Reader Charles spotted this clinic in his local Walmart in Georgia. He says the local hospital has partnered with the store to offer services right next to the vision center. He sent a snapshot of the prices. It’s strange to see a menu board listing illnesses. Is this a good thing?
Here are the menu boards:
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This concept is done at Randall’s in Houston. I was actually recommended to go there by a physician’s office because I wanted to see the doctor last minute and I was a new patient.
Hmm $70 for earwax removal…
I figure I’ve gotten good enough at not smashing q-tips through my ear drum that I’d be willing to do it for $50…
*FEAR*
beats the hell out of my $1500 deductible + 10% no max policy.
it’s posted prices.
lovin’ it
@Trai_Dep: y’know if it were only that easy.
@Trai_Dep: They couldn’t do that. That would ruin sales from the in-store Blimpie and fried chicken with deep-fried potato wedges over at the deli.
@pecan 3.14159265: Agree with you 100%. Also, people go to the doctors to take something like antibiotics for a cold, the body gets used to said antibiotic and starts to resist it, next time that person is REALLY sick and in need of an antibiotic it becomes a guessing game for those doctors to find the right one and dosage to work. I don’t want to waste any antibiotic efectiveness on a cold that I know sleep and nyquil can destory in a few days.
@morganlh85: If you have TB, you need to treat it. You can’t treat it by taking NyQuil, so you better get your butt to a doctor right away.
You should know whether you have the inactive TB in your body already. Like morganlh85 said, you have to be tested early on to go to school or in some cases, to work.
@mazzic1083: That’s not quite how antibiotic resistance works, though–it’s not really a person-by-person response. However, since a cold is a virus, they shouldn’t be getting an antibiotic for it anyway, and I totally agree with your notion that antibiotics shouldn’t be used when other measures will take care of the problem effectively. Apparently most sinus infections aren’t bacterial in origin but are still superfluously treated with antibiotics, and Australia tends not to prescribe antibiotics for kids with ear infections because they clear up in roughly the same amount of time without them without the possible antibiotic risks.
@AshCatScram: Lack of transparency in billing… it has to be in the top 3 in things that killed our current health care system.
@UCLAri: You win! If it was something more serious I would bite the bullet (hah.) and take out the credit line.. but at this point I feel like it’s best to wait.
@UCLAri: This is where the debate on healthcare has been lacking. Most current insurance companies don’t cover preventative care. So in this case, he/she would have to wait before it gets worse and then treat it.
@pecan 3.14159265: It might also be a way to cover themselves when “a cold” is the doctor’s diagnosis. I presume a lot of people come in not knowing what they’ve got, so this isn’t quite the “if you have A, we’ll charge you B” that it first seems; it’s more a way to break out by diagnosis the cost of looking at a snotty person who needs to have a throat and nose looked at but no cultures taken.
@sammy_b: I love the price list, too. I’ve often been shocked at the bills after treatment when I see just how much was billed to insurance! I recently had to go through a round of physical therapy that my insurance wouldn’t cover until I met my (high) deductible… it was like pulling teeth to get a straight answer about how much each session was going to cost. I kept getting a, “Well, it depends…” basically saying that prices are higher if they know they can stick some to an insurance company.
A standard price list at a doctor’s office would be a huge win for healthcare in general.
@sammy_b: Except that when they ring you up and the scanner is down, they have to shout over the loudspeaker,
“IRV! I NEED A PRICE CHECK ON COLD SORES AND A URINARY TRACT INFECTION!”
@UCLAri: It makes sense though. UCLA is well, UCLA, but UC Berkeley isn’t UCB. I can see how someone would go with one but not the other.
@Kimaroo – Fortified with Kittydus Purrularis: K, do you have a specific dentist/oral surgeon who’d be doing it? Maybe I’m lucky (I know I’m lucky with my dentist, who is wonderful), but I’ve found a lot more flexibility and cost breaks there than in medicine. I get it may still be out of your current budget, but if you haven’t asked for possibly reduced pricing or a payment plan, that’s definitely worth a try.
@pecan 3.14159265: Sure. My point was– though badly made– that some acronyms mean just as much, if not more, than the original names.
CIA, NASA, FBI, AIDS, HIV, TB, MRSA, UCLA, etc.
TB is just one of those acronyms that everyone uses, so I see no problem with its being put on a board.
