http://www.billingsgazett...ralize.txt

Any word on how this will effect Holy Rosary?

Don't know but Dr. Van Marel, from Holy Rosery Clinic is leaving by June because he says Holy Rosery breached his contract....He apparently is relocating to Spearfish, South Dakota...I am getting sick of losing doctors....

"...I am getting sick of losing doctors...."

Would you like to take this one Mr Hardy, Reed, or Bonine? I'm sure there are some puns going through your heads right about now.

.Howdy...You're Frickin kidding me. Dr. Van Marel is my husbands Doctor...I guess we'll be driving to Spearfish, SD. WTF.

Would you like to take this one Mr Hardy, Reed, or Bonine? I'm sure there are some puns going through your heads right about now.

I'm actually drawing a blank, Matt.

Ah, silly me ...

If you're looking for winning doctors, Howdy, I suggest you try Julius Erving. Dr. J won three championships in the ABA and NBA and is one of the game's all-time greats.

http://www.nba.com/histor...mmary.html

[This message has been edited by Brian A. Reed (5/1/2009)]

wish I was kidding....He is a very good doctor and didn't wish to leave Miles City....He was very well established here and tried to negotiate with Holy Rosery.....but now he has signed a new contract with Spearfish.....watch out for some clinics in Spearfish as some of them don't take blue cross/blue shield insurance (if that is your insurance)

So, when I have to argue with the hospital and insurance company over payment (as one always does, because the system does not work) I'll have to call Billings? I become less happy with HRH every passing day, which is sad, because it was once a wonderful system.

Why not centralize the business office in Butte or Miles City instead of Billings?

Good Idea, as those communities need jobs more than Billings I would guess...

Yes Amorette that is what you will have to do. It sucks but as you said "the system never works anyway." The other place is no better, infact I have had more trouble there. What I wonder about is the loss of jobs locally?

Surely office space and labor is cheaper in Butte or Miles City than it is in Billings?

Miles City has really taken a hit because of Holy Rosary layoffs in recent months...One would hope that corporation would think of the community when consolidating the billing offices...

Dr. Van Marel's place is up for sale. I don't know what he paid for it but it is listed at 649,000 and sits on just over 27 acres. That seems kind of high for Custer County, at least it does to me.

Hate to ruin the bash the hospital thread...

1. The good doctors leaving is his choice. {Don't belive the BS posted above.}

2. HRHC billing is confusing at times.

3. HRHC is still a good place & I have proof.

4. The proof?


The good doctors & nurses there recently saved my son's life.

Regards,

Matt Smith

Of course it was his choice, because of his contract being breached...Since my information came from the Dr. himself, I think I know why he left...I am just sorry to see him go...

Amorette is away from her computer now so I will explain her response as best I can. She (and myself ) feel the medical staff is very good, no real complaints on that area. We have had problems with billing, mostly from the Insurance company's part, and the Holy Rosary staff was very helpful in getting the problems solved even though they were not HRH's fault. Her (and mine a bit) is the national trend to centralize and out-source to supposedly save money. In our experience instead of one quick friendly phone call to clear things up, you end up with several confusing and frustrating calls that waist you and the other party's time costing more money then the local office would have.

There is just too much going on at Holy Rosary. There is very good Drs., PAs., and Nursed at Holy Rosary. It is the economy too that is not good. Greg Neilson is leaving. Too many changes some good and some bad but the hospital will prevail.

How long has Greg Neilson been there??? Anyone know??

Surely office space and labor is cheaper in Butte or Miles City than it is in Billings?

It may or may not be. But Butte does not have St. Vincent's Hospital there. I'd imagine the location of the largest hospital in the group has a great deal to do with the decision to move things to Billings.

I believe that Greg Neilson has been here for at least 10yrs. but I could be wrong. It was in the Miles City Star if you get that paper of course..

Greg has been at Holy Rosary for 6 years this spring.

Okay, I have to tell a little of my story with HRH. In the last two years, some of my bills have gone to other insurance companies and denied. I would then call HRH and hear they would resubmit. When I asked why they were billing to those other companies, I was told it was a billing error. Then I received notice that they were denied again because they were sent to yet another insurance company. I called and said I didn't like my reports being submitted to all these companies. Enter the new billing system, I've been told the last several months. I received notice that my husband and I (who have separate insurance companies) were denied coverage. Why? Because they sent both of our claims to yet another insurance company that we don't have and never had! Again I called. They told me I would have to call Medicare to prove my husband did not have that insurance before they could rebill to Medicare because now Medicare had "wind" there was another insurance. I called Medicare -who refused to talk to me. (HIPPA) I called HRH and explained the situation and said I was done.

About four or five months ago I received an EOB denial for almost $2,000 of physical therapy. I took the EOB to Tracy at Physical Therapy and told her it was a shame the hospital lost out on the money as they submitted it over a year late. She checked into and told me it had been submitted for 2008 instead of 2009 and they would correct it.

