'Patients First Medical': Corrupt Business Practices at an Aurora Doctor's Office

I want to share my personal medical experiences with people so that you know not to make the same mistakes and know what the medical fields/practices are like here in Colorado and beyond. Below is my family's run in with a private practice doing corrupt business practices and I do not want you to be hurt by them as well. After Dr. Jackie McCollum retired this year all of her patients were forced to find new doctors and after having her for over 20 years it was a personal loss to my family. Then we found this mess so that you can avoid this practice.

Patients First Medical

2121 S. Blackhawk St.

Aurora, CO 80014

Dr. Alfred Nash

When we first went to them we verified with them that they took our insurance. They did not say that past the primary care visit that they charge for what they call 'chronic care' which most physicians just include in primary care since that is what most people go to them for besides colds/flu.

We go twice to the practice. 1 time to meet with the doctor to get first base visit in and get med refills scheduled/set up with pharmacies. Second was a follow up primary visit, but it should have counted just as a primary nurse visit since we met with his nurse to go over blood results and do additional blood work that he had forgot to request in the first meeting.

The later we get hit with a huge bill saying that how they coded for 'chronic conditions' is not covered based on their contract with the insurance company. We called the insurance company and verified with them that they had used a 'bad code' and that they would need to use a different code and have the bill reassessed for correctness. 

Well the doctor's office refused to do this saying that their codes are correct. I even spoke to the doctor's wife who helps with the 'business' and she said that they bill like that on all of their patients. She was so proud of the fact that they rip people off and have been getting away with it because most of their patients don't know how insurance works. My mother worked in the insurance industry for years including at Anthem. So she knows that when doctors do stuff like this it is actually them abusing/breaking their contract with the insurance companies. 

There are ways to report your doctor if they do this and the insurance company can cancel the contracts with doctors that pull these tricks. The problem is that most people don't know that the doctors are breaking the contracts or how to report them. So this is now on our plate where we are having to work with the insurance company on a corrupt doctor. The good news is that the insurance company has the proof they need based on both the billing history, our experience, and other reviews on line from people who have had their own experiences with this doctor doing the same to them. The oldest I found was from 5 years ago so this 'business' has been hurting people for awhile. 

I should have read the Google reviews before we went, but we so needed someone open on the weekends due to our schedules. Don't trust 5 star reviews or people that give out all to mostly 5 star reviews. Most of the time those reviews are either bought, pushed for, or done by family or friends of the business. Look for people with lots of reviews, diverse scores, and that don't have short meaningless reviews.

Another person with the exact same problem. They continue to do this to hurt people and with this long of a history they know exactly what they are doing.

Proof that they have been pulling these types of tricks for years.

 

They do a lot of shady things.

Below is the complaint I have left on Google Maps since they give you limited space:

The moto on their business card is a lie and they only care about lining their wallets with your money and not the patients. We caught them over billing/coding on my mother's primary care visit. We verified with the insurance company, Anthem that they were using a code that they are not contracted to use. As a primary care doctor on a specific contract with an insurance company they are required to bill with specific codes and they refuse to use the codes that they are approved to do so for the insurance plans that they have contracted to be a part of as a primary care provider. We verified with the insurance company that all they had to do was use a different code to get the bill covered, but they refused saying that the codes that they and their third party are using is correct which the insurance company says they are wrong. This actively hurts patients and sticks patients with bills they should not have. We are working with Anthem on a formal complaint and Anthem has to cut contracts with providers that do this underhanded type of billing and breaking of their contract with the insurance company. If you have ever been charged by this doctor anything past your copay on a copay only primary plan make a formal complaint to your insurance company. It is the only way to fight corruption of this kind. We were not told of the additional charges past a primary care visit when we set up going to this doctor and the office staff even verified that on my mothers plan that we had a $40 copay. That is all they are supposed to be able to charge the patient based on their contract with Anthem. Do not use this doctors services and if you have been a patient with them make the complaint to your insurance company about their billing. Once again we have verified with Anthem that what they did was wrong and we are working with Anthem to be witnesses about contract violations.   

Breast Cancer: Learning Fast

When a family member got diagnosed with breast cancer I felt that I had to do a deep dive into the subject matter in order to help them navigate the situation. The first place I decided to look for information was in books. I know that info in books can be very dated, but it is usually good for basic information and you can carry it around with you and read on the go. For this article I'm going to highlight two different book experiences I had that in a way shows some of the extremes you can run into using books to do medical research.

