Aurora Health Care, Inc.

To whom it may concern
I would like to pay my medical bills via phone call using my bank account. I prefer not using credit cards to pay my bills. Writing checks plus applying postage costs the consumer more money and is inconvenient.
I disagree with your methods of payment.

I have been a patient with Aurora at least 25 years. I have never missed an appointment. This week I forgot my appointment which was made 6 months ago,and remembered it 15 minutes after I was expected. I got in my car and called the doctors appointment desk to let me know I was on my way. I was told by the appointment person not to bother coming in. Doctor “doesn’t like to see people who are late . She said she would make me a new appointment in late October. Absolutely no interest in finding some way to accommodate me. I was told not to bother and cancel any other appointments I had and hung up. I’m 70 years old managing 3 chronic problems. Now I find myself spending my time looking for another doctor.

Then the next day I went to the South Side clinic where I always have my lab work done. I had a 10:45 appt for a fasting blood test. I arrived at 10:30 and was told my appointment was at the main clinic. I had phoned to make the appointment and was transferred 3 times. Finally I was asked what I wanted and I asked? “Is this the Southside clinic” and the rude response I received was “what do you need”. Told her I needed a lab appointment, made the appt and hung up.I told the person at the counter I specifically asked for the appt at the southside clinic. After getting no response for 1-2 minutes I was told I could wait and they could probably see me. However she said it might a while. I sat down and after 45 minutes of waiting, having seen no one leave the lab, I got up and left. I’m grateful I didn’t have an immediate problem to take care of. I would have passed away and they probably would not have noticed.

The lack of interest in solving my dilemma and the rude treatment I received has me still upset.

Absolutely no customer service and rude to boot.

I had medical appointment in Jan 18, 2021. After receiving the bill ($566.47) I set up payment plan for the balance as I could not pay it all at once. I missed the first payment in March by accident but each month thereafter (April/May) the agreed to payment amount was paid on time. On June 1, 2021, I received a letter dated May 25 indicating my balance was sent to collections. There was no attempt prior to this letter to contact me regarding the balance or discuss a different payment plan or the fact they planned to send this to collections.

First, collections negatively affects credit scores which can affect people already in a financial bind. Aurora has the audacity to state "Our approach keeps people in our minds and at the heart of everything we do. We treat each person as a person, not as a patient, an illness or an appointment." However as their actions stated here that is not the case.

Why would Aurora use collections if a person already has a payment plan in place? Also, collections agencies either charge a fee or purchase debt at a reduced rate from a business to make money. Why not just offer that credit to the person already making regular scheduled and agreed upon payments so their bill is lower and gets paid off faster?

Second, on the back of the bill the following statement exists: As a result of a policy change effective 2/11/2020, Aurora Health Care and any collections agencies acting on Aurora Health Care's behalf will not pursue money judgements, wage garnishments OR lien attachments to assets. Credit reporting will not take place until at least 240 days after the date of your first post-discharge billing statement, and never when you have financial assistance application in pending status."

I had a pair of orthodontics made which I picked up 11/29/19. I was told if they caused me problems to come back in for an adjustment. After trying them I could not wear them.
I went in again on 1/6/20 and they basically put a bandaid (mole skin in my shoe ) and had me walk back and forth. I later seen that I received a bill. I called and stated I have a letter from the therapist stating that I get a followup within 60days with no charge. Well as you can guess. After going through all the reviews of course I'm getting charged... Time to switch to Froedart.

Revdex.com of Wisconsin February RE: Aurora Health Care complaint [redacted] Revdex.com personnel, Attempts to reach *** have been unsuccessful so the attached letter has been mailed to her todayUnless she contacts Aurora, we respectfully ask for this complaint to be closed since we haven't been able to reach her

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below I understand the billing department is saying there is nothing they can do at this pointAnd I appreciate them ensuring my bill is not sent to third party collectionsHowever, I do not intend to accept that my visit cannot be recoded as a physicalThe record from my visit clearly states as the first thing on the page that I was there for a physicalTwo nurses and two office employees have verified this to meI was told a complaint would be filed on my behalf with Aurora Administration by the Account Specialist I spoke with on June She said a supervisor would be required to contact meToday is June and I have had no contact or confirmation that a complaint was actually filedIf the complaint does not result in recoding my visit, I will be consulting an attorney Regards, [redacted]

