hurricane took out the bridge over the intracoastal waterway. That's what my daughter told me- she works for a medical group up there. I know at one time the Bayfront group that runs that hospital was in competition with Sarasota Memorial, I think it was, for a state certificate of need and approval to build a new hospital in the Venice area ( not on the island) but IIRC both groups received the CON and it turned out the group had no money to either renovate or even demolish the Venice hospital.
I know there are a few concierge primary care practices here in Charlotte county, and wonder if you find there aren't in Venice it's for reasons other than for not wanting to be associated with a hospital they don't believe provides adequate care. I say that as it seems that while primary care doctors get admitting privileges to hospitals in the area, they don't generally take care of or visit patients when they are hospitalized, that is left to hospitalists ( docs employed either by the hospitals or physicians' management groups). Though concierge practice docs may still see their hospitalized patients- I don't know either way.
But I'd say unless you have an emergency at home and are hauled off to the nearest hospital in an ambulance, I wouldn't think you're tied to the Venice hospital on the island, even if your primary doc has privileges there, you can go anywhere you want to for your medical care. I know any number of people in our area who prefer to go to Sarasota, or even to Ft. Myers for their care, or when they need a hospital. I think you have other choices up there in Venice as well.
As for overall medical care in this area, I believe it was adequate back in the day when the population was much smaller, back before (speaking about Charlotte county here) the snowbirds who have flocked to Sarasota county and points north, Collier county north to Lee county ever discovered Charlotte county. We've seen unprecedented, exponential population growth of both seasonal visitors and permanent transplants to the area, and its a herculean, maybe impossible for the infrastructure, as well as medical services to keep up with the demand. Hopefully we'll get there, ( unless the healthcare infrastructure collapses nationally under the weight of regulations, demands and obfuscation by the Powers That Be) as I see expanding healthcare facilities, ads for additional doctors and other healthcare personnel evverywhere. But it does take time.
You asked about Medicare choices a few posts back, ie information about what would leave you with the widest choice of doctors. Assuming that Medicare choices are set up in your future the way they are now, that would be traditional Medicare Part B, which pays for doctors' visits and outpatient services. You'd see doctors that have accepted Medicare assignment, meaning that they have agreed to accept the Medicare rates ( which are significantly less than billed amounts) as payment in full, and Medicare pays 80% of that amount, with you being responsible for the other 20%.
If you take on a supplemental Part B policy with another insurance provider ( such as Blue Cross, Aetna, there are many out there) they will pay the 20% copays for docs visits, outpatient services. They may cover other expenses but these vary among the policies. You can go to Medicare.gov to find infomation about Medicare supplemental policies.
The current advantage of traditional Medicare plus a supplemental is that you would be able to see any doctor who accepts Medicare. Depending on where you live, it maybe more or less difficult to find practitioners who take Medicare. But generally, in an area populated such as we are with retired and elderly people who need medical care, you will find most healthcare providers do accept Medicare. My preference will always be traditional Medicare plus a supplement, though it's the more expensive of the options, as you pay the monthly premium ( currently $170 for most) , the premium for the supplement ( which can be around $200-300 depending on the policy and age of the recipient) and a separate policy ( Part D) if you want prescription drug coverage.
Medicare part C options- these are policies set up by private insurance companies ( often HMOs or PPOs) for Medicare recipients. Medicare pays a per capita fee to these companies to provide the medical care to their Medical enrollees, and these people are subject to the terms and conditions set up by the company. These policies vary as well, many are HMOs which limit their policyholders to the "in-network" providers, including primary care docs, specialists, and healthcare facilities, and will not provide coverage to anyone outside the network. I'm of the impression that PPOs are not so limiting as to providers, compared with the HMOs. Another disadvantage of these Part C plans can be their requirement for prior approval from a patient's primary care doc for every and all visits to specialists, for all procedures, and even most prescription drugs. Prior approval can be a good thing but when it gets mired up in bureaucratic tape, incompetence, and used as an excuse to delay or deny coverage, well that's not good and may be devastating to a patient. There are some good plans, others not so great- depends on the plans. You'll find, generally, that there are not that many doctors that will take ( at least some) Medicare
Advantage plans, especially HMO type plans.
Medicare Part C plans are attractive to patients as the premiums tend to be less ( again, depending on the plan) and in some cases cost nothing as the plans may reimburse a patient all or part of his Medicare Part B premium ( one must be enrolled in Part A and B Medicare to have any of these policies). But there are deductibles and copays for medical care, again depending on the policy. These plans may offer incentives ( think Joe Namath or JJ "It's FREEEE" on those TV medicare ads) to attract people to their plans, but one's gotta read the small print there or be taken for a ride.
Thx for all the info. This medical stuff is waaay too complicated. Almost as bad as doing tax returns
Leave it up to govt to screw things up through over-regulation.
Your post makes me want to move to another country. I see the entire medical care & insurance industry as quasi gov't, & I hate that.
