I am writing to address the letter from patient [redacted] sent as complaint to the Revdex.comI will clearly outline our practices's policy for surgery scheduling and payment I will also include a detailed response from my staff to you in regards to [redacted] as well, as we all had a very intensive meeting going over this case in our officeIn addition, I understand that you have obtained a PRIVACY RELEASE OR HIPAA clearance from the patient to allow us this public disclosure and discussion regarding the patient TO BE CLEAR, THE PATIENT [redacted] HAS AGREED TO HAVING [redacted] PLASTIC SURGERY DISCUSS ANY PERTINENT MEDICAL INFORMATION WITH THE Revdex.com AND THE PUBLIC, AND THAT THE Revdex.com WILL ACCEPT FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS OPEN DISCUSSION AS YOU AND THE Revdex.com HAVE CLEARED THIS WITH THE PATIENT **.Our SCHEDULING AND PAYMENT POLICY:The patient electively schedules a consult for cosmetic plastic surgeryThis cost $and is subtracted from the surgery fee if she proceedsA thorough exam of the patient, from past medical history to his or her current condition is conducted The patient is eligible to schedule for surgery if she is deemed safe as a candidate(Another detailed preop exam will be done by the plastic surgeon as well as the hospital facility preop nursing team, and the preop anesthesia team, before the surgery can proceed The patient will also undergo laboratory tests including **C, Chem panel, Coag panel, EKG, UA, and any other tests needed for preop evaluationA clearance from the patient's primary care physician is also obtainedThe patient can also be referred to an internal medicine clinic for preop eval if she doesn't have her own PCP.)The patient then has a detailed meeting directly with a patient coordinatorSurgery, anesthesia fee, OR facility fee are all discussed in detailThe patient learns during this meeting that there is a NON REFUNDABLE deposit of 15% of the total surgery cost, which is necessary because she is committing the entire plastic surgery practice, the hospital facility team of nurses and OR scrub technicians, and the anesthesia team, as well as the OR preop team and the recovery room team, and the various scheduling departmentsWe make it VERY CLEAR to the patient that TO SCHEDULE SURGERY IS A COMMITMENT because of the amount of work and effort from so many peopleIf the patient decides to proceed, she commits to a non refundable15% deposit fee, which has be to paid on the same day(Attached below are copies of documents regarding non refundable payments agreed and signed from the patient **)The entire fee for the elective cosmetic surgery has to be paid in full 1-weeks prior to the operationThe patient undergo preop eval with DR [redacted] and et al 1-weeks before surgery.In the case of patient **, we followed our scheduling and payment policyShe was evaluated and deemed a safe candidate for surgery She also had been medically cleared for surgery by her PCP prior to coming in for consultation for facial rejuvenationRisks, benefits, and options for the procedure were fully discussed Patient demonstrated no body dysmorphic disorderShe had a potential history of polio, which had been cleared by her PCPDiscussions with anesthesia preop team also indicated no significant additional risks for surgeryThe patient, with full understanding, chose to proceed with surgery scheduling She was not able to pay the 15% non refundable scheduling fee that day so the staff allowed, as a courtesy for the patient, a payment of only $and she agreed to pay remaining deposit fee within the "next few days"We and our practice, and all facilities above committed to the patient's request and a considerable amount of time and effort, as described above, were invested to scheduling her surgeryShe then "changed her mind" The reason was unclear, as it ranged from polio concerns to cost We addressed both reasons of concern by offering the patient a similar equivalent procedure with a lower cost under oral sedation and local anesthesia, which is safer as no general anesthetic medication is used Whatever the concern, we tried to accommodate every patient as if he or she was our own family member This was the case for patient ** We cannot, however, do all of the work above, spend considerable staff time and effort, get other facilities and teams involved without payment We communicated this with **, as we do with all patients scheduling surgery We have had a couple of patients who decided to not go forward with the procedure for whatever reason, and each has accepted the 15% Non refundable policy It would not be fair for those patients or our practice and teams if we bypass this policy because [redacted] got the Revdex.com involved I feel that the Revdex.com was asked by patient [redacted] to get involved to intimidate the practice to release a refundI sincerely hope that the Revdex.com will review and evaluate this situation in a fair and thoughtful manner, and that the Revdex.com should not serve only as a platform for unjust complaints that will tarnish and bring harm to hard working business and medical practices.Below is a summary of STAFF input and response after our meetings regarding this situation:"At [redacted] Platic & Cosmetic Surgery, we take pride in caring for our patients as if we were taking care of family A great deal of effort is taken to make sure we familiarize ourselves with a patient's past medical history, surgeries and current medications Dr [redacted] also spends as much time as needed to understand the patient's concerns before surgery Once he feels the patient would be a good candidate for surgery, he proposes options on how to proceed Our goal is to provide the best cosmetic results possible with safety as the top priority With this in mind, every surgery that we schedule takes a substantal amount of preoperative coordination, preparation and planning It has always been our policy to collect a non-refundable non-transferrable 15% deposit fee for all surgeries at the time of booking We appreciate that cosmetic procedures are elective So once the patient has decided to schedule a procedure, the non-refundable deposit policy is discussed in great detail and highlighted on our quote during the financial consultation In the case of Ms [redacted] , she was quoted the surgery, OR and anesthesia costs for performing her desired procedures with an anesthesiologist in the hospital setting during her initial consultation on May 1st A 15% deposit would have been more than twice the $1,that Ms [redacted] gave to secure her surgery date and quote pricing on that inital date When she left that day, it was with the understanding that she would return with the remaining amount She was not charged our customary consultation fee since she booked surgery that day The 2nd meeting with Dr [redacted] as mentioned by Ms [redacted] was unscheduled Our patient coordinator led her to a private room and then pulled Dr [redacted] out of a procedure so that he could briefly answer any other concerns that she might have Since she had multiple concerns to address, she was told to schedule a time when Dr [redacted] was not in surgery During the follow up consultation visit with Dr**, Ms [redacted] expressed her concern over costs and was offered a safe in office alternative However, it became clear that though Ms [redacted] was medically stable for surgery in the hospital or in office, she hadchanged her mind due to cost and was requesting a refund of her non-refundable deposit Dr [redacted] expressed the willingness to review her case, but given the considerable amount of staff and physician time already expended to Ms [redacted] , there were no guarantees of a refund" NON REFUNDABLE DOCUMENTS SIGNED BY PATIENT:
We use the usual standard policy for medical records release at our practiceThis is same standard policy used by many hospitals and medical centers in the state of CaliforniaThe procedure is as follows: A medical record request form must be completed by the patient in person or in writing, a copying fee or cost is collected, and an appropriate wait time (usually 2-weeks) is needed for the staff to retrieve and copy and make it available for the patient to pick upIf the patient has not been seen for a year or longer, additional time maybe needed to locate and retrieve from storagePatients may not make requests over the phone as we have no way of verifying the identity of the patientAny urgent need for medical information, such as for doctor to doctor communication, is accomplished by [redacted] ** making a direct phone call to the doctor taking care of the patient in question As for the case of patient ***., we followed the exact procedure as described aboveThe staff actually went well above their duty to accommodate patient [redacted] by quickly putting together her medical records with just a phone request, allowing her to show ID on pick upShe requested a copy of her medical records on Sept 24, over the phone Because she has been released from our care since 2008, 2-staff members spent several hours searching old files and storage to get the medical for her Her copy was ready for pick up September 26, She was notified times by phone messages She did not return any phone calls nor did she come in for the requested medical records On October 7, 2014, we received a notice from the Revdex.com stating that medical records were not made available for patient ** This comes as a surprise to us as our practice has done everything possible to accommodate this patient