Yesterday, I received another EOB saying the entire claims were denied for not filing in a timely manner. Guess what...they were filed for 2008 again. I am not going to bother to call. I believe Tracy did her part. The hospital lost out on some money there.

I received a call from a really nice girl this week from HRH, explaining that I had an account of over $2,000 going to collection and hopefully we could work something out. I asked how could I be turned over for something that had not been submitted to my insurance company. This one was on my husband. She checked and said Medicare denied because he had other insurance. GRRRRRRRRRR I explained that I had spoken to numerous people over the last few years regarding this and I bet if his insurance were billed, they would pay it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I explained that I had gone over and over this. This girl patiently listened to my frustration and I appreciated that. I said I would not call Medicare to tell them my husband did not have another insurance. She put a stop on the account and assured me she would look into it and take care of it. You know what? I really believe this girl but sadly if they move a lot of work to Billings, this bill will not be submitted correctly (if they will even accept it as this point). There goes another $2,000 down the drain. That's almost $4,000 folks!

I am not the only one that is having problems with accounts and being billed properly.

As for the medical staff, I have nothing but great things to say about them! They work so hard. I am not saying billing does not work hard, I just don't understand why the same things continue to happen.

I must say I whole heartedly agree with Matt's post. It certainly is Vanmarel's choice to leave and I'm not going to argue with that. As my mother always said "all things painted gold are not golden". I have also heard Vanmarel's side of the story straight from him and I certainly realize there is more to the story. Vanmarel stated his contract was not honored but he also stated his wages are connected to productivity. He gets a certain percentage of the billed amount. Listed as public info in 2006 his wages are $227,591 (wow). Yet he said he couldn't afford to pay his bills. Doesn't add up and I'm not going to waste any tears. Every black cloud has a silver lining.

To be a success at any hospital you have to be a team player and respect your fellow coworkers.You certainly should never misrepresent yourself. The $ bottomline is connected to # of pt's seen and length of stayes. It's all about customer service. You certainly have to realize who's the customer.

I was reading the article in the star about the hospital CEO resigning. I was quite interested in what was said or not said. Looks like to me he concentrated on the physical plant and grew a pretty tree. Unfortunatley he forgot about feeding the roots. The day they announced lay offs they in fact were pouring the walking path. The day after they announced the intial cutbacks to staff the management team flew to a "leadership retreat". So hasta la vista and there will be no tears only more work to be done.

As far as outsourcing of the admissions, business office, coding and med records what a horriable mistake. But its unfortunatley not the first time. Nearly all of support services at the hospital are now outsourced. When questioned about this, it was stated "well, yes locally we are not saving money by outsourcing but the system as a whole is saving". I do not understand how the hospital expects this community to support them if the do not support this communtiy. It's a two way street in my book. Hopefully they will rethink this.

Hats off to the great nurses, doctors, hospital staff and community members who speak up for what is right. Let's all support them in this troubling time and protect our community hospital. Let us help them to put their voices back into healthcare.

[This message has been edited by extreme conditions (5/3/2009)]

[This message has been edited by extreme conditions (5/3/2009)]

agree with you extreme conditions....Maybe the new CEO will do a better job of supporting the very hard working and gifted employees at the hospital and clinic...plus I don't agree with basing a doctors salary on production....Something about it just doesn't seem to be proper..Maybe I am just old fashioned and think medical professionals should care about the patients and not their production statistics...

[This message has been edited by howdy (5/3/2009)]

extreme conditions, no truer words have ever been spoken about HRH. You sound like someone who knows. I have many friends who work for them and I wish them the best.

"The day they announced lay offs they in fact were pouring the walking path. The day after they announced the initial cutbacks to staff the management team flew to a "leadership retreat"."

This is amazing to me. I have heard for years about retreats and cruses for the Board of Directors and management. Interesting.

"Vanmarel stated his contract was not honored but he also stated his wages are connected to productivity. He gets a certain percentage of the billed amount. Listed as public info in 2006 his wages are $227,591 (wow)."

Where could one find this info? Someone asked me, not a clue.

[This message has been edited by Samantha (6/2/2009)]

We were just in Miles City about two weeks ago and my wife stepped out of the pickup and tweaked her ankle. I wanted to take her to the ER at HRH but she said HELL NO and that she would wait till we got back down here to Cheyenne. So she gutted it out and waited till we got home.

How do you outsource admissions?

As for the insurance thing, after fifteen years with the same company this year I'm getting the run around with every claim. I don't know if they're trying to hold onto their money or what, but they keep denying saying we have another policy which is primary payer. It's a sad comment on the insurance industry.

Same way they outsource maintenance, Hire a company that staffs the office, but the emplyees are not HRH employees, they are hired and paid by the contractor, so they get (probably) lower wages and fewer benefits than HRH.