Revdex.com of Wisconsin January RE: Aurora Health Care complaint [redacted] Revdex.com personnel, We've made contact with [redacted] and her concerns center around two issues; how a visit to an Aurora clinic was processed and a how a credit was applied to her account The specific location [redacted] went to is a walk in clinic that can provide care comparable to urgent care but it is not credentialed as an urgent care facility nor does it have a tax ID that specifies an urgent care locationAs such, [redacted] 's visit was billed to her insurance as an office visit and it cannot be rebilled as urgent care to her insuranceShe now understands this but is still disappointed in having to pay a larger than expected amount With regards to her concern involving a credit, in August an overpayment to a collection agency resulted in a credit of $ [redacted] was unaware of this credit and while disputing the balance from the above clinic visit it was applied without her knowledgeThe clinic visit charges totaled $322.73; after the credit the balance was $Per her request, we are able to refund the $credit but that will increase the balance back to the original amount of $ [redacted] was notified the credit will be returned and of the balance increase; she was receptive of the information but didn't specify if she would pay the balance Our process is to bill patients for six consecutive months and at that time, any unpaid amounts will be placed with a third party collection agencyIf [redacted] decides to pay the bill we are happy to offer an interest free payment plan where she can manage the payments each monthIt is our hope she will consider this optionPlease accept this response to her complaint

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below Here is why I do not accept that my coding cannot be changedI had my records pulled for the appointment in questionThe first thing it says is that "Patient presents with: Physical." The scheduling staff verified my appointment was scheduled as a complete physical exam and that the appointment was COMPLETED as a physicalThe preventive exam from November was with my OB/GYN which is totally different and my insurance fully covers an annual well woman visit, which is what I had in November, as well as an annual routine physicalBoth are 100% covered with no copayI verified this with my insuranceSo, my appointment was scheduled as a physical, I received a physical (had to change into a gown and get breathing checked, etc.)Both nurses in Dr [redacted] 's office verified the computer shows I came for a physicalBoth women at the scheduling desk also confirmed this as wellSo, the doctor seems to be the only one not on boardAnd, if, for some reason, she didn't perform every function that is part of a physical exam, then that is malpractice or something because I scheduled a physical and should have received one (which I believe I did)When I saw her in past years for annual follow-ups to my hypertension, I never had to change into a gown and have anything else about myself checkedLike Aurora pointed out, an Account Specialist with Aurora has or will be filing a complaint on my behalf with Aurora AdministrationI spoke with the Account Specialist last Friday, so I don't know if this has been filed yetI intend to take this as far as I need to in order to get it resolvedMostly out of principle, but also because I shouldn't have to pay anything for this visit, plus I don't want to lose my wellness incentive payment from my employer hat I will get for having my annual physical Regards, [redacted]

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.My husband maintains that his discussions with the doctor about his weight were neither lengthy nor in-depthIt may have been the only additional topic to have come up in conversation since he generally does not have any other problems with his healthHe scheduled this appointment as a yearly examThat is what it should have been billed asHe was there no longer than minutesIt is insane that a patient need worry about talking about any subject with their doctor for too long for fear that the visit could be coded as some specialized serviceThis practice is called upcoding and it is unethical Regards, [redacted] ***

Revdex.com of Wisconsin June RE: Aurora Health Care complaint [redacted] Revdex.com, [redacted] 's concern with the coding for her disputed visit was reviewed prior to this complaint being filed, but another review was recently conducted again [redacted] insists she verified with the office staff the visit was for her annual preventative physical and a physical was completed but unfortunately, the documentation does not support this Per the documentation, a complete physical was not done and discussion during the visit centered on another pre-existing condition [redacted] also had a physical exam completed five months prior in November Typically insurance companies will only allow a preventative visit to be billed once yearly but she says the Novvisit was not with her primary care physician (PCP) so she believes both would've been covered as preventative Based on the information above, [redacted] was contacted and informed the coding can't be changedSince filing this complaint [redacted] has had additional contact with Aurora and filed a separate complaint internallyThat complaint is currently pending review but she will be contacted with the outcome when the review is completedThe balance remains on her account but we will not pursue collection activity during this time

