FrankTalk.org

*see update below*

I had a recent surgery with Dr. Clavell, self pay (edit: and paid in full).
I paid the initial hospital fee of $1512, which I had anticipated to be the full and final amount (barring some sort of extraordinary development). Now I’m being informed that there could be extra charges after just a few hours in the recovery room, so I’m shocked and worried about what this could entail. Furthermore, hospital billing was somewhat rude and told me that they won’t have the billing figure for at least a few weeks. This is needlessly causing me stress during my recovery. Clavell’s staff are difficult or impossible to reach, and can’t seem to provide any further insight.
Aside from that, the operation has seemingly gone smoothly and I enjoyed my interactions with Dr. Clavell himself. I realize that there may be organizational issues as he builds his new practice.
For those who have been in a similar situation, what’s your experience with self pay and hospital billing?
Hopefully this ends well and I can provide a positive update.
Many thanks

Update: Dr. Clavell did reach out to assure me that he has a pre-negotiated agreement with the hospital to guarantee his hospital fee. In other words, $1512 should be the full and final amount.

Lion:

Do not fret. Do not worry. To quote James Thurber, you’re sitting in the catbird seat.

I assume you’ve either paid Dr. Clavell in full or there is an agreed upon amount.

You’ve given the hospital what they asked for and the procedure is done.

What they bill you after the fact should be looked at. If it is reasonable and customary and doesn’t push you past the total amount quoted as a self pay, then pay it. If they’re trying to nickel and dime you to death, if what they’re throwing in exceeds the amount the Doctor told you for an all-expense-paid implant, then ignore the bill and talk to the doctor.

I was military. My family was covered by Tricare (formerly Champus). Hospitals were notorious for trying to exceed the Tricare allowable and threatening patients. I simply got to the point where collection agencies would call and I’d simply tell them to put in the computer that I was never going to pay and if they wanted to sue me, go ahead.

You were basing your surgery on a price quoted by the doctor, hospital, or some combination thereof. You’ve obviously paid some, most, or all of that. They had the opportunity to collect anything extra before the surgery. They failed to do so. Try to be fair….if there were some additional costs incurred (like needing more anesthesia or several more hours of recovery or additional pain meds) then be fair. Otherwise hold their feet to fire and talk to doctor about why the hospital he used to do your surgery is trying to inflate the cost beyond his estimates.

I hear Dr. Clavell is a really good guy. If the hospital is being fair, he can explain why the additional cost. If they’re trying to screw you, I suspect they like having him do patients in their facility so he likely has significant clout with the hospital admin.

Bottom line: hospitals try to be sneaky sometimes. They don’t like getting caught with hand in cookie jar. I’ve simply disregarded thousands in hospital bills over the years when I was right. I’ve never been sued. I’ve never had any health care provider try to booger up my credit score. Doctors & hospitals still welcome my business.

Focus on recovery and getting comfortable with being bionic. You can deal with this financial crap in two or three months.

Following this.

I had my pre op with Dr. Clavell last week and was also told it was $1512 for the hospital. Really curious to see how this turns out.

Taggart423 wrote:Following this.

I had my pre op with Dr. Clavell last week and was also told it was $1512 for the hospital. Really curious to see how this turns out.

Positive resolution it seems. See my revised post above.

Thanks for the update. Dr. Clavell is the man!

I received a hospital ( not a bill ) itemized list of the procedures with cost attachments for about 250k if I remember correctly. I was freaking the fuck out . I took pics of the hospital paperwork and sent them to Dr. Clavell along with my frantically worded concerns. He called me almost immediately and reassured me that when the hospital and insurance company were done with their negotiations, that the final total would be alot less . ( I'm paraphrasing Dr. Clavells words ) That this was how the game is played and that I wouldn't be obligated to pay anything more . Well it took a couple months but I finally received the news I anxiously awaited .... Dr. Clavell was correct ! The final bill was about 66k and I didn't owe anything else . Dr. Clavell picking up the phone to call me personally and talk me off the cliff made a world of difference. He's not just a great surgeon , he's a great human being that truly cares for his patients.

.... I'd like to add that I had 3 procedures done .
1) implant
2) incisions to straighten out the curvature due to Peyronie's disease
3) don't know the medical term but he tightened up my nutsack.

Great to hear this.