Luke--Part III

Luke’s OSF Bill

I received Luke’s itemized bill from OSF a couple of days ago.

The bill was for his outpatient tests done on June 15, 2007 in the operating room with a general anesthesia. No surgery was performed.

Below is the itemized bill. (I tried to scan his original bill, but I couldn’t get it to scan and paste on this post.)

June 15, 2007—

1. Pulse Oximeter--$81.00
The pulse oximeter is a non invasive technique to measure oxygen level in the blood. A piece of disposable tape with a sensor is wrapped around a digit and attached to the pulse oximeter.

2.Retrograde Urogram--$481.00
The urologist injected dye up Luke’s ureters to better deliniate his anatomy.

3. Acetaminophen 650 mg.--$3.25
Acetaminophen is generic Tylenol. I called a local pharmacy. If #12 650 mg acetaminophen suppositories are purchased, each suppository is 21 cents.

4. Dexamethasone 10 mg.—$19.40

5. Ondansetron--$22.45

6. Fentanyl--$17.50

7. Cefazolin--$64.80

8. Gentamicin 40mg/ml--$63.40
Gentamicin is an antibiotic that is commonly used for kidney infections. It is given IV or IM. If I were to buy the same amount of Gentamicin from a local pharmacy in Peoria, it would have cost me 40 cents, not $63.40.

9. Sodium Chloride 0.9% IVSL--$82.10
This is sterile salt water in an IV bag.

10. SFMC-OR-Conray 60% 30 ml vial--$33.00

11. SFMC-OR-Basin-Sterile-All sizes--$19.00

12. Drape:Proc Pack/Kit/Tray:Urology--$45.00

13. Surgery, 1st 30 minutes Level II--$1,771.00
This charge is for the first 30 minutes in the operating room.

14. Surgery, Each Additional 30 minutes Level II--$856.00

15. Anesthesia Services, 0-30 minutes--$1,873.00
This was the first 30 minutes after Luke was given the general anesthetic.

16. Anesthesia Services, Each Additional 30 minutes--$575.00

17. PACU Phase 10-30 minutes--$842.00
This was for Recovery immediately after coming out of the OR.

18. PACU Phase 2 0-30 minutes--$156.00

19. PACU Phase 2 Each Additional 15 minutes--$182.00

Total owed to OSF: $7,204.35. (I did not add this up.)

Luke entered the OR at 9 AM and was discharged to home at 11:10 AM.

The doctors’ bills are not included.


Luke’s medical care was excellent. However, the charges at OSF are obviously exorbitant.

The nurses and transports are the people carrying out the OSF mission philosophy while OSF Administration and OSF Corporate leaders make the big salaries and plan 500 million dollar OSF campus expansions.