I am writing to address the letter from patient [redacted] sent as complaint to the Revdex.comI will clearly outline our practices's policy for surgery scheduling and payment I will also include a detailed response from my staff to you in regards to [redacted] as well, as we all had a very intensive meeting going over this case in our officeIn addition, I understand that you have obtained a PRIVACY RELEASE OR HIPAA clearance from the patient to allow us this public disclosure and discussion regarding the patient TO BE CLEAR, THE PATIENT [redacted] HAS AGREED TO HAVING [redacted] PLASTIC SURGERY DISCUSS ANY PERTINENT MEDICAL INFORMATION WITH THE Revdex.com AND THE PUBLIC, AND THAT THE Revdex.com WILL ACCEPT FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS OPEN DISCUSSION AS YOU AND THE Revdex.com HAVE CLEARED THIS WITH THE PATIENT **.Our SCHEDULING AND PAYMENT POLICY:The patient electively schedules a consult for cosmetic plastic surgeryThis cost $and is subtracted from the surgery fee if she proceedsA thorough exam of the patient, from past medical history to his or her current condition is conducted The patient is eligible to schedule for surgery if she is deemed safe as a candidate(Another detailed preop exam will be done by the plastic surgeon as well as the hospital facility preop nursing team, and the preop anesthesia team, before the surgery can proceed The patient will also undergo laboratory tests including **C, Chem panel, Coag panel, EKG, UA, and any other tests needed for preop evaluationA clearance from the patient's primary care physician is also obtainedThe patient can also be referred to an internal medicine clinic for preop eval if she doesn't have her own PCP.)The patient then has a detailed meeting directly with a patient coordinatorSurgery, anesthesia fee, OR facility fee are all discussed in detailThe patient learns during this meeting that there is a NON REFUNDABLE deposit of 15% of the total surgery cost, which is necessary because she is committing the entire plastic surgery practice, the hospital facility team of nurses and OR scrub technicians, and the anesthesia team, as well as the OR preop team and the recovery room team, and the various scheduling departmentsWe make it VERY CLEAR to the patient that TO SCHEDULE SURGERY IS A COMMITMENT because of the amount of work and effort from so many peopleIf the patient decides to proceed, she commits to a non refundable15% deposit fee, which has be to paid on the same day(Attached below are copies of documents regarding non refundable payments agreed and signed from the patient **)The entire fee for the elective cosmetic surgery has to be paid in full 1-weeks prior to the operationThe patient undergo preop eval with DR [redacted] and et al 1-weeks before surgery.In the case of patient **, we followed our scheduling and payment policyShe was evaluated and deemed a safe candidate for surgery She also had been medically cleared for surgery by her PCP prior to coming in for consultation for facial rejuvenationRisks, benefits, and options for the procedure were fully discussed Patient demonstrated no body dysmorphic disorderShe had a potential history of polio, which had been cleared by her PCPDiscussions with anesthesia preop team also indicated no significant additional risks for surgeryThe patient, with full understanding, chose to proceed with surgery scheduling She was not able to pay the 15% non refundable scheduling fee that day so the staff allowed, as a courtesy for the patient, a payment of only $and she agreed to pay remaining deposit fee within the "next few days"We and our practice, and all facilities above committed to the patient's request and a considerable amount of time and effort, as described above, were invested to scheduling her surgeryShe then "changed her mind" The reason was unclear, as it ranged from polio concerns to cost We addressed both reasons of concern by offering the patient a similar equivalent procedure with a lower cost under oral sedation and local anesthesia, which is safer as no general anesthetic medication is used Whatever the concern, we tried to accommodate every patient as if he or she was our own family member This was the case for patient ** We cannot, however, do all of the work above, spend considerable staff time and effort, get other facilities and teams involved without payment We communicated this with **, as we do with all patients scheduling surgery We have had a couple of patients who decided to not go forward with the procedure for whatever reason, and each has accepted the 15% Non refundable policy It would not be fair for those patients or our practice and teams if we bypass this policy because [redacted] got the Revdex.com involved I feel that the Revdex.com was asked by patient [redacted] to get involved to intimidate