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:02/05/2024

  Type:Service or Repair 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.

  Had surgery with this center for skin cancer removal, they provided inaccurate and potentially harmful wound care instructions. When called to follow up, office gave different set of wound care instructions. Wound care instructions given over phone were vastly different from ones given on the paper.No orally wound care instructions were given at time of surgery. Office claims to have number on wound care information but impossible to get through without multiple tries. Office now refuses to see patient to correct mistakes made.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/06/2024

  ************************ BBB complaint contains several inaccurate statements. After receiving a medical procedure at our facility on 2/2/2024, ******************** was clearly provided verbal wound care instructions by both the physician who performed the procedure as well as the medical assistant who bandaged the surgical wound. ******************** was given multiple opportunities to ask questions regarding his understanding of these wound care instructions including a direct question by the physician who performed the procedure regarding whether he had any questions, to which he responded "no."  ******************** was also provided with written wound care instructions detailing how to take care of the wound. Neither the verbal nor the written wound care instructions contain "potentially harmful" instructions. Upon ************************ call to our office on the morning of 2/5/2024 with questions, our surgical manager provided detailed instructions regarding wound care over the phone, and was offered a same-day appointment on the afternoon of 2/5/2024 to address his concerns. ******************** was scheduled for an appointment at 2:45PM on 2/5/2024; however, he did not show up to this appointment as scheduled. 
  
  ******************** has a history of verbally abusive behavior towards our staff members, on multiple occasions using curse words and using threatening language. ******************** has a history of behavioral issues documented at the *****************, who referred him to our office for specialty care, and police presence has been required at his medical visits at that facility in the past. ************************ verbally abusive behavior to staff will not be tolerated at our office, and he is being terminated as a patient from our office as of 2/5/2024. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/08/2024

  Complaint: 21247577
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  All the following information stated by them is not accurate or truthful. I have never required police at any visit. I have not been abusive to anyone involved. 

  Looking at the response from the company, its easy to see they are willing to slander and say anything to be right.

  I was informed the appointment they said was available was canceled. And had no clue it was even made. 

  I dont plan to any longer use them, This is a place that seems just to know how to do cosmetics and nothing of importance. 
  

   

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Business Response

  Date: 02/09/2024

  ******************** continues to misrepresent facts in his response. Our office performs over ***** surgeries per year, and the physician who treated ******************** has personally performed over ***** of these procedures. Our office is proud to deliver excellent and compassionate care to all of our patients. However, we will not tolerate verbal abuse towards our staff members. Patients who are verbally abusive or use threatening language to our staff are dismissed from our practice, as is the case with ********************. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/08/2023

  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 am writing to file a complaint against a medical group called Meramec Dermatology with which I have a bill dispute. The amount in dispute is $319.86, which I claim is a surprise surcharge and was not represented to me before I agreed to the terms of the **** surgery (12.15.22). I have paid all of the other bills (five, in total) that I agreed to be liable for prior to that surgery. Meramec Dermatology has now sent my account to a bill collector. My complaint and dispute is not unknown to Meramec Dermatology. I have tried to sort it out. First, please understand that I am an uninsured, self-pay customer, and as such I wanted to be informed about my financial liabilities before I agreed to continue. I thought we had understood each other. The first bill arrived in January 2023. It was for $319.86 more than we had agreed upon - a surprise charge. On none of the bills they sent me, even as late as 9.1.23, did they account for the extra procedure they invented. I duly sent a check for the remainder of what we had originally discussed as well as a letter disputing the extra amount on 2.20.23. There was no response until 5.30.23 when I received a letter from Meramec Dermatology saying the account was about to go to collection. I then wrote another letter fully explaining my dispute on 7.5.23. Their response was an itemized bill (the first and only one I have received from them) finally accounting for the disputed amount but not acknowledging the actual grounds of my complaint. To this day they have never admitted it. My purpose in writing to you is to perhaps let the public know that if one goes to Meramec Dermatology, one might get charged more than one was told one would be. Second, I would like my debt to Meramec Dermatology to be considered paid in full and my credit restored. Some sort of admission of fault for the misunderstanding would be nice, such that I am not the only bad guy in this - i.e., the only party to be blamed.I have also written to the collection agency to dispute the claim and to offer my reasons.Please contact me for more information if you need it or to instruct me as to what is required. I would appreciate being kept informed of the status of this complaint. Thank you very much.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/17/2023

  At Meramec Dermatology, we are dedicated to providing exceptional patient care and strive to accommodate the financial needs of our patients to the best of our ability. Patients who choose to forgo medical insurance are responsible for the entirety of their medical bills. Our self-pay pricing schedule is based on ******** rates, and charging below these rates is not permissible by law.
  
