Contour Dermatology & Cosmetic Surgery Center

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/07/31) */
Insurance coverage was verified before patient was seen for his first visitAt next visit, unbeknownst to us, insurance coverage lapsed due to patient's non-payment of insurance premiumOur billing coordinator attempted to obtain a prior
authorization for desire procedure, but insurance company never respondedIn retrospect, this was likely due to his insurance expiringPatient came in for follow up visit and wanted the procedure that dayBilling coordinator told patient that the prior authorization was not received and we had not heard back from his insurance companyPatient stated he had the prior authorization reference number at home and he would bring it to usPatient wanted treatment on this dayBilling coordinator warned that if we did perform procedure that day and we had not received a prior authorization, then the fee would become patient's responsibility in the event of a denied insurance claimThese conversations are all documented in our billing systemPatient agreed, and still wished to continue with procedure after given that informationHe again stated that he had the prior authorization at homeSubsequently the claim was deniedPatient was contacted with the updatePatient said he now had a new Medicare insurance plan, and they would take over prior coveragePatient did not tell us that the new plan was a Medicare HMO planWe are not HMO providers so the claim was again deniedThis was out of our control since we had no prior knowledge of patient changing coverage to a non-PPOWe did try to accommodate the patient by reducing his responsible balance by 50% and set up payment plan with himHe agreed to the payment plan but later never made payment as previously agreedNow the patient is on internet maligning our name stating we bait and switched him which is entirely and unfair
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/07/31) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Regardless of lapse they never took my HMO which they said they accepted and said I was covered and approved based on their dialogue with my insuranceAs far as my review, the only review I did was on yelp and I removed it early today to give contour dermatology a chance to resolve this before I write any further reviews about my experience and costly mistakes made on part of the verifications department who gave me inaccurate information
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2015/08/03) */
They also said that in order to have the procedure I had to wait for them to get prior authorization which they told me they had and hence allowed me to schedule and have the procedureThey seem to be mixing up and not getting the facts right coincidentallyThey do not want to accept responsibility for their mistake

Dear Ms. [redacted]   Thank you for the letter with more details about Ms. [redacted] complaint. This was very helpful in understanding the views as she sees them. Unfortunately I am not inclined to agree with her account in her dealings with our office. We are a well-established dermatology practice with over 15 years of vetted financial policies, and our staff is very well-versed at explaining our financial policies to our patients. We receive no long-term benefit from behaving in a manner as this patient wrongly describes because we would not be in business today.    As you know, for HIPAA privacy reasons I cannot divulge specific details about her visit.  But I can say, because she has already confirmed it, that she was evaluated and diagnosed by the physician, and she declined any specific treatment on the date of service.   I will attempt to explain our policy a bit more.  For weekend cash patients, our policy is to collect $100 deposit for office visit without any treatment. The weekend deposit policy is in place because we have no medical billers onsite during the weekend to determine the exact cost of the office visit and associated procedures.  On the days following the visit, our billing department will finalize charges and review actual costs related to the actual visit, and the patient would be expected to pay the difference between the deposit and the actual visit.  Our receptionists are well-versed in making this well-established policy clear to our patients.  To make our policy more clear for our patients, and to ensure there is still no misunderstanding, we put this policy in writing for them to sign.  Ms. [redacted] was well aware of our correct policy as it explained to her several times verbally (but not as she describes it).  Furthermore, she agreed to our policy when she signed it in our “Notice to Self-Pay Patients” agreement and initialed it in three (3) separate places indicating that she read and understood each of the specific details contained within. Please find attached her signed “Notice to Self-Pay Patients”, as well as her bill for that day (diagnoses blacked out to protect patient privacy).   I’d like to also mention that Ms. [redacted] fled the office without paying Contour Dermatology a single penny. She slipped out when the receptionist left her position to ask the doctor to confirm the details of the visit.  She did NOT pay the deposit fee which she signed indicating that she agreed to pay. The fact that she did not pay, and having signed that document prior to her visit, is proof of her misdoings. That fact should be a crystal clear indication to you as to her poor intentions.  She refused to pay anything when our staff contacted her, and thus we had no option left but to send her account to collections.  We often work with patients who have financial difficulties because we are sympathetic to people’s personal situations. However, when someone is as belligerent, profane and rude to our staff as Ms. [redacted] has been, we are less inclined to work with them.    I also included in the attachment, a page from our medical record system which documents the real phone conversation on July 21 between Ms. [redacted] and Doctor [redacted] (the conversation witnessed and documented by supervising certified medical assistant, [redacted]). Dr. [redacted] returned her call promptly, and explained the office visit charge is standard for any medical visit whether or not they decline treatment. He even offered to remove her cyst for free. He also detailed that her bill was explained to her on three different occasions. He explained how she was verbally abusive to his staff and he would not agree to take her out of collections. She then hung up on him.   Finally, I’d like to mention Dr. [redacted]’s good intentions as described in Ms. [redacted] own words… “he offered to remove my cyst for free.” This should offer more substance supporting our positive intentions compared to hers.   Please contact me if you have any other questions. [redacted] direct.   Sincerely, [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:
I want this doctor’s office to honor what a representative of their company, [redacted], the receptionist, told me on three different...

