leadsag
Joined: 31 Oct 2002
Posts: 263
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2003 1:06 am Post subject: Fraud
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From the Seattle Times...seattletimes.nwsource.com...er27m.html<
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>I can count on one hand how many times my doctor has been present for dialysis!!!<
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>one count of mail fraud for submitting a $124 bill to a private health insurer in 1996 for a dialysis treatment at which he wasn't present. <
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>..... also admitted that from September 1991 to last April he submitted $100,000 in bills to Medicare, Medicaid and a U.S. Defense Department health-insurance program for dialysis treatments when he wasn't present. <
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>So is this correct? Maybe we should all turn in the centers for fraud investigations.<
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What
Joined: 13 Feb 2003
Posts: 11
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2003 6:45 am Post subject: does that mean?
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dialysis tx when he wasn't present? In-center the doctors are never present except when they make rounds. Is this referring to acute? I was in the acute one time and the neph assessed each patient.
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say what
Joined: 11 Mar 2003
Posts: 29
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2003 9:42 am Post subject: Paid and dont have to see you
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The Nephs get paid anywhere from $200.00 to $700.00 a month just to have you as a patient. They dont have to see you or do progress notes. This is another automatic payment.
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Like my
Joined: 27 Mar 2003
Posts: 1
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2003 11:07 am Post subject: Neph
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He is the most arrogant person. I dread it when he does rounds, beause he is so uninterested in me and does absolutely nothing to teach me about my condition. I am not joking when I say he comes to my chair, says how are you doing, I say alright and he's outta there. I gave up asking him any questions as he never has a good answer. This is a smug and totallly unfair way for him to earn his pay from the govt. The truth is he's doing nothing and he knows it and probably thinks its hilarious. It really makes me angry that the govt. makes it possible for doctors to be crooks. IN this article they cracked down on the doctors metioned. Well why? This type of thing goes on everyday. I previosuly had two other nephrologists and they were just the same. The ones I have had all acted like they were so above the patients that they didn't have to relate to them and gave minimal time and care.
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Bill Peckham
Joined: 06 Jan 2003
Posts: 65
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2003 11:13 am Post subject: Dr. Couser
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The dialysis treatments were acute inpatient treatments (the UW does not have an out patient dialysis facility). A doc does not have to be present for an inpatient treatment but if he/she bills for services then they do have to be present. I would just note that the Feds spent an estimated 40 million dollars on this investigation; I think the result has more to do with sending a message to other academic hospitals than with any wrong doing on Dr. Couser?s part.
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Disgusted
Joined: 26 Jan 2003
Posts: 45
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2003 2:23 pm Post subject: Nephrologist
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My nephrologist generally cruises the acute unit in hospital, hopefully to pick up a few more victims next to death. The reason he does this is because of other nephrologist' that have rights in same hospital. If you cannot speak any english and pass out in the hospital, then you will wake up on dialysis with him standing over you smiling.
