I guess I'll stay looking into insurance alternatives.

trouble said:

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I guess I'll stay looking into insurance alternatives.

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Yeah it stinks for sure. I would call the TCH clinic and let them know your insurance and ask who they take. The TCH execs have been asking for a list and number of patients by insurance plans but St Jo has been dragging their feet to share the information. Very frustrating for docs who just want to do our jobs.

KidDoc said:

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trouble said:

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I guess I'll stay looking into insurance alternatives.

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Yeah it stinks for sure. I would call the TCH clinic and let them know your insurance and ask who they take. The TCH execs have been asking for a list and number of patients by insurance plans but St Jo has been dragging their feet to share the information. Very frustrating for docs who just want to do our jobs.

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I will. I know they didn't take any healthshares previously. If they don't, I'll just pay cash and file for reimbursement. They boys love you too much to switch.

Any word on if they will get the whole no marketplace insurance thing worked out by then?

so why dont a group of docs get together and start their own clinic that WILL take our insurance? I asked my doc and he said he was just too old to do it but it was possible...

Does this affect any of the St Jo family practice doctors who see both kids and adults, or just the doctors who are specifically only pediatricians? Also, if someone calls the old office for any affected doctors, will St Jo refer people to the new location? Will they be completely closing/selling the current St Jo Pediatrics office like St Jo has done with some previous locations (family practice office that was on Holleman and Anderson; urgent care that was on Texas near Harvey or Holleman)? Will medical records be both at St Jo and follow the doctors to their new office?

threecatcorner said:

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Does this affect any of the St Jo family practice doctors who see both kids and adults, or just the doctors who are specifically only pediatricians? Also, if someone calls the old office for any affected doctors, will St Jo refer people to the new location? Will they be completely closing/selling the current St Jo Pediatrics office like St Jo has done with some previous locations (family practice office that was on Holleman and Anderson; urgent care that was on Texas near Harvey or Holleman)? Will medical records be both at St Jo and follow the doctors to their new office?

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Only pediatrics. The records are the property of St Jo but can be transferred to a new doc by parent request.

histag10 said:

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Any word on if they will get the whole no marketplace insurance thing worked out by then?

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TCH is waiting on #'s from St Jo to bargain with those plans.

Gotcha- so it may be worth letting TCH know?

KidDoc said:

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histag10 said:

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Any word on if they will get the whole no marketplace insurance thing worked out by then?

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TCH is waiting on #'s from St Jo to bargain with those plans.

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St Jo probably does not have anyone competent to pull together the insurance plans.

Well, that was a bust. Called locally and they gave me a number in Houston to call. They do not currently accept any healthshares and have no intention to start.

Could have told you that …. TCH is the least flexible health system in Houston - tied with MDA. Both have pricing power and know it and don't want to show any weakness.

I didn't expect them to say yes but had to ask before I could tell anyone they refuse to consider it.

trouble said:

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I didn't expect them to say yes but had to ask before I could tell anyone they refuse to consider it.

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Thankful we have good insurance. I still max out the kiddo's maximum every year. I recently wrote them a $1500 check.

EBrazosAg said:

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TCH is hurting I'm sure. They had 3.9 billion in revenue, $190 million in net after expenses, and paid 12 execs between $1 and $7.5 million in compensation on their last 990 from 2023. Interestingly their board is full of executives in that list of 12. Also - they raised $100 million in charity contributions. That doesn't count their Foundation.

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I would be curious to look at these numbers, esp the executive compensation numbers. Are these available online somewhere?

gunan01 said:

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EBrazosAg said:

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TCH is hurting I'm sure. They had 3.9 billion in revenue, $190 million in net after expenses, and paid 12 execs between $1 and $7.5 million in compensation on their last 990 from 2023. Interestingly their board is full of executives in that list of 12. Also - they raised $100 million in charity contributions. That doesn't count their Foundation.

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I would be curious to look at these numbers, esp the executive compensation numbers. Are these available online somewhere?

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TCH Form 990

Real talk though, will appts set for after January still be preserved or will we need to reschedule?

As parents, do we need to request records go ahead and be sent to TCH/UPA? Since we all know common spirit can be incredibly slow with getting stuff done. Or as the physicians on the records, do yall own the records (like lawyers), and can move them?

histag10 said:

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As parents, do we need to request records go ahead and be sent to TCH/UPA? Since we all know common spirit can be incredibly slow with getting stuff done. Or as the physicians on the records, do yall own the records (like lawyers), and can move them?

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I am 99% sure St Joe owns the records and they will do it as slow as they fix their billing errors.

histag10 said:

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As parents, do we need to request records go ahead and be sent to TCH/UPA? Since we all know common spirit can be incredibly slow with getting stuff done. Or as the physicians on the records, do yall own the records (like lawyers), and can move them?

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St Jo owns the records. The IT people are working on getting them uploaded or allowing us to have continued access to the current charting system for a period of time.

They may move slowly - but those two things wouldn't be connected. EMR record export (what ever st joes uses in clinics to Epic (what i assume TCH uses) ) has nothing to do with the revenue cycle of St Joe clinics. That's not saying it will be smooth. But doesn't come from a rev cycle issue.

EBrazosAg said:

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They may move slowly - but those two things wouldn't be connected. EMR record export (what ever st joes uses in clinics to Epic (what i assume TCH uses) ) has nothing to do with the revenue cycle of St Joe clinics. That's not saying it will be smooth. But doesn't come from a rev cycle issue.

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I know it is unrelated to the revenue, but was just commenting on their general incompetence on all things administrative.

In that I cannot disagree.

KidDoc said:

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Well all 5 pediatric docs have signed up with TCH. There are still details to work out but it should be around January 2026.

The College Station group of 3 will all be at the UPA/TCH location on Rock Prairie road. The Bryan location is unknown at this time, worst case is we all end up on Rock Prairie which will be pretty crowded but workable.

We are hoping for minimal patient care disruption during the move and changing charting system for our nearly 10,000 patients.

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You'll be crowded all right in that space if all 5 go to that location

Hmmmm. I guess I can see why they have to get rid of the "overpaid" pediatricians.

Stupe said:

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histag10 said:

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We will also follow (even if we cash pay for a bit), but i am NOT a fan of UPA. Everyone i know that goes there say they never see the same doctor, and can rarely get same day or even same week appointments with their listed pediatrician

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We use them and that is not our experience. We have rarely had an issue getting our primary for a same week appointment.
We've seen other doctors if it's a same day issue from time to time. But I expect that from a practice that has a lot of patients. There are only so many hours in a day and they aren't just sitting around waiting on a kid with a fever.

We have been with them for over 20 years and have never thought about changing.

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Same for us. We have seen our same doctor everytime, unless it just happens to be a spur of the moment illness and it's a random call/visit. We have had no issues. Been using them for over 15 years now!