I have been with this practice for 13 years, and am leaving. This is not because of one thing, it…read moreis because of several small things. They used to care about their patients. I delivered my high risk babies with the doctors and NPs who USED to work here, and no longer work here. They caught my postpartum depression on a form I filled out when I didn't notice it and ran after me in the parking lot to make sure I didn't leave before they talked to me about it. They knew my kids, my mother, grandmother, and cared about me.
Fast forward 10 years to 2022, the practice is now managed by Axia and they call me excitedly a week before my annual too schedule my mammogram in their office because "they can do it conveniently in the office now on the same day!" Oh, and it is covered by my insurance too! Not true, I get a surprise bill for more than $500 for something that I have never had to pay for before. But when I question it, it is not their problem. I tried to fight the payment, but eventually give in and pay the bill through their collection company, Apex...or so I thought.
Slowly, over the years, all of the doctors I knew there, except one NP, left. A few months ago, when I brought up some symptoms of peri menopause during my annual visit, I was handed a 20 page pack of photocopies of herbal supplements without a single explanation, sent for blood tests, never given a follow up call or appointment, and sent a bill. I was left to fend for myself without any directions, help or instructions. The only thing I was given was a bill for a $20 copay. Shame on me for bringing up a problem during an annual visit. Not that the problem was actually addressed.
So, I have decided to leave the practice for one that treats me like my health actually matters and not like I am just some billable patient number. And when I tell this to the nurse at my most recent final visit to remove my IUD, all of a sudden I have a complication with the IUD removal requiring a complicated procedure, and now the billing department cares about an unpaid mammogram bill from 3 years ago (which I believe I paid). They tried to settled it with my insurance and they said that the claim is too old now to process it, but had they tried to process it back then with an appeal, it may have been paid. They even said, "but you received a payment from your insurance for out of network coverage." That payment was $71. Three days before my scheduled procedure, they come to me to pay the bill, THREATENING that my now complicated procedure will not happen unless I pay the balance, which I believe that I have paid. I found the proof of payment in my email, call their collection company, only to find out that their system bills for 2 different practices, and that the payment I thought I made back then, was applied to a different practice, and all this time, they haven't tried to collect on this bill.
I run a business, and I understand how A/R and collections can be the worst part of maintaining a healthy bottom line. But every part of this situation was handled improperly. Not once during this process was I seen or treated like a human. Could I pay this bill? Absolutely. Should I have ever had to? No. Mammograms are a covered test. I should have never been told to have it at their location and that it would be covered by my insurance. They should have made sure of that before making such a claim and they should have stood by their claim when I received a bill in error. Their billing department should have filed an appeal to my insurance in a timely manner to make sure that it was properly covered. When I came for my annual visit and asked a question about symptoms I was having, I should have been given the time of day, not a stack of photocopies. I should have received a followup call after my blood test results came in. At the very least, I should have been given REAL advice and HELP. All of this is enough to give the practice a 1 star review. What I find most distasteful is how they are using a necessary procedure as means to collect on a bill I should never had had to pay in the first place. Now I am seeking a second opinion on whether I actually need this procedure at all, or if it is just their way of trying to milk additional charges out of me before I go. What a terrible way to feel about someone you are supposed to be able to trust, and a practice I trusted for so long.
