Dr. Sievers' RHHC Medical Practice - Operations & Website

[FightTheOstrich]

Just my two cents....I worked for a surgeon for 21 years....true it was not a big city...but.....we would not have had much of a practice if we tried to charge for no shows.....would never have worked.....and we had a huge medical practice as well such as just general medical stuff. Word would spread and folks would not like the idea of being charged for no show.

towards the end, the doctor I worked for got into herbs and over the counter stuff big time.....this was in the late 90's but I cannot imagine what a high dollar cost for such things could be......what could she possibly have been prescribing? I guess I am outta the loop on this stuff. I suppose things have progressed in the area since back in the day it was fish oil, melatonin, calcium, garlic, etc.

IMO, TS had to have a policy in place for "no shows" based on the way the office scheduled patients. If she was only scheduled one patient/hour a "no show" was a big deal vs. offices that have 7-15 patients scheduled during that time.

 

[Sulamith]

Did Ts know that the books were cooked?

She seems like the type of person that will check all finances. So I doubt ms thought that she wouldn't find out at first.

So are we saying she knew. Or died because she found out. Or was killed for other reasons.

From what I have read about TS, I have trouble believing she was clueless about her practice's financials. I think it is possible that she knew not everything was on the up-and-up, especially when it came to hiring CWW. No background check on him?

Right now, I think she was murdered for "other reasons". MOO

 

[PeskySlueth]

I've looked back at my credit card charges for the past several years. There were always two accounts charged: Dr. Sievers (for the office visit), and RHHC (for supplements). Two transactions - Two accounts. In my case, the only thing that seems odd is a charge for one missed appointment this year that Mark insisted I pay for. I honestly don't believe Dr. Sievers would have charged me, and now I wonder if she even knew.

She probably not only didn't know but would have been MORTIFIED if she ever found out.

 

[PeskySlueth]

From what I have read about TS, I have trouble believing she was clueless about her practice's financials. I think it is possible that she knew not everything was on the up-and-up, especially when it came to hiring CWW. No background check on him?

Right now, I think she was murdered for "other reasons". MOO

why would she even suggest one. she trusted her husband. :thinking:

 

[PeskySlueth]

Dr Sievers FEE SCHEDULE has a section about paying for missed appointments, which to me makes sense even IF it was MS who wrote the document.

http://www.drteresasievers.com/fees.pdf
NO SHOW FEES: (APPTS MUST BE CANCELLED AT LEAST 1 BUSINESS DAY PRIOR TO APPOINTMENT. PLEASE NOTE: IF YOUR APPOINTMENT IS MONDAY YOU MUST CANCEL BY THURSDAY BEFORE NOON.) THIS ALLOWS YOUR CANCELLED APPOINTMENT TO BE FILLED BY ANOTHER PATIENT WHO IS WAITING TO SEE DR. SIEVERS. WE UNDERSTAND EMERGENCIES HAPPEN AND ASK THAT YOU SPEAK WITH OFFICE MANAGER, MARK.
• NEW PT VISIT: $225.00/LOSS OF PRE-PAYMENT
• F/U APPTS: ARE BASED ON COST OF VISIT FOR THAT APPT. IE IF YOU HAD A 30 MIN APPT BOOKED, FEE WOULD BE $200.00. IF IT WAS A BASIC PHYSICAL, FEE WOULD BE $300.00

I stand corrected. However, with my many Dr.'s I see, they all have policies like above, but even the day before if i cancel due to a 'unavoidable family situation came up', they've never - not one ever charged me for a cancellation.

 

[human]

A P.O. BOX or even a real address could work. Medicare is churning out payments. They aren't stopping to cross-reference anything unless someone notifies them of fraud.

I'm usually careful about checking my EOB's but I'm several months behind. I think that's what fraudsters are counting on. And you're right that the very elderly with a lot of services might not notice extra charges. I am never billed because my supplementary insurance picks up the 20% so I wouldn't notice unless I kept track.

I keep meaning to ask you how you get Medicare if you don't live in the U.S. I thought expats were not able to do that. Has something changed?

I have Medicare as a US citizen and it pays for emergenices for everyone, I think? I purchase supplemental that pays out of the US .

I come back to the US once a year for a physical,dental and vision. I get a read out once a month whether I use anythng or not.

My hubby has taken a med for 40 some years. When he was in the US they prescribed a didferent strength. My DIL got a call and said the scrip,was wrong. So she sent the new one. We waited and waited and waited.

Finally we asked at the customs where or what??? They said that med is not approved in the country, so they sent it back. Who knows. Health care is scary no matter where you are.

 

[Bobbywoo]

I am familiar with the compounding pharmacies as I worked for one after the doctor's office closed....huge money in compounded rx's.

