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:08/23/2024

  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.

  An account for a ********************** visit for my son was sent to collections and I never received a statement or any type of notification from Wentworth Douglass that there was money due. Instead the account was sent straight to collections. I'm not even sure that we received the services we are being billed for as we never received a statement with an explanation of the charges from Wentworth Douglass. This is an abusive practice and I tried calling their billing department who will not discuss anything with me now that the account is in collections.

  Business Response

  Date: 08/29/2024

  Complaint ID ********
  

  To Whom it May Concern:
  

  Wentworth-Douglass Hospital (WDH) and Mass General ******* (MGB)have researched the complaint submitted by *************************** regarding her son,****************** bill for services. 
  

  October 17, 2023, the patient received services at the Wentworth-Douglass Hospital ******************** with a total charge of $3,658.41.  Of this total, $29.00 is the bill for the physician to read the single view of the patients chest x-ray and $3,629.41 is the hospital bill.
  

  November 19, 2023, the first bill in the amount of $29.00 was billed to the patients mothers address at ****************************************************************************, the designated guarantor. This address is listed on the medical record, this complaint, and the attached copy of the billing statement. 
  

  December 15, 2023, the Harvard Pilgrim contractual rate of $1,277.91 was applied to the bill.  
  

  December 18, 2023, a statement was sent with the patient responsibility as $2,380.50.  See attached statement.
  

  January 15, 2024, a billing statement was sent with the notation that the physician bill of $29.00 was now overdue.  See attached statement.
  

  February 13, 2024, a billing statement was sent.  It was documented the balance of $29.00 was overdue, this was the last statement, and failure to provide payment would initiate submission to collections.  It was noted the hospital balance of $2,351.50 was now overdue.  See attached statement.  
  

  March 12, 2024, a final billing statement was sent for $2,351.50 alerting a failure to pay will initiate a submission to collections.  See attached statement.
  

  March 13, 2024, a phone call was made to the patients mother at the number listed in the patients medical record, #************.  A message was left requesting contact regarding the outstanding balance. 
  

  June 11, 2024, it is documented *************************** contacted the billing department to request verification of the address listed and stated she did not receive a bill.  Staff member verified the address as correct.  ******* ended the call with the team member.
  

  August 28, 2024, the bill was removed from collections with the opportunity to utilize 2 billing cycles for the patients mother to either pay the balance in full, set up a payment plan with the billing team, or apply for ************* assistance by contacting ************.
  

  Thank you for this opportunity to provide information on this billing concern.  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/29/2024

  The attached files were incomplete on response for file complaint ID #********.  Please include corrected attached files. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/08/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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 applied for the BCCP (Breast and Cervical Cancer Program with ***** ******* in 2023. I was 100% approved and so moved forward to schedule my Mammogram. After having the mammogram done I received a bill for the services which I should not have. I called ***** *******. She dealt with Wentworth Douglas Hospital about it and then Kristin G******* from Concord, New Hampshire, head of the program BCCP also got involved. Wentworth went on to eventually put my account in the *** ********* ****** Bureau. I am NOT happy about this to say the least. I need Wentworth Douglas Hospital to take whatever steps to take me out of the credit bureau seeing how they have all the proof that I was covered by the BCCP Program. I am also including the paperwork for you.
  Look forward to hearing back from you ASAP to keep my hard earned good credit from going bad over something I WAS APPROVED for. Thank you, Sincerely, ***** *******

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/14/2024

  This is the priority that I was 100 percent approved for my Mammogram to be covered. 

  Business Response

  Date: 02/16/2024

  Complaint ID ********
  

  To Whom it May Concern:
  

  Wentworth-Douglass Hospital (WDH) and Mass General Brigham (MGB)
  have researched the complaint submitted by ***** ********  
  

  August 8, 2023, the patient received services for a
  Mammogram with total charge of $1,734.  Of
  this total, $400 is the physician bill and $1,334 is the hospital bill. This was
  billed as self-pay due to lack of documentation of coverage under the New
  Hampshire Breast and Cervical Cancer Program (BCCP).
  