@pecan 3.14159265:
Take it from someone with the problem: The drops don’t work that well. They help somewhat. My parents had used them religiously on me, and I still had to go to the doctor.
Using drops like that too often can result in ear infections and fungal infections due to the moisture being introduced. I know, I’ve had them! You can dry the ear canal out with 99% IPA, but then it stings like absolute hell and leaves you with a lasting irritation, and you have to do it every single time you clean them. And the dryness from the IPA can cause a whole different set of infections. Woohoo!
The worst result I’ve had with drops is having them get trapped between the eardrum and earwax. That usually involves being unable to drive, never mind negotiate stairs for several hours. It also causes headaches, extreme disorientation, nausea, and occasionally vomiting. Did I mention last time this happened I fell over before I left the bathroom due to a lack of balance?
Some people’s earwax is just a bit more like gorilla glue than others who are lucky enough to have something the consistency of the white glue half the class ate in Kindergarten. In fact, earwax is a defining family trait. Many Asians, for example, have such dry earwax they sell devices over there to simply pick it out.
Only one time has my earwax ever actually just “fallen” out of my ear without drops.
@pecan 3.14159265: Sometimes, we use liquid stool softeners to loosen up tough wax! I’ve never used OTC ear drops on people. Mostly just hydrogen peroxide and warm saline, plus the “squirty plastic tube”.
I think the $70 charge is for the gross factor. Ever seen a huge clump of ear wax? nasty.
@floraposte: I’m not overly attached to one in paticular.. but I would probably go to the same one where my husband went a couple of years ago.. They were really good and everything went well.. but the price was 2500 dollars when all was said and done. We have a thing called “Ameriplan” which gives us a discount on dental work.. but only 20%. Which is better than a sharp stick in the eye.. but still not affordable right now.
@floraposte: I explained to my oral surgeon that even though I had insurance My portion would be a major hardship on me. He reduced the charges by a couple hundred bucks. In the next couple of years I visited him a couple times more, when I was in a better financial place. I told him that I would always give him my business because of the break that he gave me, and the quality work that he had done.
My regular dentist has worked with me to get my dental issues fixed at a rate that I could afford them. I have zero debt and healthy teeth, I haven’t had healthy teeth for most of my adult life.
@Kimaroo – Fortified with Kittydus Purrularis: If you think you could afford a majority percentage of that if it’s spread out (I have $1500 over a year in my head, for no reason), I’d say call and ask specifically if that’d be doable. The worst they can do is say no. I get that that’s still more money than may be possible in that time, but I just wanted to make sure you weren’t skipping this because you hadn’t checked with the dentist on a possible negotiation.
@shepd: Yeah, I would know. I have always had earwax problems. But most people don’t. I asked a nurse one time why I had these kinds of earwax problems and she said it was a hereditary condition.
@shepd: Penn Gillete did a whole segment on his radio show about Asian earwax when he used his dentists earbuds and explained why he wasn’t worried.
@h3llc4t, breaker of office dress codes: “(I’ve neglected to get a primary care physician since I switched insurance companies…yeah, I know.) “
Been there, done that. I went through two primary care docs before I got sick at one point due to the docs playing musical insurance groups.
@pecan 3.14159265: Heh – and that’s the confusion that I was describing. I’m neither a carrier, nor do I have a latent infection.
There was a vaccine years back for TB which had this annoying side effect of flagging positive on the first test. I don’t think it was used in the states, but I wasn’t living in the states when I got this vaccine.
I wouldn’t want to go ten rounds about that with a WallyWorld sawbones.
@diasdiem: Hi Dr. Nick!
@UCLAri: I would much rather sick people going to a location that is well trained in disinfecting it’s areas, handling stuff like this than utilizing a grocery store as such.
@Elginista: Having worked in healthcare – it is such a struggle. If patient A comes in with United healthcare to get a sleep study at my sleep clinic, the insurance company will get billed $1500, which is what Hospital XYZ charges for it. United will say “okay you get $700…and if you don’t take it then we’ll just stop allowing our customers to go to Hospital XYZ’s sleep clinic.” So the hospital takes it, because it meets a portion of expenses and increases the volume which will eventually make money.
If patient B comes in without insurance they’ll bill him the entire $1500 and, not knowing that he can negotiate, he’ll either pay it all (yaaay for the hospital!) or skip out on the bill, which gets passed on to other customers.
Always negotiate with healthcare providers – although hopefully that mess will be behind us soon.