Billing errors hide in plain sight, on lines most patients never read. Each bill below has one line that deserves a phone call. Find it, then tap Next. Keep count of how many you catch. The bills are teaching examples with invented figures.
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Bill 1 · Emergency room
You went to the ER with a bad cough. You had one chest X-ray and a breathing treatment, and went home.
Which line should you question?
Itemized statement · April 2
ER visit, level 3$640
Chest X-ray, 2 views$210
Chest X-ray, 2 views$210
Nebulizer treatment$85
Correct!
Not quite.
A service that appears twice on the same date is the most common billing error there is. It can be a keying mistake, or two departments entering the same order. It can also be legitimate, if a second X-ray was taken later. You remember one. Say: “I see this X-ray twice. Was it performed twice? Please check the medical record.”