Do you know the difference between a medical bill and remittance information? They look very similar and they are designed as such so that you will pay EVERYTHING. Remittance information is NOT a bill, you should never send a check, and its only purpose is to give you information on the following: What was billed, What was paid by Medicare, What the difference is between the billing and the paid amount, What was billed to the secondary insurance, What was paid, or what is still waiting to be paid. Remember, remittance information is ONLY information and not a bill. NEVER pay anything that says remittance. It should also say – this is not a bill. When in doubt check with your caregiver, or give LifeSaver Living Solutions a call at 800-531-3270. Saving Lives
Everyone needs a Patient Advocate. In 2010, the third largest cause of death
in The United States was accidents in hospitals, behind the number one and two
killers – heart disease and cancer. More people died totally needlessly in hospitals
than those who died of Stroke and complications from diabetes combined. Hiring a
patient advocate can dramatically lower that statistic and protect your family from
needless mishaps.
Why A Patient Advocate?
Hospital Accidents and the State of Healthcare in The United States
In 2010 there were 215,000 unintentional Hospital Deaths. About 1.1 million people died of heart disease and cancer combined, and another 20% died completely needlessly of unintentional hospital deaths, in other words, accidents.
Hearst Newspapers wrote an extensive article about the prevalence of medical mistakes and how they are the #1 cause of accident deaths in America, about three times the annual automobile fatalities. The article states that 109.000 people die every year from medical mistakes such as unnecessary surgery, medical errors, medication errors and adverse drug reactions. Another 106,000 patients succumb to hospital-acquired infections, and most of these deaths are clearly preventable.
There is also a prevalent “veil of secrecy” among hospitals when it comes to reporting the mistakes and the circumstances surrounding the preventable deaths of patients. It appears that among states that are participating in healthcare safety campaigns, just 20% of the hospitals in these areas are participating. You would think that the medical mistake-death statistics would provide some incentive for most if not all of these hospitals to participate in a campaign designed to reduce mistakes and prevent unnecessary mistakes.
What can we do as a society to prevent medical mistakes? The first step is to make sure you either know enough or hire someone who does to advocate on your behalf. The second order of business is to communicate how prevalent mistakes are in our hospitals today. Yet the doctors and the state medical associations consistently spout propaganda to deflect attention of these mind-numbing statistics by arguing that doctors should be immune from mistakes so lawyers can’t sue and obtain million dollar jury verdicts.
There has seldom been a multi-million dollar verdict against a doctor or hospital that didn’t involve a horrible injury or the needless death of a patient. When negligent physicians and hospitals maim and kill, they cause a substantial amount of suffering, pain, and/or an extensive need for future medical care.
No one, not the local and national governments combined, has addressed thorough public attention and intelligent disclosure laws. If hospitals were forced to report all incidences of negligence, more would be done to avoid the mistakes in the first place. But the healthcare industry has continued to fight against reasonable reporting and disclosure laws. Left unprotected, everyone needs a Patient Advocate.
And here is the ultimate irony. In the last World Health Organization ranking of healthcare systems around the globe, The United States was ranked 37th overall, 14th in preventable deaths behind most of Europe, 24th in life expectancy, 71st in Health system attainment and performance in all member countries ranked by 8 factors, and number one in total health expenditures as a percentage of the gross domestic product. In other words we have one of the worst health care systems in the world but without a doubt the most expensive.
Why Every Family Needs a Patient Advocate
Every family needs a patient advocate, someone familiar with the healthcare system BEFORE a crisis happens, someone who doesn’t take “Yes!” for an answer — “YES, we are doing everything possible to help.” Without a patient advocate, we are at the mercy of a broken system, where 215,000 needless patient deaths from hospital accidents are now the number three cause of death annually; at the mercy of doctors whose patient visits average 5-7 minutes, and insurance companies who continue to ration care, regardless of insurance reforms.
We don’t realize that we need an advocate until an emergent situation occurs. Examples are heart attack, stroke, cancer, acute trauma from a severe fall or automobile or industrial accident, or any episode that land us in a hospital emergency room, intensive care unit or surgical suite. Regardless of your trust in the US Healthcare System and the practitioners who administer health care, your individual good health will always be your individual responsibility.
The purpose of LifeSaver Patient Solutions is not to fix the current healthcare system, but to help average families survive in the current system of disarray that will languish for decades to come. We do that by intervening with families directly or teaching them to navigate through the complex maze of healthcare issues in order for them to thrive and live long and prosperous lives.
You can view some of our services at our website at www.LifeSaverLivingSolutions.com or reach us at LifeSaverSolutions@gmail.com for more information. We also give free patient advocacy lectures at community events on how to successfully navigate the health care maze. We will post that schedule regularly on the website.