Blue Sky Animal Clinic

[redacted] Revdex.comS County Rd 5, Ste 100Fort Collins, CO 80528February 9, 2017Dear [redacted] ,I opened your letter this morning regarding the complaint that was submitted on 1/23/with an ID of [redacted] I scanned the clinic’s emails and do not see that we received a notice via email The following is Blue Sky Animal Clinic’s response to the complaint.DrR [redacted] did complete a full physical examination of the pet on 1/16/17, during which time she also took fine needle aspirates of the mass to collect samples, stained the slides and looked at them under the microscope and determined that the cells were aband recommended sending them into ***’s Diagnostic Laboratory The total charged for performing these three services was $ On the pet’s report card it did state that we would call her back on Thursday with the results and discuss options for surgery then We have a designated staff member who personally drives [redacted] samples to the diagnostic Laboratory on Tuesdays and Thursdays We choose to drive these samples there personally to save our client’s money as our regular laboratory costs more for these same tests The sample should have gone out on Tuesday; however, the designated staff member happened to be out of the office for Jury duty.I am the practice manager at Blue Sky Animal Clinic and I answered the client’s phone call on Thursday, 1/19/17, between and in the afternoon The client told me that [redacted] said they had not received the sample under her name; I placed her on hold to check on the sample’s status This is when it came to my attention that we still had the sample in the clinic I apologized and explained our policy and found someone to take the sample right away I stated that we would only charge what [redacted] was charging us for the sample During this conversation with the client, they also said that I and everyone else they dealt with had been very kind besides the receptionist who had previously answered the phone that morning; the receptionist seemed short with her I apologized for this and promised that I would address this issue.After the phone call, I addressed the above mentioned issues internally Next, I called ***, told them the sample was on its way and asked them to mark it STAT About an hour and a half after the phone conversation with the client I also received an email asking us to mark the sample as STAT I responded via email, in which I apologized again, told her I was addressing the issues internally, the sample had been delivered to the diagnostic lab, that I had already called and asked the lab to mark it STAT, and that Blue Sky will cover this charge.Later that afternoon, DrR [redacted] received a phone call from the diagnostic lab’s pathologist, saying that the cells are concerning and that when we remove the mass and send it in for histopathology that they would like to include it in a study and they would not charge for the histopathology DrR [redacted] called the client, apologized again for the delay, relayed the results and that the histopathology would not be charged The patient’s record does state that [redacted] would be covering the histopathology’s cost and the client unfortunately must have misunderstood DrR [redacted] when relayed this to her DrR [redacted] scheduled the mass removal for the very next day Later that evening, I received another call from the client; the client was concerned that our Treatment Plan was double the cost of one she received from another clinic I first looked at the treatment plan for the mass removal and relayed to the client that it is not double the amount I then explained that it is hard to give an exact comparison to the other clinic’s Treatment Plan without it in front of me as I do not know the exact services and medications that they are offering At Blue Sky, we strive to do the healthiest and safest treatments for the pets that we see and often do more than other clinics to ensure their safety; therefore we may appear to cost more I told the client that if they could get a more detailed Treatment Plan from the other clinic stating what costs were associated with each item I would gladly go over it more in depth I started to explain why each item on our treatment plan was important and the costs associated with them; however she only let me get through our blood work, IV catheter, and anesthesia, the client said they would call the other clinic and see what was included The client called back and cancelled the surgery with one of our receptionists shortly after I talked to them.The next afternoon, the client called me back The surgery on the pet was completed at the other clinic and everything went well The client was disappointed in the care she received and was wondering if we could discount her visit any further than what we were planning on doing for the cytology I told the client I would have to discuss this with DrR***, as she did perform these services I told the client I would call back when I received the bill from ***, as I would not know the whole amount from the cytology until that time The client asked when that would be and I said invoices usually take a couple weeks The client asked about checking in with me on Monday, 1/23/17, I said I likely will not have it by then but that it was fine DrR [redacted] did email the client on 1/26/asking how the pet was and wondering if she had received any information on the histopathology results Since talking to the client I have been looking for the invoice from [redacted] so that I can resolve this matter fully I have not received any other communications from the client until opening the complaint letter this morning from the Revdex.com The invoice from [redacted] was sent via email on 2/7/17, which I did not review until today, 2/9/17.Our usual turnaround time for cytology samples is to days Due to the delay on our side we are willing to cover the cost of both our cytology services as well as those completed at ***.Thank you,Karmen T***Blue Sky Animal Clinic