  October 4, 2023, the patient contacted MGB billing customer
  service requesting ******** insurance be billed.  Billing reported patient was not eligible for
  coverage.
  

  October 11, 2023, the patient contacted MGB billing and reported
  BCCP will be providing payment.
  

  November 12, 2023, a representative from BCCP contacted MGB
  billing to state patient would be covered under the program and there is a Providers
  Facility Enrollment Agreement with WDH allowing claims to be sent to BCCP.  Billing staff provided an email for the BCCP
  representative to send a copy of the agreement.
  

  December 14, 2023, the physician bill of $400 was sent to
  collections due to insufficient documentation of either BCCP coverage or proof
  of enrollment agreement.
  

  January 5, 2024, the patient contacted MGB billing stating
  she was still waiting on a status update regarding coverage through BCCP.  Billing staff did not provide appropriate
  guidance as to pending information needed. 
  The MGB billing assistant director provided needed education and
  coaching to the staff member regarding insufficiencies in correspondence.
  

  January 20, 2024, the hospital bill of $1,334 was submitted
  to collections.
  

  February 9, 2024, the account was removed from collections.
  

  February 12, 2024, the billing team received the appropriate
  documentation showing eligibility for coverage through the New Hampshire Breast
  and Cervical Cancer Program.
  

  February 16, 2024, the balance of $1,734 was billed to BCCP
  leaving no remaining balance to the patient. 
  

  Thank you for this opportunity to provide correction on this
  billing concern.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/20/2024

  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

  Finally! Thank you very much! 
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ***** *******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/23/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  On July 1st 2022 I was admitted into Wentworth Douglas Hospital through the emergency room for a septic Gaul Bladder and Atrial fibrillation. The claim (#*************) was submitted to Anthem on July 6th 2022, and approved by Anthem on July 15th 2022 for $2,819.00 with a contractual adjustment of $(2,554.16), making my coinsurance $26.48. I paid my coinsurance on August 24th 2022.
  On March 27th 2023 I received a Surprise Bill for the In Network Emergency visit for $143.68. The contractual adjustment was reprocessed through Anthem on March 17th (245 days after it was initially processed), and they changed the contractual adjustment from $(2,554.16) to $(1,117.35).
  
  I immediately reached out to Wentworth Douglas who directed me to Anthem. Anthem told me that for any changes to the bill I would need to contact Wentworth Douglas. This back and forth has been going on for 3 months now, with neither party taking responsibility for the change in the bill.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/29/2023

  Complaint ID ********
  

  To Whom it May Concern:
  

  Wentworth-Douglass Hospital (WDH) and Mass General Brigham
  have researched the complaint submitted by ****** ****. 
  

  On July 1, 2022, the patient received services for an
  Echocardiogram with total charge of $2,819.00. 
  Anthem made a payment of $238.36 and the WDH write off was $2,554.16.  The patient received a statement on July 24,
  2022, for the remaining balance of $26.48. 
  

  On August 24, 2022, the patient paid the balance of $26.48.
  

  In January of 2023, Anthem began a reprocessing project and
  reprocessed the claim from July 1, 2022. 
  

  On March 23, 2023, Anthem took back their payment of $238.36
  and repaid $1,531.49 and the WDH write off was $1,117.35, leaving the patient
  copay as $143.68, as he already paid $26.48. 
  

  As part of WDH’s agreement with Anthem, patients were not to
  be held responsible for any additional balances due to the reprocessing project
  in which any balances above and beyond what was originally sent to the patient
  would be paid by Anthem.  Unfortunately,
  during the reprocess of this claim, the patient was issued a new bill in error.
  

  On July 26, 2023, the balance of $143.68 was removed from
  the patient’s responsibility.  WDH
  continues to work with Anthem to resolve this issue.  The patient should disregard any further
  statements they may receive with regard to the services rendered on July 1,
  2022.
  

