I was told that unless I had a bowel obstruction, that I was not a candidate for surgery. Some help that was!! Was I supposed to move to Rochester?
In the early 1970's my diagnosis was listed as psychoneurosis; and I was given a prescription for Valium and told to seek an evaluation at a mental health clinic.
I think the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota has changed its tune regarding diagnosing a chronic pain person as having a mental health problem; because from 1980 to 1997, I was never given the MMPI ( Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory ) test to complete.
NOW the Mayo Clinic advises its pain patients to seek pain management. At least that has been my experience; because in 1980 I was referred to the Mayo Clinic's Pain Clinic -- where I was given four ( 4 ) different kinds of nerve blocks on four ( 4 ) consecutive days -- but none of them were helpful!!
Surgeons at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota -- as well as surgeons throughout the United States ( and possibly the world ) -- do not acknowledge nor do they advise or attempt surgery for adhesions. Why? I have learned that adhesiolysis procedures are one of the LOWEST reimbursed procedures not only to surgeons but also to hospitals!!
I had a diagnostic laparoscopy at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Minneapolis, MN on August 1, 1997 -- at which time my surgeon had to perform an adhesiolysis BEFORE he could even enter my pelvic cavity. The following reimbursements are directly from my Medicare and our Blue Cross Blue Shield ( BC/BS ) supplemental insurance forms:
HOSPITAL...$5,966.19. Medicare paid $3,597.59. BC/BS paid $1187.27. We paid $13.99!! The HOSPITAL'S loss = $1167.34!!
SURGEON...$1,350.00. Medicare paid $330.43. BC/BS paid $82.61. The SURGEON'S loss = $936.96!!
ANESTHESIST...$664.50. Medicare paid $99.40. BC/BS paid $24.85. The ANESTHESIST'S loss = $540.25!!
TOTAL BILL...diagnostic laparoscopy/adhesiolysis procedure...$7,980.69 = TOTAL LOSS = $2647.55. This total amount had to be written off by all of them. None of them could bill us for the balance!!
After the adhesion pain returned, I tried to make an appointment with my surgeon; but his office staff told me that I couldn't -- that he DIDN'T want to see me!! It took me several months before I realized that because he had been underpaid by Medicare and BC/BS, that he did not want to have me as a regular patient. That was a devastating experience for me; because he was the first doctor to acknowledge that either endometriosis or adhesions could be the cause of the chronic pain I had suffered with for 27 years. He was the first doctor to suggest a diagnostic laparoscopy as the ONLY way to know for sure. The following website will familiarize you with the problem I had in getting a diagnosis that I could accept:
The surgeon's fee was
It is a known fact that an adhesiolysis is one of the LOWEST reimbursed ( by insurance companies and Medicare ) surgical procedures!! It is also a known fact that adhesiolysis procedures can take from one ( 1 ) to ten ( 10 ) hours to complete. NO SURGEON wants to take the required amount of time to complete a complicated adhesiolysis procedure ( 2 to 10 hours ) knowing that he/she is going to be reimbursed for a simple adhesiolysis procedure ( 1 hour ). NO HOSPITAL wants their operating room tied up for lengthy adhesiolysis procedures -- knowing the hospital will be reimbursed at one flat rate.
So as a result doctors have a code of silence about adhesions. If they don't
Re: Kelly M - Mayo in Scottsdale At Tue, 12 Jun 2001, Kelly Murray wrote:
Lynda, I am from Farmington, NM. Have you been here to visit. It usually takes us about 7-8 hours to drive there. We have also been to soft-ball tournaments in Phoenix. I am emazed that the Great Mayo Drs. are not educated in adhesions. I went to Mayo twice in Arizona with no results. I don't know about the ones at Mayo in Minnesotta.
Kel