Run. Don't walk. Run. I had to cancel my surgery because Carroll's admin staff are too incompetent and rude to handle the basic functional aspects of running an office, and I don't have time to deal with repeated calls that I cannot return due to problems with the office phone system and receptionists who hang up on you. All this just to try to resolve mistakes made by staff!
Carroll's staff did not process my referral and were too disorganized to return calls about the problem. I thought in advance to make a special trip to my student health services to get the referral (this took over an hour). I thought to call in advance of my appointment with Carroll to ask if I could e-mail the referral, but I was told that the office has a policy against receiving e-mails from patients. I brought the referral with me to the first appointment, but I was told by the front desk staff that the referral wasn't necessary and that they didn't need a copy. They scheduled my surgery without the referral, and then (as I expected) heard from my insurance during pre-certification that a referral would be needed.
Fast forward to last week when I started getting repeat messages--not just one, two or three, but FOUR messages about the referral. With each message I tried to return the call to see how I could e-mail or fax over the referral, which I had in my wallet knowing this problem would arise. Karen in pre-cert takes never ending lunch breaks at odd times like 3 pm in the afternoon and can't receive messages because her VM is full. But even if she were at her desk, I couldn't return her call because the phone system isn't working and I get repeatedly transferred to the wrong people. It took 30 min of bad transfers and lengthy holds just to reach a the voice mail, which was full.
Then I got a message about the insurance problem and need for a referral from Katie in the doctor's office. But when I called back, the receptionist hung up on me when I insisted on speaking to Katie, not the receptionist. The receptionist really thought she could help, but she was one of the staff who refused the referral in the first place, and she didn't understand the problem when I tried to explain it. I tried to call back later, but the next receptionist insisted on my birthday and other personal details before she would transfer me to Katie, and as I was in an Uber, I couldn't give out personal info. I asked to cancel my surgery and receptionist #2 hung up on me.
I sent several emails to the address on their website to cancel, but each e-mail bounced back as undeliverable. Now the site is entirely down. Sketchy. Who in their right mind would let this man cut them open?
Months after canceling, I am still getting calls from the River North Surgery Center about my upcoming surgery. Creepy that they can schedule you for surgery at an outpatient facility without your permission and despite your repeated attempts to cancel surgery and decline care. When I told Dorothy at River North that I had cancelled, she said there was no record of the cancellation. I asked Dorothy for a written e-mail indicating that I was still scheduled for surgery despite the cancellation. She declined. I said that I was entitled to written information about any surgery that involved my body, billing, and name. She hung up on me.
I have spent hours of my precious time and data during international travel calling staff only to be put on hold, disconnected, and hung up on. I have spent at least an hour on the phone with my insurance as well.
This is all in an attempt to remove a small piece of lead from my hand that has been there for years. I can have the lead removed for free at student services but thought I would find a specialist to minimize scaring given that my insurance covers the procedure with a referral. I haven't even been able to verify the cost of surgery because staff can't handle the necessary other basics.
I am also being over charged for the visit because staff didn't submit the referral with the claim to insurance. They are also trying to bill me for the co-pay, which I payed on site during the first visit. read more