  Thank you for this opportunity to provide clarification on
  this billing concern.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/01/2023

  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ****** ****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/22/2023

  Type:Customer Service 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 filing this complaint because I received a communication from WDH as a "final communication" in the mail. I found that the letter did not address my concerns, but was full of information regarding the fact that WDH has been "responsive". I want to make it very clear that your response is very misleading. I have been very clear that amongst my many concerns, one very important concern that I had was that I wanted to know why multiple labs were run without my permission - labs that I did not need and labs that were not relevant to my fertility work up. I am very frustrated as I am a physician myself, and I know that informed consent was not obtained for multiple labs which include things such as a work up for whether or not I have had chicken pox in the past and an additional lab for whether I have active chicken pox, something I very much did not need, amongst many other labs. I have requested to speak to my physician regarding why some of these labs were run, and I was told that I can not speak to my physician about these things, that they do not get involved with billing. It is clear this is not a billing question, and I have reviewed the documentation on your portal which does not document that I gave my consent for these labs. Since then, I have went to another physician, who did not even know my that I had this dispute with WDH, and reviewed the labs and asked me why so many unnecessary labs were run. It is clear WDH does not wish to be held responsible for their mistakes and have no intention of issuing an apology. It is days like this I am ashamed to be working in healthcare. Moreover, I was told to stop contacting WDH and received multiple threats to report me to credit even though I should not have had to foot the bill for such an inappropriate lab panel. The bill has been paid, but WDH NEVER apologized for their disrespectful treatment of me, and never answered my questions. This was NEVER resolved.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/12/2023

  To Whom it May Concern:
  
  Wentworth-Douglass Hospital (WDH)
  and Mass General Brigham have reviewed the complaint submitted by **** ******
  regarding complaint ID ********.  In
  response, we would like to refer Ms. ****** to the three WDH responses posted
  to complaint ID ******** as it is the same complaint.  We addressed Ms. ******’s concern with the
  prior responses.
  
  I have included as attachments our
  final communication regarding complaint ID ********.
  
  Thank you for the opportunity to
  respond to this concern.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Sarah
  G******
  Director,
  Patient Experience

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/10/2023

  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 received a surprise bill from Wentworth Douglass for routine prenatal lab work. I have had routine lab work in the past, but never have I received such a large bill, and it was something I was told was covered. Wentworth Douglass billed my insurance a little over $2600 for lab work and billed me $1300 after insurance only paid half. This was not for a visit or procedure or anything like that. I have inquired as to the exorbitant fees, and the hospital told me it’s my job to know their CPT codes and to find out what they will bill myself, they also told me they can not provide me with estimates for future services and it is up to me to figure it out. I’ve never had an issue like this before with a medical practice. I never would have agreed to the lab work if I knew they would bill me this way, it was not something urgent or something I really needed. Oddly, my visit was covered. There’s no transparency into their billing or their fees. I’ve had routine lab work done with this insurance at other places and it has never been billed to me this way. They told me to just appeal with my insurance but the reality is is that their methods are very problematic. I am trying to buy a home and start a family, and this is beyond distressing. I also feel trapped because I really need to attend my march 16th appointment with my doctor (March 16 is a very important appointment I’ve been waiting for), but I can’t find out what it will cost me in advance. My insurance said they’ll pay 80%, but I have no number to base that off of to prevent a surprise bill.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/20/2023

  Complaint ID ********

  To Whom it May Concern:

  Wentworth-Douglass Hospital (WDH) and Mass General Brigham
  have researched the complaint submitted by **** ******. 

  The patient has a high-cost share plan.  Her Aetna PPO plan has an in-network calendar
  year deductible $1,250, coinsurance 25%, and copay $35 for office visits, out
  of pocket stop loss $5,750.

  The 1/10/23 office visit charge was $331, which insurance paid,
  and patient responsibility was her copay of $35. 

  On 1/11/23 the patient was sent a message through the
  patient portal recommending she contact her insurance company to confirm
  current coverage benefits.  The necessary
  information for the patient to obtain insurance estimate and determine coverage
  of services was provided to the patient on 1/11/23 prior to her proceeding with
  labs on 1/19/23. 

