Editor's Note: Hundreds of Ann Landers' loyal readers have requested that newspapers continue to publish her columns. These letters originally appeared in 1999.
Dear Ann Landers: Your recent column, concerning the "moron" in the doctor's office who sent a bill with a smiley face to a patient who died, prompts this letter. Obviously, you have no idea how medical billing is done, nor do you comprehend the present status of what used to be a respected profession.
Doctors who see patients in hospitals keep a list of those patients, and record the services performed with numerical codes. This is required for billing to insurance companies. These lists are then given to the billing clerk. The requirements for billing are so complex that it is virtually impossible without computerization. The billing clerk sees only the patient's name and a numerical code. If the doctor has failed to note that the patient died, the clerk will not know about it.
If the doctor belongs to a group, the clerks enter billing data for hundreds of patients a day. It is unfortunate that a smiley-face bill went to a family that had lost someone, but this doesn't mean the billing clerk was a moron, which is what you called her. My husband is a physician. I work in his office, and I am NOT a moron.
The American medical establishment is the best and most innovative in the world.
It is being destroyed by government meddling and insurance companies that interfere with clinical determinations and discourage physicians from even touching patients. Nobody does this solely out of altruism, and no industry gets the best and the brightest without paying for it. No one bats an eye when sports figures, whose drug and sexual exploits are common knowledge, sign contracts for millions of dollars, yet people complain about the cost of medical care from doctors who spend more than a decade in training.
More people like my husband will decide that a medical career is not worth the sacrifice, and bright students coming up will send their applications to business schools instead. — Nameless in Maine
Dear Nameless: In my opinion, no smiley face should appear on ANY bill. The recipient rarely views this touch as appropriate, and considering the possible consequences, it is best to keep all bills formal. Nevertheless, you've written a fine letter about the medical profession.
Planning a wedding? What's right? What's wrong? "The Ann Landers Guide for Brides" will relieve your anxiety. Send a self-addressed, long, business-sized envelope and a check or money order for $3.75 (this includes postage and handling) to: Brides, c/o Ann Landers, c/o Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. To find out more about Ann Landers and read her past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
ANN LANDERS (R)
COPYRIGHT 2012 CREATORS.COM
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5 Comments | Post Comment
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She's right you know. Doctors make a fraction of what CEO's make and they perform under great pressure with responsibility for dire consequences. They must be compassionate and they have no room for error. Everytime they go to work, they put everything they own on the line. One mistake and they could lose everything they own, be plunged into poverty, have thier license pulled and be unable to find any other work. Many times they are required to touch gross things, are bled on, peed on, vomited on, defecated on. They have to learn how to deal with constantly watching people suffering and often with trying to make dying less painful. It's a high pressure job. They spend ten years (at least) training, never get to sleep through the night uninterruped, are expected to make life and death decisions at a moment's notice even if they have just woken up. And they are altruistic, they just have about $300 thousand in student loans to pay off. Nobody should have to do such a high pressure job without being well paid.
Comment: #1
Posted by: Another Doctor's Wife
Sun Jan 8, 2012 4:01 AM
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Re: Another Doctor's Wife
Er, nobody DOES "have to do such a high pressure job". Going into the medical field is not only wholly voluntary, it's a position you have to work your a** off to achieve. If the pay were lower, and people still chose to became doctors, they're not being forced into it.
In fact, people used to choose the profession even when they were only likely to be paid in chickens. Imagine that.
