Hi all,
I have a bunch of pleural drainage kits that I don't need anymore. I have an individual who is willing to take them.
I'm reading online that donating medical supplies directly to individuals is generally more complicated and may not be advisable due to safety and regulatory concerns.
Or am I only allowed to give them to medical organizations?
I’m in a tough spot and could really use some advice. I recently applied for a position with HCA Healthcare and, unfortunately, didn’t pass the pre-employment drug screening due to a low level of morphine in my system. The MRO doctor reviewed the results and noted that the levels were consistent with ingestion through something common, like poppy seeds, rather than any illicit use (like a freaking everything bagel). Despite this, I was informed that I couldn’t move forward in the hiring process due to company policy, and now I’m not allowed to reapply for six months to this location.
I’m really disappointed because I was looking forward to joining the team and starting my career, but I respect their decision. My question is, does anyone know if there’s a way to appeal this decision? Or, is it possible to apply for positions at other HCA locations during this waiting period, or does the six-month ban apply across the entire HCA system?
I appreciate any advice or personal experiences anyone can share.
I was wondering if people knew of places that take private insurance for Trans healthcare? Looking for a friend who is 20. Planned parenthood is backed up and health brigade doesn’t accept their private insurance. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
And by “relevant” I mean direct medical job experience, which no one will hire you without, making it impossible for me to get a position so far. 🙃 I have a bachelor’s in healthcare administration; multiple years of volunteer experience within the medical field, customer service work experience, and dietary aide experience (meaning I’ve worked within the healthcare industry before but not in a medical role); and participated in an exclusive medical training/education program all four years of high school. I even have general clerical/administrative experience as an administrative assistant for an office… and yet I haven’t been able to get a job in my field because I don’t have medical experience directly in a medical office/hospital (and no, the dietary aide job doesn’t count). Any advice for jobs that will let me get my foot in the door? I love the healthcare field, love learning about/utilizing the science and social interactions behind it, and would hate for the schooling and time spent on my degree to have been for nothing. (And I am open to the potential need for education continuation, but the problem in my area is that even more entry level-type jobs like medical assistant that require basic certifications aren’t hiring without direct work experience.) Also, receptionist/scheduling/patient care coordinator/admissions/et cetera are not options currently because they, too, are wanting you to have previous experience (at least in my area).
I spoke to a doctor via a phone appointment about some joint pain, and they told me I needed x-rays. I got them done, and more than a month went by without hearing back. I contacted the clinic the doctor works at and they said no news generally means good news, and that I should have assumed a lack of response is the response. Is this for real, I shouldn't expect a doctor to get back to me? A doctor tells me we're going to start with some x-rays, but in reality that's where it ends?
To compare, I had a phone appointment about some blood work and that different doctor got back to me in 2 days without me having to make another appointment (and all my results were fine too).
I recently got into sleep treatment and am baffled by the power that durable medical equipment providers have.
Insurance companies are afraid to pay them money, they waste a ton of it and all they do is mail order equipment. After insurance approves.
Why don’t insurance companies do this themselves, cutting out the wasteful middleman?
I visited the ENT doctor twice to have a hematoma drained from my ear using a syringe. All they did was stick a syringe into the outer part of my ear and drain the small hematoma that was present. The procedure was quick, lasting only a few minutes each time. However, I was surprised to see that I was billed for both an office visit and a procedure on each occasion.
I wasn’t informed that this would be billed as a surgical procedure, and the claim description even references it as such, which seems inaccurate given the nature of the treatment.
The copay for the office visit is $50, while the copay for the procedure is $226, with a total of $276 for each visit. Given the simplicity and brevity of the procedure—a quick syringe drainage of the outer ear—I expected it to be covered under the office visit fee. It seems excessive to bill it as a separate procedure, especially considering that the entire process took just a few minutes.
What can I even do at this point? I contacted both the doctor and insurance company. The insurance company said they put some sort of claim through, but I'm assuming it won't do anything. The doctor's office and insurance company are both saying that it was charged correctly, and maybe that's the case, but it just seems so excessive for that little procedure they did to not come under an office visit, but rather under it's own charge code.
