Physicians Practice - June 2008 - (Page 12) LETTERS I can’t recall the last time I had a visit from a rep from any payer. Gone are the days when my staff and I could pick up a phone to talk with an insurance company representative. We now leave phone messages that are never returned, send e-mails that languish, spend hours on hold with claims call centers, and mail appeal letters that are never acknowledged. The major payers in this market have instituted layers of bureaucracy in the form of impersonal and often difficult-to-navigate Web sites, off-shore claims processing, and phantom provider-relations departments. The reps we can reach aren’t empowered to resolve problems and instead redirect us to the company’s Web site or to yet another 800 number. So much for the personal touch. The insurance industry has systematically dismantled the relationships that once existed between physicians and payers, and the outpouring of frustration and alienation you witnessed at your discussion forum is the result. However, if the insurance companies re-establish provider relations and make it possible for our practices to resolve problems by talking with another human, I, for one, promise to be nice. —Joan Davis-Ryan St. Louis, Mo. The following institutions sponsor Physicians Practice in their geographic regions. Physicians Practice is mailed to practicing physicians within these geographic regions. Arlington Memorial Hospital www.arlingtonmemorial.org 817 548 6100 Battle Creek Health System www.bchealth.com 269 966 8000 Boulder Community Hospital www.bch.org 303 440 2273 Central Maine Medical Center www.cmmc.org 207 795 0111 Christiana Care Health System www.christianacare.org 302 733 5339 Community Hospital www.yourcommunityhospital.com 800 621 0926 Crozer-Keystone Health System www.crozer.org 800 CK HEALTH (254 3258) Desert Regional Medical Center www.desertmedctr.com 760 323 6511 ETMC Regional Healthcare System www.etmc.org 800 648 8141 Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian www.hoaghospital.org 949 764 HOAG (4624) Holy Cross Hospital www.holy-cross.com 954 351 7844 Huntington Hospital www.huntingtonhospital.com 626 397 5000 Indiana University Medical Group www.iumg.iu.edu 800 622 4989 Kingman Regional Medical Center www.azkrmc.com 877 757 2101 Lakeland HealthCare www.lakelandhealth.org 269 983 8300 Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network www.lvh.org 800 584 2040 Loma Linda University Medical Center www.lomalindahealth.org 877 LLUMC 4U (558 6248) Lourdes Health System www.lourdesnet.org 856 757 3500 Maimonides Medical Center www.maimonidesmed.org 718 283 8227 Medical University of South Carolina www.MUSChealth.com 800 922 5250 Memorial Hermann www.memorialhermann.org 713 222 CARE (2273) Mercy Medical Center www.mercynorthiowa.com 641 422 7000 Miami Children’s Hospital www.mch.com 305 666 6511 Munson Healthcare www.munsonhealthcare.org 800 468 6766 Northwestern Memorial Hospital www.nmh.org 866 899 7371 The Ohio State University Medical Center www.medicalcenter.osu.edu 800 293 5123 Oregon Health & Science University www.OHSUhealth.com or www.ohsu.edu 800 245 6478 Palomar Pomerado Health www.pph.org 800 628 2880 Piedmont Hospital www.piedmont.org 404 605 5000 Providence Alaska Medical Center www.providence.org/alaska 907 562 2211 Rochester General Hospital www.viahealth.org 585 922 LINK (5465) 877 922 5465 Rockford Health System www.rockfordhealthsystem.org 815 971 5000 Roswell Park Cancer Institute www.roswellpark.org 800 ROSWELL (767 9355) Saint Francis Medical Center www.sfmc.net 573 331 5877 Saint Joseph’s HospitalMinistry Healthcare, Marshfield www.stjosephs-marshfield.org 866 475 4467 Saint Mary’s Hospital www.stmh.org 203 709 6214 San Antonio Community Hospital www.sach.org 909 985 2811 Scott & White Hospital www.sw.org 254 724 2111 Seton Family of Hospitals www.seton.net 512 324 1000 Shands at the University of Florida www.shands.org 800 633 2122 St. Francis Health Center www.stfrancistopeka.org 785 295 8000 St. Luke’s Hospital www.stlukescr.org 319 369 7211 St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield www.stlukes-stl.com 314 434 1500 SUNY Upstate Medical University www.upstate.edu 800 544 1605 Swedish Medical Center www.swedish.org 800 SWEDISH (793 3474) UC Davis Health System www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu 800 4 UCDAVIS (482 3284) UMC Health System www.umchealthsystem.com 866 854 2643 UNC Hospitals and the UNC School of Medicine at Chapel Hill www.unchealthcare.org 800 862 6264 University of Mississippi Medical Center www.umc.edu 601 984 1000 University of Virginia Health System www.uvaphysiciandirect.com 800 552 3723 UT Medical Group, Inc. and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center www.utmedicalgroup.com 901 448 8334 Via Christi Wichita Health Network www.Via-Christi.org 316 268 6097 Washington Hospital Center www.whcenter.org 202 877 7000 Wyoming Medical Center www.wyomingmedicalcenter.com 307 577 2404 WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM WEIGHING IN ON LONGEVITY Ah, the days of being 20 again, or 30. I remember in the 1970s when I thought working for 20 years was an eternity and 50-year-olds should just sit in a chair and rest all day. The constant battle of young and old continues to this day. Mr. Keaveney’s Editor’s Note, “The Curse of Longevity,” (March) made me snicker as well as ponder his thoughts on my generation and the one before me. The spending on Medicare patients has been known for years. The ICU is full of 12 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | JUNE 2008 http://www.arlingtonmemorial.org http://www.seton.net http://www.MUSChealth.com http://www.bchealth.com http://www.memorialhermann.org http://www.shands.org http://www.bch.org http://www.mercynorthiowa.com http://www.stfrancistopeka.org http://www.cmmc.org http://www.mch.com http://www.stlukescr.org http://www.christianacare.org http://www.munsonhealthcare.org http://www.yourcommunityhospital.com http://www.stlukes-stl.com http://www.nmh.org http://www.crozer.org http://www.medicalcenter.osu.edu http://www.upstate.edu http://www.desertmedctr.com http://www.swedish.org http://www.OHSUhealth.com http://www.ohsu.edu http://www.etmc.org http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu http://www.pph.org http://www.hoaghospital.org http://www.umchealthsystem.com http://www.piedmont.org http://www.holy-cross.com http://www.providence.org/alaska http://www.unchealthcare.org http://www.huntingtonhospital.com http://www.viahealth.org http://www.iumg.iu.edu http://www.umc.edu http://www.rockfordhealthsystem.org http://www.azkrmc.com http://www.uvaphysiciandirect.com http://www.roswellpark.org http://www.lakelandhealth.org http://www.sfmc.net http://www.utmedicalgroup.com http://www.lvh.org http://www.stjosephs-marsheld.org http://www.Via-Christi.org http://www.lomalindahealth.org http://www.stmh.org http://www.whcenter.org http://www.lourdesnet.org http://www.sach.org http://www.wyomingmedicalcenter.com http://www.maimonidesmed.org http://www.sw.org http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM
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