Recent Medical experience

On Tuesday night my wife slipped and fell at our house. She broke 4 ribs and needed to be taken to the hospital via ambulance.

I called Riberas Hospital ambulance number and was told their ambulance was out of service. I called SAT Hospital ambulance number and started to get passed from department to department. After the 4th transfer, I hung up. I called the Red Cross and they grilled me for payment ability then agreed to send an ambulance. The ambulance arrived about 15 minutes later. It was huge and barely fit down the street. They finally managed to get my wife out on a stretcher and took her to SAT Hospital. Once there they quickly did a CAT scan to discover the 4 broken ribs and determined that they would puncture her lungs if not repaired by surgery. My wife's GP was out of town so we couldn't rely on her for a second opinion. I called another doctor who is a friend of mine and he spoke with the emergency room doctor and determined that she did indeed need surgery, so she was checked into a room for surgery the next day.

Since my wife's GP couldn't attend they assign Dr. Garcia (Hospital director) to be the GP. They contacted their chest surgeon who said he would be there in the morning. The surgery happened the next evening. Everything went well and she is now back at home recovering after 3 days in SAT hospital.

Here's the outrageous part.......the bill was $298,000 mxn. The rates at SAT are about $15,000 mxn per night for the room. They charged $138,000 mxn to use the operating room. They charged $10,000 to use the TV for 3 days. They charged $8,000 mxn for Dr. Garcia who only visited her briefly maybe 4 times. The remainder was for the surgeon, the anesti ologist, and all the medical supplies including $60,000 mxn for the titanium parts to repair the ribs.

I learned that I now need to get the name of the best reasonably priced hospital in Guadalajara. I was told it would be at least 30% to 40% less expensive than any of the hospitals around here. I will only ever go back to the local hospitals if it is a dire emergency.

Lesson learned.....

Many thanks for the heads up!

Perhaps you would share the name of the Guadalajara hospital(s) once you find them from "another doctor who is a friend of mine"?

Glad to hear Sharon is recovering well.

Sending good thoughts your way for a prompt recovery. And yeah, SAT hospital billing practices is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Wishing for a prompt recovery. I too had the misfortune of entering SAT for an emergency situation (one night); cost was outrageous and care was second rate at best...never again.

Bob, I'm very sorry to hear of your wife's accident and the experience at SAH. Two days ago I had quite the opposite experience. After entering urgent care at SAH for severe chest pains I was triaged and my cardiologist, Dr. Hector Briseno, was immediately brought in. He determined given my symptoms and history that I should have a catheter angiogram. I was taken to the cardio center in the hospital. The angiogram was completed and it showed a significant artery blockage. Dr. Briseno then performed an angioplasty with stent. I spent one night in a room.

From urgent care to the cardio center and to final release the next day the staff and doctors could not have been more helpful and attentive. The total cost, start to finish, including Dr. Briseno, was about half of what you paid (the room cost was 12,000p). At the time, I thought it was expensive but not unreasonable.  
Also, last year I had reason to go to SAH urgent care and was given excellent treatment during a 5 hour stay.

Perhaps my experience is unique at SAH or I'm just lucky, since I read more complaints than compliments, but I would not hesitate to return for emergency or urgent care treatment.

I have also had good experiences there in the past but not no more. The big expenses there are when you have to stay multiple days and use the operating room. Oh also $10,000 for the TV is completely ridiculous. If you have your own GP steering the ship, like in your case with Dr. Briseno, then things can be kept under control under their supervision.

The cost of the surgeon and operating staff was actually reasonable, but they came from Guadalajara.

When my neighbor was admitted by Cruz Roja ambulance to Ajijic Hospital, her nightly charges for the room, including the TV, was 1500 pesos. How can SAH charge 15,000 a night plus TV?

I pulled out two bills from Hospital San Antonio, one from 2021 and one from 2022.

The nightly room charge in 2021 was 2,783p.  The nightly room charge in 2022 was 3,483p.  No charges for TV at either stay but it's possible this is something new at HSA.

Was that all a night in the hospital cost?  Of course not.  

During one stay there was a lot of sophisticated monitoring equipment hooked up.  One was post-surgery and required wound treatment and drainage tubes and changing.  In each instance there was a ton of costly meds, most via IV and some oral.  I know these meds were costly as some were needed post-hospital stays and I paid out of pocket at local farmacias.  

