Anesthesia Resources Ltd

It's difficult to address this complaint as I am not sure what the desired settlement is, as the customer failed to state one In the customer's own words, the billing was processed correctly, and "in accordance with the contract that Anesthesia Resources has with [redacted] ***" /> I will attempt to address what I believe this customers issues were Initial estimate was minutes Case actually took minutes - Estimates are approximations The fact that it took minutes is a pretty close approximation He states that our billing office, when questioned, didn't know how many minutes were charged for the case - Obvious miscommunication The case cannot be billed without submitting the time spent doing the case Everyone in our billing office knows this and would have no problem releasing this Behavioral aspects - I believe that the customer was unhappy with the multiple communications he had with members of our staff - Obviously there are sides to every story It was clear that no matter how many times our people explained to this gentleman how anesthesia services are billed, he failed to grasp these concepts This obviously led to him becoming more frustrated, and demanding It is most certainly not our job to place the billing language of our managed care contracts in writing to every patient The patients last statement does not ask for any settlement He uses this space to make a libelous statement about our organization, suggesting that we "may be adding minutes deceptively" - I take great offense to this statement which is made without any shred of evidence We are meticulous with the times we report We have policies in place to govern this

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below
We strongly appreciate the response from Anesthesia Resources Ltd, which demonstrates the same tone and behavior with which we were treated by phone, with statements such as “I am not going to give you anything in writing”, “Are you a lawyer?”, “I’ll see you in court”, “we do not know the time”, and rudely hanging up the phone, and now with “It is most certainly not our job to place the billing language of our managed care contracts in writing to every patient.”
It seems that the person answering our complaint misread our letter when saying, “In the customer's own words, the billing was processed correctly, and “in accordance with the contract that Anesthesia Resources has with *** ***"What we actually wrote in our complaint was, “We only paid the bill after *** *** verified that the billing was processed in accordance with the contract that Anesthesia Resources has with *** ***.” This was because on Friday, May 23, after we talked with two Anesthesia Resources employees in the billing department, both said that they did not know the actual time that was billed, and that we had to contact the surgery centerSubsequently, a *** *** agent called Anesthesia Resources and was also told by Anesthesia Resources that they were not going to give any informationBy reason of this answer, the *** *** agent told us that she would contact the regional office of *** *** to get involved and that she would call us on Tuesday, May On Tuesday, May 27, the *** *** agent informed us that the regional office indicated that the billing was processed in accordance with their contract with themFor us, being “in accordance” does not mean that the charge was correct
If there was an “obvious miscommunication” as Anesthesia Resources stated, it was not with us, since we were told by two Anesthesia Resources employees they did not know the time and that we needed to contact the surgery center, when in fact, not only did they have that information, they were reluctant to release that information to usIt was because of this suspicious behavior by Anesthesia Resources that raised our concerns that Anesthesia Resources "may be adding minutes deceptively"
If Anesthesia Resources has taken “great offense to this statement which is made without any shred of evidence”, our lack of evidence is only because Anesthesia Resources was reluctant in providing it
Since Anesthesia Resources now appears willing to provide written information regarding how they bill for their services, we would like the following information provided in writing:
1) How does the anesthesiologist determine the time of their services? Do they use a stop watch? Do they use a time clock? If not, what method is used to provide an accurate accounting of their time?
2) Provide a copy of the paper that the anesthesiologist submitted to the billing department that indicates the time of their service
3) Provide a written detailed breakdown of the method of billing that was given to us verbally
Anesthesia Resources has noted that we did not ask for any settlement, however, since Anesthesia Resources has not provided any information how the anesthesiologist determines the time of their service, we are now requesting a reimbursement of $for the two minutes in question
Regards,
*** ***

It's difficult to address this complaint as I am not sure what the desired settlement is, as the customer failed to state one.  In the customer's own words, the billing was processed correctly, and "in accordance with the contract that Anesthesia Resources has with [redacted]".
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I will attempt to address what I believe this customers issues were
        1. Initial estimate was 30 minutes.  Case actually took 32 minutes.
                - Estimates are approximations.  The fact that it took 32 minutes is a pretty close approximation.
        2. He states that our billing office, when questioned, didn't know how many minutes were charged for the case.
                - Obvious miscommunication.  The case cannot be billed without submitting the time spent doing the case.  Everyone in our billing office knows this and would have no problem releasing this.
        3.  Behavioral aspects - I believe that the customer was unhappy with the multiple communications he had with members of our staff.
                - Obviously there are 2 sides to every story.  It was clear that no matter how many times our people explained to this gentleman how anesthesia services are billed, he failed to grasp these concepts.  This obviously led to him becoming more                                  frustrated, and demanding.  It is most certainly not our job to place the billing language of our managed care contracts in writing to every patient.
        4.  The patients last statement does not ask for any settlement.  He uses this space to make a libelous statement about our organization, suggesting that we "may be adding minutes deceptively".
                - I take great offense to this statement which is made without any shred of evidence.  We are meticulous with the times we report.  We have policies in place to govern this.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

