Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/21/2022

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I was referred to them by my primary physician. We schedule a time to chat about the appointment and my condition. They didn't mention that they would be charging $260 for a 15min call. My insurance and I got billed for it. I would not have set up the call to talk to them if I did. When I called the doctor's office, the lady told me to contact the billing department; the billing department asked me to call the doctor's office. Then the doctor's office insisted I call the billing department. And the game of "ping pong" continues. The complaint is about the doctor's office, not the doctor himself, as I never saw the doctor nor talked to him.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/02/2023

  Business Response /* (1000, 8, 2023/01/09) */ Thank you for your letter re: complaint #******* I apologize for the delay but with the recent Holidays and staff absences due to Covid-19, your correspondence was only brought to my attention, today. I take every patient complaint seriously. Most times it is just a matter of explanation, which I will do once I have reviewed the patient's medical record. However, I went into my EPIC electronic medical record and searched for him. Unfortunately, I could not find anyone by that name with his address or telephone number in the system. In Epic, this is not the recommended way to search for a patient. The system lists patients under the same name. most of whom are not under my care. In order to allow me to respond to the patient's complaint, please ask him to provide me his DOB and the date he was seen. Thank you for your assistance over this matter. ****************, MD, PhD, FRCP ( London), AGA(F) Business Response /* (-10, 9, 2023/01/09) */ Business supplied email: ******************** Use this address for this or any future complaints, but nothing else Consumer Response /* (3000, 11, 2023/01/13) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Please look for the full name, *************** Thanks. Business Response /* (-10, 12, 2023/01/18) */ The patient's name in my EMR is*************** and not ********, which is why I could not find his chart in my EMR. I have reviewed the billing for his consultation His was the 2nd lowest level. Billing to the insurance is by time or by complexity. Besides the reason why he was seen in consultation by my PA, the patient also had 2 other heath issues that had to be taken into consideration. He was billed a ***** for 15 minute consultation. This did not include the time taken to write a 4 page consult note. Level of reimbursement is the same whether I saw the patient or my PA. A ***** is second lowest level for reimbursement. Although $250 was billed to the patient's insurance only paid $95.31 and the patient only had to pay $23.83. The remainder of the fee ( $140.86) was written off Reimbursement to my practice is decided by the insurance company and not by my practice. I hope that clarifies the situation. I am unsure why the patient is complaining about the $23.83 that his insurance said he had to pay my practice. ******************* Business Response /* (4000, 15, 2023/02/01) */ The patient's name in my EMR is*************** and not ********, which is why I could not find his chart in my EMR. I have reviewed the billing for his consultation His was the 2nd lowest level. Billing to the insurance is by time or by complexity. Besides the reason why he was seen in consultation by my PA, the patient also had 2 other heath issues that had to be taken into consideration. He was billed a ***** for 15 minute consultation. This did not include the time taken to write a 4 page consult note. Level of reimbursement is the same whether I saw the patient or my PA. A ***** is second lowest level for reimbursement. Although $250 was billed to the patient's insurance only paid $95.31 and the patient only had to pay $23.83. The remainder of the fee ( $140.86) was written off Reimbursement to my practice is decided by the insurance company and not by my practice. I hope that clarifies the situation. I am unsure why the patient is complaining about the $23.83 that his insurance said he had to pay my practice. ******************* Consumer Response /* (4200, 17, 2023/02/02) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The complaint has to do with the person at the doctor's office NOT telling me that the session was going to be a billable event - I thought it was just a quick talk, which turned into a long conversation about my health. I would not have set up the appointment if I knew it was billable - or would schedule it for a future date. In addition, after I received the bill and wanted to find out more, the doctor's office asked me to talk to the billing department - which turned out to be a different company. When I spoke to the billing department, they asked me to talk to the doctor's office. This went on for two times in each office (I got "ping-pong" back and forth) - they were shrugging their responsibility and trying to blame each other - I, the patient, suffered as I didn't get any answer. It has nothing to do with how much it costs me. Why would I go through the trouble of filing this complaint for only $23? It has to do with the office not telling me upfront that it would be billable to chat with the PA. And after the fact, it did not help me to find out more about the billing. It is about transparency, taking responsibility, and integrity. Unfortunately, no one is accountable for their actions, and patients suffer.