Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron, Inc.

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/04/11) */
It is our policy to send a statement once insurance has paid and there is an outstanding self-pay balanceIf patient is on a statement cycle and a new account has a self-pay balance it will continue with the statement cycle in placeOur
statement cycles are every days
Our first three statements state "Please remit payment in full by the above due date or contact us at the phone number below to discuss a payment arrangements
Our fourth and final notice states "We can no longer keep this account active through our officeYou can solve this matter by making an immediate payment by calling the phone number below or your account will be transferred to a collection agencyUnfortunately, this may reflect negatively on your credit record."
As you can see below we did sent statements in a timely matter and provided the family four statement cycle to contact us to set up a payment arrangement or pay in full before we sent their accounts to bad debt
First date of service was 10/22/which insurance paid on 10/30/The 1st statement was sent to patient 11/29/for $267.31; 2nd sent 12/27/for $267.31; 3rd statement sent 1/24/for $239.49; 4th statement sent 2/21/for $213.39- This account went to collections on 3/21/
Second date of service was for 10/26/- 10/31/for therapyinsurance paid 11/12/and 1st statement went to patient on 11/29/for $28.29; 2nd statement on $28.29; 3rd statement on 1/24/for $25.35; 4th statement on 2/21/for $-- This account went to collections on 3/21/
Third account for date of service 10/27/was paid by insurance on 11/5/1st statement went 11/29/for $15; 2nd statement went 12/27/for $15; 3rd statement went on 1/24/for $13.44; 4th statement went on 2/21/for $---this account went to bad debt on 3/24/
Fourth account for dates of service 11/1/- 11/30/insurance paid on 12/11/1st statement sent 12/27/for $169.74; 2nd statement sent 1/24/for $152.06; 3rd statement went 2/21/for $135.49; 4th statement sent 3/20/for $
Please see attachment for all four statements sent
Payments received $check dated 1/11/16; $check dated 2/5/16; $check dated 3/4/
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2016/04/21) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
If a customer is making payments, I still don't understand why they are sent to collectionsThe forms that I got said the office is open until 4:Since my husband and I both work, we were unable to callMaking payments each time we received a statement, I was under the assumption that we could continue to pay
Health care giants like this don't seem to care about their clientsIf I were not a paying customer, I could see sending it to collectionsBut, we were paying and have always paid!
This is the 2nd time having a run in with the poor billing through this companySeveral times we have paid in the office and then were rebilled by this departmentThen I have to print off the bank statement that says I paid, highlight the amount paid, and send it inAt least one of the $copays were paid in the office, but as work is very busy this time of year, I did not feel up to the struggle of finding the statement, printing, buying stamps, and sendingThis office needs to get more efficient people

Response is attached December 20, 2016 RE: Revdex.com ID *** CHMCA ID *** & *** *** *** Thank you for
allowing me to assist you with your complaint.After reviewing the above accounts for your child (***) we found that there was no error on the part of Akron Children’s billing department, it was the way that the insurance (NGS) processed the claims. One of the Team Leads in Customer Service (Cassandra) called and spoke with your insurance company and NGS asked us to send the claims back through; this was done on 12/19/16. You did receive a statement showing a balance due of $but that was before we spoke with your insurance company. The accounts are no longer in self pay and are in the insurance status. You will not receive a statement unless the insurance doesn’t pay both of the accounts in full.If you have any other issues, please contact me directly at ***. Thank you, Vicki C***Customer Service, Billing/Collection Supervisor

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/12) */
Contact Name and Title: Vicki C***, Supervisor
Contact Phone: ***
Contact Email: ***
Revdex.com Akron
June 12,
Complaint Case #: ***
We want to thank the father of the patient for allowing
Akron Children's to provide care for his childWe would also like to thank him for allowing us to review his concern
Before the father contacted the Revdex.com, he first contacted Akron Children's Hospital to address his concernsThe manager of the department attempted to call him back and had to leave a messageHe didn't return her call
The family has a high deductible plan, therefore has outstanding balances for the therapyThe families concerns were sent to the department for reviewThe charges were correct and appropriatePer the Rehabilitation Supervisor the child benefited and improved a great deal from our care for her foot/ankle issueA PT in an outpatient clinic not attached to a hospital can charge the same number of unitsHowever, a free standing outpatient facility charges and is reimbursed 1/or 1/of what a hospital charges per unitTherefore, it appears that we are over chargingWhen the child was here the insurance was billed for skilled careWhile here she was supervised/corrected by a skilled PT
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/06/17) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I was in constant contact with the customer service department including Julie M*** (supervisor)I only ever received one call from her which I promptly returned within hour of receiving it
I'm not disputing that my child improved from the service receivedRather that the service is much more expensive than the market averageJust because it is a hospital does not mean that the service is worth more than a non-hospital equivalentAlso, had the charges been disclosed up front (i.ebefore it is too late to do anything about it), I never would have gone ahead with the service but would have immediately found an alternative
I do not accept that just because they are a hospital that 1) the care is superior and 2) that they should be charging more than market averages for a given service

