Clinic/hospital billing!!! ARRRGGG!

[Tweevil]

Um.... charts and bills are 2 completely sep things. Let me throw this one past you.. Say you went in and your chart (hardcopy Med Rec) was mislabeled as Tennison - you had services they said they would change it yada yada... charges are inputed after your leave (always the case) and it was put on Tennison's bill - the bill is prepared and electronically submitted to the ins co, first go in the insurance clearinghouse hits the first set of edits for a name/ID number mis-match and it goes back to the provider. The provider does a look to see what the deal is and looks into Tennison's account - see's the ID is totally wrong and does a search on it. Shows your name, she applies the charges to your account and re-transmits. Now both have the charge if she failed to remove it. That's how that probably happened.

Now, the clinic has to change the hardcopy to reflect your info as corrected. I would start there and talk with an office/billing manager. Perhaps even patient relations. They should with little or no problem sort this error out.

Coming from a place where a new system was put in, we experienced a lot of issues that had nothing to do with our processes - it had to do with the way the system reacted to stuff. I got called as many names as you can think of by people who were ripped - to be honest - those who were understanding made the update/change/correction process easier because time was not wasted smoothing over their being ripped. It was factual and completed timely.

HIPPA regulations require that the med rec are sent to the patient. If you were completely registered wrong that is a factor that the Mgr should address immediately - they have to know who they released the info to. It is an auditing requirement.

Regarding the bill for Tennsion -if paid it can be corrected through a simple void.

I know it's a pain, but it can be corrected quite easily if the right people are contacted at the clinic/healthcare facility.

I hope this helps,

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Sorry, this always bugs me, it's HIPAA.

Didn't mean to interrupt, please continue.

 

[pixiewings71]

really, idiot is harsh? I call people idiots all the time. When they are driving recklessly..idiots. Acting like...well, idiots..in public (like screaming at customer service workers)..yep..I will say "I saw this idiot at xxxxxstore today"

To the OP, I work in health insurance and I would be really upset if they couldn't get my information correct.

yes, calling someone an idiot is harsh. Especially for something like this, I do date entry. I'm extremely accurate (75-80 wpm with no errors) but my co-workers are not, mistakes happen. IMO this is not something worth getting so annoyed about that you call someone you don't know an idiot.....

 

[bumbershoot]

I have never had any result mailed to me. They will give me a copy when I go in, other than that they just call with the results.

DH has them mailed. Even though every time he goes in they know he'll want his lab results, they haven't yet figured out how to make a copy ahead of time. So then he comes home, I ask him about it, he calls them, they mail a copy.

This last appointment was in, hmm, October? We have had to request the records three times. Only this last time did we receive them. And there was a crossout and correction in the address. The first two times, he was told they would be sent. Where have they gone???? It's really worrisome, the thought of someone out there having his info, even though there's not a whole lot one could do with it. Its' just...like standing in front of a window in your underpants, but not realizing there was a window...embarrassing.

Oh and every time he verifies the address with them, they have it correct (they say what they have and we say yes or no). So I do not know where those other two mailings went!


Speaking of embarrassing...about 12 years ago I did a very bad thing to my toe. I was given a prescription for a pain reliever and took it to Walgreens. Well, it turns out there is a different person with my exact name living in the same town. Which is just flat out odd, but that's not important. It' been so long I can't remember if they gave me the wrong drugs, or if I got the wrong statement, or what, but it turns out taht this OTHER Molly had some ridiculously embarrassing conditions that she was taking drugs for; I felt so bad for her, and would have given her a hug if I weren't afraid she'd give me her "bugs" (and I'm not generally germphobic, so that says something).

If she knew that someone else knew the specifics, she would likely be embarrassed, and that's what it feels like, to think that someone else might be getting your lab results, which could absolutely be a possibility if records are so messed up that bills are being sent to the wrong place. Yes, they are generally different people sending them out, but the initial data is coming from the same place.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Maybe I should contact this other lady and tell her that I got her info. and that the clinic sent it to me? Sounds maybe like she should be the one to file the complaint?

Respectfully, you got her bill - not her medical records, not even her test results.

Absolutely pull your family's medical records from this facility and find another medical practice. Just make sure they're your family's records ONLY (anything else WOULD be a HIPAA issue) and entirely.