Geez oh Pete you are so right. I have to use one for my dog's eye drops. There are maybe 3 places in the US I can order them as the vet prescribed, I can't even imagine how much it would be for a human

 

[wondering25]

Well, this thread is certainly on topic and makes for great reading. There are so many excellent posts with gobs of information from incredible sleuthers. Depending on when TS decided not to accept Medicare, it's a really tough call. Lots of docs will opt-out of accepting Medicare since they don't pay nearly what they can make from private patients. Having a holistic practice in FL with potential patients that come and go (meaning retire there and have other homes as well) willing to pay a good doctor big bucks, may be A reason she switched. The important timing of when this change from a participating to a non- participating physician would be needed to help with our understanding of this as a possibility.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

iT DEPENDS ON THE WORDING A doctor can accept medicare but not be participating. In other words.. they will process the claim so you get something back.. but they will not accept what medicare deems appropriate for their service. A participating MD may bill 100 for a check-up and get 75 because that is what medicare says in appropriate and the md will have to accept that. A non participating MD may bill 100.. get the 75 and then bill for the difference.. moo

 

[Bobbywoo]

I stand corrected. However, with my many Dr.'s I see, they all have policies like above, but even the day before if i cancel due to a 'unavoidable family situation came up', they've never - not one ever charged me for a cancellation.

Yes! And a co-pay with insurance being $25 or $35 is MUCH easier to swallow than a $200-$300 missed appointment fee. Sometimes life throws you a curve ball and there is no way to make your appt. I realize it is lost income, but.....

 

[LvsAMystry]

A man from my area got sent to prison for medicaid fraud. He ran a medical transport service. He was billing medicaid for trips that he never transported anyone.

A company I worked for was found to have defrauded Medicare to the tune of billions of dollars. Fortunately that was after I'd left.

 

[Southwflorida]

Right??? Every once in a while someone like Madtownbucky will come on after lurking, drop a bombshell and drop back out of sight. And someone as fantastic as NIN will keep that very important post from being lost in the shuffle. I have read NOTHING derogatory or alarming about MS until this post. NOTHING. He hung close to criminals yet had no record. Always smiling and even tempered. Until....one bravo sole came forward to tell their experience, then Amazonrain, then Southwestfl with her experience (which I may find more objectionable than her?). This group is fantastic!

1.) It's interesting to read the theories from a combination of both objective and subjective readers. I know I can't be objective because my heart is broken, but many of you live across the country and didn't know Dr. Sievers. Your perception is different which helps me process things.

2.) I was quite upset that Mark insisted that I pay for a missed appointment. Much more than the money, it was the way he spoke to me.

3.) From what I observed: Dr. Sievers was VERY busy. She spent 30-60 minutes with her patients AND was always armed with labs, etc that she had obviously studied in advance of the appointment. She would have handwritten notes all over my labs when I came in. So, I would assume that she studied patient records after hours. So, how much time would be left for her to monitor the billing?

4.). I visited her office 4-5 times a year for about 4 years. Some visits were appointments, others were to purchase supplements. I never saw Mark in the office. Patients were given an out of state number to call Mark with any billing questions. 314 area code. I assumed Mark worked from home.

5.) Dr. Sievers empowered women - I can never imagine her being a victim of domestic violence and sticking around.

6.) There were only three employees in the office each time I was there: Dr. Sievers, her nurse, the receptionist.

7.) Dr. Sievers provided free healthcare to people who were indigent.

8.) I pray for justice. She deserves justice. The saddest thing is that no matter what we do, what happens, it'll never bring her back.

 

[Bobbywoo]

1.) It's interesting to read the theories from a combination of both objective and subjective readers. I know I can't be objective because my heart is broken, but many of you live across the country and didn't know Dr. Sievers. Your perception is different which helps me process things.

2.) I was quite upset that Mark insisted that I pay for a missed appointment. Much more than the money, it was the way he spoke to me.

3.) From what I observed: Dr. Sievers was VERY busy. She spent 30-60 minutes with her patients AND was always armed with labs, etc that she had obviously studied in advance of the appointment. She would have handwritten notes all over my labs when I came in. So, I would assume that she studied patient records after hours. So, how much time would be left for her to monitor the billing?

4.). I visited her office 4-5 times a year for about 4 years. Some visits were appointments, others were to purchase supplements. I never saw Mark in the office. Patients were given an out of state number to call Mark with any billing questions. 314 area code. I assumed Mark worked from home.

5.) Dr. Sievers empowered women - I can never imagine her being a victim of domestic violence and sticking around.

6.) There were only three employees in the office each time I was there: Dr. Sievers, her nurse, the receptionist.

7.) Dr. Sievers provided free healthcare to people who were indigent.

8.) I pray for justice. She deserves justice. The saddest thing is that no matter what we do, what happens, it'll never bring her back.