  The 1/19/23 bloodwork the patient obtained, the charges were
  $2,603, the patient’s insurance allowed $1,816.90 and paid $510.49 with the remaining
  $1,306.41 being patient responsibility. 
  Patient has a deductible that had not been met of $1,250 and has $56.41
  coinsurance once deductible has been met. 
  The labs on 1/19/23 were part of the workup to establish reproductive
  health and planning, not routine as the patient infers.

  Our findings show the patient was accurately billed and sent
  a statement on 2/28/23 for a total of $1,341.41 for dates of service 1/10/23
  and 1/19/23.

  We encourage the patient to reach out to her insurer to
  better understand her coverage and determine future patient responsibility for
  costs.

  Thank you for this opportunity to provide clarification on
  this billing concern.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/20/2023

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because: 

  1. I do understand my insurance coverage. I do understand that it was applied to my deductible, I am not concerned about my insurance policy and do not need clarification on such. My dispute is not about my insurance coverage, but more so the actual bill itself as a whole (pre-insurance involvement). So that we can better address the matter at hand, I do request that WDH send me a few pertinent details of this bill:  itemized bill with listed procedure codes, corresponding charge, whether it was part of bundling, if a case mix index was considered, etc. Please also provide this for service date March 17.

  2. I was not provided with price transparency. Laboratory work is something I can get anywhere with no difference in quality. I was not made aware that WDH charges significantly higher fees for their lab work when my physician recommended I go to WDH and get my labs done in a specific time frame and put in an order for me to have labs drawn at WDH. Recent efforts by the state and the country has led to initiatives to prevent surprise bills such as these. I was never given access to WDH's price lists on costs for certain insurances, costs for the uninsured, in-network vs out of network coverage costs. I was simply told that "It's covered.", which is far from what actually occurred as you can see.

   3. These are labs that I did not need, I only requested the lab anti-mullerian hormone from my physician for part of an infertility work up. My physician ordered the rest of the labs as her recommendation and my understanding that it was covered. Some of the labs ordered I had done just 6-7 months ago and I did not require a repeat. I have not been allowed to speak to my physician reg***ing these concerns, instead I am told I can only speak to her about clinical questions and it must be a billable Telehealth visit if I want to discuss anything with her. Reg***less, I understand that physicians may order many labs and not be aware of what is covered and what isn't. I do understand that this is common practice for physicians to not be aware of what their patients insurance coverage is, but perhaps this is something that should change so that they do not financially cripple their patients unintentionally.

  4. The hospital staff have been completely unresponsive to my requests, which I do think should be addressed as Ithink improved communication could have prevented a complaint such as this. I have never received a phone call as I've requested from the business, except just this past Friday on March 17th, 2023, to simply inform me two things: they have received my BBB complaint and that I am not allowed to speak to my doctor about anything that is not clinical (so I am not allowed to discuss my issue with the labs she ordered). When I have asked more specific questions, I was told by the nurse once that someone will get back to me but no one ever did. When the billing department did respond, they recommend I simply appeal to insurance (which despite my concern, as I've highlighted, is not about my insurance coverage).

  5. WDH does not acknowledge how this has adversely affected my healthcare. I established care at Obgyn & Infertility to seek certain answers about my health and establish care with a physician I can have long-term continuity of care as I begin my journey to becoming a mother. The most key features of what I came in for is are answers and continuity of care. Due to the treatment I've received from the clinic in response to having a billing dispute, I feel very unwelcome at the clinic. It is strange that even the ultrasound tech brought up the billing concern, as did my physician, but no one wants to actually talk about the bill or my concerns. The nurse is the only one who initially responded to me, and then told me my concerns are beyond her scope or ability to solve the concerns and will have the practice manager reach out, who never did except to tell me that they received the BBB complaint well after it was submitted. It is also frustrating that it was my physician and the ultrasound technician who brought up bill during a clinical visit for an ultrasound, yet I am told they do not get involved with the billing process. It's clear it was being discussed amongst staff but no one wanted to communicate with me on anything unless I made a Telehealth visit appointment for something clinical.  WDH would not think twice to report this unpaid bill to my credit despite I have been desperately trying to come to a resolution and I think that it is alarming. I am very saddened that despite all the time and resources this clinic has costed me, I have none of the answers I was actually looking for when I first established care here and have to start all over again with a new physician.