Why is it that, if I have a problem in my foot, I can’t just see a foot doctor? I have to see a primary care physician for a referral, spend hundreds of dollars for one appointment, just for them to say that they don’t know what the issue is, and that I should see a foot doctor. Like, why couldn’t I do that at first?? And then when I call into the podiatrist’s office, they say that I have to have a referral from my doctor in order to be seen.
There are other countries that allow us to skip the middleman, so why can’t we do that in the US?
I am seeking advice on how to proceed because at this point I just do not know what to do. For context, I am a patient within the St. Luke's heapth network, a network that uses MyChart.
I moved to my current area a year ago. During the moving process I had a dr's appointment and was referred for a sleep study bc of sleep apnea. I sat on it for a while because of the moving process and then just forgetting, but I finally went and had the sleep study done last month.
The test results came back and, as part of the test results, I was referred (referral #1) to have a CPAP titration study done. Soon after my PCP -- who's still at this point the dr from where I'd lived previously -- reaches out via MyChart messaging to encourage me to schedule an appointment with them "if I have any questions." I say I have no questions but also mention that I don't see the option in MyChart to schedule the appointment (as it hasn't been made an "order" that I can interact with, just a referral). The PCP replies back telling me to call central scheduling (referral #2).
So I call central scheduling and they won't set it up because I don't have an actual order. This spurns me to seek a new PCP that actually lives in my area who can set me up with an order. We have a new patient appointment, and as a part of that he refers me (referral #3) to have a sleep study done, leaving a note that I need a CPAP titration study.
I call central scheduling again, and this time they can see the referral; however, it's categorized as a "sleep study" and not a "CPAP titration study," so, despite the note, they can't set up the appointment.
Finally out of desperation I call the sleep center where I had the first study done and the guy I eventually get through to tells me I should have met with a doctor for a follow-up to have the referral turned into an order. Which, if you've read up to here, you should know that I've already done when I met up with my new PCP!
I've been fed up with health networks in general for a while here, and this whole situation of being jerked around for the past two years (there was another similar incident last year) really isn't helping the case. I plan on reaching out to my new PCP to see if he can adjust the referral/order in a way that lets me set the appointment up. But I have no backup plan whatsoever to speak of, short of storming into a sleep center or a regional office and going full Karen on someone.
Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed from here?
I am my father's health care proxy since 2020 and I have just noticed that there was no option or question about a DNR.
It's just a standard health care proxy witnessed by 2 of his doctors.
As I am the proxy, what is my right to tell them no for a DNR?
Four days ago I was injected intravenously with an unknown substance. Until now I am not experiencing any symptoms. However, you understand my reasonable worrying about getting injected with an unknown substance and so I would like to request your medical advice on what poisoning tests I should do.
I had a 2 questions for everyone.
I noticed a lot of perks from GNC's Health teleplan for someone who's uninsured at the moment. I did however notice that their website and portal is absolutely terrible. With that said, if I can work around that, it's no problem for me.
BUT - I cannot find one ONE review or anyone who's ever used it. It hasn't been around long.
Question 1: Has anyone used it? Any experiences?
I set up an appointment for next week. It'll be over the phone.
Question 2: what can I do to set myself up so I can have the best possible experience when I do a phone consultation? I don't want to get in a spot where I'm going in circles talking to a doctor and not getting results.
Thank you for your time!
I know there are a lot of medical professionals on here, but also seem pretty stressed out by the workload. At the same time it seems like that increasingly medical professionals are the lynchpin standing in the way of minor items.
Maybe some people on here have some creative solutions that maybe limit how much annoyance medical professionals have to deal with small items and simultaneously save some cost for patients, etc.
Lets leave the controlled substances out of the discussion, but what about things like:
-Antibiotics
-Statins
-Antifungals
-Various blood tests, etc. from a lab
-Allergy testing
-Wart removal
-Anti diarrheas
A lot of this stuff seems to be pretty OTC is in most of the world yet we require doctors constantly involved in the US. Also a lot of this stuff is like $10, $30, or $50 for the actual prescription, test, etc. and that is the listed price not the insurance reduced co-pay, but the appointment to get the permission can run $80, $200, even $500+.
How about some outside the box thinking?
-Odds of getting a PCP to give some low risk RX's to stockpile just in case?
-Picking up a small batch of "just in case" meds while on a trip overseas?
