Fighting the medical establishment’s billing errors

[Loretta]

In February I had an ER visit and overnight hospital stay, and I have paid all the charges except for charges of about $250 for some doctors who refused to see me.  Like, the surgeon’s name on the dry erase board in my room, and his partners who did not see me.  I have sent letters, made calls, sent an email to the main mailbox online—but I never get an actual human being.  I do not intend to pay this $250 to unhelpful medical practitioners.  When Icalled my insurance company there were not very helpful and assume it is the PA the surgeons sent in to see me billing under the a doctors name. Am I missing some other course of action I should be taking?  The billing dept for the hospital is in another state so I cannot show up in person to raise a ruckus.

[hops]

The insurance company is likely correct that you were seen by someone (like a resident, fellow, PA, whatever) working under the provider. I'm not sure what you can do beyond sending letters and making calls to verify that, but attempting to raise a ruckus in person would not help you get to the bottom of anything so it's good you won't be taking that course of action.

[reeshau]

I agree with @hops that the doctor you see on the bill and the whiteboard was likely supervising.  You say they refused to see you--did you request them, and they didn't show?  Or do you simply not recall, or not understand the reporting structure of the people who did see you?  Did they perform a surgical procedure on you?  They may have reviewed your records while you were sleeping, or not conscious.

You don't understand what services they provided, but $250 coming out of the ER is a small case.  And if you simply refuse to pay, they will just hand you over to collections, with a bundle of other small cases.  So, they can wreck your credit score, if that matters to you.

I am surprised the practice's billing department doesn't get you to a human; these are accounts receivable operations, so should be manned pretty well--not that they will be able to describe in any detail what happened in your particular case.  They might, though, be able to provide the name of the person that actually worked with you.

You are taking a stand, but beware the risk/reward here.

[lolo199]

Have you asked the doctor/hospital to see medical records?  I’m not sure if this varies by state, but our hospitals have kept all doctor’s notes from my visits.  They’ve sent the records via mail to me for a small ($5ish) fee.  I’m not sure if that would help you decide whether you were seen by someone from that office or not.  I’ve always seen so many providers when hospitalized it’s easy to forget one.   Otherwise good luck!  I’ve dealt with great billing offices and horrible ones.  Be persistent!