  I do want WDH to know that I pay my bills and do not dispute bills just because I do not feel like paying, which is how I feel I've been treated by your staff. I have genuine concerns about this bill and have specific questions I want answered and they revolve around WDH's billing transparency, not my insurance policy.

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

  Business Response

  Date: 03/29/2023

  To Whom it May Concern:
  
  Wentworth-Douglass
  Hospital (WDH) and Mass General Brigham have reviewed the response submitted by
  **** ****** reg***ing complaint ID ********.
  
  As requested, an itemized bill for date of service 1/19/23 has been provided through the patient portal for Bani to retrieve which includes procedure codes and corresponding charges.  Neither a bundle nor case mix index would apply to outpatient lab charges.  The charges for date of service 3/16/23 have been billed to the patient’s insurance.
  
  Surprise billing regulations apply to patients with no insurance or if their insurance is out-of-network (not contracted with WDH).  The patient’s insurance is in-network indicating the provider and WDH are contracted with her insurance and can only bill the patient for patient responsibility as defined by patient’s insurance remittance.  The patient states she was told her care would be “covered”.  This is a term used to reference a patient’s insurance being in-network and accepted by the practice.  However, it does not mean the patient will have no financial responsibility.  In-network patients still have co-pays, deductibles, and co-insurance.  It is the patient’s responsibility to know and understand the plan and coverage they chose.  Like all hospitals, WDH is required by law to post all charges on the WDH website.  The patient has access to this information through wdhospital.org. 
  
  The patient was sent a Release for Medical Records
  form upon scheduling with Dr. C***.  The
  patient did not sign and return the form, so prior records were not received
  nor available for Dr. C*** to review. 
  Dr. C*** was not made aware of the availability of prior lab test
  results recently performed at another lab, nor did the patient indicate to Dr.
  C*** she only wanted one lab test.  The
  patient had access through the patient gateway to the after-visit summary from
  1/10/23 which provided the opportunity for the patient to review each lab test
  ordered before proceeding with the lab draw on 1/19/23. 
  
  The provider is not responsible for knowing each patient’s
  insurance coverage.  It is the patient’s
  responsibility to know and understand their plan coverage and benefits.  The provider’s role is to recommend a care
  plan that best meets the patient’s clinical needs, rather than making clinical
  decisions based on financials.  It is
  then the patient’s decision whether to proceed. 
  Dr. C*** has been willing to schedule with the patient to discuss her
  clinical needs and concerns.  However, it
  is not the responsibility of Dr. C***, nor the clinical staff, to address billing questions and
  concerns.  A separate team is available
  to patients who have billing questions and concerns.
  
  Electronic documentation of staff communication with the patient shows timely and responsive communication to each patient gateway message.  Patient gateway is a tool used to facilitate real time communication with patients to minimize voicemails and missed calls.  In response to the patient’s expressed concern regarding ongoing costs, on 3/3/23, a clinical staff member appropriately referred the patient to MGB Billing and her insurance to obtain an out-of-pocket estimate.
  
  The patient has expressed the desire to transfer care
  and in response has been sent a Records Release form.  WDH would encourage the patient to complete
  the form to ensure her new provider has access to the WDH labs and imaging to
  minimize future costs.
  
  The patient filed a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau on 3/10/23.  Once a formal complaint is filed with an external agency, it is addressed in line with the timeline specified by that external agency.  The patient remains responsible for the services rendered.
  