Revdex.com of Wisconsin April RE: Aurora Health Care complaint [redacted] Revdex.com personnel, [redacted] has been contacted regarding her complaint and an attempt was made to clarify and explain the billing for this visit but unfortunately [redacted] didn't accept it The location *** went to in September is a walk up clinic that is capable of providing urgent care service but it is not a free standing urgent care clinicThat specific location is a satellite location of, and owned by StLuke's hospital and as such, a visit there is billed as visit to StLuke'sThere is signage present at the clinic to inform patients of this and patients are also encouraged to review their coverage benefitsThe $in question was assessed by ***'s insurance to her deductible and payment in that amount was received March Despite these efforts [redacted] continues to believe that Aurora took advantage by not disclosing how the visit would be billedShe insists no one told her she would be charged for a hospital visit and eventually said she had to leave and ended the call

Revdex.com of Wisconsin November RE: Aurora Health Care complaint [redacted] Revdex.com, Our office received a call from [redacted] regarding his disputed doctor visitHe restated much of the same information provided by his wife and the initial complaint but he also said the discussion of weight didn't come up until the end of the visit with the doctor and was only briefly mentioned in passing [redacted] was informed of the efforts we took to secure payment from his insurance and was also informed they have continued to uphold their denial of the claimThe options of an appeal separate from Aurora's and/or a payment plan for the $balance still remain but [redacted] was also informed that the only way the coding for his visit can be changed would be for the doctor to amend the record of the visitIn that scenario, a new claim could then be submitted to his insurance but it is worth mentioning again that our professional coding staff has already reviewed the coding and determined it was accurateIt must also be mentioned that we respectfully disagree with his wife [redacted] 's assessment that this visit was up coded to be more profitable [redacted] was receptive to the information given to him and plans to contact the doctor, but at this time the $balance still remainsUnless the record is amended with a new claim being sent, his insurance reprocesses the claim or [redacted] makes payment there is no further option we have availablePlease accept this message as our attempt to resolve this complaint

RevDex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. This business did not resolve my complaint by failing to provide detailed information on charges, specifically what doctor or health care facility I visited, what the results of the visit were, etc. At the end of any visit with a doctor, I am always in receipt of a printed copy of the health issue, the resolution of the health issue, doctor's name, visit location, and more. Aurora was unable to provide this information to me. And, more importantly, since I paid all charges (even those I disputed), they did not remove their report from my credit history, which, of course, damages my credit. I continue to ask them to remove the derogatory remarks from my credit report and confirm that my balance with them is currently zero. Regards, [redacted] ***

Revdex.com of Wisconsin February RE: Aurora Health Care complaint [redacted] Revdex.com personnel, From the limited information available, it appears [redacted] may not be aware that our billing system attempts to apply payment to the oldest date of service first so a payment may not be applied as intendedWe also attempt to not bill a patient until a claim has been processed by their insurance first so depending on how long that takes, it's possible that specific visits or charges may not be billed in the sequence they occurred in Unfortunately we have been unable to reach [redacted] to discuss her concerns in greater detail so the attached letter has been sent to herPlease accept this feedback as a resolution to her complaint

Revdex.com of Wisconsin April RE: Aurora Health Care complaint [redacted] Revdex.com, Despite ***'s continued rejections of our responses, our position on this matter remains unchanged We are aware that we were asked to provide proof the previously mentioned signage was present at the time of her visitThe signage has been present for years at all locations but specifically for the location [redacted] visited, there is signage at each individual cubicle where patients are registered and there is a sign near the entrance of the facility when patients come to the desk to be seen that states "Urgent Care and Radiology of Aurora StLuke's Medical Center" Since there is no balance on the account for the visit and we have clearly outlined our attempts to inform patients of the billing beforehand, we again respectfully consider this matter to be resolvedThere is no new or additional information that can be presented that hasn't already been provided

