Cleveland Clinic - Outrage FINALLY resolved!

[BookNut]

Well - it only took two years and our account being sent to not one, but TWO different collection agencies to get this resolved. I hope I NEVER have to go back to that abominable place!

They kept billing us and billing us and billing us for a CT scan that had been approved by and PAID by our insurance. Every time we talked to someone at the finance dept, they assured us it would be taken care of. And then the bill would show up like clockwork every single month. That is, every month until we stopped getting them, thought we were all set - and the collection agency letters started instead!

Fortunately, my husband's job was reseahrching and representing insurees of the insurance company he worked for in court cases. He knows all the lingo and how to get things done. When we got nowhere - he sent a certified letter full of all sorts of legal jargon to the president and CFO and others at Cleveland Clinic. Within a week, we received a "bill" showing zero balance due.

But honestly - what does the average person do? I am sure hospitals and other medical agencies manage to intimidate many people into paying....particularly if they are elderly and seriously ill. We had a similar outrageous situation with another company that provides my chemo shots (which have thankfully ended). If we had paid those two eroneous bills, we would have been out about $5000. Crazy!

Now that we have settled this finally, I am planning to contact both the doctor's office and the chief of customer relations to tell them exactly what I think. It was not just the financial department ineptitude. I found that, although I liked the doctor, the support staff there (with one exception) were uniformly inept and uncaring. I feel that the doctor should know how I was treated.

The doctor's secretary opens all his emails. i suspect she opens his snail mail as well. I am trying to figure out how to make sure my letter gets to him alone. His secretary was one of the worst offenders - but if she reads his mail, I doubt my letter will get to him. Maybe it is enough to contact the people who survey patients about their experiences. Do you think they will pass the message on to my doctor?

Anyway - we are relieved to be done with this at last!!

[drz]

Send a letter to their person who handles screw ups. They have different titles like patient advocate, patient care coordinator, customer service rep, etc. depends upon the facility. I got my problems often resolved by going to talk with the CEO in person but it was a small clinic, not a big one like Cleveland.

[mishb]

Send your letter 'private and confidential'
I open and vet all of the mail in my office, but never anything that is 'private and confidential'


Such fantastic news that the billing process was finally sorted.

[MikeG-2012]

The doctor's secretary opens all his emails. i suspect she opens his snail mail as well. I am trying to figure out how to make sure my letter gets to him alone. His secretary was one of the worst offenders - but if she reads his mail, I doubt my letter will get to him. Maybe it is enough to contact the people who survey patients about their experiences. Do you think they will pass the message on to my doctor?

Mark the envelope registered mail and mark it "PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL" addressed to the doctor, and make a copy and sent it the same to the CMO at CC. Maybe, someone will read them then?

Glad it got resolved for you finally Jacquie!!

[Tom]

Hi there Booknut, I feel your pain. I swear we are charged more than once and we try to monitor all of the bills. I get pretty aggravated and when I speak to a rep from the people wanting to collect, I tell t87 hem that I know they are hungry and need to eat but others are waiting as well and I hope that the CEO doesn't have to miss a house payment or have to skip a meal because little ole me needs oxygen to stay alive and it would behoove me to take from your mouth so I will try to eat less so I can buy meds and things that keep me alive.
Seriously though they really peeve me off when they tell me that 50.00 a month is not a payment arrangement and I need to pay 118.00 a month to catch up in 6 months or 187 for 3 months. I pay and am not in collection but these clowns tell me that my 50.00 is not an arrangement but I soon convince them that that's all there is for them, take it or leave me alone. I even challenged the oxy supplier to come get your precious concentrator. They don't even know what dept does the billing and cant contact them with out doing research! I like to remind them that I am a slow pay, Not a no pay and they have to agree. Its collection agents that call but they do all the billing for accounts 6 months old or older and are not reported as bad credit but he hospitals have went that route for older accounts more than 6 months.
I do have the finances to pay each and every one that wants money but I will not leave my wife destitute and refuse to spend our retirement that she deserves when I'm gone!
But, they will get their money owed to them!
Glad you are getting things straightened up, Like I said, we keep an eye on what we are charged for but they get paid on my time. the CEO's of this country are living better than me as it is. Stay on those billing people and the insurance. I wish I had your husbands way of communicating but I just tell them the way I feel and tell them how it will be paid! I have to or they would run rough shod over me.