We strongly appreciate the response from Anesthesia Resources Ltd, which demonstrates the same tone and behavior with which we were treated by phone, with statements such as “I am not going to give you anything in writing”, “Are you a lawyer?”, “I’ll see you in court”, “we do not know the time”, and rudely hanging up the phone, and now with “It is most certainly not our job to place the billing language of our managed care contracts in writing to every patient.”

It seems that the person answering our complaint misread our letter when saying, “In the customer's own words, the billing was processed correctly, and “in accordance with the contract that Anesthesia Resources has with [redacted]". What we actually wrote in our complaint was, “We only paid the bill after [redacted] verified that the billing was processed in accordance with the contract that Anesthesia Resources has with [redacted].” This was because on Friday, May 23, after we talked with two Anesthesia Resources employees in the billing department, both said that they did not know the actual time that was billed, and that we had to contact the surgery center. Subsequently, a [redacted] agent called Anesthesia Resources and was also told by Anesthesia Resources that they were not going to give any information. By reason of this answer, the [redacted] agent told us that she would contact the regional office of [redacted] to get involved and that she would call us on Tuesday, May 27. On Tuesday, May 27, the [redacted] agent informed us that the regional office indicated that the billing was processed in accordance with their contract with them. For us, being “in accordance” does not mean that the charge was correct.

If there was an “obvious miscommunication” as Anesthesia Resources stated, it was not with us, since we were told by two Anesthesia Resources employees they did not know the time and that we needed to contact the surgery center, when in fact, not only did they have that information, they were reluctant to release that information to us. It was because of this suspicious behavior by Anesthesia Resources that raised our concerns that Anesthesia Resources "may be adding minutes deceptively".

If Anesthesia Resources has taken “great offense to this statement which is made without any shred of evidence”, our lack of evidence is only because Anesthesia Resources was reluctant in providing it.

Since Anesthesia Resources now appears willing to provide written information regarding how they bill for their services, we would like the following information provided in writing:

1) How does the anesthesiologist determine the time of their services? Do they use a stop watch? Do they use a time clock? If not, what method is used to provide an accurate accounting of their time?

2) Provide a copy of the paper that the anesthesiologist submitted to the billing department that indicates the time of their service.

3) Provide a written detailed breakdown of the method of billing that was given to us verbally.

Anesthesia Resources has noted that we did not ask for any settlement, however, since Anesthesia Resources has not provided any information how the anesthesiologist determines the time of their service, we are now requesting a reimbursement of $52.40 for the two minutes in question.

Regards,

It's difficult to address this complaint as I am not sure what the desired settlement is, as the customer failed to state one.  In the customer's own words, the billing was processed correctly, and "in accordance with the contract that Anesthesia Resources has with [redacted]".

/>

I will attempt to address what I believe this customers issues were

        1. Initial estimate was 30 minutes.  Case actually took 32 minutes.

                - Estimates are approximations.  The fact that it took 32 minutes is a pretty close approximation.

        2. He states that our billing office, when questioned, didn't know how many minutes were charged for the case.

                - Obvious miscommunication.  The case cannot be billed without submitting the time spent doing the case.  Everyone in our billing office knows this and would have no problem releasing this.

        3.  Behavioral aspects - I believe that the customer was unhappy with the multiple communications he had with members of our staff.

                - Obviously there are 2 sides to every story.  It was clear that no matter how many times our people explained to this gentleman how anesthesia services are billed, he failed to grasp these concepts.  This obviously led to him becoming more                                  frustrated, and demanding.  It is most certainly not our job to place the billing language of our managed care contracts in writing to every patient.

        4.  The patients last statement does not ask for any settlement.  He uses this space to make a libelous statement about our organization, suggesting that we "may be adding minutes deceptively".

                - I take great offense to this statement which is made without any shred of evidence.  We are meticulous with the times we report.  We have policies in place to govern this.

Review: Anesthesia Resources Ltd indicated before surgery, which

was

on May 8, 2014, that their billings are based on the

time

needed for services, and estimated that 30 minutes would

be

needed.

Their final billing, dated May 21,2014, was actually

$52.40

higher and when questioned, they said that they did not

know

how many minutes were charged and that we would have to

call

the surgery center for that information. The surgery

center said that the time in their record was not

clearly

written, however that since it was given by the

anesthesiologist, that Anesthesia Resources Ltd could

not

have billed us and [redacted] without knowing it.

