SELF-PAY

I am considering self-pay. I need information on how this works. My understanding is they doctor usually will take 10% discount and that the initial price includes: Dr. fee, hospital fee. What about follow-up visits etc? Any information will be appreciated.

Hi, I did self pay and here is the run down as far as cost for the surgery only. This does not include the preop visits and the preop testing which my insurance covered most of. Surgeon 8000.00 Hospital 16500.00 Anestheologist 1500.00 Radiology 50.00 Surgery Assistant 400.00 Total $ 26450.00 The surgeon cost covers follow up visits for a year and the hospital cost covers a 3-4 day stay and includes meds, private room, recovery room, etc. Mary 52 pounds less than I was on 1-19-05

My Surgeon was 8000.00 but my total hospital bill was 47,000. That was just a one night stay in the hospital. No complications of any sort. It does depends on the practice as well. I used Dr. Duncan....

I just had surgery Feb 10th and I got a bill called "Hospital Services" Med-Sur-GY/PVT ---- 1142.00 Pharmacy ----------- 1310.10 Drugs/other --------- 129.80 MED-SUR Supplies --- 7038.00 LAB ----------------- 2007.00 DX X-RAY ----------- 740.00 OR services --------- 9912.00 Drugs/detail code ---- 696.70 Recovery room ------ 1948.00 EKG/ECG ------------ 136.00 PRO Fee/EKG -------- 21.00 Total --------------- 24,970.60 This was done at Dekalb medical center - and I want to note that I had a 5 hr. lap surgery due to complications plus they thought I might have had pre-diabetes or some such and they came into my room just about every hour and stuck my fingers lol (turned out I did not). So, your milage may vary

I don't know where Williamson is, but there is a Dr. Robert Rutledge who has a clinic in High Point, NC and Statesville, NC. that my sister has raved about. The TOTAL COST for surgery, hospital and follow-up runs something like $18,000. His patients swear by him. They have re-unions every year, I think. I had planned to use him because my insurance would cover it, but then I went on Medicare and he doesn't take Medicare. His patients stay in the hospital for less than 24 hours and seem to do beautifully. They offer some kind of financing, too. It might be worth it to travel that far for the money saved. He's got a website, but I can't remember the name of it. If you can't find it, e-mail me and I'll try to run it down. I think his message board is on Yahoo. Good luck! Barb in S. Ga

Hi B Like everyone else has already stated, it does depend on the procedure & the practice you go with. I researched and met with several practices before I made my final decision & total costs range was anywhere from $22k all the way up to $50k - uncomplicated. I chose Dr. Champion in Marietta Ga. based on his credentials and his structured aftercare program which, for me, was a very important factor. As experienced as Dr. C is I was amazed to find his costs to be so reasonable. I also have to give raves to the hospital he uses which is Emory Dunwoody, which price wise was very reasonable. When it was all said in done my out of pocket costs were about $23k. Dr. Champion's office gave me an outline of fees, the specefic amounts and who to pay to and those were all due by your preop date. As for Dr. C & I believe Dr. Williams, which used to be his associate - his fee included all follow-ups for life. Your only additional charges are to the lab for your bloodwork. Well, I hope that helps. as you can see everyone is different - so it will solely depend on your surgeon / hospital choice. If I can be of any help please feel free to email me. I know it is overwhelming getting everything going. Take care & God bless Angel 180 lb since surgery / 50 lb prior to surgery = 230 lb 10 lb till surgeon's goal - 25 lb till personal goal