Didn’t work. I got frustrated.

Monday, January 25, 2010 at 5:16 pm (Writing by Ear)
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If you’ll remember, back in December I lamented that it appeared I was going to have to pay for my annual mammogram because it was coded as “diagnostic” rather than “routine.”  As I said at the time, I balk(ed) at having to pay for the same smash-your-boob-in-the-machine mammogram every other woman in my plan gets covered for free. (As do a lot of women without any insurance at all.)

So I went through the appeals process and guess what I got in the mail today? Yes, you are correct, a letter that was clear in nothing except one line:

Thank you for choosing the UPMC for your medical care. Our primary mission at UPMC is patient care and customer satisfaction that is based in a strong commitment to excellence. [I’m an editor, so why “the UPMC” in the first sentence and just “UPMC” in the second? And shouldn’t it be based “on”?]

After careful review of your medical records [need a comma here] it has been determined we are unable to honor your request for an ICD-9 diagnosis code change on this account. ICD-9 diagnosis codes are used to identify diseases and conditions, and provide justification for any procedures performed on the patient. The ICD-9 code chosen for this procedure was found to be appropriate according to the highest level of specificity. [What?]

[Here comes the clearest part of the letter] Payment is expected immediately….

I wasn’t even going to bother to call for clarification, but I did. I was told that UPMC did contact my physician, as they said they would, and she wouldn’t change the code. So, I’m stuck this year. Next year I will be vigilant in requesting (or obtaining) only a ROUTINE mammogram (and I’m sure I won’t be able to tell the difference).

What this letter SHOULD have said was something like:

We understand you are questioning the diagnosis code on your mammogram. We contacted your physician (insert name) and learned that the coding of “Diagnostic” rather than “Routine” was correct and cannot be changed.

Instead, I got a generic letter with a Senior Account Representative’s name on it, but no signature. And I had to follow up by phone for clarification.

How hard is it to write a letter that clearly explains a situation? Even though it was delivering bad news, a more personal, factual letter would have gone a long way toward making me feel like my concern had been heard and addressed.

Now I’m not sure what I’m more frustrated about: having to pay for a mammogram that should have been covered or feeling like I got the runaround, even though I actually didn’t. Or maybe it’s being reminded, once again, that the written word is so powerful and yet so often underused.

Be obscure clearly.
~ E. B. White

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Oh god, they know!

Friday, January 22, 2010 at 3:02 pm (Writing by Ear)
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I was more than a little annoyed one night last week (or was it earlier this week?) when I had to get off my usual spot on the couch (dislodging a cat or two in the process) and scurry upstairs to answer my cell phone, which is also our “home phone.” I rarely get calls; my phone is rarely where I am. Most often it’s in my purse or on the charger upstairs, and I’m downstairs, hence the running and swearing.

When I heard a recorded voice, my reaction was even worse. Not fit for print. But before I hung up, I managed to discern that the call was from Giant Eagle (a local grocery store chain) about a recall of frozen hash browns. Seems their records showed that I “may have purchased this item” in the past.

It was helpful and creepy at the same time. (Did Big Brother also know what color underwear I was wearing?)

It’s finally happened. After several years of laying low (lying low? I’m too lazy to check), the Advantage Card has struck. That clever little “save me a few cents on groceries and gas” gimmick that also lets Giant Eagle track my every purchase. I always knew it COULD, but it creeps me out to know it really DOES.

Yes, that half-full/half-empty bag of hash browns is in my freezer. I bought it many months ago (and no, I don’t plan to throw it out now, having survived quite fine after eating half the bag. But, oh geez, you know if I’ve had it in there too long, don’t you? Has it expired? Am I a bad person if I serve it to my family or friends?)

The whole thing made me more than a little glad I don’t shop at Big Bird all that much, my budget relegating me to Wal-Mart most of the time. And I’m glad no one is tracking my purchases at Target or Lowe’s or HD. (Although Pet Smart knows what the cats like, thanks to its discount card program.) And how long is that information on record anyway? Do I still have to feel guilty about all that after-Christmas candy we bought on clearance a couple years ago? Will you tell my husband about that bag of potato chips I bought and ate without sharing?

And what’s next? Will you let me know when I’m running low on Tazo Green Ginger? Will you inform the health care police (probably mentioned on page 796, section 214, subsection iii of the health care bill) if I purchase too much pop or too little spinach? Or politely suggest I lay off the potato chips and offer me some baby carrots (on special this week) instead?

Yes, I know it’s a mixed blessing. Had it been an actual emergency, I’m sure I would have been instructed where to turn in my area for more news and information, and I’m sure I would have felt more grateful. Turns out, I heard about the recall on the news a couple hours later. Or I would have read it online the next morning. But I know a lot of people don’t do that, and the call may have been their only warning of a potential danger.

Does it mean I’ll stop using my Advantage Card? No, I’m cheap like that. But I also have a little secret — most of the stuff I’m buying at GE isn’t for me, but for my 91-year-old mother! And don’t be surprised if the ol’ demographic profile gets shaken up a bit now and then…a can of chew, some ham hocks, a pack of diapers. Trust me, you only THINK you know me…

It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were
in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing
could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety,
a habit of muttering to yourself—anything that carried with it the
suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case,
to wear an improper expression on your face…was itself a punishable
offense. There was even a word for it in Newspeak: facecrime.
~ George Orwell, 1984

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Inspired

Friday, January 22, 2010 at 12:43 am (Writing by Ear)
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I, like most people I know (and most I imagine), have been riveted by the terrible situation in Haiti and cheered by the few bright spots amid the suffering.

Here in the ‘Burgh, we were especially drawn to the rescue of 54 orphans from the BRESMA orphanage run by two local sisters, Jamie and Ali McMutrie, largely orchestrated through a grassroots effort that began with a fellow local blogger, Virginia Montanez of That’s Church. (Although calling her a fellow blogger is more than a little literary license — a bit like calling Martha Stewart a “fellow gardener.”)

I dreamt of Haitian orphans last night. I see them and want to start adoption proceedings immediately. But instead, I, like most people I know (and most I imagine) made a small donation and prayed both for those suffering and those trying to help. I’m privileged to know one such helping organization, Global Links, personally.

Pittsburgh-based Global Links has been working with Hôpital Albert Schweitzer staff as well as local physicians deploying with disaster relief agencies to procure donations of needed medical materials, medicines, and equipment. In addition to providing donations from its own inventory, Global Links is fielding and directing solicitations to UPMC and its network of vendors.

Global Links also provided local first-responder physicians who secured transportation to Haiti  with key medical materials to hand-carry on their flights, including sutures, bandages, surgical instruments, gloves, casting materials, and more. Items most commonly needed by all medical personnel working in Haiti now range from sutures and crutches to antibiotics and bandages to surgical instrumentation, X-ray film and more. Global Links has been directing the collection, preparation, packing, and shipping of these supplies.

Even more, Global Links has been and will be working in Haiti for years to come as this poor, poor nation and people strive to recover.

The selflessness of individuals like the McMutries, the efforts of humanitarian organizations like Global Links, and the tremendous skill and commitment of our own military men and women have been so inspiring to see. They make what I do every day or any little triviality I may write about fade away in comparison. So for now, I’ll just pass along a bit of their stories — they deserve all the telling and all the credit we can give. And while you have a minute, please say a quick prayer for Haiti’s people — they, too, deserve all the help we can give.

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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