-Ways to trick the system into getting prescriptions for certain tests without needing to book serious appointments?
-Any telehealth solutions that aren't 80% or a pre-negotiated price of a doc's appointment and then super stingy on anything other than an appointment for every refill?
I could see some medical professionals believing that anything that lets a person walk away with more medications or tests than some high level doctor saying they need immediately is a risk to be avoided at all costs, but I also sort of think that a world where:
-PCP appointments are months out
-Specialists can be more as much as a year out
-ER visits where people languish for hours, etc.
-All sorts of appointments where the physician is forced to be deliberately stingy metering out healthcare solutions and often sending people home with "see if it gets better on its own"
-Relationships to medical professionals in your own personal life results in wildly different experiences working with the healthcare system
... has sort of become so ridiculous that claims that the average person needs to interact with medical professionals far more over every single test and no/low risk pill may no longer be a credible point?
Arrived in the ER 9am. The “urgent” surgery was supposed to be in the afternoon - a 30 minute surgery and we’d leave the hospital after. They kept pushing it until it was “too late at night” and they admitted him overnight. (Keep in mind, he’s not allowed to eat or drink during this time.) They said first thing in the morning for sure. Now it’s late afternoon. They nurses told us he’s not even on the schedule and they have no idea (though they keep trying to find out). At this point, in addition to it being uncomfortable and difficult and frustrated, we’re just worried about cost. Can the hospital keep racking up our charges for being here overnight/longer when they won’t let us leave and keep pushing the surgery? What recourse do we have here?
They're so soft and I wish my skin felt like it. Any time there's expired gloves, I ask if I can take them home and I just wear them and pet myself when I'm bored.
I'm curious about the broader implications of using AI in Healthcare and would love to hear your thoughts:
Your insights could help shape how I approach these challenges. Thank you for your input!
Note: I am not here to promote, but if you need context about our specific solution to tailor your answers, you can visit our website in the comments below.
Insurance companies have for years been using AI bots to batch reject physician prior authorization requests for treatment, and out of frustration doctors are now turning to the same technology to fight back.
I have a sinus surgery scheduled for Monday, and I have to pay for it myself. Te surgery adds up to almost $8000, which is already a lot, but yesterday I was told that the facility fee would be $9500 on top of that amount. This obviously is a ton of money, and it exceeds my budget. I am not from the US, but I'm staying here on a visa. This makes getting an actual health insurance super difficult. So I do want the surgery, but I can't pay this ridiculous amount of money. What should I do? Could I negotiate this facility fee? Or would you say it makes more sense for me to find a different clinic, and if so, where? Or does anyone know how to get a complete health insurance that covers pre-existing conditions for people how are in the US temporarily? I'm willing to travel to save money. I'm located in California.
Are there any alternatives to Surescript? DrFirst, ScriptSure, CoverMyMeds, OptumRx they all use Surescript in backend.
Is there any company that does what Surescript does in terms of providing API to send prescriptions to different pharmacies? We are not looking for a Iframe to be embedded in our software. We want to use bare APIs to send prescriptions.
We are a EHR company and want to enable our doctors to send EPCS to any pharmacy in Texas . I couldn’t find any Surescript alternative so far .
Hi, I work in Health Care and rarely call out. Tonight I want to call out because I am exhausted and need a good night rest for my mental health. I earn Earned Time, Sick and Safe, Holiday, etc… pay. I currently have 0 Sick and Safe Hours but 35 Hours of Earned Time. I was just wondering if I would be written up for calling out. I’ve had some people tell me that you can’t call out unless you have Sick and Safe and other tell me that you can call out if you have Earned Time and that Sick and Safe is used some other way. Please help me understand.
Basically what title says - I’m young and work offers two plans above. With POS I’d pay ~$2400 more / year in premium but have peace of mind that I can always see doctor. I think HSA might be worth it considering I am young, the tax benefits seem insane, and I don’t often see doctors nowadays (went in maybe 4 times last year - 1x for testing, 1x physical (which I think should be covered by either plan), and probably 2x when I visited a clinic for minor illness).
Was wondering if anyone has thoughts on this. Again, if I don’t see a doctor often, the HSA seems to make sense (at least for a year or so) so that I can have that advantaged investment account - which I believe comes fully withdraw able at 65.
