Heads up! Take care when choosing an emergency contact. This number is not kept private. If there is a billing issue, the emergency contact will be contacted. After it happened to me, I spoke with the Office Manager about this, and she confirmed that it is standard practice to provide the emergency contact number when trying to resolve a billing issue.
A collection agency got involved in collecting a nominal amount of money, ~$45 which I had overlooked. Serramonte Podiatry provided the company both my phone number and the emergency contact number. This was confirmed by both parties.
The collection company attempted to contact me a few times, and each time when I answered the call there was a recording prompting me to press "9" to speak with an agent. Each time I did press "9" and the call was disconnected by the company before an agent ever came on the line. It was the holidays, I was with my family, I didn't take time out to try to sort out who was calling me and why.
Granted I should have taken a more active role in resolving this issue. However, it seems wildly inappropriate and a break in trust to provide an emergency contact number for a billing issue. A billing issue is not an emergency.
When I spoke to the Office Manager, she also confirmed that when providing the emergency contact to Serramonte Podiatry on their form, it is not disclosed that this person will be contacted for non-emergencies, such as billing issues.
The care I received at Serramonte Podiatry was satisfactory, however when it comes to privacy at a medical facility a break in trust is inexcusable. I do hope that Serramonte Podiatry will reconsider this policy, as the Office Manager said they would. read more