Of the books I found, The Breast Cancer Survival Manual by John Link, was one of the best. It goes into a lot of detail and helped us to figure out which questions we should be asking the doctors. It also let us know when the doctors were withholding information from us. I tell people that they have to become experts on their medical conditions because both doctors and the American medical system can not be trusted. My specific example of this is that the doctors would only tell us the stage of cancer and not the type. It took me asking very pointed questions and talking about the specific types to get them to tell us the type of breast cancer she had. Knowing the specific type makes a big difference in the options you have and by doctors withholding this information they block you from knowing what your options are. This book was pivotal in helping me build specific questions and hold the doctors accountable for what treatment options we had. I would highly recommend this book to both people diagnosed with cancer and their families. I also found this at the local library.

Taking Charge of Breast Cancer by Julia Eriksen was less then helpful. During this time I had access to a college library. To be specific the Auraria Campus library that serves 3 different colleges including students in different medical programs. For a library that supports medical students I found their medical and health books really lacking compared to the public library. I thought that this would have been the reverse, but was super disappointed. This was actually the best book on breast cancer that they had. It mostly was just a collection of different peoples' experiences, which is great to know how varied the breast cancer journey experience can be, but it didn't really have any useful information in it. It was too personal and not educational enough. When you are going through the breast cancer experience you don't have a lot of time to educate yourself, and reading this book was a waste of time when compared to other books out there that had information that you could put into instant use. I would say don't waste your time on this book, there are better options out there to help you in your breast cancer journey.

These two books show the differences in quality of the books you can find on a subject and how where you can find quality books on a subject can be surprising. I would have thought that a college would have held the more useful and information packed books, but in this case my local library was much more helpful. At the same time I felt that both locations had very few books on a subject that impacts the lives of so many people. The breast cancer center had posters up where they talked about 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer. That's really high. Then even if you don't get it, more then likely a friend or family member will get it. Breast cancer is very impactful to our society and I feel that there needs to be easier access to more information on it in general. For my own learning experience I had to focus more on medical journals and peer reviewed articles. Which for the general population, understanding the language alone used in those type of resources makes the information out of reach for them. I'm lucky because of my background in science and medicine, but for most the information is very much gate kept by the medical profession. There are a few basic places people can turn, like Web MD, but you need to be careful of what you find on the web. As always I recommend doing research on not only where your info comes from, but on the authors of any books or articles you turn to.

I will try to share more of my experiences of the breast cancer journey as I can. It is a lot of appointments and then also trying to support someone on the emotional path can also eat up a lot of time. I wish all who have to deal with this in any way the best of luck.

Picture 1 From: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33574220-the-breast-cancer-survival-manual
Picture 2 From: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2190850.Taking_Charge_of_Breast_Cancer

Covid Day 14

So today will be the last post of the Covid Days!!! I got my test back from yesterday and I'm finally covid negative. To be truthful I feel like I got lucky with my other health issues and receiving no real medical treatment.

The situation in Colorado keeps getting worse: "ICU bed shortage forcing hospital to find more space" https://kdvr.com/news/coronavirus/colorado-icu-bed-shortage-uchealth-hospitals/?fbclid=IwAR0BaMfU5QOB_jpbkeE7_xNB4m6WhMt3-vxABN8KmOR1rJ4-pU7HUStzRJM . I say this overflow when I had to take my mother to the ER the night I think I got covid. In a way I blame the hospital for my infection (Medical Center of Aurora). They did not have people broken into possible covid infections and then those with other issues. They also had their waiting room jammed backed with people and there was no room to social distance at all. People who come in with other issues could easily catch covid under these conditions. This is another example of how our "medical professionals" are failing people. We have a healthcare crisis in the U.S. and the pandemic is showing just how messed up it is.