  Thank you for the
  opportunity to review and respond to this concern.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Sarah G******
  Director, Patient
  Experience

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/30/2023

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because:

  Thank you for clarifying the new surprise bill act. I trust that you have a legal team that evaluated this law designed to prevent surprise medical bills for those out of network, and since I was billed as in-network, despite minimal coverage, I trust you are correct on being allowed to send me surprise bills. I would appreciate if you could direct me to where I could find all the requested details on your website because I have not been able to find it. I also disagree that your staffhave been responsive to me, the only person who was responsive was the nurse who tried to address my concerns, but reported she was unable to handle the concern and would have the practice manager reach out, who never did. After that several messages were sent to billing, and because you can view a "read" receipt, the only updates I received were that the messages were read.

  I can not accept your response as a resolution is because you have not provided the itemized bill with the details I requested in my last BBB complaint. The reason why the additional details are so important to this bill are because the labs drawn were not for my reason for coming in, something that is very frustrating. This is why things like bundling in billing are important.  I had preferred not to get into the medical background of my concern on this public platform that does not involve my physician, but I came in for an infertility work up. I am not sure how you billed it as it is not clear to me (something I want more clarification on), but during that visit, pre-natal labs were drawn which are generally drawn on pregnant women. I came in because of my inability to get pregnant and thus I did not need pre-natal labs. I have been trying to reach my doctor regarding her rationale for these labs and why they were deemed necessary by her given it was not covered by my insurance and could have been skipped, but your practice has been preventing me from speaking to her, telling me she can not get involved with the billing process.

  I hope you can understand how frustrating it would be for a woman who has not been able to get pregnant, be billed for labs that are useless to an infertility evaluation, but very useful to a pregnant woman. I think my doctor ordered those labs in good faith and did not mean harm, and probably did not know I'd be billed this way for them. I just had an anovulatory cycle this month, and having to fathom that I have to pay about $200 a lab for things such as a rubella titer and multiple other irrelevant labs while going through this distressing medical situation, can be very frustrating. I am immunized and had to verify my rubella immunity before working as a physician myself, I did not need a rubella titer. I feel your responses are not addressing some of these core concerns I've brought up.  Another irrelevant lab is a type and screen, that lab is only important once a woman is pregnant to assess her Rh status during pregnancy as well as before delivery in the event she needs a blood transfusion during labor etc. It is not part of an infertility work up. When I say I was told it was covered, I am not asking for a 100% discount on your bill. I am asking for it to be fair, given this seems like a miscommunication issue after reviewing your responses. I came in to my doctors visit with all pertinent history my physician needed, I absolutely shared my medical history and work-up/medical data thus far with her, I know how important this is as I am a physician myself. I delved into all my family history as well. I was extremely detailed with my physician - I even came with charts of my hormonal patterns for the prior months. Given all this, I can't accept your response.

  I am in fact eager to resolve this concern and pay this bill, but it should be fair and this bill isn't fair. I feel that WDH should remove the pre-natal panel from the lab bill as I am not pregnant and unable to get pregnant thus far (the main reason I came in) and if I ever do get pregnant, it would very likely need to be repeated given a significant amount of time may pass before I ever actually do get pregnant, especially since I would be a new patient to the physician since I can not return to Dr. C*** anymore. 

  If the pre-natal labs and TSH are removed from the bill, I will be more amenable to paying this bill. I did request an STD panel, and although your facility seems to charge a premium for this simple service, I'd be more amenable to paying that aspect as well since I am not protected from surprise bills. I certainly did inform Dr. C*** of my normal recent TSH that visit and also informed her I have been getting it checked annually and it has always been normal. I simply want to pay what is fair given this lapse in communication, which can't possibly be blamed entirely on me.

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

  Business Response

  Date: 04/10/2023

  To Whom it May Concern:
  
  Wentworth-Douglass Hospital (WDH)
  and Mass General Brigham have reviewed the response submitted by **** ******
  regarding complaint ID ********.
  
