OT: father is visiting and hospitalized by stroke

[ocrenter]

if you add everything up, a hospital stay really shouldn’t be that costly.

The ER doc probably spent at the most an hour for a stroke patient. they get paid at $200/hour. (that’s $430k yearly, so I’m not shortchanging any professional fees here)

The radiologist interprets the CT and MRI, takes a trained radiologist half an hour per study, that’s basically $200 as well.

The internist pulls in $100/hour, he/she comes and see your dad once a day, let’s say your dad was admitted for 5 days, that’s $500.

there was probably a neurologist, paid at $150/hour, saw your dad for an hour the first day, and half an hour for the next 4 days, so that’s $450.

that’s all of the doctor fees, a grand total of $1350.

an RN cost about $300 per day, but they divide their time with 4 patients, so that’s $80 per day, or $500 for the whole admission.

Let’s just assume everyone else involved from the speech therapist to the physical therapist to the radiology tech to the phlebotomist and the cleaning lady added up to another $500.

So all of the support staff cost $1000.

5 days of medications at best say another $1000.

assuming $200/day hotel fee for room and board, that’s $1000 for the 5 days.

so the total is $4350, plus $650 for administrative cost, $5000 is about right.

[briansd1]

[quote=ocrenter]cardiac bypass or multiple stent placement.[/quote]

I didn’t know that the emergency room would actually arrange to do all of that to stabilize the patient.

The patient would have to be in bad shape already to need that.

[briansd1]

[quote=ocrenter]cardiac bypass or multiple stent placement.[/quote]

I didn’t know that the emergency room would actually arrange to do all of that to stabilize the patient.

The patient would have to be in bad shape already to need that.

[briansd1]

[quote=ocrenter]cardiac bypass or multiple stent placement.[/quote]

I didn’t know that the emergency room would actually arrange to do all of that to stabilize the patient.

The patient would have to be in bad shape already to need that.

[briansd1]

[quote=ocrenter]cardiac bypass or multiple stent placement.[/quote]

I didn’t know that the emergency room would actually arrange to do all of that to stabilize the patient.

The patient would have to be in bad shape already to need that.

[briansd1]

[quote=ocrenter]cardiac bypass or multiple stent placement.[/quote]

I didn’t know that the emergency room would actually arrange to do all of that to stabilize the patient.

The patient would have to be in bad shape already to need that.

[CA renter]

[quote=ocrenter]if you add everything up, a hospital stay really shouldn’t be that costly.

The ER doc probably spent at the most an hour for a stroke patient. they get paid at $200/hour. (that’s $430k yearly, so I’m not shortchanging any professional fees here)

The radiologist interprets the CT and MRI, takes a trained radiologist half an hour per study, that’s basically $200 as well.

The internist pulls in $100/hour, he/she comes and see your dad once a day, let’s say your dad was admitted for 5 days, that’s $500.

there was probably a neurologist, paid at $150/hour, saw your dad for an hour the first day, and half an hour for the next 4 days, so that’s $450.

that’s all of the doctor fees, a grand total of $1350.

an RN cost about $300 per day, but they divide their time with 4 patients, so that’s $80 per day, or $500 for the whole admission.

Let’s just assume everyone else involved from the speech therapist to the physical therapist to the radiology tech to the phlebotomist and the cleaning lady added up to another $500.

So all of the support staff cost $1000.

5 days of medications at best say another $1000.

assuming $200/day hotel fee for room and board, that’s $1000 for the 5 days.

so the total is $4350, plus $650 for administrative cost, $5000 is about right.[/quote]

Agree with your numbers, OCR; and you’re being generous, IMHO. Even if you doubled the time, the numbers still don’t make any sense.

I’ve long tried to understand the cost structure that can arrive at a $30K+ bill in just a day or two. If we want to fix our healthcare system, I think we first need to understand where the money is going.

[CA renter]

[quote=ocrenter]if you add everything up, a hospital stay really shouldn’t be that costly.

The ER doc probably spent at the most an hour for a stroke patient. they get paid at $200/hour. (that’s $430k yearly, so I’m not shortchanging any professional fees here)

The radiologist interprets the CT and MRI, takes a trained radiologist half an hour per study, that’s basically $200 as well.

The internist pulls in $100/hour, he/she comes and see your dad once a day, let’s say your dad was admitted for 5 days, that’s $500.

there was probably a neurologist, paid at $150/hour, saw your dad for an hour the first day, and half an hour for the next 4 days, so that’s $450.

that’s all of the doctor fees, a grand total of $1350.

an RN cost about $300 per day, but they divide their time with 4 patients, so that’s $80 per day, or $500 for the whole admission.

