Woodbury Optical Studio Inc.

All complaints made by this patient have since been rectified and the appropriate insurance plan was ultimately billedWe were not notified
by this patient or her husband that she had vision coverage through EyeMed, (not ***) until a few months after her initial visitMany medical plans have vision riders attached to the policy that are carved out to a vision planOur doctors at Woodbury Optical, both optometrists and ophthalmologists, must review each patient's individual past medical history and present illness to determine whether a claim can be billed through their medical or vision policyThis decision, however, cannot be determined by the patients themselvesPatients may walk in thinking "I just need a routine exam", but then sit down with one of our doctors and have or complain of a true "medical" condition where we then need to treat the underlying condition and subsequently bill the claim through the medical policyOur practice has been in business for nearly yearsAll doctor's/medical offices are routinely audited and monitored by insurance companies, including our practiceWe strive to be highly ethical in the care of each and every patient as well as in our billing practicesAddressing and resolving patient complaints is extremely important to us, and we strive for accuracy in our billing departmentAll patient's complaints, if any, are resolved quickly and with professional courtesyWe hope all of our patients, including this patient and his wife, will have a pleasant experience at our medical office on their next visit

Revdex.com:At this time, I have not been contacted by Woodbury Optical Studio Inc. regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,[redacted]

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted].
The justification for Woodbury Optical incorrectly charging my insurance company is incorrect, as my wife has absolutely no eye issues. Her vision is better than 20/20 and if there was a "medical issue" they found during her visit, they never informed us of it. Instead, the incorrectly billed my insurance company, received their payment, then billed my wife and I twice (even after receiving and cashing our first payment!). After months of back and forth with their incredibly rude and incompetent staff, I had to get the Human Resources department at my job involved. The Woodbury Optical Staff were incredibly rude on the phone to my employer. We were told to "go ahead and call your reps" and then hung up on. After calling both their [redacted] and [redacted] representatives to inform them of this whole fiasco, we filed a complaint with both insurance providers. We tried to handle the matter in a respectful manner, but received rudeness and disrespect in return.Two weeks or so later, I received a check in the mail from Woodbury Optical without an apology or letter indicating they were at fault. I can guarantee that if I didn't go through all the trouble of filing a complaint through the Revdex.com, [redacted], contacting my employer, and writing harsh reviews of this company on all major review websites, that I would have never received my payment back.So, am I satisfied with the outcome? Yes and No. I received my payment back, but had to jump through hurdles for 8 months to do so. It is completely unacceptable for a business to handle themselves the way that they did.I just hope that anyone who considers going to Woodbury Optical will find one of the many postings I've made online about their service and find a better location. And honestly, any location is better than theirs.Sincerely,
[redacted]

Review: In July of 2014 my wife received a routine eye examination at Woodbury Optical. They submitted the claim to our insurance company ([redacted]) and was denied. They billed us very quickly thereafter and my wife paid it without thinking about it. They then billed us a second time indicating that we did not pay the bill. We checked our records and reviewed our bank statement and confirmed that not only did we pay Woodbury Optical, but they also cashed the check. So the second bill was incorrect.

Upon further inspection we realized that we shouldn't have been billed in the first place because my health insurance company covers routine eye examinations. I called [redacted] and they confirmed that they cover eye exams and that Woodbury Optical had submitted the claim as a "medical procedure" and not a routine eye exam. I then called Woodbury Optical to inform them of all this and they stated that they would correct it. Once they received payment from my insurance company they would refund me.

I called back two weeks later and they did not submit the claim. They said it would take six weeks for them to do so. I called back again today (six weeks later) and they are still waiting for their billing person to submit the claim. They would not provide me with a time that this person would do so. When I pressed them as to why it is taking so long to submit a claim, how long does it normally take to submit a claim, and roughly how much longer will it take, they stated that, "we are very busy. You can call us back in a few weeks if you want to." Their complete lack of professionalism and common courtesy, plus their attitude and petulance is appalling.

Not only have they failed to correct this billing error, but they are also (I believe) using unethical collection practices by incorrectly submitting claims to insurance companies and billing their patrons multiple times (even when they have paid). They should be audited.Desired Settlement: The desired outcome is very straight forward. I would like them to do their job. They need to properly bill my insurance company and refund me back my initial payment. If you want to look deeper, there is probably a systemic and illegal practice that needs to be properly addressed by the authorities.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by Woodbury Optical Studio Inc. regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,[redacted]

Business

Response:

All complaints made by this patient have since been rectified and the appropriate insurance plan was ultimately billed. We were not notified by this patient or her husband that she had vision coverage through EyeMed, (not [redacted]) until a few months after her initial visit. Many medical plans have vision riders attached to the policy that are carved out to a vision plan. Our doctors at Woodbury Optical, both optometrists and ophthalmologists, must review each patient's individual past medical history and present illness to determine whether a claim can be billed through their medical or vision policy. This decision, however, cannot be determined by the patients themselves. Patients may walk in thinking "I just need a routine exam", but then sit down with one of our doctors and have or complain of a true "medical" condition where we then need to treat the underlying condition and subsequently bill the claim through the medical policy. Our practice has been in business for nearly 30 years. All doctor's/medical offices are routinely audited and monitored by insurance companies, including our practice. We strive to be highly ethical in the care of each and every patient as well as in our billing practices. Addressing and resolving patient complaints is extremely important to us, and we strive for accuracy in our billing department. All patient's complaints, if any, are resolved quickly and with professional courtesy. We hope all of our patients, including this patient and his wife, will have a pleasant experience at our medical office on their next visit.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted].

The justification for Woodbury Optical incorrectly charging my insurance company is incorrect, as my wife has absolutely no eye issues. Her vision is better than 20/20 and if there was a "medical issue" they found during her visit, they never informed us of it. Instead, the incorrectly billed my insurance company, received their payment, then billed my wife and I twice (even after receiving and cashing our first payment!). After months of back and forth with their incredibly rude and incompetent staff, I had to get the Human Resources department at my job involved. The Woodbury Optical Staff were incredibly rude on the phone to my employer. We were told to "go ahead and call your reps" and then hung up on. After calling both their [redacted] and [redacted] representatives to inform them of this whole fiasco, we filed a complaint with both insurance providers. We tried to handle the matter in a respectful manner, but received rudeness and disrespect in return.Two weeks or so later, I received a check in the mail from Woodbury Optical without an apology or letter indicating they were at fault. I can guarantee that if I didn't go through all the trouble of filing a complaint through the Revdex.com, [redacted], contacting my employer, and writing harsh reviews of this company on all major review websites, that I would have never received my payment back.So, am I satisfied with the outcome? Yes and No. I received my payment back, but had to jump through hurdles for 8 months to do so. It is completely unacceptable for a business to handle themselves the way that they did.I just hope that anyone who considers going to Woodbury Optical will find one of the many postings I've made online about their service and find a better location. And honestly, any location is better than theirs.Sincerely,