Came here for Endoscopic sinus surgery. Once I got past the front desk, the doctors and nurses were very kind, knowledgeable, and informative. Woke up from procedure, came to my senses, was given as much time as needed. Post instructions and prescriptions were given to my wife and I was sent on my way. BUT....there was the Front Desk experience.
After signing in and sitting down, I was called to the counter by Karen. She asked for my ID and confirmed my contact info. At the time my insurance was being transferred through COBRA, and though I had coverage, the process would not be completed until Monday morning (I was here on a Friday). Karen stated I would have to pay upfront with my credit card, except for the anesthesiologist which would be $800 cash. No problem, I was told about this ahead of time. BUT, when I simply asked her how I could then get an itemized bill so I could submit the claim to my insurance for reimbursement, she immediately became defensive and angry. She yells at me, "I cant give you anything for the anesthesiologist because they do their own billing". Um, ok so where is the proof that I paid for it? "Well I dont know, you can try and call us back next week and see", she says. See what? After some back and forth, and her becoming even more angry, she whips out a hand written receipt pad, and scribbles off a receipt for $800 and writes my name on it. Just a generic receipt, no company name, no contact numbers, nothing. Like a receipt someone would give you at a garage sale. She storms off into an office, shaking her head and mumbling under her breath about me. All of this as I am minutes away from going under the knife, as if I didn't have enough stress already. Fast forward a couple weeks and I'm trying to track down the documents needed so I can submit to insurance. Come to find out, the Surgery Center filed a claim with my insurance for 10x the amount I paid them upfront. How, I dont know, because they refused to take my insurance information at the time. So I call to find out about being refunded. The lady on the phone immediately takes the same angry attitude as I had experienced at the front desk. She says that once they receive the check from insurance, they will send me a refund (even though I can see insurance sent them a check 10 days ago). I ask her how much the refund is...and its much less than what I paid. Wait, what? Then she starts in on the anesthesiologist thing again. She says I have to contact them directly and sort it out. But I don't have any contact info remember? Her answer is, "well I don't know, you'll have to figure it out". She then says that Karen would have that info but I "will have to call back another time to speak with her".
I ask her if there is a supervisor I can speak with, she states that she is the office manager. So again, I ask to speak with her boss. She refuses to tell me the lady's name, though finally gives me a first name and tells that she is the office for 1/2 hour every day. So when should I call? "You'll just have to try and call tomorrow and see if she is in". I ask to be transferred to her voice mail, and so then she then hangs up on me. Wow. I can't believe the anger and unprofessionalism that was spewed at me by both of these people. I mean, people are coming in for surgical procedures and, in my instance, paying out a lot of $$. Maybe try a little compassion and kindness?
Ironically, there is large wood sign that sits behind the front desk that reads "laugh more, love more, live more". Maybe they have forgotten its there. read more