Greed and Corruption at BJC
Posted By: Michael Goggins 
Date Posted: March 17th, 2010 Category: Cost & Quality
My experience at BJC was a terrible one. I arrived at the emergency room at Missouri Baptist Hospital at 3 pm with extreme lower abdomen pains. I checked in and then sat in the waiting room for almost nine hours. Finally, I received some pain medication from a nurse and then sat in another room for 2 hours. After almost 11 hours, they did a CT scan and a saw a Docter for about four minutes. There was no physical exam and only superficial questions. The diagnosis provided, I found later, was completely wrong. So in all, I spent 13 hours to see a Dr for a couple of minutes and get a misdiagnosis. The Bill? Amazingly over $7,000!! Who knew that less than 5 minutes of an Emergency Room doctors time was worth $300($3600 an hour), or that a CT scan image cost about $2000 a pop or that they could just make things up to add to the bill(the janitor i walked by in the hall). I have good insurance, but it is stll going to cost me way too much. NO other industry could get away with charging these obscene and criminal prices for such shoddy service, but the health care and insurance companies can do whatever they want under the current system!!! I called to complain about the bill twice, but they only laughed and said where else are you going to get treatment.This experience has changed my opinion about healthcare reform. I support anything that will regulate insurance and medical companies and prevent this out and out extortion!! I am only surprised that you didn’t send someone to steal the change from my pockets while I was on the meds!!!
P.S. A St John Mercy doctor was able to diagnose my medical problem in less than 2 minutes!!!
Comment By: Sara M
Date & Time: March 18, 2010 at 10:35 am
Michael,
No wonder you had a tough time that must have compelled you to write. I can understand your problem, but it depends on the person's experience and you left many questions unanswered. Were you the only one in the emergency room and still not attended? Did you explain the problem correctly? There could be many similar questions. Sometimes you are so much in pain that you tend to overlook the hospital system. I personally feel that, every organization runs with certain amount of rules and systematic order, may be you were there right during the time crunch. But, anyways what happened with you is certainly not acceptable. I hope you are feeling better now.
I have heard good and bad reviews about every hospital i have ever considered for treatment. I wish you never hear anything about the one you mentioned (one that diagnosed your problem right). Many people rely on words and reviews and sometimes it can shake your faith on the hospital.
Comment By: Susan Smith
Date & Time: March 19, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Mr. Goggins, we are deeply concerned by the report of your experience
in our Emergency Department. Our Patient Advocate has called you to
discuss both your visit and the steps we’ve already taken to correct the
situation. Thank you for taking the time notify us about your
experience and give us the opportunity to respond.
At Missouri Baptist, we strive to provide quality patient care with
exceptional service. The goal for our ER physician-in-triage program is
that our walk-in emergency patients (between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.) are
seen by a triage physician, who can quickly start to provide care. On
most days, more than 90% of those walk-in patients are seen by that
triage physician within 30 minutes. Clearly we did not meet our own
standard on this day for you.
Missouri Baptist Medical Center is committed to providing outstanding
patient satisfaction and we sincerely regret that this was not your
experience. Our Patient Advocate will continue to try and reach you to
remedy your situation with you.
Susan Smith
Manager, Patient Advocacy & Service Excellence
Missouri Baptist Medical Center