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Edmonds Wellness Clinic Inc

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Edmonds Wellness Clinic Inc Reviews (3)

To whom it may concern,
I am the EWC medical director and was recently made aware of Ms***’s complaint via my staff and the Revdex.comFirst let me say that I have total respect for my office staff which includes my office manager and my medical assistant who are usually the first employees to interact
with patientsAs typical with most small practices we try and handle insurance coverage research as a courtesy to patientsPatients sign a form when they first see providers here acknowledging thisInsurance coverage can often be confusing and daunting and can as in this case consume lots of employee timeAs Stephanie noted in her attached letter, she is not a professional biller and was trying in this case to help the patient understand how her plan was constructed and what her benefits wereShe also clearly points out that she made a critical initial mistake in thinking that the patient’s insurance coverage was under a different insurance plan. Regarding the insurance information portion off the complaint, we and MsC**, the provider who Ms*** was seeing, use an offsite Billing company, Ask Us, and all of her billing went thru themWe work closely with the company and in all cases make sure the patient understands this and can contact them at any time to discuss issues with their insuranceI understand that Stephanie tried to help the patient directly with her insurance questions rather than rely on the billing serviceThis is another area we will learn from moving forward.Ms*** claims additional inappropriate language was used by Stephanie specifically during the following date, quoting from Stephanie’s letter: “On her last visit here which was 8/8/I had let *** and her daughter come behind the desk to show them how I found their information and did my best to explain that this information is what I was going by”This is where there appears, from my understanding, to have been a misunderstanding of Stephanie’s frustration with the insurance information she was attempting to process, and was received by Ms*** to have been directed at her and her daughterIn this instance, I stand behind my employees account that she never directed such language towards Ms*** or her daughterIn addition, it was pointed out that I was nearby and appeared to Ms*** to have been somehow complaisant in the interactionI am afraid that Ms*** has misread the interactions occurring in a busy front desk area. In summary, as director of EWC I take responsibility in making sure all interactions and process involving EWC and our patients is as smooth and professional as possible and of course confidentialInsurance research and understanding of each patient plan information is always the primary responsibility of the patientOur clinic responsibility is to provide support and as smooth a billing process as possibleWe regrettably in this case went too far in attempting to sort this out, also by non-billing trained staff, which was a mistake and we have corrected this process. Regarding the comments and Ms***’s perception that Stephanie verbally offended her and her daughter I am certain this was a misconception of what occurred and indeed such comments, if made, were not directed at her personally.With regards to Ms***’s demand that all insurance money be refunded, I do not see such an action as being reasonableI would also point out that her billing is directly the responsibility of her provider, Jia C**, and not EWC in this caseAs pointed out C***s practice uses a billing company, Ask Us, for her billing.I encourage Ms*** to, in the future, present her insurance issues, and indeed, all complaints, directly to clinic management (in this case my office manager and I who are both easily approached) rather create a delay in addressing her issues in a timelier fashion.To close, I agree EWC made a mistake in our staff’s handling of some aspects of Ms***’s insurance informationI am also addressing our clinic procedures in terms of how much insurance research our front desk staff should performAnd I recognize that language and frustration can be perceived in many ways and am committed to making this a learning experience for all of us at EWC. Finally, thanks to the Revdex.com for providing a forum to allow all sides to engage in these comments, hopefully for the betterment of the professional environment of small businesses such as ours.Sincerely,
Mark H N*** ND, Medical Director EWC
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To whom it may concern,I Stephanie S*** CMA of Edmonds Wellness Clinic am giving my best recollection of the events that took place with the patient ***First, I would like to start off with when the Pt first started coming to the clinicSecond, I will tell about my multiple encounters with herI am going to try and keep this short and to the point.When *** first started coming to the clinic on 6/29/she and her daughter had given me their insurance cards so I could copy them and look up their benefitsWhile they were in their first session with our independent physician DrC**, I had used our OneHealthPort to look up the details, I had looked in Regence and nothing showed up, but when I used Premera their information was in the system I do not specialize in billing, so since it came up in Premera I was under the impression that was the company to be under Later, I found out because of the first letters on the Pt’s ID# “BHP” it is actually RegenceI would also like to state that it is not the clinic’s responsibility to know the patient’s insurance coverage; we look it up as a courtesy.*** had a total of thirteen appointments and on these days when I was working I had talked to her about the insurance issueI had called the insurance company twice and they had told me that they didn’t know what plan she was specifically on; just that it could be either Premera or RegenceOn her last visit here which was 8/8/I had let *** and her daughter come behind the desk to show them how I found their information and did my best to explain that this information is what I was going byAt this time was when she stated in her complaint that I “jokingly” said I wanted to strangle her and her daughter DrN*** was in the area when this was happening, but he was helping another patient I never made this comment jokingly or otherwiseI was surprised when I had seen her comment, because I would never say that to a patientI had given her the number of our billing office and to contact Janice for more information on her insuranceI will admit that the insurance issue was a mistake based on the knowledge we had at the timeWe at the clinic formally apologize for this mishap, but since she states she talked to her insurance company ahead of time, and they told her that she was indeed Regence and it would be an out-of-network benefit; then she should take full responsibility for her bill.In conclusion I had done my best to provide *** with the information she was asking about In doing so I had been frustrated because nothing was adding up or making sense between what I was finding and what she was findingMy frustration may have come across to her as being rude, but that was not my intention at allI would not put that on a patient, I was frustrated with the insurance company not herWe at the clinic are sorry for this misunderstanding, and because this happened we have learned how to make this not happen again.Sincerely,Stephanie S*** CMAEWC