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 13, 2016/03/08) */
(Revdex.com Copied from original documentSee attached file.)
February 4,
*** ***
Complaint #
Thank you for allowing us to review your concern regarding the account for your child
The account (***) was reviewed
by the department and with the Manager in Customer ServiceThe balance is $and is correct
The testing that was done was not a "normal" hearing testWe sent to you an itemization which shows the testing that was donePlease see below
Below is from the ENT department:
The department did confirm with audiology that the tests that were billed were done and confirmed with DrG*** that the tests that were done were medically necessary and he stated that the tests that he ordered are following medical guidelinesThe department explained to mom that we would not have any way of knowing what her deductible/ out of pocket was and that we would have no way of knowing what testing the provider would be ordering or how it is covered by her insurance
Below is from Customer service manager:
Spoke with Mom with regards to DOS 12/28/Mom states that she brought her child in and towards the end of the appointment mom was asked if she had any other concernsMom explained that her child did not pass the hearing test that the school providedThe office then took her child back and performed test and confirmed that he did have hearing lossMom was very upset and thought that our prices were too highI explained each charge the $her insurance allowable was $in which they paid $and applied $to deductible and applied $to co-insurance; Charge $her insurance allowable was $of which they paid $and applied $to
co-insurance; charge $her insurance allowable was $of which they paid $and applied $to deductible
The balance of $is duePlease call our payment team @ *** to pay in full or inquire if you are eligible for any assistance with your outstanding balance
Sincerely,
Vicki C***, Supervisor Customer Service

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2016/04/18) */
I need additional information to be able to research on this case#
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2016/04/20) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Visited
Childrens
Hospital
Date(s) of Service
***
Claim Number
***
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2016/04/22) */
Patients father called in to customer service on 11/18/with concerns as to how the services were coded and billedAfter the account was reviewed it is noted that the service were coded correctly and his insurance did cover all servicesHowever that left $towards patients deductible and then $towards patient co-insuranceIf the family had met their deductible the insurance would have allowed 86% of the charges only leave the patient with their coinsuranceAs for the deductible this is something that we can not control and the member needs to address with their insurance company
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 11, 2016/04/28) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I am not sure why I have to meet deductible to get discount.What you say implies if I didnt met my deductible you can and free to charge high amount up to I meet my deductibleI am not happy with the charges as I too work in Akron General/Cleveland Clinic hospital and I know how much are the charges for X-Ray.If its a reasonable amount I am happy to pay it off.Thank you for your time

I am rejecting this response because:
This response is being rejected because in speaking with my insurance company today (12/20), they confirmed there is no documented conversation or phone call as stated above from CassandreThat was confirmed by Coresource (Debbie) and OSU (Mary) directlyThe last note documented with the insurance company system is from me (Jodie), on 7/28/I have been advised by my insurance to appeal both these claimsHow are some doctors in this practice in network while others are not? Ex: DrFlinn is not Dr.Fain is) OSU also states this is a tax ID issueThat is not my issueI also request my bill be placed on hold until this is resolved with a letter stating such from Akron Children'sFinally, I have not received a call back from Akron regarding follow up with my numerous phone calls

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 12, 2016/06/22) */
***Document Attached***
(Revdex.com Copied from original document)
June 22,
Revdex.com of Akron
RE: Case # ***
Thank you for the opportunity to assist you with your daughter's account
It is my understanding that
DrJ*** had a conversation with you and went over the visit with you answering your questions
Please understand that the name of the provider was imputed in error and has been correctedIt was imputed as DrS*** and has been updated to show DrE***This error in no way affected the charges or the claimThe child was seen by an occupational therapistThis is in the documentation, which you can obtain through our Health Information Management Department
Michele S*** who is the Patient Relations Manager is out of the office till Monday and will give MrH*** a call at that timeI will be releasing the statement which has a balance of $todayMrH*** will need to call *** to pay this balance in full or ask for other options
Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions
Thank you,
Vicki C***
Customer Service, Billing/Collection Supervisor
***