BJC Healthcare

I had my left knee replaced at *** which is part of the BJC Healthcare network on June 28th 2018. I have been making $25.00 payments every month since receiving my first billing statement. I requested financial assistance and had not received a bill since applying. I received from BJC Healthcare on 1/22/2019 stating that I had been approved for financial assistance that reduced my bill to $663.10, but had not ever received another billing statement. Then today I received a Collection notice from *** phone ***. BJC Healthcare did not even contact me to let me know that there was a problem with my payment arrangements. They just turned me over to a collection agency without sending me a billing statement. The Account#*** from *** date of service was 6/28/2018 balance due is $663.10. As you know this is not my first complaint against BJC Billing. I am so tired of BJC billing giving me such treatment. I have always paid my bills on time when they do send me monthly statements, but they did not bother to send me a statement after I was approved for financial assistance. But instead sent me straight to COLLECTIONS!!! That is not the way to treat Customers at all.

I visited BJC Medical Group (BJCMG) Cardiology as a new patient on 5/21/2018. Following my exam by the cardiologist, three diagnostic tests were ordered. I requested the billing codes for these tests from the office's schedule, explaining that I would need them to determine my out-of-pocket liability from the insurance company. She wrote these codes down on "Patient Visit Summary" form with a billing code written next to each test description. I subsequently provided these codes to my insurance company and was given an estimate for my out-of-pocket costs. Based on that estimate (approx. $500-$600) I decided to go forward with the tests.

Weeks later I received a bill from BJC Healthcare for $412.75. It included line items for the new patient exam and the diagnostic tests. That bill was paid in full.

I subsequently received a *secondbill from BJC Healthcare in the amount of $3,254.73.

After a number of calls to BJCMG Cardiology and the Billing department (along with some googling related to medical billing codes), I determined that I had been given only a partial list of the applicable billing codes by BJCMG Cardiology's scheduler (again, I have this list *in writing*). The scheduler had provided three "professional" codes for the tests but had failed to provide the corresponding "facility" codes.

Obviously, the dollar estimate given to me by my insurance company would have been much higher if these "facility" codes had been included. The difference between $500 and $3700 ($500 + $3,200) is substantial - approximately 7X - and, given the much larger dollar amount, I would not have gone forward with the full complement of tests ordered cardiologist.

I've had a number of discussions with BJC Medical Group Billing about this. My position is that this was a mistake on the part of BJCMG Cardiology and BJCMG Cardiology should be responsible for the dollar amount associated with the codes they failed to provide. BJCMG Cardiology has refused to accept responsibility.

Barnes is horrible. Constant insurance fraud. Made us be admitted to the hospital just to get a MRI in a reasonable amount of time. In addition would not prescribe external release pain meds, without being admitted to the hospital. This is asinine and should not be allowed or tolerated. They just want the insurance money and could care less about their patients.

A year ago, I went to this hospital. They have sent me a bill for $348. I got the statement from the insurance company and it showed that I only owed $76.58. I paid the $348 because I didn't want it to affect my credit. I have called and sent them the statement from the insurance company that shows what I really owed. I gave them the breakdown of the charges and credits. No one at *** is helping me. They give me other phone numbers to call and I'm not getting anywhere with anyone. Nobody is telling me anything and they are telling me it is going towards another account. I was making payments on the other account. Both of my accounts with them are paid in full. I don't understand why they would apply any money towards another account when I was contacting them regarding this account number.

I kept receiving bills for $25 from BJC for visiting ***, an ENT. I was told by *** office that these bills were in error and it would be worked out. I finally just paid the $25 about a month ago and can show that in my bank statement. Then I received a $25 reimbursement check from BJC due to being charged erroneously. Then today, I got a threatening letter from a collection agency for the $25.

This is very bad for a person to be reported to a collection agency you for $25 they never owed.

I had an appointment scheduled with the Nuerology department for today, October 10th at 1:00 pm. I took off of work, took my child out of school and arrived early. Only to be informed that the appointment was rescheduled, no one bothered to call and notify me that the appointment was rescheduled, not evenan automated message. It is a waste of my medical leave and my son's attendance record will have an unexcused absence due to negligence on the behalf of hospital personnel. This is very disappointing.

I do not have any missed callsor messages from Nuerology, I scheduled this appointment back in June 2018.

Received a call from Barnes Jewish Hospital. Offered to give them a payment over the phone. She took my credit card information and said she couldn't provide me with a confirmation number or proof of payment. I told her (***) that was not acceptable and I was not comfortable giving her my credit card info with nothing in return. I want a receipt for my $5 payment to show it was processed with ***. *** also needs to learn customer service.

In October the ambulance service came and got me from my home. There were two service guys. As they began to take me down the stairs, the guy on the back of me grabbed the stair rail and broke it.

