Thanks. That’s probably the article we saw. One of those easy and cheap to implement ideas that will prevent lots of falls.
Responding to the two points bolded: I’ve visited an elderly relative many times over the past few months at two hospitals near me. The only time she had a single room was for two nights when she needed ICU care and monitoring. For the rest of the time (around 5 weeks, over a period of several months) she never had a single room. From what you say, that must be because these 2 hospitals were built in the 1950s or even earlier.
And they’re both in crowded areas, in older suburbs of NYC, with no room to tear down the hospital or build a new one nearby.
I have had private rooms at all my overnight admissions to a hospital, but my insurance only reimbursed at the semi-private rate even when there were zero semi-private rooms in the entire building. I had to pay the difference.
If the hospital building had only private rooms, were there other buildings in the hospital with semi-private rooms? Because otherwise, if the hospital had only private rooms, how did they even have a published semi-private room rate?
No, the hospital did not have any non-private rooms.
The insurance company made that determination, somehow figuring out a semi-private rate for a hospital with only private rooms.
I don’t think the average American quite understands the way the medical insurance companies set prices. It’s a mysterious black box where they ask you to “shop around” even when you’re unconscious and/or dying, where no one can tell you how much something costs, that which was approved before the fact can be disapproved after the fact, and much is presented as fait accompli.
When you see a 10:1 ratio between the medical bill and the insurance reimbursement, you know that there is no real market price. Blood work is a common and classic case. The bill says $500, the insurance says $50. It’s not my money, so I have no reason to care.
The geometric mean of the two prices seems like it would be a reasonable value.
sqrt ( 50 * 500) = 158
Ten-to-one?
My labs were $11.20, the original bill was over $400. When my doctor was ordering them, he had no idea what they would cost.
I would need to apply in writing for an estimate. And they would reply weeks, maybe months later.
Give or take, mostly give.
Sorry, my response was unnecessary and inappropriate in an FQ thread. I have indeed encountered many Explanation of Benefit statements where the ratio is as low as 4:1.
Got dx with cancer in 2016, 2 different types actually, the first had me in hospital after being field dressed like a deer for 5 days, was in a semiprivate room. Just before that, while dealing with chemo I effectively crapped and vomited my way into severe dehydration ending with a week in hospital while they decided I didn’t have C. diff in a single, but I did end up picking up a nice case of bronchitis sigh, then second type had me in for an overnight, not sure why, they yeeted a whoping servingspoonfull of tissue from my right breast [Bye Ethel. Of my 4 lumps, Ricky, Lucy and Fred remain] When I woke up in hospital [hubby came home to find me unresponsive] it was a week in a semiprivate room with senile lady who talked, screamed and moaned pretty much constantly.
Honestly, I don’t mind semi, I can ignore pretty much anybody, earphones and youtube on my phone work quite well.
Modern technology would definitely have made my one night in a semi-private room far easier to tolerate.
I too have spent a bit of time in the hospital in the last couple of years. My first stay was in a private room, which was much better than my second stay, which had 4 beds. One of my roommates decided to record her ‘Facebook journey through her cancer’ at some ridiculous hour of the night. I hate sharing a room. I mean nobody feels their best when they’re ill or injured, so allowing for privacy is so much more dignified.
Spent 7 years as a machinist, I can ignore loud or whiney sounds til the cows come home. My husband spent 20 years in the Navy, if he isn’t actively doing something he is sleeping =) HE can sleep through anything except total silence [on a sub that is a really BAD sound/lack of sound, tends to mean air recirculation has stopped for some reason]
OTOH, blaring TVs are very hard to ignore if you’re not used to blaring TVs in your life.
Loud obnoxious relatives of your roommate with screechy accents are also hard to ignore if you don’t have that garbage in your life either.
I can sleep through a lot of things, but I don’t think I could ever get used to dying people moaning in pain. And yes, the visitors on the other side of the curtain would be intolerable, even if they were well behaved.
Thankfully, my mother had a private room to die in.
Yes, the moaning of the other patient is pretty tough too. I was trying to be genteel and skip over that part.
But since you’ve brought it up …
Yes, the wailing of the dying or demented or folks in serious pain is a major downer when it’s happening 5 feet away from your head as you’re trying to sleep and recover from whatever issue put you into a hospital.
Completely subjective: I have had three major surgeries since 2018.
The last one was 48 hours ago.
First two at Hospital for Special Surgery, NYC.
48 hours ago was at Mt. Sinai Hospital NYC.
In all three cases I had one roommate. My wife noted yesterday morning that there was a setup in my room for a third bed. ( Wall jacks for O2, power, telemetry, etc. Curtain track on ceiling, Large hoist eyebolt along centerline of where the bed would go.)
No clue how one sets policy. Suspect I could have paid a cash premium for a private room.