Thanks again
I have an appointment tomorrow with a new provider, and they sent a reminder message and said that eCheck-In via MyChart will now be a REQUIREMENT (God forbid they have staff in the office), and that if I don't log in and do it myself, they'll change my portal password and do it for me.
First off, how, when they wouldn't know the answers to the questions asked and would be making claims on my behalf without permission regarding things like payment responsibility and health information? Second, wouldn't this be a violation of privacy/HIPAA (I assume providers can't normally see messages sent between you and other providers, and other messages like billing, even if they can see treatment history)? Third, wouldn't this violate federal computer hacking law, by accessing someone's account and records without their permission?
I'm so tired of having to use this stupid software to communicate with my doctors when it doesn't work half the time.
Three days ago I submitted an Rx renewal request and thought it was weird I never got a response. When I went back into the portal I realized the request was sent to my PCP when it should've been sent to my psychiatrist. No wonder she never renewed it, she was never the one who prescribed it in the first place.
I tried to send the renewal request to the correct provider, but theres no option to select who it sends to meaning it would just send to my PCP again. Tried calling my psychiatrists office to request a renewal over the phone instead and they just told me to use MyChart. Since I can't just request a renewal normally I had to send her a direct message instead. But I've sent direct messages to my providers on MyChart a few times & every single time I've been ignored so...fingers crossed it's different this time I guess.
I'm just so tired of using the stupid portal and I'm wondering if anyone else feels the same? Its supposed to make it easier to communicate with your providers but I feel like it has the opposite effect. Trying to call my drs office is like talking to a brick wall now because they always just tell me to use MyChart, but then when I use MyChart it doesn't work right and/or I get ignored.
I love the idea in theory, but it seems like everytime I try to use the portal for anything it turns into a mess that involves me calling multiple offices to get it figured out. I'm this close to just telling my drs I'm not using the internet anymore & everything has to be done on the phone/in person/carrier pigeon/whatever. I'm soooo over it lol
I'm just curious if I'm able to enroll my partner in my work health insurance plan if we are registered as domestic partners. The plan will be Anthem and I'm in NYC.
So my mom is still a working registered nurse but she’s working for a public school. She’s 72 years old. She refuses to retire as she still has obligations at her age like a mortgage. The surgery process is 20k. She cannot see well at night and the doctor said it’s getting worse. Insurance will only cover 10k but there’s a 10k out of pocket cost. I’m in no position to help her as I am super swamp with my own problems with my medical debt. And my credit isn’t that great due to it. I tried getting a loan for her but did not get approved. We’re in the US.
What do you guys suggest she can do to get help?
Ok, so I will have a one month gap in my health care after my employer benefits terminate but before my ACA kicks in (and yes, I'm certain that this will happen). The consensus seems to be to do nothing, but if I cannot avoid using health care at a level above what is reasonable out-of-pocket, to use the COBRA loophole since benefits are retroactive to my last day of work.
How does this actually work in practice? What happens when you show up at the emergency room with no current health care policy (and let's hope that your conscious and able to pull the COBRA trigger)? It sounds like a logistic and paperwork nightmare.
My PCP always says appointment not available immediately and saying two months wait. I was told that urgent care is the go for all the need as PCP is not giving any immediate appointment. Is this normal going forward do i need to think of using only urgent care for anything. Its brutal to think of this system. Extremely fucked.
I have experience working as an EMT and as a hospital tech. I've always been at the front and never really thought about how patients pay for stuff.
For example, I have a lot of alcohol and drug related transports and those people definitely don't have money to afford a hospital stay and a lot don't have a job. Is that just covered by medicaid or do hospitals just treat them for free? I see a lot of patients where I have no idea how they afford to pay for anything, so I'm curious what happens.
so whenever I go to a new provider or the same provider but for different issues, and they need some diagnosis history/medical document (like a copy of MRI scan) from another provider that I visited, I have to share the contact information and it took the provider weeks to get the information. and even worse when I move between different states, I just had to read my own medical summary and fill out some form for the new providers to understand
Why do they always ask to fill out a bunch of form with so much details? Is there no central information where they can look up the history if I consent? I'm curious because sometimes I can't even remember the medicine name (because it's some complicated medical terms). I wonder how annoying this gets for those who are under a lot of different medications, various allergies, and even some sort of rate disease.
in most days probably it's less urgent for provider to get these information but what if I'm admitted to an ER? do I need to fill out forms to tell them what I'm allergic to and what medication I am on?