Very professional,friendly and helpful with knowledge from stuff,will always go there for any health problems and needs.
Thank you all

I have been going to the same doctor at the Missouri Baptist campus for more than 20 years. Today, I called in an attempt to pay my bill. I waited more than 17 minutes--after having going through the prompts. Finally a person came on. She was in a hurry and didn't want to hear me complain about the length of time it took to get to her.

The billing is terrible. I have receipts with account numbers and dates of service in the memos and it is still messed up. UNBELIEVABLE! Doctors are good, but billing is horrible.

I have 2 separate bills (one for date of service 09/07/17 & one for date of service 08/16/17). I was told despite me putting in the memo which accounts they are for and dates of service, they will just apply to whatever they want and now I am being turned to collections despite technically being over paid but still owing them money. I have receipts that add up with authorization #'s. What is the point of noting these on there and paying separate for each and being billed separate for each if you are just going to put them wherever you feel like it? This is not right. Each date of service should be billed separate so charges are not just applied how ever the processor desires.

I had surgery on 02/02/2015-02/03/2015. I had an insurance that paid 120% of what medicare allowed. When the insurance sent the check to the hospital there were terms in with the check that if they cashed the check they would accept terms. The original bill was $31,875.54. The insurance paide $11,445.93 and according to my EOB I was left with $2,278.26. The hospital will not do there discount and is trying to bill me for 20,429.61. My insurance has sent them letters stating if they didn't agree to terms to refund the check, they have not. I have had numerous conversations with them and nothing seems to be getting done. They sent me to one collections company then withdrew it and now are sending me to another which says they are going to sue. I would just like to get this resolved but I guess it is not going to. I had a stent procedure back in 2013 and went through the same billing issues and they wrote it off. We just received a bill for my wife that is incorrect. There billing practices ***.

I am writing in regards as to what happened with my Father at Barnes Jewish Hospital.
On November 27 2017 my Father fell at home and a big knot formed on the side of his head so I took him to Memorial Hospital in Belleville Illinois. We live in Fairview Heights Illinois and this hospital is close to us. Memorial Hospital took an MRI and said that there was blood on his brain and that he would need to be moved to Barnes. I do not drive in Missouri and tried to see if they could move him to St. Elizabeths hospital in O'Fallon Illinos which is also close to us. They said St. Elizabeths would not take him and I would have to have him moved to Barnes so they could watch him for 24 hours and that he would be taken by ambulance over there and brought back due to my not driving in Missouri. I agreed and he was taken over there. My sister who lives in Keyesport Illinois drove down to get me and we found our way to Barnes the next day. My Father was in ICU and was so out of it, they had him in mittens and restrained, he could hardly talk and wasnt making any sense due to dehydratinon I believe. I could not believe what I was seeing because the day before he could talk, walk and eat regular food. The team came to his room and invited my sister and I out to listen to what they were discussing. The Doctor was looking at my Dads MRI and had his face right up to the picture and said he was looking for the bleed, he couldnt see it. So after hearing that I asked if he could be moved back to Memorial which is closer to home so that he could be fed and hydrated and return home. They said that some Doctor would not release him because Barnes was a #1 hospital and Memorial was a lower level and it would be like they were throwing him away. I dont understand this because he was in there for blood on the brain which they couldnt see and I his family member and Power of Attorney was requesting this. They said that if I wanted him returned to Memorial I would have to pay the ambulance bill which could be $10,000 and that Medicare and his Insurance might not pay the bill. They had a young lady come in while he was in ICU to check his swallowing, I dont know why this had to happen as he was suppose to be in for observation. She said he was having trouble swallowing because he would cough after drinking water, I told her he does that at home because he has COPD and she just smiled and said they didnt want him to aspirate. So she said he could have liquids with this stuff that would thicken it. Then another young lady came in from physical therapy and all she did was ask him some questions and sat him on the edge of the bed. Some therapy. Then they said they would move him to the hospital part of the hospital and things would move more swiftly. We went the next day and they had the mittens still on him, restraints and a catheter. A social worker came in and suggested getting him moved to a Rehab Center. I said okay and wanted him moved to Memorial Care Rehab in Belleville Illinois. I went home and remembered there was a nice rehab center in Swansea Illinois so the next day I asked her to change it to Rosewood Care Center and she said okay and came back a little later and said it had changed to another name but it was very rated very highly so I said okay. Well when I went home it was not rated very highly but very low so I called immediately to get it changed back to Memorial Care. When she called me she wanted to know how I found out about the other one being reviewed so low. I told her I simply typed in the name and it came up low review. So she said he should be moved on Friday December 1 but it would probably be in the afternoon. On Friday I received a call from Jackie a nurse practitioner and she said Dad was still confused and needed a couple more days but would be moved on Monday December 4. Monday came and I called to see if he was going to be moved and they said there were no plans in place and that he was going to have a Barium test for his swallowing. Again he was in for a brain bleed that they couldnt see. I told the nurse I would be over in the morning to get him out and that I didnt want him to have the Barium test. So on Tuesday December 5 my sister and I went over to get him out. There was a big hoopla over that, again I was threatened that Medicare and his Insurance might not pay the bill. They kept saying they had to go to the Social Worker and let her know what was happening and then a Doctor came in and talked with us and said his catheter would have to be left in and that when he ate we would have to be in the room with him and that they wanted to send home a canister of oxygen. I said no because he doesnt use oxygen all of the time and that it was only a 25 minute drive. They said it would be okay but did we have oxygen at home and I said yes he has an oxygen machine that he uses when he feels he needs to not all of the time. They said they didnt know that and I said nobody ever asked! Well they agreed to let him go and said I would have to sign some paper so I said okay. We waited over 2 hours for these papers which I think they were making us wait until after 12 so they could get paid for another day. We finally took him and left. The next day a case worker came to the house and said someone reported me as abusing my Dad, the one reason she gave was because I wouldnt take that canister of oxygen. Anyway my Dad made it home fine but is very afraid of falling now and somewhat confused, he is not the same man I sent over there that is for sure. They never got him up once to walk him and it seemed like they had him in there and didnt want to let him go. I believe they discovered he had Medicare and good insurance and wanted to get as much out of them as possible.So if you would look into this I would appreciate it . This was the worst experience I have ever had with a hospital and I thought Barnes was suppose to be such a #1 hospital. I do not consider them #1 at all.