  Over the course of several months, you were encouraged to schedule an appointment at our office for a thorough discussion on the pricing of your procedure. The recommendation for a consultation was suggested to eliminate confusion pertaining to your surgery and bill; however, you declined such a consultation appointment. Our staff engaged in multiple discussions with you regarding the procedure details and associated surgical costs. Prior to the procedure, you signed a financial agreement policy stating that you agreed to pay in full for medical services provided to you at our office.
  
  Upon the completion of the procedure and your receipt of a bill that raised uncertainties, our management team promptly contacted you to resolve the matter. We also provided you with monthly billing statements detailing all charges related to the patient visit, ensuring transparency, and avoiding any surprise or hidden charges. We forwarded you signed financial consent forms, provided detailed patient ledger statements, and extended an offer to establish a flexible payment plan to better suit your needs. You declined such a payment plan.
  
  Furthermore, we granted an extended period before considering the transfer of your remaining balance to a collections agency, with the goal of reaching a mutually agreeable resolution. We cannot forgive self-pay patient balances due to ******** laws, which dictate that we must charge patients for the services that we render. Our office is committed to transparency and does not engage in predatory surprise billing practices. Your repeated refusals to pay for services rendered despite multiple explanations by our billing team, combined with your declination for a pre-operative consultation appointment, led to our decision to transfer your balance to a collections agency. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/10/2024

  It seems to me we are at a standoff - a dead set.  The message you sent to me through BBB does not really even address the main point of my dispute.  According to you all the blame is mine, even to "choosing" to forego medical insurance.  Very feeling of you.  I'll tell you what I did understand.  I understood your explanation that the laws protecting insurance companies prohibited price negotiation on services, and that they set the prices.  Good for you.  Approximately $1000/hour for MOHS surgery is what you gross but to your second paragraph.

  After the result of the biopsy came back I recall discussions by telephone about what to do.  It took some time because the office staff either did not know the pricing or services, or they needed to consult with their superiors about the options and recommendations.  As I said, this back and forth took some time.  The pros and cons of excision and MOHS were discussed along with their costs.  I was strongly encouraged to choose the MOHS.  It was explained that the base cost was $677 but that if carcinoma was found in the first pass another would be required at a cost increase of some hundreds of dollars and on and on until the samples were declared clear.  I accepted that and opted to do the MOHS.  If all this does not sound like a consultation, I fail to see how yet another office visit would make it one.  The accusation that I declined a consultation is spurious.  As it turned out, only the one pass was taken and it was found completely clear of cancer cells, so by 20/20 hindsight I needn't have had anything done.  I got a bigger scar for nothing.  Oh, no, not nothing - for $677.  Now, if one was quoted a price for a surgery, wouldn't one logically assume that it would be complete? Who could guess that the quoted cost of a procedure would leave a gaping, open wound and that another $319.86 would be required to close it? I maintain that this was not made clear to me, and who would be more likely to remember these financial details than the one who has to pay?

  In the third paragraph you mention signed consent forms.  I paid for everything that you said you would charge.  If I had known that my signature entitled you to tack on anything extra you felt entitled to without telling me beforehand, I wouldn't have signed it.  Your accounting for the extra charge did not appear until months later in the patient ledger statements.  Your statement that I "received monthly billing statements detailing all charges related to the patient visit" is just plain wrong.  Your offer of a "flexible payment plan to better suit (my) needs" was again a total blindness to my main point.  Why should I want more time to pay a fallacious bill?

  The fourth paragraph is just silly.  So you "granted an extended period before considering the transfer of (my) remaining balance to a collection agency?" Did you think mere waiting and threats would make me "come to my senses?" What was to be the "mutually agreeable resolution?" You are standing wholly on the platform that ******** laws would punish you for undercharging, which, by the way, you wouldn't have been had you made it clear what the charges were to be in advance.  The charge of declining a "pre-operative consultation appointment"  I have answered above.

  As I said earlier, we are at an impasse, a stalemate.  Clearly, you cannot or will not bend or admit a benefit of the doubt.  I believe I could, if you offered it, but it is most unlikely your pride will let you.  A little graciousness might have gone a long way.