Another day, another MRI

Another day, another MRI

Thanks everyone for the nice comments.  Just want to mention something. I am by no means doing this by myself. We’ve all done stuff for my Mom. Actually, Mary Anne has taken her for most of her doctor appointments (and is welcome jump in here at any time J)… I’m just the blogger. And I hope this is being taken in the vein it’s meant…a little funny…a little frustrating…a little scary.  God knows my Mom is by no means all down in the dumps about this.  She’s just upset that all this interrupts her trips to the Friehofer’s outlet.

 As for today,

Short Story: Mom had the MRI today at a different imaging place. Hopefully we’ll have the results Monday, and we’ll know if she has to have surgery.

Long Story:  (You may want to get a beverage or take a bathroom break…this may take awhile).  The other reason for this blog is to vent a little on how frustrating any medical issue can be.  So join me, as I recap the nearly two hours it took me on the phone to set up today’s MRI.

I called the surgeon first thing this morning to get an RX for the new MRI and a valium called into the pharmacy so mom can relax in the MRI machine (I should have asked for an extra on the valium).  The first time I called, the coffee had not kicked in yet and I wasn’t paying attention. At the end it said “dial 9 for more options.” So I did, and heard “You are now being disconnected from the system. Good Bye.” So I called again, picked the right option and got a voice mail saying I’d have to leave a message.  So I hung up, called again, just hit one of the options and did the old “oh…I must have reached you by mistake! Can you transfer me to someone who can help me with an RX request….” I got through to Gloria.  She was very nice.  She explained that it would be fine for my mom to go to a different place for the MRI, but that I should verify with Valley that they are not putting a bill through to Medicare for the aborted MRI because then the one today would not be covered.  She also suggested I cover myself by calling the billing office at Valley to MAKE SURE no bill has been generated to Medicare.  Good suggestions I thought, so I immediately called the number Gloria gave me and it was, of course, a fax.

I found the right number for Valley MRI and was assured, in no uncertain terms, that she would not be billed for the MRI that wasn’t. I took notes and names.  Then, following Gloria’s advice, I called the billing office at Valley who said they’d have to look into this, because you see…she already had been charged for two of the services from last night.  What services?? Five minutes in an MRI machine that didn’t work? The answer was a blood test and the injection of dye for the test.  HOWEVER, Nurse Ratched from yesterday made a point of telling me and mom that they had NOT injected the dye or anything, so they stopped the procedure before anything happened.  I’m not even worried so much about these two charges…they were around $50…but what I am worried about is having this stuff submitted to Medicare and therefore disqualifying  today’s completed MRI from coverage.  Billing was going to call over to MRI and get this straightened out and call me back.  I told her it was important because our appointment was at five today.  Two o’clock this afternoon comes and still no call.  So I called Valley billing back to say “I’m waiting……” and they assured me that NO BILL IS BEING SUBMITTED TO MEDICARE …..but they have to talk to a supervisor over at MRI to have what was already charged removed from her account.

So, I’m taking wages and opening a betting pool.  Here’s how we play. You guess the day of and the amount of the bill my mom will probably get from Valley for the procedure she never had.  I’ll get us started:

April 15, 2011   $2,362.

And as an added bonus, let’s guess the date and amount of the bill we’ll get from New Century Imaging after Medicare denies the claim because Valley already billed us. I’m going to go for double or nothing and pick the same day and amount. (Which is totally arbitrary, I have no idea how much an MRI costs.)

BTW, if you are still with me on this, the whole thing with the Lipitor and her hemoglobin was misunderstood.  I talked to the nurse practitioner today. Maybe I will save that for tomorrow’s blog.

Love to you all!  Amy

Ps. I got home at 4:15 take mom to the appointment at 5:00.  It’s not even ten minutes away. When I walked in she’s sitting on the chair with her coat on and pocketbook at the ready.  Life really is a Seinfeld episode sometimes.