In late September I received a bill for $9988.25 for a procedure performed on October 23, 2015. Despite numerous attempts I have been unable to get anyone at BJC to help me resolve this issue. I contacted my insurance carrier who paid the debt in 2015 and they stated that one a recent audit found it had been coded incorrectly and they had withdrawn their payment from BJC. BJC is now holding me responsible for the payment. I have spoken with several people at BJC asking them to review their billing and coding and I can't get anyone to call me back and provide me with a resolution.

I have requested a 3 way call with BJC and *** to identify exactly what *** is requiring in the billing, but again, no one at BJC will assist me or return my calls.

Horrible billing practice, payment plan set for $ 50.00 a month. Paid on time each month, only $100.xx remaining and BJC Healthcare sent my account to an outside debt collector for no obvious reason other than they made a mistake and don't want to admit their error. (Their records clearly show all payments made, including the most recent payment made on or about 09/15/2017. 2 weeks thereafter the account was sent to collections ) WHY!! This account was not delinquent!! Not too mention I had to call on (2) separate occasions, because I never received a bill. Left a message for a supervisor in billing to return my call which never came. Very unprofessional - This place needs an overhaul from upper management.

We took my son, ***, to the emergency room at *** on 4/8/2017. My insurance requires a copay of $125 for ER visits, which I paid in full via credit card at the front desk upon discharge that same day.

A month or so later, I received a bill in the mail for the $125 copay. I called them, talked to *** (***@bjc.org), and she said they had no record of me paying it. I said they should check with the hospital desk, and she indicated they might, but insisted the burden of proof was on me to show that I had paid it. I found this to be quite poor customer service. After waiting a month or so and being convinced they were not going to do their due diligence and resolve it with the hospital, I reluctantly sent a credit card statement via email to ***'s email as she had requested. I never received a reply. A week or two later my wife received a call from ostensibly a collection agency about the $125 amount they claimed was still due. She told them everything I already had, and that we had sent in the credit card statement, and they refused to listen to her. She could only leave them with the promise that they were free to waste their own time and money if they so choose, but there was nothing more we could do.

This morning (10/9), I called the billing department one more time, and talked to a ***, who verified a plethora of personal information, put me on hold for some time, then appeared to have found some notes and only said I should call the central billing office at ***. I then called that number, got connected to a representative who not only said she had ZERO notes that anyone had ever called before about this bill, but then flat out refused to discuss it with me saying I wasn't authorized to discuss my son's medical records (even though I'm the FATHER and all the previous agents in all other calls had no issue with it). I pressed on regardless, re-telling her the summary of the situation and saying this is my last attempt, and if you aren't going to resolve this, I'm just going to throw any future bills in the trash. The agent then cut me off with a rude tone saying "have a nice day" and then promptly hung up on me.

There is nothing more I can do with these people. This is utterly absurd. Everyone is either incompetent or rude, and I'VE ALREADY PAID THE BILL.

Has charged me several times for services that I am not responsible for. I will never use their network again!