My point is this:  hospital stays vary in cost tremendously due to what the patient's needs/treatment/condition/care and monitoring/medications are.  The bills I have are extremely itemized and since each was for a different ailment, they vary considerably, but understandably.

I am happy we have HSA here.  If you have chest pains, severe or sudden shortness of breath, or other life-threatening problem, chances are you won't get to a Guadalajara hospital in under 90 minutes.

The nightly rate was charged separate from all the meds and accessories. They charged $15,000 per night (including IVA) for the room. Yes, they have jacked up their rates 700%. That is my whole point. I have been in that hospital a couple of times after it first opened and found it to be reasonable. Not any more......I understand Riberas charges about the same. The $10,000 for the TV was absurd........

Yes, it's great to have it (if you can find an ambulance) for critical cases. We had time to get to Guadalajara, and I would have, had I known their new price structure.......

Wow! Was Sharon in ICU by any chance?

Have you had a chance to go back and question the room/TV charges?

Once after a 3 day stay the hospital called me out of the blue to say they reviewed my bill and they owed me money! A check was waiting for me for 3K pesos.

Let me look and see if I have the name of the person who contacted me from billing. Maybe she can review for you.

No ICU. When I asked about the charges they shrugged and smiled and said that's the way it is. When I asked them how they could charge $8000 pesos for Dr. Garcia to briefly visit 4 times they said "he is on call 24 hours a day"..........like so what. He is director of the hospital.

I also was told after the fact (but not verified) that many insurance companies won't let people use that hospital because they charge too much.

Did you tell them you had insurance?  I ask because not just here, but hospitals charge a lot more to the insurance company than they do to a self-payor.  

Dr. Carlos charges 800p for office visits but I can see they'd jack that up for visits to hospital (not saying it's fair, but just saying they'd jack it up) no matter how brief.

When my parents and aunt in US were hospitalized for surgeries, etc. they'd always joke that all their doctors would pop in literally for seconds so they could bill Medicare.  

If it were me I'd go to HSA and ask again about the daily room rate.  Maybe try Thursday which is US Thanksgiving and it may not be so busy at front desk??

My last stay was August 2022 and the room rate going from under 3500p to 15K pesos in  15 months seems unlikely, at least to me.  

Can't find the name of the woman in billing.  But she sometimes still works the front desk (older woman).  

Do you have an old bill (not too old) showing the room rate you paid in the past?  I'd bring that, too.

Bob, one of my stays started in the ER and their HOURLY billing rate (in 2021) for the ER "cama de urgencias un hora" was 377p per hour. So 24 hours in ER would have been over 9K back then...is it possible they billed Sharon at ER rate for entire stay?

Bob, I sent you some info via PM.

Sharon, both John & I wish a speedy recovery for you. Both of us have fallen on the tiles or cobblestones (cobblerocks). So Bob please please take care of Sharon. A box of chocolates and flowers would be a nice touch.

BisbeeGal wrote:Did you tell them you had insurance?  I ask because not just here, but hospitals charge a lot more to the insurance company than they do to a self-payor.  

Dr. Carlos charges 800p for office visits but I can see they'd jack that up for visits to hospital (not saying it's fair, but just saying they'd jack it up) no matter how brief.

When my parents and aunt in US were hospitalized for surgeries, etc. they'd always joke that all their doctors would pop in literally for seconds so they could bill Medicare.  

If it were me I'd go to HSA and ask again about the daily room rate.  Maybe try Thursday which is US Thanksgiving and it may not be so busy at front desk??

My last stay was August 2022 and the room rate going from under 3500p to 15K pesos in  15 months seems unlikely, at least to me.  

Can't find the name of the woman in billing.  But she sometimes still works the front desk (older woman).  

Do you have an old bill (not too old) showing the room rate you paid in the past?  I'd bring that, too.

Yes, I told everyone I saw that we didn't have insurance. Dr. Gracia laughed and said they only have one price structure. I have now had other people tell me they have been charged similar high prices recently. There is over 140 different charges on our bill so I will contact them and ask for a review.

CanuckBob wrote:

BisbeeGal wrote:Did you tell them you had insurance?  I ask because not just here, but hospitals charge a lot more to the insurance company than they do to a self-payor.  

Dr. Carlos charges 800p for office visits but I can see they'd jack that up for visits to hospital (not saying it's fair, but just saying they'd jack it up) no matter how brief.

When my parents and aunt in US were hospitalized for surgeries, etc. they'd always joke that all their doctors would pop in literally for seconds so they could bill Medicare.  