Let’s just assume everyone else involved from the speech therapist to the physical therapist to the radiology tech to the phlebotomist and the cleaning lady added up to another $500.

So all of the support staff cost $1000.

5 days of medications at best say another $1000.

assuming $200/day hotel fee for room and board, that’s $1000 for the 5 days.

so the total is $4350, plus $650 for administrative cost, $5000 is about right.[/quote]

Agree with your numbers, OCR; and you’re being generous, IMHO. Even if you doubled the time, the numbers still don’t make any sense.

I’ve long tried to understand the cost structure that can arrive at a $30K+ bill in just a day or two. If we want to fix our healthcare system, I think we first need to understand where the money is going.

[CA renter]

[quote=ocrenter]if you add everything up, a hospital stay really shouldn’t be that costly.

The ER doc probably spent at the most an hour for a stroke patient. they get paid at $200/hour. (that’s $430k yearly, so I’m not shortchanging any professional fees here)

The radiologist interprets the CT and MRI, takes a trained radiologist half an hour per study, that’s basically $200 as well.

The internist pulls in $100/hour, he/she comes and see your dad once a day, let’s say your dad was admitted for 5 days, that’s $500.

there was probably a neurologist, paid at $150/hour, saw your dad for an hour the first day, and half an hour for the next 4 days, so that’s $450.

that’s all of the doctor fees, a grand total of $1350.

an RN cost about $300 per day, but they divide their time with 4 patients, so that’s $80 per day, or $500 for the whole admission.

Let’s just assume everyone else involved from the speech therapist to the physical therapist to the radiology tech to the phlebotomist and the cleaning lady added up to another $500.

So all of the support staff cost $1000.

5 days of medications at best say another $1000.

assuming $200/day hotel fee for room and board, that’s $1000 for the 5 days.

so the total is $4350, plus $650 for administrative cost, $5000 is about right.[/quote]

Agree with your numbers, OCR; and you’re being generous, IMHO. Even if you doubled the time, the numbers still don’t make any sense.

I’ve long tried to understand the cost structure that can arrive at a $30K+ bill in just a day or two. If we want to fix our healthcare system, I think we first need to understand where the money is going.

[CA renter]

[quote=ocrenter]if you add everything up, a hospital stay really shouldn’t be that costly.

The ER doc probably spent at the most an hour for a stroke patient. they get paid at $200/hour. (that’s $430k yearly, so I’m not shortchanging any professional fees here)

The radiologist interprets the CT and MRI, takes a trained radiologist half an hour per study, that’s basically $200 as well.

The internist pulls in $100/hour, he/she comes and see your dad once a day, let’s say your dad was admitted for 5 days, that’s $500.

there was probably a neurologist, paid at $150/hour, saw your dad for an hour the first day, and half an hour for the next 4 days, so that’s $450.

that’s all of the doctor fees, a grand total of $1350.

an RN cost about $300 per day, but they divide their time with 4 patients, so that’s $80 per day, or $500 for the whole admission.

Let’s just assume everyone else involved from the speech therapist to the physical therapist to the radiology tech to the phlebotomist and the cleaning lady added up to another $500.

So all of the support staff cost $1000.

5 days of medications at best say another $1000.

assuming $200/day hotel fee for room and board, that’s $1000 for the 5 days.

so the total is $4350, plus $650 for administrative cost, $5000 is about right.[/quote]

Agree with your numbers, OCR; and you’re being generous, IMHO. Even if you doubled the time, the numbers still don’t make any sense.

I’ve long tried to understand the cost structure that can arrive at a $30K+ bill in just a day or two. If we want to fix our healthcare system, I think we first need to understand where the money is going.

[CA renter]

[quote=ocrenter]if you add everything up, a hospital stay really shouldn’t be that costly.

The ER doc probably spent at the most an hour for a stroke patient. they get paid at $200/hour. (that’s $430k yearly, so I’m not shortchanging any professional fees here)

The radiologist interprets the CT and MRI, takes a trained radiologist half an hour per study, that’s basically $200 as well.

The internist pulls in $100/hour, he/she comes and see your dad once a day, let’s say your dad was admitted for 5 days, that’s $500.

there was probably a neurologist, paid at $150/hour, saw your dad for an hour the first day, and half an hour for the next 4 days, so that’s $450.

that’s all of the doctor fees, a grand total of $1350.

an RN cost about $300 per day, but they divide their time with 4 patients, so that’s $80 per day, or $500 for the whole admission.

Let’s just assume everyone else involved from the speech therapist to the physical therapist to the radiology tech to the phlebotomist and the cleaning lady added up to another $500.

So all of the support staff cost $1000.