occasions when I called to confirm the price. This doctor’s office is also unfairly and arbitrarily billing me and sent me to collections after only nine days. Thirdly, the doctor harassed me and badgered me over the phone when he called me at home to discuss this.
Before making this appointment for July 1, 2017, the receptionist at this clinic, [redacted], expressly told me that the price for a cash patient (of which I am) to remove a cyst would be $80.00-$100.00. At that time, she also told me that if I was coming in on the weekend, my credit card would be charged a flat rate of $100.00 since the billing department is closed that day. She said that if the bill was less than $100.00, than they would issue me a refund once that department re-opened. She did not say there was a charge for an office visit, for which I would be responsible for whether I had the cyst removed or not. If she had, I would never have booked the appointment since I was not going to this doctor for a consultation or to get advice. I already knew what I had as another doctor had told me. I simply wanted the cyst removed. The charge [redacted] told me over the phone on three separate occasions was for the removal of a cyst, not to come in and speak to a doctor. She was very clear about this and as a cash patient, I clarified this multiple times. For this office to assert anything otherwise is simply untrue.
After briefly meeting the doctor who was working that day, Dr. [redacted], I decided not to have anything done. I did not like his demeanor and felt as though he was mocking me. It all made me quite uncomfortable. I was literally there for two or three minutes before leaving. My husband was outside waiting for me and witnessed this.
I then waited at the front desk for several minutes while the receptionist went in the back to ask whether I could leave. When the receptionist returned, she did not ask me for payment. I then left.
A few days later, I received a call telling me I owed them $125.00. I told them I would not pay as that is not what was told to me and I had nothing done. A few days later, I received calls and notices from a collection agency. Upon receiving them, I called the office and asked to speak to the head of the clinic, Dr. [redacted].
When Dr. [redacted] called me at home, he offered to remove my cyst for free. I told him I was not interested in that. He then started harassing me and badgering me saying, “What’s the matter, can’t you afford to pay for it, huh, huh, what’s wrong with you.” He went on and on like this for several minutes before I finally had the good sense to hang up on him. I could not believe a doctor would speak to a patient this way.
This doctor sent me to collections immediately despite the fact that the bottom of their bill states this only happens to balances over ninety days. The first notice I received from the collection agency is dated 7/10/17, all of nine days after my visit. Two days later, they inexplicably changed the price of the bill from $108.00 to $135.00 and also added on a collection fee of $25.00. The collection agency has also been going after my husband and sending him collection notices which I have attached, as well.
I want this office to honor what their representative told me and waive this bill. No service was rendered and I was literally in this office less than five minutes. I would never have booked this appointment if I knew I had to pay regardless of having nothing done. I wish I worked in a profession whereby I could charge over $100.00 for three minutes of my time without providing a service to the client. Further, something needs to be done regarding this doctor’s arbitrary and unfair billing practices, in addition to the unprofessional manner in which he behaved.

Patient was seen by the doctor. Patient did not pay for office visit. Patient is being charged for office visit.