Changes at DHC

I honestly don’t know what’s going on at DHC. They seem to be on some path toward self-destruction. A couple years ago, they put a policy in place, without warning, that stated that anyone on TCHIP had to give a $100 deposit before getting an SPG block. I didn’t like it because my insurance pays the bills, but fine. It’s only $100. It’s a deposit, so I should see it back once my insurance pays. I’ve never seen a penny of it.

This year, also without warning, DHC has instituted a $1000 deposit to even get your foot into the door at rehab. It has been a nightmare for various people. Most people can’t afford to plunk down $1k just to get into rehab. They’d go broke. Many are financially hanging on by their fingernails as it is. I would be if we didn’t have two incomes. I seem to be the go to person for both Oz and the Towers, so people asked me what was going on. I had no clue, but I told them that I’d try to get them an answer.

I called Oz to talk to pay my balance and then transfer to Harriet to ask about the deposit. I paid the balance and then went straight to voicemail, twice. The next day I called again. They know my voice and greeted me by name. I’ve been there way too often. I asked to be transferred to Harriet. She actually answered. I asked her the reason for the deposit, whether or not we’ll ever see them money back and why we weren’t notified. She said that the notification was the sign on the counter. I told her that’s not notification, that’s a I’m being fucked over (but in polite words). I got that the deposit is to cover things that insurance doesn’t. There is a lot of cross billing between Oz and the Towers and sometimes, insurance doesn’t cover all of it. The deposit is to cover the shortfall. I told her that it wasn’t a deposit then, it was a subsidy and they should word it as such. I also told her that we should have been given 30 notice before the new policy went into effect according to the IL Atty. General’s Office. I asked her very nicely, but forcefully, that they generate a letter to their patients similar to the letter they sent us about the Toradol recall. She whimpered and whined, but I really didn’t let her get a word in edgewise.

I reported back to the board. More questions. Is this legal? Is it ethical? How does this affect insurance? I don’t have the answer to these questions. I just got the answer and reason for the $1k deposit. AND here’s where I’m going to be a bit selfish. I can’t tell you how many people over the board and through IM asked me to get this information. As I’ve told you before, they know me by voice. Before I moved to Phoenix, I was there every 3 weeks. I didn’t even have to tell them my name. They knew my name wasn’t James, it’s Michael. I use my middle name. I’ve been there since 2000, but I still took a huge risk taking on the billing department. Harriet has made other people’s lives miserable for less. She’s not the most pleasant person in the world. There were probably consequences to my actions, but I asked anyway.

When I reported the whole issue back to the board and fielded a couple more questions, I believe I got a total of maybe 4 ‘Thank you’s.’ I’m not looking for validation all the time, but this was a big deal had it gone badly. I happily do this job out of the kindness of my heart. I love doing it. I like looking things up for people and putting funny things up to brighten someone’s day. It’s fun, but when it’s serious, it’s serious.

That stupid thing with Sara, I still don’t understand. She could’ve complained all she wanted about Diamond. She just couldn’t recommend docs like she did or sink to the level of toxicity that she did. I was blissfully unaware that the entire incident had happened until I woke up the next morning. Yes, I did write her the message. It was diplomatic, not snarky. I think the only snarky part was the end of the message. I don’t have time to deal with those people. I am there to serve and protect the board. They can say whatever the fuck they want to as long as they don’t mention names and don’t go down some bottomless rabbit hole.

Now, we’re running a problem with insurance/medicare-aide not allowing out of state patients to see their docs at DHC. I’m not cool with that. I don’t want to lose people because of an insurance problem, but the rules are current and active DHC patients. The membership of the board will have to vote on the issue.

I am currently a little unhappy with my wizard. He, and his staff, seem not to be as responsive to me now that I’ve gone to Mayo. I’ve been trying to get an Rx filled for a little over a week now. I sent the docs from Mayo to my wizard and got a non-answer from him as to what his opinion was. I’ve asked him another series of questions, so I hope to get a better answer over the weekend. I’m not sure why they can’t read email over the weekend, especially when they just got back from vacation.

I’m not sure what’s going on there, but I just hope it’s not going to be a quality of care issue. I still need my wizard and I’ll still need my histamine treatment, maybe sooner than later.