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:02/09/2023

  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.

  At the end of December 2022 I went in for a visit and it has been nothing but a headache since the visit.I signed a form agreeing to pay $29 for pictures of my eyes instead of having my eyes dilated.When I went in the room with the doctor she told me that because I am type 1 diabetic she had to dilate my eyes and do the pictures but I would not have the pay for the pictures and it would be covered by my insurance.There have been many issues since with the fit of my contacts but those issues were finally resolved.On February 6th I received a statement in the mail showing that I owe them $67.46.After looking closer I saw they billed my insurance for the pictures for $75 and my insurance only covered $7.54. I called the office on the 7th and asked to speak with someone in regards to that charge. The lady that I spoke to was very rude and told me that I was being charged for extra pictures that were necessary since I am diabetic which I know is not true. I was getting no where with that lady so I ended the call. I called back on the 8th and asked to speak with someone in management and the lady that answered told me that the doctor was unavailable and that she would help me. After explaining the situation to her she told me that the doctor saw that it was necessary to do the extra pictures and that I would be responsible for what my insurance did not cover. I told her I would have no problem with paying that if I would have been told that there were extra pictures or had a choice but I did not.I told her that I did not believe it was right that I was being charged for this and she told me that there is nothing she can do.She proceeded to argue with me and when I said that we were getting no where and I would come in one day so I could speak to the doctor and she told me that if I showed up she would call the cops on me and she suggested that I never come back to their office.I have been treated poorly from the start by this business and their behavior is unacceptable

  Business Response

  Date: 02/27/2023

  I would like to respond to ******************** complaint with our office.  As with any situation there are two sides to what was said and what was perceived as said so I would like to clarify office policies.

  ALL Diabetics are dilated regardless of age, and ALL Diabetics are required to have Fundus photos with OCT done yearly.  The results of these photos are sent to the family doctor to enhance the overall care of the patient.  If a Diabetic doesnt want to have the photos done, we kindly ask the patient to ************* elsewhere the following year since we feel this is an integral portion of the Diabetic eye care.

  We unfortunately do not know the final charge for the photo until insurance is processed.  Most insurances cover the photo in full; however, some insurances approve the charges but put the photo to deductible. This was the case for *************  Her insurance approved the charges, but her deductible was not met.  We have no idea of patients deductibles so we cannot predict this situation.

  All patients are notified at checkout that we will file the photos to their insurance and they will be billed any remaining charges.  We never state that any charges will be fully covered by the insurance.  It is standard practice to receive bills from a medical office once insurance has been filed.  She was told that the $29 photo would not be charged due her being Diabetic, and she is not being charged for those.  The only photo in question is the standard Diabetic photo. 

  After reading our office notes, it does appear that a statement about calling the cops was made; however, not in the context that ****** is stating in this letter.  Due to the way she was speaking on the phone to our staff, it was perceived there could be a scene or confrontation in the office.  Lauren was informed, IF she created a scene, cops would be called, not that cops would be called if she entered the office.

   

  Due to the way ****** feels she has been treated, I will write off the photo charges for this year; however, I feel there has been no wrongdoing with the charges.  If she returns for eye care in the future, photo charges will **************** exams due to being diabetic.  These will not be written off in the future. If she doesnt agree that these are important for her eye care, she may want to ************* elsewhere.

   

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