Stress test??

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danl

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I was supposed to have a nuclear stress test 2/14/17. I had already had an ekg and something didn't look right, so on to stress test.
Got there at 7am was about 8:30 when they came for me. They put a needle in back of my hand and injected radioactive isotopes, wait another hour and put me in something that looked like a mri and took pictures of heart. Another hour they took me took the stress room.... The Dr said she had to get an at rest baseline. She started running a print out and looked alarmed, ran it again and said I can't do this test without your Dr seeing this. I had pvcs.
So I went to Drs office and he said he wanted me to have an echocardiogram at an affiliate hospital that had a cardiac unit. Made my day.
Going to have it done tomorrow. Kind of scared.
The whole point of this novel is they have billed me for the test they didn't complete.
Test was $2377.00. insurance co. Allowed 1580.00 and paid $389.00 leaving me owing $1188.00 for no results. Do I have a leg to stand on protesting the full amount?
I have googled and can't find any answers. So I am looking to this vast collective of knowledge for advice or personal experiences
 
By stopping, she may have saved you from trouble. Best place to have a heart attack is in a hospital with a cardiac unit next door.
 
Not planning on it...
Trying not to think about it too much.
2017 has got off to a bad start for me. I woke up January 23 at 5 in the morning, nauseated and threw up a bunch of bright red blood, wife took me to emergency room. After figuring out I wasn't dying had a scope down my throat, was relieved to find I just had a bleeding ulcer.
I have had acid reflux for a while. Dr put me on delayed release prilosec. Haven't had any symptoms since. However starting that day I can't get my breath with the least exertion. Feeding the cows wipes me out,have to rest. That's what led to stress test. I passed a pulmonary test, technician said my lungs were younger than me.
To top it off the insurance denied my claim as none emergency use of emergency room. Supposed to be getting that reversed
 
I agree Jogeephus, not going to have a big fit.
However the Drs nurse called the next day to tell me my stress test came back normal, so I am assuming miscommunication. I just didn't know if it was customary to charge full price for something that couldn't be finished.
 
Jogeephus":2tz90dtr said:
By stopping, she may have saved you from trouble. Best place to have a heart attack is in a hospital with a cardiac unit next door.
Been there, i had a massive heart attack while in the recovery room after a hernia surgery. I had 3 EKG's within a week before the surgery and all were normal. Don't fret over the bill but no matter what the bill is contest it. The people sending u the bill just go by a code that someone puts on the paperwork where they do the tests.
 
Last thing on my mind would be the dr bill knowing something more serious is going on.. You cant take it with you that test could have just saved your life and gave you more time on this place forget the money aspect and be glad. I just had my stress test i have one every few years but i gotta walk/run on the treadmill... im on beta blockers so this fat boy usually ends up running instead of walking

torture chamber
IMG_20170126_144906642_zpsrie72p2e.jpg
 
Good Luck contesting the bill, once it's coded it goes to a local country club where medical staff at the bar engrave
it in stone. Only way for it to be changed, other than an act of God, would be by pairing an insurance executive with
either a local attorney or a drug company executive and beating the doctor and a hospital administrator in golf.

I'm pretty sure medical billing systems were designed as a marketing strategy to induce stress and heart attacks.
 
I once was billed for medical tests that were Never Performed!
In my naivety I assumed it would be as simple as pointing out the error and it would be corrected. It took over 2
months to correct and when finally completed billing staff treated me as though they had done me a heroic favor.

Had the medical tests been covered by insurance the billing error would've gone unnoticed and been paid.
Over 90% of medical insurance fraud is committed by doctors and hospitals.
 
Hope you get good news. The insurance co allowed less than they maybe should have, then I assume you had a big deductible to meet since it's early in the year?
If so and with all of the other tests you're having done, I assume you would have had to eat that amount for a different test anyway? At any rate, stay calm and sic the wife on them--I'd get the ins co to pay a little more if poss, you can kick in a bit and see if the dr will accept that
 
Jogeephus":2h1cwjsd said:
By stopping, she may have saved you from trouble. Best place to have a heart attack is in a hospital with a cardiac unit next door.
I was in recovery from an angiogram and had a massive heart attack. Couldn;t have happened at a better place. Told the nurse I felt strange. Next remember being prepped for bypass surgery.
 
