Part 3
In a May 17, 2023 phone call I asked Christ Health CEO Dr. Robert Record MD about their clinic's billing practices regarding patient visits to Medical Doctors and Nurse Practitioners. In a 2019 visit with their MD Dr. Terry Daniel Smith (aka: T. Daniel Smith / Terry D. Smith) I was billed $109 at their Chalkville (Old Springville Road) location. I found it surprising when just a few days later I was billed $107 for a visit with Nurse Practioner Anna Musgraves at their Woodlawn (Birmingham, AL. branch). I believe there is a substantial skill level that separates doctors from nurses (average 4 years & $30,000 University tuition vs average 2.5 years $13,000 tuition in a community college). Dr. & CEO Record's answer (that "the medical codes and medical prices are the same") did not sit right with me, I have experienced that in the Birmingham, AL. market the average charge I encountered to see an NP was only $45.
I pointed out my experience visiting his Woodlawn clinic. During my 2019 visit I observed most their patients were foreign migrants to America, observably poor and I note hearing very few words of English spoken while waiting to see the nurse. I believe Christ Health is overcharging patients and customers for their services.
My 2018-2019 experiences as a patient being misdiagnosed and patient dumped (see: EMTALA) during visits to their ER is that they then referred me to community health clinic Christ Health Center who (I only found out much later) was not skilled or equipped to handle my injury. I observed and overheard other referred patients from Ascension Emergency department visits. I believe Christ Health is being used as a patient dumping destination. CEO Dr. Record confirms in this call they host Ascension's residency program. My own experience is that the doctors and nurses I had contact with at Christ Health were very young and not experienced. An MD I had a visit with who outright refused to give me a referral for an MRI scan (Dr. Terry Daniel Smith MD was later promoted and hired on by Andrews Sports Medicine / St. Vincent's Birmingham). I believe Ascension also uses Christ Health to train prospective future talent (my experience: Ascension does business in the wrong way) and those that show the qualities they are after at Christ Health get promoted.
Regarding visits I had at community health clinic The Christ Health Center (Birmingham, Alabama). I was referred here by Saint Vincent's East Hospital (Ascension) after a 2018 X-Ray (the injury was overlooked by reading radiologist Dr. Julian Patrick Druhan MD (also a member of Birmingham Radiological Group)) I had done was said to be "normal". Doctors Terry Daniel Smith ("T. Daniel Smith") did the encounter with me in May, 2019. Attempts to obtain a referral for an MRI to reveal the injury (I needed one that day, immediately) were not facilitated and he wanted to go a different route with the treatment.