I went to the dermatologist today over moles, and I hate how useless they were. They just looked at every in 5 minutes and said it looked okay before rushing out. I had to pay $40 as copay, and it pisses me off that so many people in healthcare are rich snobs and don’t realize that a $40 payment for 10 minutes plus the time and money spent to get to the doctors is a lot, especially for how dismissive doctors are.
The people who scream go to the doctors are the problem because they suggest going into debt for something that likely isn’t help. It sucks that America doesn’t give a shit about sick and ill people and somehow gaslights them into thinking they are the problem
Was wondering how to go about getting my medical records from my phycologist in Florida. He ran his own practice and was the only Dr and has since passed away. Is there a way to get my records from his practice in which is no longer around? Would the state have them?
The following is my appeal letter to BlueShield for denying payment on a doctor visit I recently had. I visit the doctor based on a recommendation from my primary Dr. as well as following the steps described below to confirm it was in network. Blue Shield is refusing to cover a short doctor visit with a Gastroenterologist PA who sent me to Quest for a test. I am now being told I owe $475 for this brief visit because they claim the physician assistant, not even a doctor, is out of network. This American health care system is absolute insanity.
"I was using www.blueshieldca.com to find an in network provider. As you can see from my screenshots attached it has my plan listed as EPO Shared Advantage+ on my profile's dashboard. Each time I go to select "Find a doctor" it preselects EPO Shared Advantage+. I've now been told that my plan is not EPO Shared Advantage+ but is instead Blue High Performance Network EPO. When I am at blueshieldca.com/fad/home and I change the plan to Blue High Performance Network EPO then click Doctors & Specialists it reverts the plan BACK to EPO Shared Advantage+. The site tells me to "Revert to my plan" EPO Shared Advantage+ at the top and I have to (for a second time) select Blue High Performance Network EPO.
None of this is intuitive to me. None of this is user friendly. It is in fact very hard to understand and incredibly frustrating. I have requested a new health insurance card from https://hnas.healthspace.net/MemberPortal/feature/Enrollment#!/home since I have not had a new one shipped out to me this year. I have moved often over the past few years which may have had the card lost in the mail.
Please help me resolve this bill as I feel misled and unsupported by your customer service experience provided by your website. As far as using Hnas to find a provider, I have included a screenshot of their portal as well and it is even less helpful. Please feel free to reach me for any questions or concerns. I look forward to hearing your reply."
Hi! I know someone without insurance with a seizure disorder. They were prescribed valproic acid but don't have insurance.
Does GA have any programs that would help them get the med? They've been without it for a few months and it's dangerous.
Believed this would be the best place to come for the career path when it comes to becoming a PSA, in this specific hospital there is PSA 1, 2, 3. But, I wanted to know what other career paths become possible viable with the skills obtained of being a PSA or what paths you all may have went into after working as PSA.
Hey guys, here are probably some investors in Go Health, so I guess this might be useful info for you. It’s about the IPO scandal they had a few years ago.
For newbies, back in 2020, Go Health was accused of misleading investors about a change of business strategy that tried to rapidly expand customers around the time of its IPO, but, in the end, only brought losses to the company. Obviously, investors filed a claim against them.
The good news is that, $GOCO decided to pay a $29.25M settlement to investors to solve this situation. And they´re accepting claims even after the deadline. So, if someone's late on this, you still can file for it here.
I am 14. Turned 14 about a month ago.
At night, i have trouble going to sleep because the feeling of having organs, of being so fragile makes me sick. I cannot sleep knowing that everything i know and love could be gone in just a couple seconds. This feeling gets especially strong when it's night time, as the only noise i can hear is my heartbeat.
I have recently developped the fear of having terminal cancer right now and not knowing it.
I am especially scared of testicular cancer, for obvious reasons ( i don't want to lose my balls dude)
Testicular cancer scares me because if i were to notice something unusual, i would probably hesitate telling someone, It's too akward. Now i started noticing things on my body, and hyperfocusing on them. What if the weird white pimple i have on my sack is a tumor?