I am chicken to have a chemical stress test, if my hearts pounding I want to be able to stop :?

Skyhightree, I have been told it is a torture chamber. I get to find out in only four hours...
 
I had the nuke stress test back in early Dec. It wasn't too bad, but I had 4x bypass surgery late Oct 2015--this was just my yearly checkup--will get one every year for the rest of my life I guess. One of the big cost of that stress test is the radioactive stuff--it has to be mixed into a solution, and once they do that, you or your ins co is going to pay for it no matter if they use it or not.
I think the whole purpose of that test is to try to induce a heart attack if you are prone to have one.
Between cardio and my diabetes, I am taking 9 different pills every day plus a Bydureon shot in the belly once/week. I'm sick of taking pills. Took more medicine in the last 12 months than all the rest of my life combined. :mad:
 
danl":1tw3mqis said:
I am chicken to have a chemical stress test, if my hearts pounding I want to be able to stop :?

Skyhightree, I have been told it is a torture chamber. I get to find out in only four hours...
I had one a couple of years ago and they had an IV stuck in me so they could jump start things if it was too bad. I didn;t even notice any change but the doc could. But my heart is only at 25% anyway so that may not be an accurate assessment of what it did.
The 2 worst things about serious heart issues is you can;t do what you did just a short time ago and you get pooped so fast. The other is that people get so dam solicitous and won;t leave you alone. That gets very dam tiresome.
 
Danl, the best thing you can do when put in a stressful situation is to think of something else. Keep your mind busy. Concentrate on a project you're working on, like an engine repair, or fence project. Visualize every stage and tool needed for the job, build it in your mind... Soon you'll have a calming effect, and the medical test will be done.

Just don't focus on the WHAT IF'S...you'll be amazed at the difference your thoughts make.
 
From those I've visited with medical/hospital bills are easily negotiated. They too recognize a half a loaf is better than nothing. Meet with them, settle on an amount and a monthly payment and make your payments. Not a problem.
 
I thought I was going to collapse on the treadmill.. I was gasping like a fish out of water, trying to get my heart rate up enough to make the torturers happy... Never did get it high as they wanted.

Cardio Dr said in just scanning over the results, he didn't see a problem. But he would go over it carefully and let me know.
So I still don't know why I can't breath under the slightest exertion.
 
I really truly don't want to alarm anyone...but just from personal experience with a closely related family member, if I had a history of this:
I have had acid reflux for a while.
and this:
So I still don't know why I can't breath under the slightest exertion.

I'd be asking the doctor for a lung ex-ray and maybe even an oncologist visit.
My twin's cancer trouble all began with several years of acid reflux/indigestion, and now he can't walk across a parking lot without struggling for breath. It quietly spread from his esophagus to his lungs, brain and now his spleen.
Ask your doc about the risk factors for GERD and Barret's Esophagus.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/digestive ... ancer.aspx
http://www.everydayhealth.com/esophagea ... hagus.aspx

Again, I don't mean to alarm you needlessly, but it's worth mentioning your reflux history to you doctors.
 
greybeard":1m94iwdq said:
I really truly don't want to alarm anyone...but just from personal experience with a closely related family member, if I had a history of this:
I have had acid reflux for a while.
and this:
So I still don't know why I can't breath under the slightest exertion.

I'd be asking the doctor for a lung ex-ray and maybe even an oncologist visit.
My twin's cancer trouble all began with several years of acid reflux/indigestion, and now he can't walk across a parking lot without struggling for breath. It quietly spread from his esophagus to his lungs, brain and now his spleen.
Ask your doc about the risk factors for GERD and Barret's Esophagus.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/digestive ... ancer.aspx
http://www.everydayhealth.com/esophagea ... hagus.aspx

Again, I don't mean to alarm you needlessly, but it's worth mentioning your reflux history to you doctors.
Might not go as far as an oncologist but I would definetly want a lung function test.
The stress test I had was all chemical, no treadmill. But by then they already knew I had CHF.
 

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