I assume youre in the states, Fly to another country + have it done there, itll be a lot cheaper (including the plane ticket + as a bonus you get a holiday as well)

This is a good idea.

You can also try the [font=arial, sans-serif][size=2]Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. I've heard they have an excellent [font=sans-serif][size=2]diagnostic team there...

I wouldn't file a complaint and it wouldn't get anywhere if you did. I do, however, feel your pain.

Back in August of last year, I got off of work and went to the bathroom to find that I had copious amounts bloody puss oozing out of my bellybutton. I went the the ER and the look of horror on the doctor's face had me quite scared. I didn't have insurance at the time and told them I was self pay. They did lab work on the discharge (the results of which I was never informed of) and then, without any further tests, just them staring at my abdomen for several minutes, they told me that it could be an abscess or hiatal hernia. Both are quite common and have been known to doctors for more than a century. Rather than doing cheap pressure tests, using a scope to try to view the possible abscess or anything else that a self-pay patient could afford, they send me up for a CAT scan. I wind up with a $5000 ER bill plus over $1200 in doctor bills. There was no discussion with me of the costs or any other forms of testing. I was told that I needed a CAT scan.

I am still more than a little angry. The hospital has financial aid program and I applied for it, but have yet to hear anything. If they cannot reduce this bill, it will bankrupt me.

'zedz' said:

I assume youre in the states, Fly to another country + have it done there, itll be a lot cheaper (including the plane ticket + as a bonus you get a holiday as well)

This is a good idea.

oh it is, Im thinking of doing this if I develop major problems with my teeth
interesting fact - here in NZ, more than half of doctors are foreign (the highest % in the OECD), mainly from the UK, but here in nelson a lot of yanks as well, so if you come here (though its prolly not that much cheaper) you may be treated by a specialist from your own country

I've had a problem with headaches and migraines lately. I went to see a doctor about it and here is the battery of tests she scheduled for me:

EKG
EEG
MRI
MRA
CT of head, neck, and spine
some doppler thing

I have decent insurance, but with deductibles and minimums I'd still be paying about $8000 for everything which would bankrupt me.

Everything I've read or heard said there are all kinds of possible reasons for my problem and that there are meds and simple tests a doctor can do to try to narrow things down before proceeding to those extremes. She talked to me for a few minutes at best and went over all these tests so fast I didn't really have time to respond. Basically she didn't really care about the specifics of my problem at all.

It looks like this piece of work is mostly focused on the bottom line and I think that goes against her oath as a doctor. I might be wrong about that but it's still clearly unethical.

Is this a state medical board type of complaint situation? I don't think it's technically malpractice.

Most doctors don't care about your health, just the money. You should probably look into an alternative medicine doctor. Headaches are usually due to some deficiency. I would do some research on the web as well. Sometimes health problems can be fixed by a diet change. I'm not kidding.

Everything I've read or heard said there are all kinds of possible reasons for my problem and that there are meds and simple tests a doctor can do to try to narrow things down before proceeding to those extremes.

You could complain to your state medical board or get a lawyer to sue.... but wouldn't it be easier to just talk to the doctor? She said a lot of stuff to you that you didn't understand or were concerned about. You should not have left her office until you had told here there was stuff you didn't understand and could she please explain. If the concern arose later you should have called and asked for a follow up appointment. It sounds like your Doctor is (at most) guilty of having a poor bedside manner - however you are just as guilty of poor patient manners. If you have concerns discuss them with the doctor or at most the manager/administrator of the hospital/medical practice.

If you talk to the doctor and ask why she thinks all these tests are necessary she may actually explain that the particular combination of symptoms/type of headache you have is indicative of a particular serious issue. Alternatively, once you explain that you would be happier eliminating the simpler possibilities first before rushing to a battery of tests then she can do what you want. "I'm a Doctor, Jim, not a mind reader".

I don't understand... She ordered the tests without telling you? If that's the case, then it might be worth complaining about. Even so, if you tried to sue the doctor, it will definitely cost you more than $8000 and you will lose.

If they told you about it, why didn't you ask why? It sounds like you're not taking responsibility for your own health. I live in Canada, so if a doctor said I needed tests I'd just get them - they wouldn't cost me a penny. However, I do need to pay for dental, and when a dentist tells me I need $2000 in work done, I immediately ask why and what the urgency is of each treatment. I don't just bugger off and complain about how horrible a dentist I have! In fact, last time that happened the dentist ended up doing work for free to help me out while I was getting my new business up and running.

Have you tried just calling the doctor back and asking why all those tests are needed? Like has been said before, migraines could be a symptom of very serious life threatening illnesses...

I know it's scary when you have painful, unexplained symptoms but you should still try and see what the hell is going on 1st. That doctor simply did what doctors do, which is say you need a whole bunch of expensive stuff done while hoping you don't ask any questions.

Lesson learned I guess.

sooner123, I recommend you to pay assurance to Vseobecna zdravotna poistovna, here in Slovakia, it is a health assurance institution here in slovakia, I pay monthly like 80 Euro to it. I had the very same problem like you and yes, I got scheduled for all those diagnostic procedures like you did. I off course didn't pay a cent for it. Flying here to slovakia to get healthy should cost you less then the same in us. The problem of my headaches turned out to be veins, I simply have a sensitive reaction in my upper neck vein in case I do not drink enough water through the day. By the way, there is a private assurance institution beside the state owned one, Dovera, and by paying up a more expensive assurance, you can even get health care straight in us and have Slovak assurance pay for it. Just check your options . The reason why the us health care is so expensive is, I think, that not all people has to pay health assurance, that is, it is voluntary. This couses the system so much expensive.

The reason why the us health care is so expensive is, I think, that not all people has to pay health assurance, that is, it is voluntary. This couses the system so much expensive.

There are a bunch of reasons US health care got expensive. I'm pretty sure there's a bunch of documentaries on it.

My wife gets migraines every so often...the magic cure from her doc is to pop a Benedril the instant you notice the tell tale signs of one coming on. It will usually keep any pain from even starting. For her anyway...