the practice to release a refundI sincerely hope that the Revdex.com will review and evaluate this situation in a fair and thoughtful manner, and that the Revdex.com should not serve only as a platform for unjust complaints that will tarnish and bring harm to hard working business and medical practices.Below is a summary of STAFF input and response after our meetings regarding this situation:"At [redacted] Platic & Cosmetic Surgery, we take pride in caring for our patients as if we were taking care of family A great deal of effort is taken to make sure we familiarize ourselves with a patient's past medical history, surgeries and current medications Dr [redacted] also spends as much time as needed to understand the patient's concerns before surgery Once he feels the patient would be a good candidate for surgery, he proposes options on how to proceed Our goal is to provide the best cosmetic results possible with safety as the top priority With this in mind, every surgery that we schedule takes a substantal amount of preoperative coordination, preparation and planning It has always been our policy to collect a non-refundable non-transferrable 15% deposit fee for all surgeries at the time of booking We appreciate that cosmetic procedures are elective So once the patient has decided to schedule a procedure, the non-refundable deposit policy is discussed in great detail and highlighted on our quote during the financial consultation In the case of Ms [redacted] , she was quoted the surgery, OR and anesthesia costs for performing her desired procedures with an anesthesiologist in the hospital setting during her initial consultation on May 1st A 15% deposit would have been more than twice the $1,that Ms [redacted] gave to secure her surgery date and quote pricing on that inital date When she left that day, it was with the understanding that she would return with the remaining amount She was not charged our customary consultation fee since she booked surgery that day The 2nd meeting with Dr [redacted] as mentioned by Ms [redacted] was unscheduled Our patient coordinator led her to a private room and then pulled Dr [redacted] out of a procedure so that he could briefly answer any other concerns that she might have Since she had multiple concerns to address, she was told to schedule a time when Dr [redacted] was not in surgery During the follow up consultation visit with Dr**, Ms [redacted] expressed her concern over costs and was offered a safe in office alternative However, it became clear that though Ms [redacted] was medically stable for surgery in the hospital or in office, she hadchanged her mind due to cost and was requesting a refund of her non-refundable deposit Dr [redacted] expressed the willingness to review her case, but given the considerable amount of staff and physician time already expended to Ms [redacted] , there were no guarantees of a refund" NON REFUNDABLE DOCUMENTS SIGNED BY PATIENT:
Business states: We will respond upon receipt of the HIPAA form
We use the usual standard policy for medical records release at our practiceThis is same standard policy used by many hospitals and medical centers in the state of CaliforniaThe procedure is as follows: A medical record request form must be completed by the patient in person or in writing, a copying fee or cost is collected, and an appropriate wait time (usually 2-weeks) is needed for the staff to retrieve and copy and make it available for the patient to pick upIf the patient has not been seen for a year or longer, additional time maybe needed to locate and retrieve from storagePatients may not make requests over the phone as we have no way of verifying the identity of the patientAny urgent need for medical information, such as for doctor to doctor communication, is accomplished by [redacted] ** making a direct phone call to the doctor taking care of the patient in question As for the case of patient ***., we followed the exact procedure as described aboveThe staff actually went well above their duty to accommodate patient [redacted] by quickly putting together her medical records with just a phone request, allowing her to show ID on pick upShe requested a copy of her medical records on Sept 24, over the phone Because she has been released from our care since 2008, 2-staff members spent several hours searching old files and storage to get the medical for her Her copy was ready for pick up September 26, She was notified times by phone messages She did not return any phone calls nor did she come in for the requested medical records On October 7, 2014, we received a notice from the Revdex.com stating that medical records were not made available for patient ** This comes as a surprise to us as our practice has done everything possible to accommodate this patient