Posts by Ronald Lopez56

slyseal28 said:Tell me—would you be willing to go on the record with this for the press (even anonymously)?

Look, I know my fair share, but I’m not an official spokesperson here. Honestly, it’s not some big secret—this is just how things have operated for years. You really only need to walk through the halls at Mayo Clinic to see it for yourself. I have to admit—it’s actually the most efficient way to handle scheduling. They target patients based on their specific files, so they already know the exact imaging protocol needed before anyone walks in. It maximizes staff efficiency and keeps the machines running constantly. At Mayo, they can push through over 100 CT scans in a single 24-hour window. It's a rare place where you can just show up and say, "Hey, I need a follow-up by mid-December." You won't get an appointment right then and there—but rest assured, you'll get that call by late November or early December. There are patient lists prepared months in advance—sometimes three, four, even five months out—depending on when the follow-up is due.

As for Medicare, the whole system is set up so that those who want care can't get it, and those who don't need it shouldn't have to deal with it. Unfortunately, hospital institutes protect their budgets by dodging the high-cost scans. See, according to the federal guidelines in the US, the term MSCT isn't even officially recognized yet—so Medicare acts baffled about how it's possible to scan 230 slices in 15 seconds when the manual says it should take over two hours. Their solution? Just stretch everything out. If the billing doesn't match the manual perfectly, the invoice gets kicked back to the institute for "corrections" and they can't collect the payment. So, why bother doing the scan at all😕? The government loses either way...

unless....
take, for example, why would a place like Jordan
be operating at a profit? I'm genuinely curious if anyone here has a theory on that.🙂

brightgardener8 said:I’m heading in this Friday to get my mom scheduled for an MRI at General Hospital—so I'll let you guys know how it goes and when they actually give us a date.

Don't expect a date right away. They notify you about the appointment later on. And honestly? The wait is... way too long!

slyseal28 said:A journalist reached out to me regarding scheduling a CT scan. It all started because my husband needs follow-up exams after his last chemo cycle (Oct 26th): a spiral chest CT, an echocardiogram, and a PET scan. The only thing we haven't been able to sort out is the CT. I mentioned this on my blog, and that's how she got in touch.

At Mayo Clinic, the CT scanner was broken and they weren't taking orders at the start of the month—not sure if it's fixed yet, I'll try calling them tomorrow, they didn't pick up today.

I called General Hospital, Holy Spirit, and Vineyard—and they are all booking for December for dates sometime next year.

I also called Quest Diagnostics and Diagnostic 2000, which are private facilities that accept insurance referrals. With them, the rule is simple: if we pay out of pocket, we can get it done almost immediately. If we use our insurance, I have an appointment at Quest Diagnostics on Dec 17th, and I have to call Diagnostic 2000 on Monday because they just couldn't give me an answer right now😕.

The journalist said she’s going to write an article about this, so I wanted to ask—are you, your loved ones, friends, or acquaintances having trouble scheduling these kinds of vital tests?

How long are you waiting for something like a CT?

One of the two CT Scanners at Mayo Clinic is still out of order. They won't answer the phone, so you can't even schedule anything that way. Orders are only taken between 1 PM and 2 PM, and you don't get a confirmed slot right away—they just call patients later with a time. You need to bring the specialist's report that ordered the exam, plus any abdominal or ultrasound results. If it's a follow-up CT, you can bring your old scans too.

Private clinics are more than willing to work and make a profit (at least in Quest Diagnostics' case 😉), but they're limited by Medicare, which sets a monthly cap. Unfortunately, that cap gets hit way too fast, leaving the machines sitting idle unless you're willing to pay cash. So, the wait times at private facilities aren't a matter of arrogance—it's just how it is...🤷

Anyway, in America, waiting a month for a CT using insurance is pretty standard.👎