After we again called Anesthesia Resources Ltd, their

agent

became angry and said that their billing method is

approved

with [redacted] and is charged in 15 minute increments

and

that the service was 32 minutes. We asked that this be

put

in writing, and after the agent refused, we told her it

was

our legal right to have this in writing, to which she

asked

if we were lawyers. When we said that we were not she

said

that she would see us in court and hung up.

We only paid the bill after [redacted] verified that

the

billing was processed in accordance with the contract

that

Anesthesia Resources has with [redacted].Desired Settlement: It is difficult to believe that Anesthesia Resources uses

a

stopwatch to time their services. Since the 2 minutes

in

question results in an additional $52.40 for them, it

appears that they may be adding minutes deceptively.

Business

Response:

It's difficult to address this complaint as I am not sure what the desired settlement is, as the customer failed to state one. In the customer's own words, the billing was processed correctly, and "in accordance with the contract that Anesthesia Resources has with [redacted]".

I will attempt to address what I believe this customers issues were

1. Initial estimate was 30 minutes. Case actually took 32 minutes.

- Estimates are approximations. The fact that it took 32 minutes is a pretty close approximation.

2. He states that our billing office, when questioned, didn't know how many minutes were charged for the case.

- Obvious miscommunication. The case cannot be billed without submitting the time spent doing the case. Everyone in our billing office knows this and would have no problem releasing this.

3. Behavioral aspects - I believe that the customer was unhappy with the multiple communications he had with members of our staff.

- Obviously there are 2 sides to every story. It was clear that no matter how many times our people explained to this gentleman how anesthesia services are billed, he failed to grasp these concepts. This obviously led to him becoming more frustrated, and demanding. It is most certainly not our job to place the billing language of our managed care contracts in writing to every patient.

4. The patients last statement does not ask for any settlement. He uses this space to make a libelous statement about our organization, suggesting that we "may be adding minutes deceptively".

- I take great offense to this statement which is made without any shred of evidence. We are meticulous with the times we report. We have policies in place to govern this.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

We strongly appreciate the response from Anesthesia Resources Ltd, which demonstrates the same tone and behavior with which we were treated by phone, with statements such as “I am not going to give you anything in writing”, “Are you a lawyer?”, “I’ll see you in court”, “we do not know the time”, and rudely hanging up the phone, and now with “It is most certainly not our job to place the billing language of our managed care contracts in writing to every patient.”

It seems that the person answering our complaint misread our letter when saying, “In the customer's own words, the billing was processed correctly, and “in accordance with the contract that Anesthesia Resources has with [redacted]". What we actually wrote in our complaint was, “We only paid the bill after [redacted] verified that the billing was processed in accordance with the contract that Anesthesia Resources has with [redacted].” This was because on Friday, May 23, after we talked with two Anesthesia Resources employees in the billing department, both said that they did not know the actual time that was billed, and that we had to contact the surgery center. Subsequently, a [redacted] agent called Anesthesia Resources and was also told by Anesthesia Resources that they were not going to give any information. By reason of this answer, the [redacted] agent told us that she would contact the regional office of [redacted] to get involved and that she would call us on Tuesday, May 27. On Tuesday, May 27, the [redacted] agent informed us that the regional office indicated that the billing was processed in accordance with their contract with them. For us, being “in accordance” does not mean that the charge was correct.

If there was an “obvious miscommunication” as Anesthesia Resources stated, it was not with us, since we were told by two Anesthesia Resources employees they did not know the time and that we needed to contact the surgery center, when in fact, not only did they have that information, they were reluctant to release that information to us. It was because of this suspicious behavior by Anesthesia Resources that raised our concerns that Anesthesia Resources "may be adding minutes deceptively".

If Anesthesia Resources has taken “great offense to this statement which is made without any shred of evidence”, our lack of evidence is only because Anesthesia Resources was reluctant in providing it.

Since Anesthesia Resources now appears willing to provide written information regarding how they bill for their services, we would like the following information provided in writing:

1) How does the anesthesiologist determine the time of their services? Do they use a stop watch? Do they use a time clock? If not, what method is used to provide an accurate accounting of their time?

2) Provide a copy of the paper that the anesthesiologist submitted to the billing department that indicates the time of their service.

3) Provide a written detailed breakdown of the method of billing that was given to us verbally.

Anesthesia Resources has noted that we did not ask for any settlement, however, since Anesthesia Resources has not provided any information how the anesthesiologist determines the time of their service, we are now requesting a reimbursement of $52.40 for the two minutes in question.

Regards,