Revdex.com of Wisconsin December RE: Aurora Health care complaint [redacted] Revdex.com, We have spoken to [redacted] regarding her concerns and this matter has been successfully addressed As [redacted] stated Aurora has several billing systems currently in use and she has arrangements for herself and/or other family members to pay accounts in multiple systemsSince Aurora is in the final stages of moving all billing activity into one system, the two older billing systems are being phased out and will no longer be used Specifically for patients like [redacted] who are still paying balances in the older systems, those payments can no longer be made online via Aurora's website or phone systemAttempts were made to contact patients who would be impacted and as the accounts transition to our partner company, there will be additional attempts made to contact the patients and inform them of the changes taking placeWhile it is true that payment for accounts in the older systems can no longer be made through Aurora's website, it must be stated that all arrangements that were previously established will still be honoredWe have just simply reached a point that Aurora has given the responsibility of managing the payment activity to another party Though she was still upset over how the changes were implemented [redacted] was receptive to the explanation givenPlease accept this notice as resolution of her complaint

Revdex.com of Wisconsin December RE: Aurora Health Care complaint [redacted] Revdex.com personnel, Since receiving his complaint we've been unable to reach [redacted] by phone but we have the following update to provide As he stated, [redacted] lives in California and wants a claim sent to his insurance from his visit to our facilityOur records indicate we contacted his Medi-Cal insurance back in October and discovered it is Medicaid coverage for the sate of CaliforniaUnfortunately we are unable to bill Medicaid coverage for a state we do not provide service in and as a result, [redacted] would be responsible for the charges but we were able to extend a discount to him since his insurance couldn't be billed [redacted] says he has never received detailed billing information for his visit but we do have record that this information was provided to him twice in November via email and paper hardcopyLastly but perhaps most importantly, [redacted] has paid the majority of the balanceOnly $remains from the initial $beginning balance and we have received payment as recently as the third of this monthIf [redacted] satisfies the remaining $the account will be paid in full Please accept this information as our request to consider this complaint closed

Revdex.com of Wisconsin January RE: Aurora Health Care complaint [redacted] Revdex.com personnel, Unfortunately [redacted] has again rejected our response to her complaint but there is no new or additional information that we have to shareWe have already provided a detailed summary of the events surrounding the payment in question and our immediate response, the funds inadvertently withdrawn from their account were returned and all this activity took place nearly three months agoWe sincerely apologize to [redacted] and [redacted] once again for any hardship they may have endured but there is simply nothing more that we have to say on this matter

Revdex.com of Wisconsin January RE: Aurora Health Care complaint [redacted] Revdex.com personnel, We are aware that [redacted] continues to dispute the amount billed to him and has rejected our reply to his complaintUnfortunately this leaves us at an impasse for this matter It is very clearly understood that [redacted] disagrees with the billing for his visit but Aurora operates under guidelines established by the American Medical Association and the practice of billing fracture care as a bundle of anticipated visits is an accepted practiceIf [redacted] were to have went to another provider and received the exact same service it likely would have been billed in the exact same manner for this reason Since filing his complaint [redacted] has paid the balance in fullWe thank him for doing so and though he disagrees with our position it was never our intent to financially take advantage of him and we do not feel as though we haveDespite being employees of Aurora Health Care, each individual here would also be subject to the same billing protocol as [redacted] under this scenario

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.Just because there is now a sign does not mean that there was one when I went months ago. Like I had explained to ***, the clinic personnel could have taken extra breathes and told the patients this when we came for service. A sign on a door, which I still don't know that it was there months ago, does not help. If a person needs to get help from an URGENT CARE facility and that is what it states on the door and that is what my insurance believes it to be, that is what it should be, an URGENT CARE!! (That is what it is classified as on myuhc.com's website since I wouldn't have gone there without their advice) These are the things that I tried explaining to ***, however, he didn't want to hear anything that I had to say and just kept repeating, well there is a sign and this is how it is. No, that is not a fair business practice, no matter how many times in the minutes that I was on the phone with him that he told me this. Yes, I had to go, because it was o'clock in the afternoon and I had to feed my children, which is what I told him. I also said we could talk about it later. I still feel the same way I did prior to talking to him that their practice is unfair and needs to be addressed. They can't just place a sign (which I still contend may not have even been there) and think that is sufficient). I could have driven miles down the road and gotten the same service for my sinus infection that I did at this clinic, the minute conversation in which the doctor gave me an antibiotic and sent me on my way
Regards,
*** ***