Advice on american health system

[lak1]

Having watched Veronica Chaing s Webinair I was considering asking for her opinion on my scans. I will be self paying so insurance does not matter.

I dont understand how one selects whichoffice you see the doctor in . Will one be cheaper/different to the other .

Her 2 offices are Yale University or Yale New Haven Hospital.

Will one be more suited to self pay? Whats the difference and how do you pick?

If anyone else can recomend a neurosurgeon I would be greatful especially if they are prepared to give opinion based on scan first.

Many thanks

as always

Carpe diem

Lesley

[PatW]

Yes, now that you mention it, this is a confusing system. I guess we Americans are just used to it.

Most doctors see new patients in their private offices, not in a hospital. Dr. Chiang’s office is the one at 800 Howard Ave, New Haven, CT 06519 Appointment phone:(203) 785-2808. This will be a one-on-one consult with the doctor.

On the other hand, many hospitals have “speciality clinics” like a melanoma clinic. If you make an appointment at a specialty clinic, you will often be seen by one doctor (like Dr. Chiang) who will then ask you to see other doctors on the team, such as a radiologist and/or an oncologist and/or a dermatologist. You are inducted into a team approach where several doctors meet to share their data and discuss your case. This is more thorough, but also more expensive (anything in a hospital is automatically more expensive than anything in a private doctor’s office).

I hope this helps you.

[rochelle]

Lesley,

perhaps Jonathan will see this post and be able to guide you as he has the 411 on Yale..

I worked at Yale years ago and can tell you as far as the logistics of the the doctor’s practice..(billing etc) location of appt does not matter…so whether you see a doctor at the hospital or the physician’s office…billing is the same.

Hope this helps,

Martha

[Francoise]

I believe the difference is that one is for the Yale University employees, and the other one is for regular patients. Françoise

[PatW]

Well, Leslie, as I said– the American health care system IS confusing. Even the Americans disagree about how it works! 😆 Anyway, just call the doctor’s office– either office– and they will get you to the right place.

[Jonathan]

Leslie,

I just thought (after sending you an email about how to get to Yale Cancer Center) that you probably want to try to get the second opinion “remotely” from the UK – her email and phone are available on her website – just google her. She will want your doctor’s referral with the records at a minimum. Since your scans are no more than a month old, my guess is she’ll do it without a big charge, unless you (and she) want a finer set of image slices – even then, I’d imagine you can get that done locally.

Best,

Jonathan

[Author]

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