Questions re: Hospital Pre-registration

[jaetee]

I have called some private hospitals and they all say we cant/dont need to pre-register. When we are in labour, we just show up to see if there are any rooms available.

1) Do most people try to pre-register with private hospitals (Matilda, Adventist, etc.) anyway?

2) If we dont pre-register, how do we get our insurance to pre-approve the costs?

3) If we pre-register but ultimately need/want to go to another hospital, do we need to pay a fee for "cancelling" the registration?

4) If we dont pre-register, do we just take our chances once we go into labour and hope the hospital of our choice has the type of room we want (or even any room at all)?

Thanks so much (and apologies for all the questions).

 

[barbwong_130]

Dear Jaetee,

What does your doctor say about the hospitals?

When I had my last child my doctor took care of all the hospital registration and all I had to do was turn up in labour.

I had lots of trouble getting my insurance company to pay anything in advance. For the doctor?s package I was under we had to pay first and then claim back when the baby was born. Even though I was saving them money they still insisted that as I hadn?t got the service yet they weren?t paying for it yet.

Best wishes,
Barb

 

[jaetee]

Thanks for the reply Barb. When I asked the doctor about this, she just said it was up to me to choose the hospital and get everything arranged, and then just inform her of our decision.

My insurance company needs to pre-approve everything related to the delivery (hospital, etc.) but how I can do this when I am not even guaranteed to deliver at a certain hospital until the actual moment I arrive there is beyond me.

 

[joannek]

the same thing with me when i had my baby at matilda in 2005. my doc fax my file to matilda when i have decided that i wanted to give birth there. i also asked them about being full. they told me i was having my baby at "low season" (around chinese new year) so it's highly unlikely that they'll be full.

insurance wise, my insurance company said as long as it was a registered hospital & a registered doctor, no need to pre-approve. so i paid the hospital first w/ credit card (amex, so that i get triple bonus points) then claim w/ insurance co.

i understand that you can pre-register w/ 2 hospitals. but u have to confirm with your doc about that.

don't know about the 4th question. but the reason for pre-registering is, according to my doc, is so that when you check-in at the hospital, they already have a copy of your file/ birthplan at hand, cos your doc's not gonna be bringing that w/ her/him when he/she comes to deliver your baby.

 

[kashismum]

Jaetee

Here's what I would do:

1) No need to pre-register. Most people going for normal births do not pre-register; they just show up in labour. For elective c-sections, the dr will book the operating theatre, etc at least a few days in advance.

2) Check with my insurance company about the procedure based on the hospital's procedure. Mostly, people pay the bill on discharge and claim reimbursement up to the limit of their policy.

3) I'd make sure I was pretty sure about choosing the particular hospital I register with, so I don't later change. As I said, most people don't bother to register.

4) I guess. Perhaps I would call a couple of hospitals just as I was heading out the door in a taxi to check the availability of rooms.

Cheers