More on new possible treatments for covid:

"Common antidepressant may reduce COVID-19 death risk" https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/common-antidepressant-may-reduce-covid-19-death-risk?fbclid=IwAR24rdWNw1ITPvfvFr72TEB8ZodIQI8VA7VLRiTJ3g33n11DUJnN-LHznpU

COVID around the world:

" Austria to impose nationwide COVID lockdown and vaccine mandate" https://www.cbsnews.com/news/austria-lockdown-covid-vaccine-mandate-germany-poland-europe/?fbclid=IwAR10cGjtcSigbwwZWHel_N8HDJj2N5VrNJ3heQGWxkYbVwO01Vc51QAFfFc

The debate of where covid came from continues:

"Martket in China's Wuhan was likely origin of COVID-19 outbreak: study" https://nypost.com/2021/11/19/market-in-chinas-wuhan-was-likely-origin-of-covid-19-outbreak-study/?fbclid=IwAR2tiqtSbCsSUDCcenOBHqgDDC53xuvLLc8fa4xQfvhv5rMwI8CyVHpwuWg

Other:

"US Army Secretary: National Guard members who refuse vaccine will not 'continue service'" https://thehill.com/policy/defense/582295-us-army-secretary-national-guard-members-who-refuse-vaccine-will-not-continue?fbclid=IwAR0CicwybhigChc0PdDsnTzgzpiRXgSmetn_bK6rMJFbEILbhqnL_B_KMhM

https://www.accuweather.com/en/health-wellness/what-to-know-about-influenza-covid-19-as-flu-season-picks-up/1049332?fbclid=IwAR3SFdNHALoQxqcnDEIzX4tTmkL0F6ajsK_7zwLpNk6xHiuH6wdqtMoqz4o

Covid Day 13

Today was day 4 from mom's covid test and we still hadn't gotten an email from Mako on the results. So I had to log into their system to get the results. They were negative!!!!!! So at least we know what we were doing worked to keep her covid free.

What were we doing? First and key is that we were both masked. This is the key with masks is that all parties need to wear them and wear them correctly. I was actually wearing 2 masks, one cloth and then a medical mask on top of that. Any time I used something in a shared area, like a bathroom, I would wipe down with wipes like Clorox. 

I also did get my covid test today. This one did not go deep at all for a collection. Both of my tests at Kaiser had them rubbing just inside where as the one with Mako at least went deep enough to make me feel like I need to sneeze. There still seems to be a debate about how deep the test needs to go.

Tomorrow will be my first day working in person again. They are not requiring me to have a negative test before I return. They only care about me being mostly symptom free and past the 10 day quarantine time frame. 

How am I feeling today? Tired and still run down. May energy levels are nearly a zero. It doesn't help that I have a paper due on Sunday and have zero motivation due to tiredness and low energy. Maybe I'll get some genko and bee pollen this weekend. If you put it into a banana and blueberry smoothie it's really good. I first learned about the combination from a smoothie place that used to be in Cherry Creek Mall and it was called a Bee Stinger. I'm still trying to get the ratios right.

Covid Day 12

So I went into Kasier today to get another test and this time was told they had no walk-ins or appointments. They said if I really wanted one I could go through urgent care and pay my copays for a test that is supposed to be free. If they have the employee who could do the test why charge someone for additional services that they are not getting. Just have that employee running tests if you have a demand for it. This is just trying to bleed members out of more money. Kaiser is just screw up after screw up in how they are dealing with or more like not dealing with covid.

So I was forced to make an appointment for tomorrow. I think even if it costs me more I'm leaving Kasier the next chance I get. I recommend any one with them leave as soon as possible. I feel that they are so horrible at health care that they actively endanger the lives of their members.

Covid Day 11

 Not much going on today. I woke up with a bad sinus headache that has not left and I've been getting chills off and on the whole day.

We still haven't heard back on mom's covid test yet. I think the longer it takes the better. So far bot of the ones I've done that were positive came back really fast, around 24 hours.

Covid Day 10

 Symptoms continue to get better. Still waiting on my last covid test to see if I'm in the clear or if I need to aim for the 14 days.

Also this morning an interesting article popped up on my Facebook feed about what European country is doing to help increase their vaccination rates.

"Austria Enforces Lockdown on Unvaccinated People" By Jonathan Tirone

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-15/austria-locks-down-unvaccinated-as-europe-tightens-covid-curbs?fbclid=IwAR34lCI83RoqlRBD8eN9hjt8FLrhRPlo2Kh6R7pStizJyAa9azAWlBVdoIE

Then there was this article that just made me sick. This is a good example of how horrible anti-vaxxers are:

"Anti-vaccine protesters display Nazi symbols outside Jewish lawmaker’s office" By Carl Campanile and Kenneth Garger

https://nypost.com/2021/11/15/anti-vaccine-protesters-display-nazi-symbols-outside-jeffrey-dinowitzs-office/?fbclid=IwAR0X50lyqaiZ1Fag52juur5hQAviBwyngaMoUSLF87pj6F6ztj_gfT6avnQ

Then it's sad that a native people have to take back their heritage from the anti-vaxxers abusing it:

"Maori tribe tells anti-vaccine protestors to stop using popular haka"

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59286563

10pm Update: So I got my results back from the test I did yesterday and I'm still covid positive.

