Sorry About Your Dead Son; That Will Be $29,186.50, Please

[Eric J in MN]

Run time: 03:46 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j5junlHe7Q   Posted on YouTube: November 04, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: November 04, 2009 By DU Member: Eric J in MN Views on DU: 1422

 
Scott Hawkins was beaten by his roommate at Sacramento State, got 5 minutes of emergency room treatment at UC Davis Medical Center and was pronounced dead.

[FiveGoodMen]

1. !

:wtf:

[Vinca]

2. What on earth do you do for 5 minutes that racks up $29,000+ ???

Forget the idiot letter - mistakes happen - the hospital is claiming the charges are correct. And that's no mistake.

[Eric J in MN]

4. Yes, the dollar amount is even worse than the....

...don't come back (about a dead person) language in the letter.

[Hyper_Eye]

3. This letter courtesy of the best healthcare system in the world. n/t

[RKP5637]

9. Yeah, finest in the world, that's what the happy ones say... Idiots! n/t

[robo50]

5. OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What kind of idiots do we have running that Hosptial?

I should think someone should be fired. "Clerical error" right!

The people that set up such an "automated system" should get to fired, and never have a job again in the health care industry.

I had my insurance company pay over $7000 for one visit of six hours. That was a bargain, I guess.

These costs are insane! How much does it actually cost a Canadian or British emergency room to treat a dying patient for 5 minutes?

Something is very sick in American health care that allowed these charges for a few minutes of treatment.

I wonder what a Republican would say to this, if they had lost their son, and got that bill.

Oh wait, they would blame it on Obama.

[valerief]

8. Thieves, not idiots. nt

[Eric J in MN]

10. The hospital is saying that the wording of the letter was a clerical error,

...but that the dollar amount in the bill is accurate.

[robo50]

14. So the "clerical error" was .........what?

More like the most absurd tactical error ever for that hospital and all the administrators who allowed for "clerics" to be hired to make such mistakes.

Off with their heads, I say, let's know who those administrators are, and cut their salaries to zero.

[Eric J in MN]

18. The hospital didn't intend to send a letter saying that a dead man isn't welcome to return

...to the hospital, since he's indigent.

Maybe the software prints a different letter if a record shows that a man is dead, but a clerk didn't mark the record properly.

[PatSeg]

6. That comes to $438,000 an hour!

Even if the boy had survived, the letter was idiotic to say not to return to that hospital. He had no choice on what hospital the ambulance took him to. Under such circumstances, the ambulance will take a patient to the nearest hospital - it WAS an emergency, like in "emergency room".

California has a victim's fund that usually pays for such expenses, but I'm quite sure even they will question the outrageous charges.

[valerief]

7. Is UC Davis outsourced to KBR or Halliburton or something????

:argh:

[Johnyawl]

11. Scott Hawkins is the nephew of two long time DUers

There's not words to describe what our family has gone through dealing with this.

The hospital's timing couldn't have been worse. The day after the funeral, the family had departed, leaving Jerry and Liz alone when that fucking letter got there.

[hmorehead]

12. The whole thing just plain stinks and the letter means nothing more than

UC/Davis pulling is a Bart Simpson: Ididn't do it, someone else did. They think that because they "apologized" (word used very loosely) that they are blameless.

[robo50]

15. Yeah, that's why I never liked Bart Simpson.

F'ing idiots, not worthy of a cartoon.........

Let's make sure these people never work again.

I'm so sick of incompetence in management.

[hmorehead]

17. Why is the party of self responsibility so willing to be not responsible for thier scew ups????

[Martunez]

13. Scumbags

Patient Monitor/SB: $ 7,771.50
ER Level 5 Service: $18,900.50
Trauma Resuscitation service: $467.00
Intubation: $1580.50
Insert CVA Device: $467.00
Gouging murder victims' families: Priceless.

[robo50]

16. Best analysis of incompetence in America I have seen.

Let's make sure salaries of people who sent this letter out, or allowed for computers to do this..........$0

[LeftyMom]

19. I'm not entirely sure why he was taken to that hospital, it's not the closest to Sac State.

It might have been that he was taken there because of better trauma facilities, but Mercy is closer.