TriStar Hendersonville Medical Center Medical billing, failure to prevent further injury after surgery, abusive bill collection tactics. Stalling when asked for medical records., Hendersonville Tennessee

My son required three surgeries in the spring of 2013 for an mrsa infection in his left knee and right thumb. No one discussed an immobilizer for the knee to keep the wound from opening after surgery despite the fact that he was not to bend his leg more than 90 degrees. This failure cost me thousands of dollars after the wound did not heal and a second and third surgery became necessary. As a nurse, I know that if a patient is trying to heal a wound that is on a joint, you must immobilize it to prevent movement or it will not heal. The nurse's caring for him failed to recognize this, or forgot to apply an immobilizer his surgeon Dr. Robert Landsberg, claimed to have ordered. My insurance paid for a brace but we didn't see one.

my son also required intravenous antibiotics at home and the hospital did not give me a choice in home care providers although they are Required to do so. TriStar favors certain company's and does not promote a patient's choice to use another supplier/dme company. 

I requested an itemized medical bill and was denied.

i requested the medical records and was only provided with the surgical reports even though I asked for the nurse's notes and most of his records. 

Billing was incorrect, insurance charged for a knee brace that was not provided.

I wrote several times requesting to pay in installments as I am on disability and cannot afford to pay all at once. Hendersonville Medical center mailed me a financial assistance form which instructed me to file for Medicaid BEFORE they would allow me to make payment arrangements. Well the wait for Medicaid's decision was a month and by the time I got my denial Hendersonville Medical Center had already sent my accounts to collection. Medicaid, by the way, requires that expenses incurred within the last 3 months would be eligible for assistance. By the time Hendersonville Medical center explained their requirement that I apply for Medicaid it was already too late to be eligible for it.

I feel that some of this may be retaliotory as I was an employee of TriStar Skyline in Nashville TN until I was injured at work in 2011. The company has used any and every opportunity to abuse me since I filed a worker's compensation claim. TriStar is a for profit organization that doesn't care how they treat their own employees who break their back's (literally) caring for patients. Because they denied my injury I am partially paralyzed because I was not provided with a list of physicians as required by law, when I was injured. I did not receive a panel until my lawyer demanded they give me one almost a year later. Injured in June 2011, finally seen by a physician in May of 2012. TriStar is above the law and does not think they have to abide by it. in the mean time I was without any income at all, while the company stalled. I am now neck deep in medical debt due to their negligent practices of denying me a panel of doctor's to choose from when I filed for workmen's compensation. Not to mention the fact that the prolonged wait for treatment resulted in a permanent loss of function of my bladder because I had no way to pay for my care and this delay caused irreperable damage to my spinal cord. 

As a former employee (nurse) and as a previous consumer, I cannot express with words strong enought to tell how much I hope that anyone who reads this will avoid this debt trap and get care elsewhere. TriStar is also known as Health Corporation of America (HCA). I will never recommend this organization to anyone because they don't even care about patients enough to do the minimum that the law requires as far as patient safety and employment laws are disregarded altogether.