There seems to be no real competition, so the customer (patient) comes last. It all sounds very broken to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Travelassie
Yeah, as I understand it the Venice Regional hospital ( formerly Bayfront name now changed to Shorepointe, which doesn't change much, IMO, about the place) has less than a stellar reputation, not unlike its sister hospitals here in Charlotte county.
We've had mixed experiences in those hospitals, some good, some not so good.
I thought at one time they were talking of tearing down the Venice Regional- one of the problems with it being on the island, so not as accessible in the event a hurricane took out the bridge over the intracoastal waterway. That's what my daughter told me- she works for a medical group up there. I know at one time the Bayfront group that runs that hospital was in competition with Sarasota Memorial, I think it was, for a state certificate of need and approval to build a new hospital in the Venice area ( not on the island) but IIRC both groups received the CON and it turned out the group had no money to either renovate or even demolish the Venice hospital.
I know there are a few concierge primary care practices here in Charlotte county, and wonder if you find there aren't in Venice it's for reasons other than for not wanting to be associated with a hospital they don't believe provides adequate care. I say that as it seems that while primary care doctors get admitting privileges to hospitals in the area, they don't generally take care of or visit patients when they are hospitalized, that is left to hospitalists ( docs employed either by the hospitals or physicians' management groups). Though concierge practice docs may still see their hospitalized patients- I don't know either way.
But I'd say unless you have an emergency at home and are hauled off to the nearest hospital in an ambulance, I wouldn't think you're tied to the Venice hospital on the island, even if your primary doc has privileges there, you can go anywhere you want to for your medical care. I know any number of people in our area who prefer to go to Sarasota, or even to Ft. Myers for their care, or when they need a hospital. I think you have other choices up there in Venice as well.
As for overall medical care in this area, I believe it was adequate back in the day when the population was much smaller, back before (speaking about Charlotte county here) the snowbirds who have flocked to Sarasota county and points north, Collier county north to Lee county ever discovered Charlotte county. We've seen unprecedented, exponential population growth of both seasonal visitors and permanent transplants to the area, and its a herculean, maybe impossible for the infrastructure, as well as medical services to keep up with the demand. Hopefully we'll get there, ( unless the healthcare infrastructure collapses nationally under the weight of regulations, demands and obfuscation by the Powers That Be) as I see expanding healthcare facilities, ads for additional doctors and other healthcare personnel evverywhere. But it does take time.
You asked about Medicare choices a few posts back, ie information about what would leave you with the widest choice of doctors. Assuming that Medicare choices are set up in your future the way they are now, that would be traditional Medicare Part B, which pays for doctors' visits and outpatient services. You'd see doctors that have accepted Medicare assignment, meaning that they have agreed to accept the Medicare rates ( which are significantly less than billed amounts) as payment in full, and Medicare pays 80% of that amount, with you being responsible for the other 20%.
If you take on a supplemental Part B policy with another insurance provider ( such as Blue Cross, Aetna, there are many out there) they will pay the 20% copays for docs visits, outpatient services. They may cover other expenses but these vary among the policies. You can go to Medicare.gov to find infomation about Medicare supplemental policies.
The current advantage of traditional Medicare plus a supplemental is that you would be able to see any doctor who accepts Medicare. Depending on where you live, it maybe more or less difficult to find practitioners who take Medicare. But generally, in an area populated such as we are with retired and elderly people who need medical care, you will find most healthcare providers do accept Medicare. My preference will always be traditional Medicare plus a supplement, though it's the more expensive of the options, as you pay the monthly premium ( currently $170 for most) , the premium for the supplement ( which can be around $200-300 depending on the policy and age of the recipient) and a separate policy ( Part D) if you want prescription drug coverage.
Medicare part C options- these are policies set up by private insurance companies ( often HMOs or PPOs) for Medicare recipients. Medicare pays a per capita fee to these companies to provide the medical care to their Medical enrollees, and these people are subject to the terms and conditions set up by the company. These policies vary as well, many are HMOs which limit their policyholders to the "in-network" providers, including primary care docs, specialists, and healthcare facilities, and will not provide coverage to anyone outside the network. I'm of the impression that PPOs are not so limiting as to providers, compared with the HMOs. Another disadvantage of these Part C plans can be their requirement for prior approval from a patient's primary care doc for every and all visits to specialists, for all procedures, and even most prescription drugs. Prior approval can be a good thing but when it gets mired up in bureaucratic tape, incompetence, and used as an excuse to delay or deny coverage, well that's not good and may be devastating to a patient. There are some good plans, others not so great- depends on the plans. You'll find, generally, that there are not that many doctors that will take ( at least some) Medicare
Advantage plans, especially HMO type plans.
Medicare Part C plans are attractive to patients as the premiums tend to be less ( again, depending on the plan) and in some cases cost nothing as the plans may reimburse a patient all or part of his Medicare Part B premium ( one must be enrolled in Part A and B Medicare to have any of these policies). But there are deductibles and copays for medical care, again depending on the policy. These plans may offer incentives ( think Joe Namath or JJ "It's FREEEE" on those TV medicare ads) to attract people to their plans, but one's gotta read the small print there or be taken for a ride.
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