Covid Day 9

 So today I did another covid test and I have to wait 2 days to get the results. I decided to get one a day early since my mom also had to do another test today. The test she did at Walgreens did not go through.

The company they have processing their tests is:

It took us two days to find out that they messed up the test.

The the below is there error message we got.

So by trying to trust Walgreens even to do a simple covid test is past what they can handle. Not only did we not get the rapid test that we had signed up for, somewhere along the way the test got messed up. Do not trust Walgreens for covid tests. We ended up going to one of the Mako locations today and they are slower, but more reliable.

Beside this how am I doing today? Well, the breathing has gotten better. Still stuffy at times. I've noticed the head congestion moving into my ears. I normally have issues with my ears so it is moving into one of my weak places. I've noticed my hearing is reduced and my ears feel like they need a good popping. 

Today I've increased my probiotic intake and added pomegranate juices for the antioxidants. I'm trying to use my knowledge of energetic nutrition to keep me on my feet. If you have not looked into this I would highly recommend it, specially if your medical team is as useless as mine is. I've learned that with health care in America for the most part you have to be your own advocate, and if you are not no one else will be. It's sad that our medical system forces everyone to basically become a doctor just so they can get the treatment they need. I don't know how many times I have shocked doctors because I can speak their language. This is why I get so pissed of when people in the medical field talk down to people thinking they are stupid. 

So enough of me ranting today, but I do have one take away for everyone. Do your own research. Never trust what people tell you. That is why I make sure to site my sources as much as I can for all of my blogs. I want my readers to be educated.

Covid Day 8

 So this morning I got woken up by a call from Kaiser. They were bust spouting the same BS that there are no treatments approved by the FDA and that I would need to seek outside treatment. For the first one you can check the links I have shared on this blog to show that Kaiser is not telling the truth and the FDA has approved several different treatments. The later part then also shows how Kaiser is breaking it's own mato that you can get all your medical treatments under one group. Below is a copy of my updated Google review.

11/13/21-Still fighting with Kaiser over this. They are not offering any type of covid treatments. They keep saying that I have to seek treatment elsewhere and then they give you bad links to try and find a place to get you the help you need. This time I spoke to an Amy and she said even though the FDA has given emergency approval for several different types of treatment that Kaiser does not see them as approved.

So thank you Kaiser for starting off my day with abuse from your employee Amy.

Covid Day 7

 So I saw some improvement today with my sinuses. I think that my combination of over the counter, non-traditional medicines, and vaccine are working. The sinus pressure has greatly reduced and my thinking is much clearer.

Kaiser update: I had someone reach out to me from their customer care department about my google review. When I was trying to explain my issues he just kept repeating that he wasn't on the medical side of things and that he would have someone from the medical side of the house reach out to me. I kept telling him that it was the medical side of the house where my problem was and that they do not have options for people, that they do not explain things clearly or go into detail, and that they just like passing of their work on to the member. He basically then just tossed me aside and said that some one would reach out. Then needless to say that call did not come and it's nearly 9:30pm. That call isn't going to happen. Also Monday is my 10th day and you can only receive the anti-body in the first 10 days. That means that by the time Kaiser gets back to me it would be too late for the only treatment that they think people should be allowed to have if they do all the ground work.

So I went back to the email they sent me. It sends you to a website where you have to try and find a center to do the procedure and you have to set up all the arrangements. The problem is that from the sites I tried to look at all the contact information was missing. The site is useless. I can also use technology. I can just imagine how frustrating trying to navigate that mess of a site would be to older members who are not as up to date on technology. Kaiser just keeps dropping the ball. I'm actually tempted to add a subsection to this site about many of the mistakes I have caught Kaiser in over the years in both my care and that of family members.

Below is a sample of the little info their link gives you. From this point your are left trying to track down the contact number of the right department within these larger bodies. It is pointless trying to call to get the correct department let alone to schedule an appointment.

This just shows how Kaiser is leaving its members hanging. If they are going to provide links they should at least verify that the info on those links will actually help people.

