Customer Service

Evan was seen at a local E.R. on October 2nd last year for a psychiatric evaluaton. We later received a bill for "Pharmacy" and "Emergency Treatment". Since I had no memory of the boy being given any medication, I checked with Don who also failed to recall so much as an aspirin passing the boy's lips. I then checked with the insurance company and the hospital in question to try to determine what medication was included in the bill. The hospital was billing a negotiated charge of $221.37 for generic Levaquin (a fairly hefty broad-spectrum antibiotic) that was administered via I.V. Do you really think that both parents failed to note the I.V. administration of an antibiotic to a minor who was showing no sign of infection?!
I went round and round with the hospital over this bill which failed to reflect either accurate charges or previous payment made at the time of Evan's visit. I filed disputes which were never answered. I offered documentation of the boy's follow-up psychiatric care by a medical doctor who at no time noted any sign of infection. I called and sat on hold for more time than we originally wasted in the E.R. I finally gave up at Christmas and just sent the amount we were being billed. The hospital had no difficulty cashing our check.
Today another bill arrived with a date of service for October 2nd. The hospital wants another $47.95 because they negotiated with our insurance company for more money than they were originally paid for services not received. The new bill did not reflect the last payment of $64.41 sent out by our bank and documented on-line as being cashed over a month prior to the date of the latest bill. The service representative I reached after negotiating with the auto-attendant and holding for five minutes was unable to retrieve the records because her system was down. (The system is always down unless you would like to make a payment by phone.) She did find a record of my filing a dispute regarding the pharmacy charges despite that system failure. She could find no record of any resolution. I can call back in 14 business days.
I called the insurance company that requires reams of documentation before paying for services we need and do receive. Although they paid for $199.24 worth of medication that was not given, they can only file a customer complaint. I left a phone number where I can be reached in case they have any questions.
Only in medicine can a business get away with charging for services not received with total impunity. I don't have a receipt that details the charges that should have applied to Evan's visit. I do at least have documentation through our bank of all payments that should be applied to Evan's account. I will send one more payment because the account is aging through all of this so that any balance not paid garners the risk of the account being sent to a collection agency.
We are already enjoying that possibility with the outstanding amount billed by the facility that treated Evan for the week or so following this E.R. visit. That facility is being penalized by our insurance company for not precertifying additional days of treatment despite my double-checking and asking the patient representative about the need to gain authorization for the additional days. The insurance company does not pay the penalty amount, but it also does not state that the patient is not responsible for the penalty payment. (The patient cannot precertify the visit. That has to be done by the treatment provider.)