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:04/12/2023

  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.

  In late October, 2022 I visited the St. Francis South Emergency Room, going in during the afternoon. There was no sense of urgency in taking care of patients. Later that night when they started providing treatment they noted after difficulty taking my temperature from excessive sweating that I was sweating bullets from pain. Ask if I wanted anything to help with pain and I said OK, but never received anything. They started treatment and then left me unattended for well over an hour in an ER room unattended. When my daughter finally went to nurses station telling them she couldn't stand to watch this any more they finally came back and completed treatment on me. On checkout at about 2 am, they said oh yea, we were going to give you some pain medication and ask if I still wanted it and I told them I could manage now without it. Just one of many problems with treatment. In late November I was scheduled there for surgery and at pre-surgery visit they offered a discount for payment in advance which I did. It was stated that there were some charges such as Surgeon and Anesthesiologist that were not included which I paid when billed after my surgery November 28. I then received a $3,000+ bill for the surgery which I questioned. They had applied my prepayment for surgery to an unknown ER bill and billed me for surgery. I questioned this because unable tell what I had paid for and what were new charges and needed a detailed explanation. I received a detailed bill but still no way to identify what had been paid and what were new charges. On a call they picked a $17 & a $20 charge for things that looked like charges not covered by prepayment and ask if I would pay those. I told them send me a bill for those and I would pay that but they refused to send a bill for those charges. Their billing/business practices are at best intentionally misleading. Their service was unable to even call right person after surgery. This billing is outrageous and service is unacceptably poor!

  Business Response

  Date: 04/25/2023

  The patient presented to the Emergency Department on October 24th.  It was noted that October 24th had the second highest patient census for the month of October.  As is the case in all emergency departments, patients are triaged based on their symptoms.  This patient experienced higher than normal wait times due to the census and the high acuity of patients being seen that day.  It was noted in his record that pain medication was ordered after imaging was completed and labs were collected; however, per his medical record, the patient refused the pain medication as his pain was significantly improved when a catheter was inserted.  A letter was sent to the patient addressing his concerns with his emergency department visit. 

  In terms of his billing concerns, there was an error made in that the pre-payment that he made for his surgical procedure was inadvertently applied to his emergency department visit.  The billing department has resolved this error and has been in contact with the patient with a resolution to his concerns.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/26/2023

  The Saint Francis reply indicated the unsatisfactory service was not outside the norms of the service! Things like forgetting to provide the offered pain medication until hours after and at the time of check out and justifying that by stating I no longer needed it completely ignores that they forgot about getting the medication and it was many hours after they offered it that I replied I could do without when they finally remembered it at check out around 2 am. The fact that they lost track of and forgot about a patient in a room partially treated is surely outside the scope of expected service from an emergency room! Prescribing medication by stating to pick up a prescription at the 24 hour pharmacy with no notice of what the prescription is or instructions on use cannot possibly be an ordinary and acceptable practice! Just a few examples of the problems encountered being swept under the rug and now apparently the BBB is not working on behalf of the public registering a complaint which is extremely disappointing.

  Prior to your email with their response Saint Francis had already contacted me saying they rejected the complaint and other than the busy time there was nothing out of the ordinary in my treatment. They offered no reduction and demanded full payment for the unsatisfactory treatment in the emergency room.

  I sent a response to the BBB this morning and do not recognize any reason for the BBB to close this complaint!