Augusta Health

Good afternoon; I have reviewed this customers complaint and also reached out to [redacted] Today (9/29/17) I spoke with *** who stated that she has responded to, and taken action on this case through complaint number [redacted] , the details of which should be included in the documentation of that complaint However, I have verified that SEMS has initiated the account removal from the credit bureau filing, and has loaded and billed the patients health insurancePlease let me know if there is anything else I can do [redacted] ***Physician Revenue Cycle DirectorAugusta Health

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved Regards, [redacted] ***

Good morning! I have spoken with the Director of Patient Accounting for Augusta Health Hospital and have received the following respond Please let me know if we can be of further assistance! To whom it may concern, Thank you for giving Augusta Health the opportunity to
review and respond to Ms*** situation. It is unfortunate, and we apologize for any inconvenience we may have created. We have combined all of Ms*** accounts as she has requested. Additionally, since we’ve combined Ms*** accounts, the single account (account number ***) representing a total balance owed of $2,does not reside with a collection agency. We are in the process of gathering Ms*** itemized bills to be sent to her. As a general rule, we expect all patients to pay their balance owed within months. However, for those patients that cannot meet this expectation, Augusta Health offers our patients interest free loans with payment terms up to months, and low interest loans with payment terms of up to months. Additionally, there are no credit checks and our patients are automatically approved. The program is referred to as the “We Care” program Additional information as well as the simple application process can be found on our website at www.augustahealth.com. Ms*** will certainly qualify for a “We Care” loan, and contrary to Ms*** concern that the loan will increase her payment, it will substantially lower her monthly payment. We strongly encourage Ms*** to take advantage of this program

Thank you for your assistanceAll though their used verbiage made it out to be my error, they have resolved the issue and refunded the excess amount they had requested I pay.Many thanks,***

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,[redacted]

Good afternoon, Thank for choosing Augusta Health for your healthcare needs.  I have thoroughly reviewed this case and although the charges and patient amount due are appropriate, it is apparent that the communication between the patient and Augusta Health does not meet the standard Augusta...

Health expects.  As such, Augusta Health has authorized an adjustment of the remaining amount of $109.10 and your balance is now zero.  Additionally, we have notified the collection agency to where this debt was referred and ask they remove this from their system.  Please rest assured, the patients credit has not been compromised. Thank you![redacted]Physician Revenue Cycle Director

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]

Good afternoon; I have reviewed this customers complaint and also reached out to [redacted]  Today (9/29/17) I spoke with [redacted] who stated that she has responded to, and taken action on this case through complaint number [redacted], the details of which should...

be included in the documentation of that complaint.  However, I have verified that SEMS has initiated the account removal from the credit bureau filing, and has loaded and billed the patients health insurance. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do. [redacted]Physician Revenue Cycle DirectorAugusta Health

I received the letter you sent to [redacted] regarding complaint ID# [redacted]. We are aware of Mr.[redacted] discontent and have conducted a thorough review of the service provided to him and the claim whichwas sent to his insurance for services rendered. Unfortunately, despite our multiple...

attempts to help Mr.[redacted] better understand what has transpired, he continues to feel the steps we have taken were notappropriate. Please allow me to summarize the chain of events.On December 30, 2014 we provided a courtesy loaner CPAP unit to the patient's wife so her husband's defectiveCPAP could be evaluated for repair and/or replacement. Per insurance policy, the CPAP unit was sent back to themanufacturer (Respironics) for an evaluation and estimate for repairs. The manufacturer determines if the unit canbe repaired and whether repairs are covered under warranty; we do not replace a unit unless the manufacturerstates the unit is beyond repair. Respironics notified us that the Mr. [redacted]'s CPAP unit's issues wererepairable, but these repairs would not be covered under warranty. We provided authorization for Respironics toproceed with the needed repairs. The repaired CPAP unit was later returned to us, and we made arrangements forthe customer to pick up the repaired unit on April 15, 2015. During this transaction, the patient's wife signeddocuments allowing us to bill their insurance for the repairs. There was no financial responsibility due at that timeas the customer's insurance had yet to determine the amount the patient would owe once deductibles andcontractual adjustments had been applied to the claim. After the patient's insurance processed the claim, thepatient's financial responsibility/coinsurance on the claim was $20.87.  Care Home Medical billed the customer$20.87 on four separate occasions, but did not receive any payments. After the fourth billing cycle this claim wasreleased to collections on October 31, 2015.On October 30, 2015 Mr. [redacted] spoke with one of our customer service representatives who attempted toresolve his concerns by explaining the unit was not covered under warranty and his wife had signed authorizing hisinsurance to be billed for the repair. He was not satisfied with her response so he requested to speak to amanager. He then spoke with [redacted], Customer Service Manager, who explained what had happened. Again,Mr. [redacted] did not accept our explanation.We strive to communicate accurate information to our customers; unfortunately, misunderstandings can and dooccur due to the complexities of dealing with insurances, manufacturers, and customers. We hope thisexplanation provides some closure.Sincerely,[redacted] Director

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]

To Whom It May Concern; I have received and completed my research of complaint # [redacted].  Upon investigation, it validated that the patient had made payment in full.  An error was made at the time the payment was received as unfortunately it was applied the incorrect account....