5 days of medications at best say another $1000.

assuming $200/day hotel fee for room and board, that’s $1000 for the 5 days.

so the total is $4350, plus $650 for administrative cost, $5000 is about right.[/quote]

Agree with your numbers, OCR; and you’re being generous, IMHO. Even if you doubled the time, the numbers still don’t make any sense.

I’ve long tried to understand the cost structure that can arrive at a $30K+ bill in just a day or two. If we want to fix our healthcare system, I think we first need to understand where the money is going.

[Eugene]

[quote=CA renter]
I’ve long tried to understand the cost structure that can arrive at a $30K+ bill in just a day or two. If we want to fix our healthcare system, I think we first need to understand where the money is going.[/quote]

That’s what happens when you have, on one hand, 5000 hospitals, and, on the other hand, 500 health insurance companies, and they are all trying to fight over profits. You’re expected to negotiate. Think TJ shop only on a national scale. You’re a fool if pay the first price you hear.

For example, the hospital will not hesitate to charge you $5000 for a MRI scan, even if their internal cost analysis shows that the scan _really_ costs $400 (including capital costs, amortized over expected lifetime of the device, technicians’ salaries, electricity, air conditioning, and maintenance; excluding the radiologist fee). It is understood that many uninsured patients will simply walk out without paying anything or declare bankruptcy, and that insurance companies will negotiate over fees for insured patients. In reality, the hospital would be quite happy to get $500, which is approximately what Medicare/Medicaid would pay for the test.

So, these absurd bills are not necessarily representative of real costs of healthcare. Poring over them wouldn’t do much good.

[Eugene]

[quote=CA renter]
I’ve long tried to understand the cost structure that can arrive at a $30K+ bill in just a day or two. If we want to fix our healthcare system, I think we first need to understand where the money is going.[/quote]

That’s what happens when you have, on one hand, 5000 hospitals, and, on the other hand, 500 health insurance companies, and they are all trying to fight over profits. You’re expected to negotiate. Think TJ shop only on a national scale. You’re a fool if pay the first price you hear.

For example, the hospital will not hesitate to charge you $5000 for a MRI scan, even if their internal cost analysis shows that the scan _really_ costs $400 (including capital costs, amortized over expected lifetime of the device, technicians’ salaries, electricity, air conditioning, and maintenance; excluding the radiologist fee). It is understood that many uninsured patients will simply walk out without paying anything or declare bankruptcy, and that insurance companies will negotiate over fees for insured patients. In reality, the hospital would be quite happy to get $500, which is approximately what Medicare/Medicaid would pay for the test.

So, these absurd bills are not necessarily representative of real costs of healthcare. Poring over them wouldn’t do much good.

[Eugene]

[quote=CA renter]
I’ve long tried to understand the cost structure that can arrive at a $30K+ bill in just a day or two. If we want to fix our healthcare system, I think we first need to understand where the money is going.[/quote]

That’s what happens when you have, on one hand, 5000 hospitals, and, on the other hand, 500 health insurance companies, and they are all trying to fight over profits. You’re expected to negotiate. Think TJ shop only on a national scale. You’re a fool if pay the first price you hear.

For example, the hospital will not hesitate to charge you $5000 for a MRI scan, even if their internal cost analysis shows that the scan _really_ costs $400 (including capital costs, amortized over expected lifetime of the device, technicians’ salaries, electricity, air conditioning, and maintenance; excluding the radiologist fee). It is understood that many uninsured patients will simply walk out without paying anything or declare bankruptcy, and that insurance companies will negotiate over fees for insured patients. In reality, the hospital would be quite happy to get $500, which is approximately what Medicare/Medicaid would pay for the test.

So, these absurd bills are not necessarily representative of real costs of healthcare. Poring over them wouldn’t do much good.

[Eugene]

[quote=CA renter]
I’ve long tried to understand the cost structure that can arrive at a $30K+ bill in just a day or two. If we want to fix our healthcare system, I think we first need to understand where the money is going.[/quote]

That’s what happens when you have, on one hand, 5000 hospitals, and, on the other hand, 500 health insurance companies, and they are all trying to fight over profits. You’re expected to negotiate. Think TJ shop only on a national scale. You’re a fool if pay the first price you hear.

For example, the hospital will not hesitate to charge you $5000 for a MRI scan, even if their internal cost analysis shows that the scan _really_ costs $400 (including capital costs, amortized over expected lifetime of the device, technicians’ salaries, electricity, air conditioning, and maintenance; excluding the radiologist fee). It is understood that many uninsured patients will simply walk out without paying anything or declare bankruptcy, and that insurance companies will negotiate over fees for insured patients. In reality, the hospital would be quite happy to get $500, which is approximately what Medicare/Medicaid would pay for the test.

So, these absurd bills are not necessarily representative of real costs of healthcare. Poring over them wouldn’t do much good.

[Author]

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