Dear Chelee,
The only problem we had regarding our records was when I left my first oncologist and went to Cancer Treatment Centers of America for a second opinion, and decided to stay at CTCA to get treatment.
I lost faith with her after reading some notes she wrote in my file that were totolly inaccurate. She then charged me for the records that I released to have sent to CTCA. They are allowed to charge, but I know she made plenty off of me the first round.
After reading my records I found out that my cholesterol and triglycerydes were to the roof. She never told me. I was a heart attack waiting to happen.
We arrived at CTCA on Monday March 15, 04 for our second opinion. Over the next three days we met with all the different departments and had all the tests repeated with the results given to us Thursday, March 18, by a medical oncologist and a radiation oncologist. They also had a treatment plan for us to consider. We decided that I would stay for 6 weeks and get rad.tx and also a breast biopsy of my remaining breast (benign). My husband went home March 20 and I was able to go home the following three weekends.
We have never experienced the kind of treatment we received from this hospital. When we first arrived we requested copies of all my records to take home. Six weeks later we went into the records office and they not only had our records, but the girl knew who we were before we stated our names. We had only seen her one other time. This kind of treatment went on throughout the hospital. There was no arrogance by any of the staff and we were not treated like a number.
I don't know if they would accept your insurance, but they did accept most. They were not yet part of our insurance network but they accepted the payment. We did not have to pay more then our in net-work out of pocket maximum.
They flew my husband and I round trip for the second opinion at their expense. I also received 1 round trip ticket plus the ticket I didn't use when my husband went home without me March 20. All of our meals were furnished at the hospital cafeteria. They had an inexpensive lodging facility for all out-patients.
If you would like to contact them let me know and I'll give you their number. You can also find them on line. I think it's
www.cancertreatmentcenter.com They are located in Zion, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Philladlephia. I stayed in Zion.
Love and Blessings, Lu Ann