If it were me I'd go to HSA and ask again about the daily room rate.  Maybe try Thursday which is US Thanksgiving and it may not be so busy at front desk??

My last stay was August 2022 and the room rate going from under 3500p to 15K pesos in  15 months seems unlikely, at least to me.  

Can't find the name of the woman in billing.  But she sometimes still works the front desk (older woman).  

Do you have an old bill (not too old) showing the room rate you paid in the past?  I'd bring that, too.

Yes, I told everyone I saw that we didn't have insurance. Dr. Gracia laughed and said they only have one price structure. I have now had other people tell me they have been charged similar high prices recently. There is over 140 different charges on our bill so I will contact them and ask for a review.

You may wish to let them know that you will be having PROFECO assist in the review. I wonder how much Dr. Gracia will laugh then?

I had several bad experiences there, and so did my husband.  During one such experience, the doctor on call actually told me, when Dr Garcia was out of earshot, that this hospital was very very expensive, and I should go elsewhere.  Another series of episodes, where I had to visit during the night, for excessive bleeding, there was no doctor on call, and one had to be called in during two of those visits.  On the third one, there was no doctor available.  The billing department tried to charge me $795 pesos for a half teaspoon of antiseptic gel.  I raised a fuss about it and refused to pay it.  My neighbour went there during the night for cardiac problems... again no doctor so they had to drive to Guadalajara.  I had a gynecologist exam there for $1200 pesos, and when I went back to get my results, the doctor charged me full price, $1200 for 5 minutes.  I questioned it and was basically told 'too bad for you'.
Never again.  We'll drive to Guadalajara.

Wow, Bob. Very sorry to hear about Sharon. Please wish her well for me with a speedy and painless recovery.
In terms of that hospital bill, please fight it every way you can.
Suerte.

A mex friend of mine recently fell, broke her hip.. she crawled to the phone, called her doctor.. He came to her house to examine her, arranged a nurse to stay with her at home for the night, arranged the ambulance to take her to Guad hospital the next day, coordinated the surgery, MANAGED the hospital charges on her behalf & had her back in her own bed that night. No hospital stay. She paid ONE amount to her doctor - all inclusive & reasonable, as her doctor insisted on dealing with the hospital directly, on her behalf.  This is how it needs to be done.  

It may help to have your GP intervene at this point, meeting with Dr. G to 'review' all hospital charges.  'Physician courtesy' is practiced, which might get you a 'professional discount'  if he were to become involved.  Maybe a room rate discount & dropping of the stupid TV fees. If that fails, then balls to the wall with Jalisco powers that be.. it is an election year..

The really good news here is that you didn't end up at Riberas Hospital where her very life could have been at risk. They killed my friend in August.

And even better news that Sharon is on the mend, no puncture/infection/ extra days of being held captive by an egregious medical administration.  Because it happens every day in every hospital in the USA, Dr. G seems to think it's ok to do it here too. He needs to be convinced otherwise..

I heard back from the billing review people that BisbeeGal recommended and here is what they said:

- The TV charge was for a "special TV" needed by the surgeon in the OR.

- The room is only $3600.00 per day however when they include all the meds, meals and materials it adds up to around $10K to $15K per day. Thats a lot of meds, meals and materials. We checked in at about 11:00pm Tuesday night and checked out about 11:00am Friday morning. They charged us for 4 whole days.

They did apologize for the billing confusion.........lol.

On a side note, I thought the surgeon and operating staff (from Guadalajara) were very reasonably priced. He also realized that this hospital was very expensive and did everything he could to get us released ASAP.

Buyer beware........

I'm glad the room rate has not soared to 15K and remains in the mid 3K range I paid in 2021 and 2022. And they aren't charging for TVs in the room!

It is hard to compare hospital bills as each patient has different meds, needs, monitoring.

I still believe HSA is a terrific asset to our area and plan to continue to use it.

While people can probably save money using a Guad hospital, for me there would be extra costs such as cab rides for myself and my partner for daily visits (cabs now charge 600p plus for rides from Ajijic to downtown Guad). I don't mind paying for convenience and that includes being near my home.

And there remains the issue of getting an ambulance to a Guad hospital if you have chest pains, shortness of breath or severe bodily injury (compound fractures, broken hip). I don't see how anyone can get to a downtown hospital during an emergency in under 90 minutes as it's difficult to get an ambulance at times (see Bob's first post) and the same would be true for finding an available driver or taxi to take you.