MSSNY Recoups $358,000 in Unpaid Insurance Claims for Member

MSSNY Recoups $358,000 in Unpaid Insurance Claims for Member

MSSNY recently assisted one of our members in recouping $358,000 in unpaid claims from an insurance company. Following is an excerpt from a letter sent to us from the MSSNY member:

Thanks to MSSNY’s heroic efforts, I received a check for $358,000 from an insurance provider. MSSNY has proven over and over to be the ONLY physician lobby and advocate in the entire state of NY. The heroic efforts of Mr. Troy Oechsner and Mrs. Heather Lopez and their fierce, unwavering support have helped me with many insurance carriers concerning contract negotiations for enhanced fees and collections of money owed by insurance companies.

MSSNY has proved its devotion to its physician members and has gone above and beyond to serve and defend them at any opportunity. It’s our duty as members to be there for MSSNY as they have been there for us. It’s our duty to keep this pivotal organization strong and solvent so doctors can sleep well at night, knowing that we have our strongest ally in MSSNY.

Sincerely,
Nabil Salib, MD
MSSNY Member

I’d like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all MSSNY members for providing great care to the people of NY and your efforts to make your patients feel better and live longer. Thank you to the MSSNY staff for the important work they do, including Heather Lopez who is available to help with insurance and practice issues and is responsible for recouping the $358,000 mentioned above. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact Heather Lopez at 518-328-3532.

And, finally, my sincere gratitude to all the resident physicians who are the future of medicine. February 24, 2023 is a special annual day led by the Gold Humanism Honor Society to recognize resident physicians and celebrate their invaluable contributions to humanistic care.

Do you know who Ignaz Semmelweise was and what the Semmelweis reflex bias is?

Ignaz Semmelweis (1818-1865) was the first to prove that handwashing saves a life. As a chief resident in a Vienna hospital, he observed that maternal mortality was higher (18.3%) than childbirth in another clinic or on the street. He observed that physicians would conduct an autopsy and then go to the labor room. He proved that handwashing reduced mortality rates to 1.9% and even zero. His transformative work should have made his name a household word the world over. Semmelweis’s observations conflicted with the established scientific and medical opinions of the time, and his ideas were rejected by the medical community. Semmelweis allegedly suffered a nervous breakdown and was committed to an asylum by his colleagues, where he died after a beating. His findings earned widespread acceptance only years after his death, when Louis Pasteur confirmed the germ theory, giving Semmelweis’ observations a theoretical explanation, and Joseph Lister, acting on Pasteur’s research, practiced and operated using hygienic methods.

The Semmelweis Reflex is the reflex-like reaction for people to reject new information if it contradicts established norms or paradigms. It is one form of Belief Perseverance, where people will hold on to their beliefs despite new information which directly contradicts it. Semmelweis is now recognized as a pioneer of antiseptic policy.

We often face the Semmelweise reflex. We need to have patience and to understand that it is not what you say, but how you say it that can make a difference.

Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful. And believe that anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you. —Misty Copeland