  Instructions have been outlined below to access the price estimator tool for Wentworth-Douglass Hospital: 
    - Visit Mass General Brigham website at www.massgeneralbrigham.org
    - Select Patient & Visitor Information
    - Select Billing & Insurance
    - Select Request Cost Estimate
    - Select price estimator tool
    - Select Mass General Brigham
    - Enter test or service name
    - Select test or service name
    - Under “Choose your insurance” fill in information
    - Select Wentworth-Douglass Hospital
  
  A
  copy of the itemized bill with pricing information on each test ordered posted
  in the patient portal Exhibit A along with the explanation of payment from
  Aetna Exhibit B is attached. The insurance coverage is based on the insurance
  plan selected by Ms. Badwal. As previously shared, the labs were covered by the
  patient’s insurance. However, Ms. Badwal selected a high deductible insurance plan
  and is responsible for the deductible specified in her insurance plan.
  
  The patient established care with Wentworth Health Partners OB/GYN & Infertility as she stated for infertility work up. The labs ordered are the standard panel for infertility workup for any patient. The labs ordered are the recommended labs and what is needed for information for an infertility workup.
  
  The patient was provided with documents during her first visit on 1/10/23 and again through the patient portal on 1/11/23 with specific instructions on calling her insurance with the statement: “Due to the varying cost of services you may receive, we ask that you call your insurance company to determine your current benefits before making final decisions about your care”.  All common CPT codes for procedures, imaging, and labs were provided. After having access to all this information, the patient elected to proceed with the lab draw on 1/19/23.
  
  The practice has been responsive to the patient’s requests. Attached Exhibit C is a summary of communications between the patient and practice staff. Between 1/10/23 and 3/30/23 over 50 patient gateway messages were exchanged between the practice and the patient.
  
  The lab panel was covered by
  patient’s insurance. The patient remains responsible for the services rendered
  and outstanding balance due as outlined in Exhibit B.
  
  Thank you for the opportunity to
  review and respond to this concern.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Sarah
  G******
  Director,
  Patient Experience

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/01/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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 called Wentworth-Douglass Hospital for an estimate for a stress test and I received the attached document stating my responsibility would be $40, which is my co-pay. I trusted them because they do this on a daily basis. Had I known they were going to bill me $905.86, I would have canceled the appointment. I instead kept the appointment with the expectation that I would only have to pay $40. While I realize this was an estimate, the amount they billed me is more than 2,000 percent higher than they estimate. I have spoken with both their billing and estimates departments and each time they tell me the other department needs to help me. The billing department tells me to contact the estimates department and vice versa. I have spoken with their organization 10/11/22, 10/13/22, 11/3/22, and 4 times today, 11/14/22. My most recent conversation was with Josh in the billing department who again informed me that I need to speak with the estimates department. I asked to speak with his supervisor, Kate D as I was informed by Josh, but was also informed that Kate refused to speak with me as she would just give me the same information that Josh gave me. The estimates department can be reached by phone at 857-282-5050 and the billing department can be reached at 617-726-3884. I would also like to add to my complaint that I believe **** ******* ******* billing department records telephone conversations without consent. When I spoke with their billing department 11/3/22, I made a payment on an uncontested billing and was informed by the billing representative that they first had to transfer me to a non recording line to take the payment, however they failed to notify me at the beginning of the call that the phone call was being recorded and I believe both New Hampshire and Massachusetts are two party consent states. Every other call with them, if those calls were also recorded, which I assume they were, those calls were recorded also without my consent.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/09/2022

  To Whom it May Concern:
  
  Wentworth-Douglass Hospital (WDH) and Mass General Brigham
  have researched complaint ID 18488771 submitted by ***** ******.  Our
  findings show the increased patient balance is due to the patient deductible
  not pulling into the patient estimate provided by the organization.  It
  was determined this was due to human error.  This resulted in the estimate
  not properly calculating in our financial operating system.  Due to this,
  we have taken an adjustment in the system and the patient responsibility owed
  to WDH is now $40.00.
  
  Additionally, the opening of all calls provides an automated
  greeting stating all calls may be recorded and monitored for training purposes,
  before a patient has options to press any menu option. 
  
  We hope this addresses the concerns presented.
  
  Thank you,
  Trisha G*****
  Director
  of Revenue Cycle Operations
  Wentworth-Douglass
  Hospital
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/13/2022

  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 18488771, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

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