I am scared of death. This is not a joke.
Sorry for bad english.
Is there really no centralized bloodwork database per patient in a 1st world country like the US? Like if I went to dr. X for 2 years and had 4 sets of labs, then switched to dr. Y, I want to keep the history from X to which Y appends new lab data. This could be easily automated by something like RESTful API.
I sense that politics has to do with not having something like this, if it is really not available. At present, I keep my data and history manually in a database keyed by assay and date, data entry is grueling and manual because doctors send reports in something outdated like JPG or PDF files, not feed into a centralized database.
I really feel any country past the most downtrodden 3rd world should have this available. It's not even a 1st world expectation. I want all my data in one place and don't want to spend hours manually sifting it through because it is not necessary.
it's fucked up how the worlds most powerful country can't deliver universal healthcare, I've grown up in the UK with free healthcare never having to worry about it, it's fucking crazy that this isn't the same and norm in the US.
Somebody please tell me if I'm in the wrong here, because this feels ridiculous to me.
I was referred to a pulmonologist and had a pulmonary function test a few weeks ago. My follow up is not until October, but I need the results of the test to show to a different specialist in a couple of weeks. Typically, this wouldn't be an issue because I use MyChart. I have never had an issue with MyChart displaying my test results before.
Within a day, the results of my test popped up under the test results tab. However, when I clicked on them, there was nothing posted. It said the doctor reviewed them and the results were final, but there were no results. I googled the issue and found out that sometimes if the results are given to the doctor in PDF format then the results don't upload. It seemed like common sense that the issue wasn't with the website but with the upload.
I reached out to the office over MyChart and told them I couldn't see my results and sent them a screenshot of the page. I asked if they'd be able to re-upload the results, message me the results, or email me the results. My doctor's medical assistant told me I would have to call the facility that did the testing.
I called the hospital I had my test done at, and they transferred me around a bunch of times. Finally someone told me to call the MyChart help line. When I called them, the guy seemed confused that they put me in touch with them because it clearly had nothing to do with the website. He filed a ticket for me and I waited for an email.
When I got the email, they said the results did in fact come in PDF form and I was told that the doctor would have to either email or message me the results. So, I messaged the pulmonologist office again and told them what the email said. I asked if they would br able to email or message me the PDF with my test results. The way the medical assistant responded made my jaw drop:
"THERE IS NO WAY FOR US TO DO THAT." In all caps just like that. Ummmmm wtf????
I sent a screenshot of the email and said "Please tell me how I can recieve my test results as I am legally entitled to them. I have escalated this through the channels I was instructed to use and this is the response I was given."
They ignored my message and are also ignoring my phone calls. I really need my spirometry results. Not having the results will prevent me from receiving medication from my cardiologist. What do I do? The pulmonologist is a private practice that's affiliated with some different larger networks around. So there's no manager that I can call.
I also wanna add that this place has 1.5 stars on Google with the most horrible reviews
For context: I go to school full time and work on the weekends.
I recently got diagnosed with a brain tumor(benign) and started this journey around December of 2023. It took me 4 months to get in for a consultation to the Endocrinologist to whom I was referred.
Between consultations, blood draws, and one MRI; I owe $2,500 in medical bills(I have no insurance*)
I make less than $1,500 a month!!! How am I supposed to afford this???
*I’ve tried SO hard to get state insurance but they won’t accept anyone until October when it’s open enrollment, so I’m paying out of pocket for all of this and I need another MRI soon to see how the tumor’s looking and I can’t afford it.
USA healthcare SUCKSS
(ill be fine, i’ll figure it out, i just wanted to rant)
I have Humana health care and need to get bloodwork done, but their online portal for finding a provider doesn’t seem to let you find a lab. I called them and they sent me an email containing a 3 page list of labs I can use, but almost none of the listed labs have addresses, and the few that do are in random states across the country, but nowhere near me. I started googling the lab names on the list, and so far they just show California results, so I’m thinking maybe these are headquarters for the companies that own the labs. I’m going insane here. Does anyone know how to find a lab to get blood taken? This should not be a complicated task, and yet, I’ve wasted hours unsuccessfully searching for somewhere to get blood taken.