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Here in TV I go to Dr. Georg Couturier at Heart of The Villages in Spanish Springs. On my first office visit he spent one hour with me explaining my heart condition to me and detailing what I must do to avoid further damage to my heart. He did this while he had several other patients in the waiting room and his reimbursement was at the Medicare rate which actually pays for an office visit of under 15 minutes. The man is a gem! |
GG, I applaud your support of Physicians you believe to be capable. Unfortunately, in my experience, they are not. We draw the physicians who cannot make a living in anything other than a Medicare environment. In my case, I had a heart problem that required a pacemaker. The pacemaker was installed, (put in place) by a surgeon in a large cardiac practice, with a Villages office. The procedure was done at LRMC. Nothing got better. I had a series of tests over the next few months. Action resulting - zero. Choosing to try to live, I went to Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. The initial office exam showed that my pacemaker was not working correctly. The Medtronic rep confirmed this.
Initial surgery was done to repair the pacemaker. Surgery showed that (1) one of the two leads was never attached; (2) the other lead had very high impedance; and (3) it was not the right pacemaker to start with. The surgeon, at a subsequent operation put in place a three lead, biventricular pacemaker. I'm doing well now, thanks to Mayo and in no way thanks to to the local cardiologists. If it were up to them, I'd be dead. I had a similar experienced with my wife. She fell and broke her hip. I interrupted the surgery to discover that after 45 minutes, they did not have an IV capable of providing the need meds to her. If this is not incompetence, please define it for me. My encouragement to my fellow Villagers is (1) if you need a flu shot go to you local doctor; (2) if you have any reason to believe your may seriously ill – get out of town! The physicians in the Villages settled here either to retire or because they were not accepted as competent by their peers. No one came here to blaze new trails or be a leader in their specialty. |
Maybe I can help. Go to Dr. George Couterier and avoid all this. You get the best of the best at the same time.
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Gracies comments are right on..... |
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I would have think that you have a giant malpractice suit going on against this Village practice and the surgeon that preformed the operation. So, have your attorney's issued a gag order or are you going to name names? Your number 2 is quite a statement. My cardiologist is Dr. Brian Saluck who I would highly recommend. He is in his 40's and has a very impressive bio so I don't believe he came here to retire just yet. |
I'm glad to know that you were satisfied with the treatment you received and the outcome was good. As for a lawsuit, I've been involved in two of them (neither medically connected) and came out of them never wanting to be involved in one again although I did 'win' in both cases. The truth of the matter is that the attorneys won as they do in most suits. Life is too short to waste it on things that really do not matter.
I maintain that my advice to get out of The Villages is valid. Even if you have a great physician, the requisite support does not exist here. Ask yourself the question, "If my physician is as good as I believe, why isn't he/she practicing in a major medical center?" |
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oic
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They are in business, just like any other business, to make money. The pharmacist on this site agrees with me as he once pointed out that doctors [more often than not] choose to protect their butts by overtreating their patients (rather than relying on natural means). So, I repeat, be warry of all heart doctors. |
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My post is not a disservice because it warns people to be cautious (as apposed to uncautious and laxidasical) No one should go through life blindly trusting everyone. We all know there are good and bad doctors; that's why people need to be warry of all doctors. One can never know for sure whether a doctor will turn out to be good or bad, even with a friend's recommendation. |
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The OP comments are instructive concerning the need for each of us to be good consumers of medical services and products. it also is instructive as to te conflict presented to health carriers. simply stated trying to determine which medical professions are ordering unnecessary and/or over priced testing, drugs, therapies, etc.
Medical professionals like all of us are in business to make a living but also charged with our care. Most are good caring people. I left myprimary care doc here because he in my opinion was ordering unnecessary testing ,etc. Conversely, I have a cardiologist that substitutes as my primary care doc and he is very professional and caring. Conversely I can tell you that I had the number one surgeon in the State of Minnesota in his field. A surgeon my specialist, who was also listed as the number one in the State in his field, said was the surgeon doctors go to for care I won't bore you with details, but Ttis number one surgeon almost killed me leaing me in what was termed grave conditions and left me in hopsital care for 31 days, the need for a drug induced coma and 4 months of rhab at home. Speak up when at the docotr's office for both of your benefits. |
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Carl, thanks for writing. I need to tell you that in this case, "runs like an assembly line" does NOT represent a well organized and efficient office. My cardiologist up North and I requested FIVE TIMES that records be sent. It wasn't until I threatened legal action that the records were sent. Of course, they showed no problem, no need for further investigation, etc. That's the reason the requests were ignored in the first place. You're right...after the fact billing IS too late. And re: the treadmill test, there was absolutely no reason why I couldn't have taken that test. I quit smoking 25 years ago, am not obese, etc. I was never given the option, nor from what I could see, is anyone else who is a patient there. Your point that I should have directed others to vitals.com is very well taken, and I will do that in the future should I run across (heaven forbid) another such practitioner. Thanks again.
