This was at Provena Mercy Center in Aurora, IL. They billed the insurance a total of $2851 for the echo -- broke it into 3 pieces -- for M-Mode, 2-D and Doppler I think -- the insurance ( Aetna Open Choice PPO ) after discount, co-pay and deductible paid $946.88. This bill does not include the amount charged by the interpreting physician -- another $351.
I talked with the hospital over the phone, they claim that a national regulatory agency reviews their charges for the procedure.
What really hits the fan is their echo was probably a bad misreading, both the interpreting cardiologist and the echo tech made errors. The diagnosis on the report was, Moderate AS with no mention of regurgitation and annular calcification of the mitral valve. I had the echo video checked by another cardiologist who thought he saw moderate AI as well, finally I had another echo done at NY presbyterian which showed severe AS , mild AI and no problems with the mitral valve. At NYP they checked the gradients across the aortic valve with a cath subsequently and the second echo appears to be a lot closer to the cath result.
I am going to pursue this with Mercy Hospital -- they have to explain satisfactorily why they seem to be charging atleast twice as much as everyone else especially since their services were subpar at best and life threatening at worst.
Burair
