I am extremely disappointment with a recent visit my family experienced when they arrived for a medical appointment on August 2, 2016. The events were very frustrating and quite embarrassing. The level of customer support provided by the individual at the front desk was quite possibly the most unprofessional I have witnessed in the past 23+ years. Everyone in the office, including other patients, staff and even the medical professionals cringed with discomfort at the tone of the conversation, and the events which followed.
I'm the father of 6 children (ages ranging from 15 to 23), and the grandfather of 1 newborn; I am also a Disabled Veteran, and a current Department of Defense Civilian employee who has excellent Medical Insurance through Blue Cross/Blue Shield Federal. I've also been a patron of Timber Creek Pediatric for over 2 years, in which we've had 4 children serve as patients. We have always paid our copays, and ensured we maintained a $0 balance (That was until a recent clerical error that could have been resolved by simply resubmitting a claim to Medicaid).
My wife and daughter arrived to an appointment for my Granddaughter. She was born early May and has been seen by the medical staff on numerous occasions. On her first visit, a couple days after her birth, we accidently provided Timber Creek Pediatrics the wrong insurance information. We thought the baby would be covered under BCBS, but she was not. Instead, she was being covered under Medicaid, which covered her since the day of her birth. By her 2nd appointment all the insurance confusion was corrected, and we were informed that the office would reprocess the 1st claim through Medicaid (we had no balance to worry about).
Fast forward a few additional medical appointments, to August 2016. We walked into the office and were refused service until we paid a high $ balance from the first visit. The front desk confirmed that they did NOT reprocess the claim through Medicaid, and also acknowledged that Medicaid would most likely cover that balance, but they still wanted us to front the expense. We were informed that since we initially provided the wrong insurance information, we were responsible for paying the bill in full, and that they would reimburse us the money after they reprocessed the initial claim (note: it has been nearly 3 months since the processing error was identified and it still has not been corrected). Needless to say, we were surprised and not prepared to pay an additional high $ that day (especially after being informed that the original clerical error was being corrected). That's when we simply asked them to please resubmit the claim through Medicaid, or to contact Medicaid via telephone to resolve this issue so that the baby could receive her needed medical attention. That's when the elevated tone and shameful scolding started.
So, standing there at the Pediatric Office, with a sick infant, we were being refused service because the office employee did not reprocess the claim to the proper insurance company as they said they would, and instead of taking responsibility for not filing the paperwork properly a couple visits ago, she proceeded to "loudly" blame us for the mishap, attempting to shame us into paying the erroneous bill. At one point my wife, daughter and grandchild were taken to the back to receive the medical attention she needed, but was escorted back out into the lobby, where they were further embarrassed, and further pressured and harassed. By this time, other patients were staring at the show, commenting on how unprofessional and disrespectful the employee was being, and how shocked they were that the office refused to see this sick infant knowing that she had medical coverage for that day. One patron even mouthed the word "Disgraceful".
We were NOT late with a payment. We did NOT bounce a check. We did NOT have a history of insufficient funds. We were NOT new patience. And we have a history of being in good standing with the office. But on this day, we were treated disrespectfully; like low class citizens that couldn't afford decent healthcare. It's as if because my grandchild was on Medicaid, she was not deserving of the professional medical care and attention we are accustomed to having under BCBS.
If that truly was the reason we were treated so disrespectfully. If my daughter and my grandchild being on Medicaid is the stereotypical reason why they did not get the same professional treatment they would have gotten if this was being processed through BCBS; then this truly is a sad Nation we live in, of which I defended with my life.
Let me be clear. The medical staff is excellent! We love the doctors; and it's very obvious that they love children. But the customer service provided by the front office/billing was horrendous, and I can't help but feel that the insurance we carried resulted in a stereotypical reaction by that front office/billing. Now we'll be looking for a new Pediatric Office. read more