Thanks for that post!
#7 is very heart warming. I'm not a big believer if supplements (shoving my fish oil, potassium, and iron pills behind my back) so I was a bit skeptical of her at first....but her friends, family and prior patients have made me a TS cheerleader. She sounds so fantastic!
Your #2 is concerning. As I said before, add that to the other prior patients's experience with him and it's unsettling.
Thank you for speaking up! Haven't seen you on here for a while

 

[irishchook]

Right??? Every once in a while someone like Madtownbucky will come on after lurking, drop a bombshell and drop back out of sight. And someone as fantastic as NIN will keep that very important post from being lost in the shuffle. I have read NOTHING derogatory or alarming about MS until this post. NOTHING. He hung close to criminals yet had no record. Always smiling and even tempered. Until....one bravo sole came forward to tell their experience, then Amazonrain, then Southwestfl with her experience (which I may find more objectionable than her?). This group is fantastic!

For some reason, I think a lot of people are "skiddish" and are afraid to comment.

 

[Helper9693]

Holistic doctors can't cheat the medicare system that much. Their practice is more of a natural theory that is done by a simple evaluation, soothing talk therapy....

Soothing talk therapy...LOL...this may be the first real laugh I've had on WS regarding Dr Sievers....since she died....ahhhhh...Thanks I needed that! Just to clarify...she was a great person...and more about taking action steps than sitting around stewing in your problems.

 

[irishchook]

Medicals hire someone to take care of the billing precisely to distance themselves from the money aspect. Otherwise, they'd get drawn into the patient's personal money woes of "can we work something out? do I have to be charged for xyz"" - The doctor can legitimately say that they don't have any knowledge of charges and tell the patient must talk to the practice manager. This protects the doctor from having to be a bad guy. The doctor has to focus on health, not business operations other than general. Some doctors don't pay enough attention to their business only to discover they'd been robbed for years by a practice manager or bookkeeper.

In all do respect, I find it unlikely TS was totally oblivious to their billing process. From my understanding, she initially accepted insurance and then slowly migrated to accepting private patients only. However, she still "grandfathered" in her insured patients, which I find to be honerable.

 

[human]

In all do respect, I find it unlikely TS was totally oblivious to their billing process. From my understanding, she initially accepted insurance and then slowly migrated to accepting private patients only. However, she still "grandfathered" in her insured patients, which I find to be honerable.

I am sure docs get together and discuss issues . She may not know the details but knows the big picture. A smart person knows how to delegate and she delegated her office management to her beloved husband.

I don't know if she thought anything was hinky with him, He was responsible for her beloved children. If she thought something was off wth him, I doubt if she would trust him with the girls.

 

[irishchook]

I am sure docs get together and discuss issues . She may not know the details but knows the big picture. A smart person knows how to delegate and she delegated her office management to her beloved husband.

I don't know if she thought anything was hinky with him, He was responsible for her beloved children. If she thought something was off wth him, I doubt if she would trust him with the girls.

I guess I'm speaking from real experience. If you're sitting with your doc for an hour, it's not unusual for the doc to answer questions about payment, etc.
With that being said, I cannot see her NOT answering patient's questions re: payment/billing and just referring them to the Office Mgr.(MS).

 

[RANCH]

Special thanks to No it's not (NIN) for locating this post!

I knew I had seen it in one of the old discussion threads (before the forum). Despite KateB & I searching for hours, we couldn't find it. (We were thinking it was posted much earlier than it was so we were looking through the wrong bunch of threads.) However, once we called on Sievers linkologist extraordinaire, NIN, she located it for us within minutes. :bowdown: Anyway, I wanted to bring it over here because it may help some of you guys sleuthing this angle.



Link to original post

I'm a bit confused by the original post where this was said.

To make long story short, I contacted Medicare to report fraud. Medicare investigators contacted MS and even went to office when MS didn't cooperate. Medicare continued to work on my behalf and 1 1/2 years later I was FINALLY reimbursed.

If Mark had billed Medicare for this person's visit's why didn't Medicare tell the patient that they had received the bill and paid it?

Or looking at it from another angle, why did Medicare reimburse this patient after 1 1/2 years if they were never billed by the doctors office in the first place?

Something seems to be missing in this story. The OP did say "To make long story short." I want to hear the long story.

JMO

 

[CoolJ]

I'm a bit confused by the original post where this was said.

If Mark had billed Medicare for this person's visit's why didn't Medicare tell the patient that they had received the bill and paid it?

Or looking at it from another angle, why did Medicare reimburse this patient after 1 1/2 years if they were never billed by the doctors office in the first place?

Something seems to be missing in this story. The OP did say "To make long story short." I want to hear the long story.

JMO

Yea that post never did quite add up to me. I tend to take all anonymous posts with a grain of salt. Two sides to every story. JMO

 

[RANCH]

Yea that post never did quite add up to me. I tend to take all anonymous posts with a grain of salt. Two sides to every story. JMO

Yes. I've been around long enough to have heard some major embellishments made by unhappy customers.

Not sure what to think of that post unless the OP returns and provides some details or we learn something specific about Medicare fraud from another source.

JMO