Comment: #2
Posted by: SopSop
Sun Jan 8, 2012 6:03 AM
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MY HUSBAND AND I HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR 2 1/2 YRS. HE IS 18 YEARS OLDER THAN ME AND HAS 3 CHILDREN, ALL BOYS, WHO ARE ALMOST MY AGE. I TOO HAVE A SON WHO IS 15 AND OF COURSE STILL LIVES AT HOME WITH US. MY HUSBAND LOANED HIS OLDEST SON APPROXIMATELY $15,000 A FEW MONTHS BEFORE WE WERE MARRIED TO START A SMALL COMPANY. MY HUSBAND ONLY HAD THE MONEY BECAUSE HE RECEIVED A LARGE BONUS THAT YEAR AND WANTED TO HELP HIS SON WITH PART OF THE MONEY. THE AGREEMENT WAS THAT MY HUSBAND WOULD BE THE SILENT PARTNER AND RECEIVE A PORTION OF THE INCOME FROM THE COMPANY ONCE IT GOT GOING. FOR A FEW MONTHS HE RECEIVED FAIRLY REGULAR CHECKS BUT SINCE WE HAVE BEEN MARRIED HE HAS RECEIVED NOTHING. THE SON HAS BOUGHT A REMODELED A 5 BED, 3 BATH,2 LIVING AREA HOME. HE HAS ALSO BOUGHT NEW VEHICLES AND OFTEN BRAGS IN PUBLIC ABOUT THE LARGE AMOUNTS OF MONEY HE IS MAKING. WHEN I ASK MY HUSBAND WHY HE DOESNT SAY SOMETHING TO THE SON ABOUT THIS, HIS GENERAL REPLY IS, "WE MADE THAT DEAL BEFORE I MARRIED YOU SO IT DOESNT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU." MY HUSBAND IS A COTTON FARMER AND I AM AN RN, WE HAVE EVERYTHING WE NEED AND A LITTLE MORE BUT HAVING THE EXTRA INCOME WOULD HELP US IN PAYING OFF CREDIT CARD DEBT, CARS, ETC... ALSO, MY HUSBAND HAS RECENTLY PAID FOR HIS 3 GROWN SONS AND THEIR WIVES TO GO ON A SKI TRIP. HE USED A CREDIT CARD THAT IS ALMOST AT ITS LIMIT ALREADY TO PAY FOR THIS BECAUSE, "NONE OF THEM HAVE A CREDIT CARD WITH A LIMIT BIG ENOUGH TO PAY FOR IT." HE SAYS THAT WE WILL BE PAID BACK BUT I KNOW FROM PAST EXPERIENCE THAT WE WILL NOT. MY THOUGHTS ARE THAT IF THE 3 FAMILIES CAN NOT AFFORD THEIR OWN TRIP AND DO NOT HAVE THE MEANS TO PAY FOR IT, THAT IS THEIR OWN PROBLEM. THEY SEEM TO HAVE A WAY TO BUY VEHICLES, HOMES, AND TRAVEL TO MEXICO FOR EXOTIC VACATIONS WHEN THEY WANT TO GO. WE CAN NOT AFFORD TO SEND HIS GROWN CHILDREN ON VACATION, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE 1 HAS ALREADY TAKEN MY HUSBAND FOR A RIDE WITH THE COMPANY HE PAID FOR. WHEN I TELL MY HUSBAND THAT I DONT AGREE WITH THESE THINGS HE TELLS ME THAT I AM GREEDY AND SELFISH AND NOT TO WORRY ABOUT HOW HE SPENDS HIS MONEY. I DONT FEEL THAT ITS HIS MONEY, IT IS OUR MONEY. WE BOTH WORK AND PAY THE BILLS IN THE HOUSEHOLD. WE ARE IN CREDIT CARD DEBT OVER OUR HEADS. AM I REALLY SELFISH AND IS THE DEAL HE MADE WITH HIS SON A FEW MONTHS BEFORE OUR MARRIAGE REALLY NONE OF MY BUSINESS. THIS IS CAUSING ME A HUGE AMOUNT OF RESENTMENT AND IT IS GOING TO END UP IN A DIVORCE IF WE DONT GET HELP. WHAT DO I DO?
Comment: #3
Posted by: tracy
Sun Jan 8, 2012 11:32 AM
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On the medical billng--------smily face is uncalled for, on any bill sent. But, bills are still sent after the death of a person. The person's estate is responsible for paying all bills incured by the deceased.
Comment: #4
Posted by: Sara
Sun Jan 8, 2012 1:21 PM
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@Tracy
Typing all in caps is considered yelling in the internet world, and is rude.
Ann Landers' columns are all reprints, as it says on the top of this page.
This thread is for comments on the letters, not letters to Ann Landers, who, incidentally, has been deceased for a number of years.
Here is my answer to your problem. Get separate bank accounts, with one joint account that your bills, mortgage, etc., come out of, that is, if he's using your money to fund his family's vacations. If he's using his own money, there's not much you can do.
Comment: #5
Posted by: Barbara B.
Mon Jan 9, 2012 8:41 AM
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