| Radiotherapy (RT) in California |
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03/26/2011 02:17
flojo 
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03/26/2011 02:17
flojo
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Re: Radiotherapy (RT) in California
Watch for a separate thread about RT at Loma Linda University Medical Center. l will be posting about my consultation with Dr. Ari Katerelos in the radiology department/center at LLUMC about RT for DD. They will do RT for Dupuytren's and Ledderhose's.
LLUMC is in So. Cal. just off the I-10 in San Bernardino County about 40 miles west of Palm Springs.
Edited 03/26/11 04:31
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03/26/2011 05:43
LubaM.
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03/26/2011 05:43
LubaM.
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Re: Radiotherapy (RT) in California
flojo:
Watch for a separate thread about RT at Loma Linda University Medical Center. l will be posting about my consultation with Dr. Ari Katerelos in the radiology department/center at LLUMC about RT for DD. They will do RT for Dupuytren's and Ledderhose's.
LLUMC is in So. Cal. just off the I-10 in San Bernardino County about 40 miles west of Palm Springs.
Can't wait to read about your visit to Loma Linda and your impression of Dr. Katerelos. Have they had any DD patients yet? What did they say about Medicare and Insurance coverage?
Edited 03/26/11 07:44
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03/26/2011 06:45
Larry
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03/26/2011 06:45
Larry
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Re: Radiotherapy (RT) in California
It is also important to know which radiation schedule he is using ! Ask about how many patients he had treated in the past and with which success. Good luck ... Larry
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03/27/2011 01:53
moondanc
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03/27/2011 01:53
moondanc
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Re: Radiotherapy (RT) in California
Alan_Hepburn:
I'm new here also, looking for more information on this Dr. Chang - can anyone give me a general idea of what he charges for an initial consultation, and for the treatment? My health care currently is through Kaiser and they don't recognize RT as a valid treatment option so they won't cover it - I'd be paying out of pocket.
My hand surgeon at Kaiser doesn't feel that there is enough data available to say whether or not RT works...
Alan Hepburn
San Jose, Ca, USA
Hi Alan,
Dr. Chang charged $452.00 for the initial consultation. Medicare and my secondary reimbursed $142.87. I had treatment on both hands-- 5 days each. He charged-- sit down-- $12,268 for the first hand, and $6701 for the second for a grand total of $18,969. As I've posted previously it's been denied by Medicare and they've exhausted all their appeals as far as I know.
Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) where Dr. Chang practices is my group and I'm well satisfied with the care I get there but they are THE MOST aggressive insurance billers I've ever seen. Several years ago when I first joined the practice they charged mroe than $1000 for my first visit-- they were able to bill me as a new patient and an existing patient for the same visit. They even had a handout on why this was permited. They had to write prescriptions for my existing conditions and that qualified me as an existing patient. Amazing.
Dr. Denkler trained a hand surgeon at Kaiser in San Rafael/Marin to do NA and I wonder if through her you might be able to dispute the non-recognition of RT (if you're on Medicare, though, forget it). Others disagree and I'm not sure how I feel but it's been said that if a radiologist si competent and has experience treating keloids they can do RT for DD-- the main question is whether they're competent in recognizing the extent of the disease and radiate enough area.
Moondanc/Diane
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03/27/2011 02:01
FrankR 
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03/27/2011 02:01
FrankR
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Re: Radiotherapy (RT) in California
Hi guys. I'm new to posting to the forum but have been reading and researching the forum for many months. I have DD in both hands and LD in both feet. I have been in e-mail contact with Prof. S in Germany. I'm definitely considering RT and have put a request into my insurance for consultation with Dr. Gottschalk who is in Calif. ( where I live )but do not think it will be approved. I know the cost for Germany and I know that no one seems to know more about the disease than Prof. S. However, I was wondering if anyone in the states without insurance aproval found a competent Dr. in the USA for a comparable price to that of Prof.S? According to some of the patients who had RT were experiencing a nerve burning pain after RT. I was wondering if this pain temporary? Thanks for your time.
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03/27/2011 06:09
LubaM.
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03/27/2011 06:09
LubaM.
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Re: Radiotherapy (RT) in California
moondanc:
Dr. Chang charged $452.00 for the initial consultation. Medicare and my secondary reimbursed $142.87. I had treatment on both hands-- 5 days each. He charged-- sit down-- $12,268 for the first hand, and $6701 for the second for a grand total of $18,969. As I've posted previously it's been denied by Medicare and they've exhausted all their appeals as far as I know.
Moondanc/Diane
Diane,
Thank you for the above information. If Medicare (and I suppose secondary insurance as well) denied paying for these charges, did you have to pay out of pocket?
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03/27/2011 06:56
Larry
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03/27/2011 06:56
Larry
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Re: Radiotherapy (RT) in California - Comparison of Costs
Prices in the USA are really amazing:
My first treatment with Prof. Seegenschmiedt on both feet with 2 RT series of each 10 treatments was about 1.800 Euro, later for my hand with 1 RT series of 10 treatments I paid about 1.000 Euro - so in general ,I believe, it is about 500 Euro per extremity and 1 RT-series of 5 treatments, and 1000 Euro for 10 treatments ...
Who get's all the money in USA, the administration (= hospital!?) or the doctors ?! Larry
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03/27/2011 19:24
Issleib 
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03/27/2011 19:24
Issleib
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Re: Radiotherapy (RT) in California
Larry,
It almost all goes to the hospital. The number of support staff behind the scenes is stagering. And the number of government regulations, some for petty items, are ungodly.
Oh yeah, and the hospital I went to for radiation has an ER that must accept all people regardles of ability to pay. they must take medicaid even though it doesn't begin to cover the costs and by federal law give away a percentage of free care in addition to all of the above.
Yes the doctors make a nice living. I don't know what the residency and fellowship requirements for radiation oncology are. But for my specialty it takes 4 years of college, 4 of med school, 3 of residency, and 5 of fellowship. My daughter will be close to 37 before she can start looking for a job.
A lot of hospitals are hurting. I ended up with early retirement because mine went bankrupt. Ther were only two other physicians with my subspecialty boards in the state but with the recession I couldn't find a hospital to take me on with out moving out of state.
I had been in private practice for a while until the cost and availablity of malpractice insurance drove me out of business.
It's the insurance companies that are paying the big salerys, dividends, and dictating care. Doctotrs have not been in charge for years.
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03/28/2011 04:25
Larry
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03/28/2011 04:25
Larry
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Re: Radiotherapy (RT) in California
I start to understand !
In Germany hospitals aund insuarance companies start to change the system similar to what you described ! And its driving good doctors out of hospitals to go into private practice to stay independent. That's - at least to my knowledge - the reason why Prof. Seegenschmiedt is now practicing in HAMBURG, while he initially worked in ESSEN at a hospital !
Working in a private practice means, however, to cover all the costs of machine etc. by yourself which can be quite expensive!
Overall I think the German system requires only 25% paying compared to the US standard prizes ! The differnce should be spend for vacation, as Germany is a pretty country ...
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03/28/2011 13:24
lori
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03/28/2011 13:24
lori
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Re: Radiotherapy (RT) in California
Diane,
What was the reason for the denial from Medicare?
Frank,
I too had a burning on about the 3rd or 4th day of my first session of RT. Dr. Crimaldi said that was normal, because the RT is attacking the DD, aggreviating the site, and the DD doesn't like it. Having that burning feeling made me feel like I was attacking the DD instead of it attacking me. A very welcome feeling.
Lori
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