Re: Billing Incompetence

deb5555 · ‎03-21-2010

File a complaint with your state consumer protection office, that will get their attention and correct these issues!

qvcaddition · ‎03-10-2010

@teganslaw wrote:
I received a final notice bill from a medical facility where dh went for some treatment. Medicare paid for most of it: we only owed $32. I sent them a check which cleared 10 days ago, now they send me a notice saying that the debt hasn't been cleared and if not paid will be sent to collections.

The statement sent was dated May 22, and the check cleared on the 15th, so nothing crossed in the mail. No one was available in the billing dept. because of the holiday weekend, so I left a voice mail explaining that I paid, check #, dates, etc. I was polite, but might have sounded a bit annoyed. This isn't the first time something like this happened, although it was with different medical facilities. I get impatient with this kind of incompetence. The amount isn't much, but it's still annoying to deal with this.

Something similar is happening to me. In todays world, not enough people doing their jobs corrrectly or working.

I have made so many phone calls and documented everything said, also the date and time of call. Some, I just could not understand. Had to hang up and call back until I could get someone I could understand and could understand me.

It's so frustrating in todays world.

qvcaddition · ‎03-10-2010

@Still Raining

@Still Raining wrote:
In my professional life I did a lot with billers. I have nothing but absolute praise for medical center billers. If you can go in and see their screens there is always a timeline. Stand alone facilities are different.

I would vote for bad software, poor cash control, etc.

ETA Right now I have $4.94 perhaps in collection with a freestanding imaging facility 🤬

I retired from being a Medical biller at KP in the 90's. I was such a tough job, we just had the compute, but had to read the Dr.'s writing from the patients chart and so hard, yet we got the job done or fired. Today, I wonder if they have the same work ethics? They certainly have more at hand with the computer.

All Dr. notes on computer and easier to read, no charts.

chrystaltree · ‎05-10-2010

Nothing crossed in the mail but since you went old school and sent a check, the check is sitting in a pile of snail mail on someone's desk. Many hospitals still have office staff working from home half the week so the mail backs up. The hospital I worked for was aware of the problem. They tried to hire someone to work in the office full time to sort mail and work the check deposits but it never worked out. They encouraged people to pay online, they made that as user friendly as possible. They considered not billing for small balances under $10 but the higher ups wouldn't approve that. Before I retired, they decided to change the billing from every 30 days to every 60 days to address the lag time with mailed checks. The vast majority of patients paid their balances through the portal or online or at the cashier's window when they came in for an appointment. So hospital receivables weren't impacted, it was a customer service issue. Angry or confused people tying up cs over something that no one could help them with.

LindaSal · ‎05-15-2014

In my case my check was not sitting on someones desk, it was cashed and deposited by the medical facility within a week of my mailing it in. I offered to send a copy of the cashed check but I'm not just going to send it in until I know which department to send it to. They are not good at listening like I said in my previous post.........one person calls you to say you are late with payment but you need to speak to another department about it?? In which you can never speak to the same person. They make it so difficult and I'm sorry but I ran a dental office for a long time and I wore every hat in the place during my years.........there is simply NO reason for people not to do their job correctly. Guess I'm "old school" like my checks.

ValuSkr · ‎03-15-2014

I believe incompetence rules in the world of medical billing. Everyone's out to make a buck. I went through a nightmare late last year - early this year with my father's hospitalization. A regular company would have resolved the error ($1,500) in days but this one took six months - at least. The issue started with the hospital's billing department and involved both his private insurer and the VA. The worst part is that I could never talk to the billing department directly, only with something akin to liaison personnel. They could only sympathize with me and tell me what was happening via their computer screen.

Trailrun23 · ‎05-31-2022

After a month-long hospital stay a few years ago, I dealt with this nonsense over and over again for several months after I went home. The problem is so much outsourcing. The hospital billing office isn't in the hospital in Atlanta....it's in a different town clear across the country. Same for anesthesiologist, radiologist, etc. They bill you from Denver, but they want the check sent to Cincinnati, it is credited to your account by an office in Seattle. Collections is in Phoenix. No wonder there are so many problems! Don't worry about sounding annoyed. I am sure every person who leaves a message sounds annoyed. I know you will get it straightened out..but it does take too much of your own time and energy. Incompetence at its finest.

chrystaltree · ‎05-10-2010

@LindaSal wrote:
In my case my check was not sitting on someones desk, it was cashed and deposited by the medical facility within a week of my mailing it in. I offered to send a copy of the cashed check but I'm not just going to send it in until I know which department to send it to. They are not good at listening like I said in my previous post.........one person calls you to say you are late with payment but you need to speak to another department about it?? In which you can never speak to the same person. They make it so difficult and I'm sorry but I ran a dental office for a long time and I wore every hat in the place during my years.........there is simply NO reason for people not to do their job correctly. Guess I'm "old school" like my checks.

This isn't long ago, it's now and compartmentalization and specialization are the way businesses operate today. Everyone has a GF fancy title and job descriptions that too often don't overlap. It's inefficient but that's the way it is. Many administrative jobs have been permanently designated as remote which makes the situation worse. I drove by my old office building which housed ISD, accounting, customer service etc for a big teachining hospital. Probably 900 people. The entire building is empty because 90% of those people work from home now. They can't "talk" to each other. I retired at 62 because I was '"old school" too. While understood the new reality, it was frustrating. Maddening sometimes.

Cakers3 · ‎06-17-2015

I could write a book.🤬

Including the time some other patient's procedure was billed to my insurance including the diagnosis showing up in my medical record.🤬

Reported it, insurance sent it right up to investgators and it was resolved.

Tired of receiving bills months after they were paid.

DH is STILL fighting a paid bill. Three times already for the SAME doctor visit and the kicker is each time the amount is different!!! He also paid with bank card for a visit copay at the time of the visit so how does it end up a mess???

These out sourced billing services are the worst.👎

I was billed 2 months after my PT ended. Again paid each copay with a bank card at each session.👎

We do not get paid to fix their mistakes.

Watch your insurance accounts.

Also paying by check is ok if mailing your payment.

A cancelled check is just as good for proof.

"" Compassion is a verb."-Thich Nhat Hanh

qvcaddition · ‎03-10-2010

@teganslaw

@qvcaddition wrote:
@teganslaw
@teganslaw wrote:
I received a final notice bill from a medical facility where dh went for some treatment. Medicare paid for most of it: we only owed $32. I sent them a check which cleared 10 days ago, now they send me a notice saying that the debt hasn't been cleared and if not paid will be sent to collections.

The statement sent was dated May 22, and the check cleared on the 15th, so nothing crossed in the mail. No one was available in the billing dept. because of the holiday weekend, so I left a voice mail explaining that I paid, check #, dates, etc. I was polite, but might have sounded a bit annoyed. This isn't the first time something like this happened, although it was with different medical facilities. I get impatient with this kind of incompetence. The amount isn't much, but it's still annoying to deal with this.
Something similar is happening to me. In todays world, not enough people doing their jobs corrrectly or working.
I have made so many phone calls and documented everything said, also the date and time of call. Some, I just could not understand. Had to hang up and call back until I could get someone I could understand and could understand me.
It's so frustrating in todays world.

As of today 6/3 just got another appl. to fill out for Ambl. bill.

I sent everything in 4/5/23 and numerous phone calls.

So frustrated. I spent at least 20.00 in copies, envelope and stamps to mail all the other paper work. Will not do it again.