[redacted]Revdex.com8020 S County Rd 5, Ste 100Fort Collins, CO 80528February 9, 2017Dear [redacted],I opened your letter this morning regarding the complaint that was submitted on 1/23/2017 with an ID of [redacted].  I scanned the clinic’s emails and do not see that we...

received a notice via email.  The following is Blue Sky Animal Clinic’s response to the complaint.Dr. R[redacted] did complete a full physical examination of the pet on 1/16/17, during which time she also took fine needle aspirates of the mass to collect samples, stained the slides and looked at them under the microscope and determined that the cells were abnormal and recommended sending them into [redacted]’s Diagnostic Laboratory.  The total charged for performing these three services was $140.  On the pet’s report card it did state that we would call her back on Thursday with the results and discuss options for surgery then.  We have a designated staff member who personally drives [redacted] samples to the diagnostic Laboratory on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  We choose to drive these samples there personally to save our client’s money as our regular laboratory costs more for these same tests.  The sample should have gone out on Tuesday; however, the designated staff member happened to be out of the office for Jury duty.I am the practice manager at Blue Sky Animal Clinic and I answered the client’s phone call on Thursday, 1/19/17, between 1 and 2 in the afternoon.    The client told me that [redacted] said they had not received the sample under her name; I placed her on hold to check on the sample’s status.  This is when it came to my attention that we still had the sample in the clinic.  I apologized and explained our normal policy and found someone to take the sample right away.  I stated that we would only charge what [redacted] was charging us for the sample.  During this conversation with the client, they also said that I and everyone else they dealt with had been very kind besides the receptionist who had previously answered the phone that morning; the receptionist seemed short with her.  I apologized for this and promised that I would address this issue.After the phone call, I addressed the above mentioned issues internally.  Next, I called [redacted], told them the sample was on its way and asked them to mark it STAT.  About an hour and a half after the phone conversation with the client I also received an email asking us to mark the sample as STAT.  I responded via email, in which I apologized again, told her I was addressing the issues internally, the sample had been delivered to the diagnostic lab, that I had already called and asked the lab to mark it STAT, and that Blue Sky will cover this charge.Later that afternoon, Dr. R[redacted] received a phone call from the diagnostic lab’s pathologist, saying that the cells are concerning and that when we remove the mass and send it in for histopathology that they would like to include it in a study and they would not charge for the histopathology.   Dr. R[redacted] called the client, apologized again for the delay, relayed the results and that the histopathology would not be charged.  The patient’s record does state that [redacted] would be covering the histopathology’s cost and the client unfortunately must have misunderstood Dr. R[redacted] when relayed this to her.  Dr. R[redacted] scheduled the mass removal for the very next day.  Later that evening, I received another call from the client; the client was concerned that our Treatment Plan was double the cost of one she received from another clinic.  I first looked at the treatment plan for the mass removal and relayed to the client that it is not double the amount.  I then explained that it is hard to give an exact comparison to the other clinic’s Treatment Plan without it in front of me as I do not know the exact services and medications that they are offering.  At Blue Sky, we strive to do the healthiest and safest treatments for the pets that we see and often do more than other clinics to ensure their safety; therefore we may appear to cost more.  I told the client that if they could get a more detailed Treatment Plan from the other clinic stating what costs were associated with each item I would gladly go over it more in depth.   I started to explain why each item on our treatment plan was important and the costs associated with them; however she only let me get through our blood work, IV catheter, and anesthesia, the client said they would call the other clinic and see what was included.  The client called back and cancelled the surgery with one of our receptionists shortly after I talked to them.The next afternoon, the client called me back.  The surgery on the pet was completed at the other clinic and everything went well.  The client was disappointed in the care she received and was wondering if we could discount her visit any further than what we were planning on doing for the cytology.  I told the client I would have to discuss this with Dr. R[redacted], as she did perform these services.  I told the client I would call back when I received the bill from [redacted], as I would not know the whole amount from the cytology until that time.  The client asked when that would be and I said invoices usually take a couple weeks.  The client asked about checking in with me on Monday, 1/23/17, I said I likely will not have it by then but that it was fine.  Dr. R[redacted] did email the client on 1/26/17 asking how the pet was and wondering if she had received any information on the histopathology results.  Since talking to the client I have been looking for the invoice from [redacted] so that I can resolve this matter fully.   I have not received any other communications from the client until opening the complaint letter this morning from the Revdex.com.  The invoice from [redacted] was sent via email on 2/7/17, which I did not review until today, 2/9/17.Our usual turnaround time for cytology samples is 4 to 5 days.  Due to the delay on our side we are willing to cover the cost of both our cytology services as well as those completed at [redacted].Thank you,Karmen T[redacted]Blue Sky Animal Clinic