Lawrence is fortunate to have one of the best-managed hospitals in the region. Lawrence Memorial Hospital, under the leadership of Gene Meyer, has overcome a number of weaknesses from past years to gain confidence and respect from all sectors of the field of health care. More important, however, is that patients and their families often express appreciation for the treatment, care and personal attention they encounter at LMH.

Another indication of the regard many have for our hospital is that increasing numbers of people want to work there. More often than not, there is a waiting list for openings. Staff morale and camaraderie often are discussed by those who work there and those who wish to do so.

Meyer would be the first to admit there is no “perfect wave” for a hospital. There is always something that needs to be improved, and one of the first things to come up in any discussion is costs, billings and how fair and accurate they are. The costs of health care have spiraled higher than have costs for any other aspect of our society. People in and out of health care readily agree the problem exists and that more needs to be done to rein in the runaway financial loads.

This subject and just how bad things can get were spotlighted in a recent article in the Washington Post, headed “Duplicate Charges, Faulty Totals: Your Hospital Mistakes Can Ruin You.” Dina ElBoghdady is the analyst. She notes that mistakes in hospital billing have become so prevalent that a “niche industry” has evolved to help patients decipher their bills. Pat Palmer, founder of Medical Billing Advocates of America, estimates that she finds multiple errors in eight out of every 10 hospital bills she reviews.

Palmer’s organization is made up of 30 independent consultants nationwide, and it works for individuals, self-insured companies and even state governments. For a fee set by each consultant, ElBoghdady says, the group roots out errors in medical billing and insurance reimbursements. Medical Billing Advocates reports it found as much as $400,000 in errors when it examined bills submitted to self-insured companies.

“It apparently doesn’t take a consultant to spot errors, though,” ElBoghdady notes. “Five percent of the 11,000 people recently surveyed by Consumer Reports said they discovered major mistakes after examining their hospital bills. The patients with $2,000 or more in out-of-pocket expenses, meaning those costs not covered by their medical plans, were twice as likely to uncover errors.

“The errors exacerbate consumer frustration with an already troubled health care system. Those lucky enough to have insurance find themselves digging deeper into their pockets to pay premiums, deductibles and co-payments. Some dig so deep they ruin their credit: Medical debt now ranks as the second-leading cause of personal bankruptcy in this country, after credit card debt.”

Even if insurers pick up the tab for those errors, consumers could ultimately pay the price, said Tom Brennan, director of special investigations with Highmark Inc., a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan based in Pittsburgh.

One of the worst things a patient or a representative can be when checking on hospital expenses is shy. If the hospital spokesperson is evasive or unclear, force the issue and continue to ask hard questions.

When a specialty agency can find errors in 80 percent of the bills it is asked to survey, much needs to be done. All this should start with a patient or representative who is firm, persistent and eager to find out why a given charge is assessed by a hospital or a physician.