 The payment has been relocated to the patients account and the balance is now zero.Thank you, [redacted]Director of Patient AccountingAugusta Health

Review: On 3/14/16, I paid Augusta Health the full balance they said I owed which was $123.95 from my checking account through [redacted]. Yesterday, 4/11/16, I get a Final Notice from Augusta Health saying that if I do not pay that amount the next step is Collections. I have PERFECT Credit, so this had better NOT be sent especially since I did a 3 way call with my [redacted] and Augusta Health Billing Dept to verify that I paid this amount in full PLUS I faxed them a copy of the [redacted] statement showing where this money came out of my account. Everyone that I talk to there is rude and have not a clue of what is going on, same way in the hospital. No one has yet to apologize for this and they continue to tell me that they can not find the payment, and it takes 48 hours to read a scanned [redacted] statement proving that I paid it. Again, if this even comes close to showing up on my credit report, legal action will be taken against that joke of a hospital!!!! PROMISE!!!Desired Settlement: For my time, frustration, stress this has caused me, I will NOT settle for anything less than the FULL amount to refunded back into my account PRONTO!! This is a billing error that should have NEVER have happened, and them taking their sweet time when it is MY credit on the line does NOT settle well with me at all.

Business

Response:

To Whom It May Concern; I have received and completed my research of complaint # [redacted]. Upon investigation, it validated that the patient had made payment in full. An error was made at the time the payment was received as unfortunately it was applied the incorrect account. The payment has been relocated to the patients account and the balance is now zero.Thank you, [redacted]Director of Patient AccountingAugusta Health

Consumer

Response:

Thank you for your assistance. All though their used verbiage made it out to be my error, they have resolved the issue and refunded the excess amount they had requested I pay.Many thanks,[redacted]

Review: This is for the Care Home Medical portion of Augusta Health. I had a CPAP machine taken in due to mechanical failure. I tried to see about getting a new CPAP machine but the rep at the time told us that she would have to check and see if the CPAP machine was under warranty. She came back and said that it was under warranty and would have to be repaired. The rep confirmed to my wife that there would be no out of pocket charge for repair as it was under warranty. My CPAP machine was gone for almost 6 months, however, they did give me a loaner. It did come back repaired, we picked it up and was again advised there was no out of pocket charge. Months later we received a bill and statement that it was submitted to my insurance company. Apparently the rep realized that the machine was in fact not under warranty and submitted to our insurance to cover and then they sent me the bill for what the insurance didn't cover. This rep misled us at several points in the process and then just submitted to insurance without explaining what she was doing. She did have my wife sign a paper stating ok to bill insurance but she represented this as paperwork to just pickup the CPAP machine. That rep conveniently no longer works there. The bill is for just over 20$ and is now on a final notice. Had the rep relayed the appropriate information to us I would not have a problem paying. She misled us on several instances and manager [redacted] seems all to comfortable standing by a rep that misrepresented the company he works for.Desired Settlement: I would like for the 20+$ waived and for themto refrain from any collections effort. I would also appreciate an apology from [redacted] for questioning mine and my wife's integrity.

Business

Response:

I received the letter you sent to [redacted] regarding complaint ID# [redacted]. We are aware of Mr.[redacted] discontent and have conducted a thorough review of the service provided to him and the claim whichwas sent to his insurance for services rendered. Unfortunately, despite our multiple attempts to help Mr.[redacted] better understand what has transpired, he continues to feel the steps we have taken were notappropriate. Please allow me to summarize the chain of events.On December 30, 2014 we provided a courtesy loaner CPAP unit to the patient's wife so her husband's defectiveCPAP could be evaluated for repair and/or replacement. Per insurance policy, the CPAP unit was sent back to themanufacturer (Respironics) for an evaluation and estimate for repairs. The manufacturer determines if the unit canbe repaired and whether repairs are covered under warranty; we do not replace a unit unless the manufacturerstates the unit is beyond repair. Respironics notified us that the Mr. [redacted]'s CPAP unit's issues wererepairable, but these repairs would not be covered under warranty. We provided authorization for Respironics toproceed with the needed repairs. The repaired CPAP unit was later returned to us, and we made arrangements forthe customer to pick up the repaired unit on April 15, 2015. During this transaction, the patient's wife signeddocuments allowing us to bill their insurance for the repairs. There was no financial responsibility due at that timeas the customer's insurance had yet to determine the amount the patient would owe once deductibles andcontractual adjustments had been applied to the claim. After the patient's insurance processed the claim, thepatient's financial responsibility/coinsurance on the claim was $20.87. Care Home Medical billed the customer$20.87 on four separate occasions, but did not receive any payments. After the fourth billing cycle this claim wasreleased to collections on October 31, 2015.On October 30, 2015 Mr. [redacted] spoke with one of our customer service representatives who attempted toresolve his concerns by explaining the unit was not covered under warranty and his wife had signed authorizing hisinsurance to be billed for the repair. He was not satisfied with her response so he requested to speak to amanager. He then spoke with [redacted], Customer Service Manager, who explained what had happened. Again,Mr. [redacted] did not accept our explanation.We strive to communicate accurate information to our customers; unfortunately, misunderstandings can and dooccur due to the complexities of dealing with insurances, manufacturers, and customers. We hope thisexplanation provides some closure.Sincerely,[redacted] Director