Patient's
Guide
Money
Matters
Preadmission
& Admission Activities
Prior to your admission to Jeanes, your physician must receive approval
from your insurance company. Your physician is required to contact
the insurance company, explain your medical problem, and outline
the proposed treatment and care. The insurance company will review
that information and decide whether you should be admitted to the
hospital and whether it will pay for the services recommended by
your physician.
In
emergency situations, the hospital is permitted to treat you and
admit you (if necessary) without prior approval. However, any additional
care you may need as part of your recovery will be subject to insurance
company approvals.
While
You Are a Patient in the Hospital
During your stay at Jeanes Hospital, some insurance companies, such
as HMOs and Blue Cross, require the hospital and/or physician to
provide them with daily updates of your treatment and progress.
They use that information to make decisions each day on whether
or not they will pay for continued treatment. Some of the major
insurance companies have placed their own nurses at Jeanes so they
can read your medical chart each day and decide if, in their opinion,
your continued treatment should be in the hospital.
If
the insurance company decides that you do not need to be in the
hospital, it will deny payment to the hospital and/or your doctor
and may recommend where you should receive continued treatment,
such as in a nursing home, at home with visiting nurses, or through
regular visits to your doctor. In some cases, the insurance company
representatives will discuss their decisions with your doctor and
other times they will not.
In
the past, you and your doctor made decisions about your medical
care. Now your insurance company, a third party, has a large role
in that decision. As a result, it may be important for you to talk
to your insurance company about your needs and desires as well as
with your physician.
Please
be assured that at Jeanes Hospital our goal is to provide you with
medical care that your physician recommends. We are committed to
providing quality health care for all our patients.
Financial
Responsibility
When you are admitted, you will be asked to sign papers indicating
your acceptance of financial responsibility for hospitalization.
You also will be asked to present your insurance cards and authorize
the assignment of your insurance benefits. It is very important
that you provide complete and accurate insurance information to
avoid billing errors. This information will be sent to the hospital's
business office, which bills for the hospital charges. The same
information will be sent to a professional billing service, which
will bill for physicians' services.
If
you do not have insurance coverage, or if your insurance doesn't
cover the services provided, you will be billed directly.
You
may need to pay a deposit at the time of your admission. This will
be determined by your medical/hospital coverage or other insurance;
the type of medical services you need; your expected length of stay;
and whether you have requested a private room. You can pay this
deposit with cash, a personal check or credit card (MC/VISA).
Billing
Information
Increasingly complex health insurance forms and requirements, along
with the many clinical services you may receive during your hospital
visit, can make your hospital bill seem confusing.
Please
be aware that you will be given two separate bills for the services
you received at Jeanes Hospital. Your bill from the hospital will
include charges for the use of hospital facilities, supplies, equipment
and technical personnel, but it will not include physicians' fees.
You
will receive another bill from your physician for diagnosis, treatment,
supervision of the care provided and/or the physician's role in
performing, analyzing or interpreting your test results. This bill
may include services in anesthesiology; cardiac, pulmonary or neurological
diagnostic studies, including EEG or EKG, stress tests, etc.; pathology
services such as clinical lab studies; and radiology. Although technicians
take many of these tests, your results must be interpreted by a
specialist - usually a private physician - who charges a consulting
fee to make a report to your doctor.
If
you are admitted through the Emergency Department, you will receive
a bill for professional services through the Emergency Department's
physicians group. If other services, such as X-rays or lab studies,
are required, you will be billed for these as well.
You
may receive other bills from your family doctor or admitting physician
and from any consultant whom he or she has asked to see you.
Questions
About Your Bills
If you have any questions or concerns about your hospital or physician
bill, we would be glad to answer them for you. Please call:
- Physician
Bill (Radiology) 215-379-8458
- Physician
Bill (Emergency Department) 1-800-777-2455
- Inpatient
Hospital 215-728-2335
- Outpatient
Hospital 215-728-3334
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