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Re: why tested when no symptoms.
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I worked in Cardiology office for 30+ years---started out assisting and at the time of my retirement was the Business Office Manager. The charge you saw for 174.00 for treadmill test that you said you didn't actually have was probably for supplies. When billing is done--each and every component of the test has a separate CPT code (this is a universal code that tells the insurance companies what is being billed) I am guessing that this code and charge was probably for supplies---maybe even the Nuclear infusion that was done. Can't be sure but I would imagine if you went to the Cardiology office for a Cardiostress test the charge would be more than 174.00.
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Unfortunately in today's world doctors are being sued at the drop of a hat. And when that case gets into court the doctor and the attending nurses and assistants are going to be grilled over and over and over again as to why this test or that test was not run. And then when the lawyer finds some little test that wasn't run because the doctor didn't feel you needed that test, he's going to be sued for millions of dollars!! No..maybe you won't sue the doctor, but hundreds of others are going to try because they have been misled that they have been "injured" by neglect and that they can now hit the lottery off this doctor or provider's misfortune. Have you looked at any TV (not the villages) commercials these days? There are lawyers by the boat-load offering to "get you substantial money" from some doctor who didn't perform some test, which had nothing to do with providing you with good healthcare. Most extra tests have nothing to do with fraud. It's about your doctor keeping his license to be able to save your life!!! |
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Finally "he who doctors himself has a fool for a patient |
Shrink, I sent you a pm.
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How does this square with your suggestion that doctors need to give lots of tests to protect themselves? |
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The problem you are all missing is the meaning of the word necessary. We do our best to diagnose and treat patients. Obviously, this is how we make a living. But, I found that you do make more money by being the best doctor possible and treating your patients the same way you would treat another physician, i.e. an educated consumer.
That being said, this is not making a cake where there is an exact recipe. For example, my neighbor just went to the hospital with symptoms and a history that would force a good doctor to do a heart work up. That would include labs (done many times over 3 days) and a stress test. All this to rule out something he didn't have. In some hospitals he also would have had to do an angiogram. This is an invasive procedure, and that may have been the time for the patient to ask himself if it is 'really' needed. The question are: do you do the test to be sure or safe? In addition, do you do it to protect against malpractice if something is there that could be missed? This is an art and a science, and as doctors... we make EDUCATED guesses. I am not speaking to what this doctor ( the one in the thread ) did or should have done. I can just tell you that most doctors don't spend 10 plus years or 75 plus hour weeks with little or no pay, motivated by ripping people off. Mostly they want to help people. I know there are a few bad apples. But maybe this thread could have started with: 'Do you think these tests A,B, and C are excessive for these symptoms?' 'What tests have your doctor done for this?'... That might have opened a more useful dialog. P.S. Sorry for any typos as I did this on my iPhone. |
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(And you did a fine job using your phone.) |
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Mack
Agree with your post and the the good doctors post. Unfortunatley dueto the legal system and the law suits, doctors have to order tests. I am an RN in a large Cardiology office up north.
Know this, you also have the right to refuse a test. I am glad that nothing was wrong with you but most Americans do have build up in their arteries due to our lifestyle and diet and with other factors like smoking, family history, etc it is warranted to check it out. I would call the billing dept. at the office so they would explain the billing that was done. |
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I think you defined unnecessary tests above. In your own words, "....some test[s], which had nothing to do with providing you with good healthcare." |
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I think perhaps most of it is decided because of the atmosphere that is created in the doctor's office. If a patient gets a warm attentive reception from the receptionist, nurse and doctor, that tends to put one in a happy receptive mood. From there on in, much of what is done is judged to be necessary. And that judgement comes inspite of the fact that we are told that we are not supposed to know anything. In most cases, I would call such judgements "nebulous". There's a saying that goes something like this: Caring about the patient is one of the most important tools in a doctor's practice, so, if the doctor can fake it, he or she has it made. Note: Bernard Madoff was a smooth operator who seemed to care about people, or so they thought, until he was found out to be a crook who only cared about himself. |
I for one understand the frustration that ‘shrink’ is going through and the DoctorA comment about the malpractice suits is right on target. In my opinion many tests performed is to protect against those suits that are common in this medical field. It is the current medical system and insurance firms that drive this sometimes unnecessary function in a doctors practice. There is a reason it is called a practice and with the specialty in medicine, the GP cannot take the chance of diagnosing anymore even if they think they know the problem. Sad state of affairs.
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I think that you have done the responsible thing in alerting readers about alleged fraudulent medical practice. I also think that Florida has some of the highest medical costs and the lowest health outcomes in the country. You really should identify this practice if for no other reason than to verify the truth of your post. I think it equally important that patients take responsibility for their own health and not just roll over for the doctor, especially once you've been alerted.
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