Covid Day 6

So I got the above generic message from Kaiser. I don't know how many times I have made complaints to them over the years and feel like they will never change the bad ways. It's on all levels, admin assistants to doctors, clinics to hospitals. I did respond to their message by cutting and pasting both my Google review and a link to this blog.

How am I doing today?

I know that I'm not getting much sleep at night due to having to sleep upright just to be able to breath. My body is feeling that. The throat is also worse and trying to talk a whole sentence is a struggle. Breathing issues are still focused in the head. Sometimes are worse then others. I feel like I'm trying to deforest a small forest with all the tissues I'm going through. Last night for my class I forgot to mute myself and blew my nose. I quickly said sorry and muted myself when I had discovered what I had done. At least my professor already knew I had covid. Energy levels are still low. I weighed myself this morning and just since Sunday I've lost 3.6 pounds. I'm finding that I'm not really hungry even though I know I need to eat to keep up my strength. 

9pm: So Kaiser's care package was left at my door. The door bell never rang and I was lucky it wasn't stolen. It was actually filled with good stuff except the anti-bacterial soap had all ruptured. Not sure if they had frozen or exploded due to pressure change if they had been shipped on a plane. At least it's nice of Kaiser to try and help you protect your family while you possibly die from lack of treatment. Yes, I'm very cynical and sarcastic when it comes to Kaiser's lack of options for people.

Covid Day 5

 So with my symptoms starting on Saturday I will consider this day 5 of my infection. A little scared since one of my friends that has had covid twice said that the breathing problems for her and her husband started on day 7. She lost her husband on their second infection. So yah, I’m scared. I’ve also read about the damage that covid has caused to its survivors. So I have that to think about as well. 

Since I am not getting any help from my so called “medical providers” I’m trying to do as many different over the counter options as I can do. So here is what I have started so far. 

-Dayquil & Nyquil: these don’t seem to be really helping with the congestion I have. I have had sinus infections before, but this one burns like nothing I have experienced before. Plus, I’m having a higher percentage of blood then I’ve seen before as well. The only thing these seem to be doing is keeping the fever in check.

-Zinc: Stared a 50 mg tablet once a day.

-Multivitamin: Yes, I know that this should be a part of my everyday health plan, but I forget to take them more then I take them. Right now adjusting that so that my body has as much as it can to fight this.

-Adjusting my drinking: I normally fight with drinking a lot ever since my kidney stone incident. (That’s another Kaiser nightmare/covid timeframe that I will cover in a different post). As part of this I am drinking more orange juice, Gatorade, and tonic water. Yes, tonic water. I know about all the arguments around quinine. My take on it is at this point it is better than nothing which is what Kaiser is giving me. I figure that having some in my system is better than nothing and the more I can make my body a hostile place for covid the better. Quinine did prove useful in the history of men’s fight against disease and who knows what other uses it can have. When talking to the Kaiser nurse she said that I didn’t understand that medicine are only approved for specific things. She must never have heard of the off use of drugs. From personal experience I can say that beta blockers (normally used for heart issues) are a wonder drug for migraines. I had a neurologist that was willing to do what was needed to help his patients which Kaiser seems to be lacking. Like I said I have had a lot of personal experience with medicine, doctors, and a large variety of health issues to know when a doctor or medical group is pulling BS from their ass. This also doesn’t count formal training I also have. LOL. Anyway sorry for going off so much on this one. 

So that’s it right now. Not much, but better than the “Tylenol” the nurse told me to take to keep my fever in check. I told her I wasn’t taking Tylenol because Dayquil and Nyquil already has acetaminophen in them and she seemed taken aback that I knew that. Medical providers really believe that people are stupid. Joke on them.

Now the Food Is Going

 Finally the food and medicine have started to disappear. At least I had already stocked up on these when people were going after the paper products. I find it interesting how even though they have switched to food they are still focusing mostly on foods that need a fridge or freezer. Go for the stuff that will last longer.

Cleaning Supplies Now Gone

 

So I went on a supply run with Val at work today to see if we could track down any cleaning supplies for work. They have now disappeared from shelves along with paper products. At least people are starting to think a little bit.

Also like my last post, the memes have started showing how stupid it was for people to focus on paper products.

So This Is How It Starts

 

So this is how panic impacts shopping. Mom and I went to the store for our normal weekly shopping trip and for some reason all the paper products are gone. Instead of focusing on non perishable foods, for some reason people are just buying paper products. Good thing I already started stocking up on food. You can tell these people have never seen a zombie or other survival film.