I have now received a third document, dated 11.10.2016, regarding [redacted]'s complaintsregarding our clinic's interactions with her and our handling of her insurance information. Shehas continued to reject and call into question all of our response to her complaints.
Speaking for myself and EWC, we have acknowledged all of Ms. [redacted]'s concerns, now multipletimes in response, as well as apologized for the misunderstanding over her health insurance. Shefurther alleged a comment from an EWC staff member that was inappropriate but has beenstrongly denied by the staff member. Never the less we continue to accept responsibility for anyperceived inappropriate comments between staff and patients and will continue to strive tomaintain a professional and friendly working environment.EWC has treated this ongoing complaint as a learning exercise and has taken corrective action toimprove our research and response to patient insurance issues. We feel we are doing a good jobin what can be a very difficult and time consuming process. At this time we have no additionalresponse, particularly in light of Ms. [redacted]' s continued rejection of all of our response, actions,and suggestions.
Regarding Ms. [redacted]'s statement that she is refusing to pay the balance of her out of networkinsurance costs I remind her that the provider, Xia C**, is independent of EWC, and handles herown billing through her business (East Asian Medicine I-Ching Acupuncture Clinic). As suchshe needs to direct the issue of withholding payment directly with her and not EWC. I have                                                                   informed Xia C** of this issue and she is fully aware of the complaints presented on YELP and                                                                       the Revdex.com. She also has reported to me that she has been in contact with Ms. [redacted].                                                                                             I personally thank the Revdex.com for giving small businesses such as ours a fair opportunity to fully                                                                 respond to complaints such as these.

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:
Due to the limited number of characters in the original complaint on the Revdex.com website, I tried to include the main highlights of my complaint since I didn’t have enough space to provide more details. My rejection to the EWC’s response will include more discrete information of what happened to show that there are inconsistencies and errors in their responses, resulting in my rejection to their responses.
First, I appreciate the medical director acknowledging that his medical assistant “made a critical initial mistake” and that he and his employees are working on making improvements for the future. However, there were a few things that did still does not make sense and are incorrect. He stated that during our interaction that the front desk was busy, however, it was only busy because we were with Stephanie behind the counter to try to understand the disconnects. And, there was only one other client who was checking in. Other than that, it was not busy as he stated, and it was only about 4:30 pm on Friday, August 12th.
In addition, he stated that he “encourages [me] to present [my] insurance issues, and indeed, all complaints directly to clinic management (in this case my office manager and I who are both easily approached).” I take offense to this because I have been trying to work this issue with his staff – his medical assistant, Stephanie, and her manager, Donna, in addition to multiple phone calls with the billing office (main point of contact has been Janice) and my insurance. I was really frustrated, and I wanted to let Donna and Stephanie work it out if they could, and let them consult their management (in this case, Dr. N[redacted]) as needed if they could not figure it out. However, that was not the case. They did not pursue the resolution of my issues as they were adamant that my doctor at their clinic was covered under my insurance. Also, I started my research on the day of my first appointment (6/29/2016). That day, my insurance told me that the doctor was out-of-network, and when I arrived at the office, Donna, the office manager, assigned Stephanie to verify. When she did, Stephanie believed the doctor was in-network based on her initial computer research, which I later found out from my insurance records that she did speak to my insurance that morning and that they had confirmed with her that the acupuncture doctor was actually out-of network. How confusing and inaccurate!
Not only that, but on 8/10/016, the day before my last scheduled appointment for 8/11, the EWC medical staff called me three times (morning, mid-morning, and afternoon) to confirm my appointment. During each call, I asked them (Donna, Stephanie, and Nicole, respectively) first if they had settled my insurance coverage discrepancy yet. And each time, they all said they would look into it and call me back – which they did not. They only called to continue to confirm my 8/11 appointment, and wouldn’t address the main matter. So, for Dr. N[redacted] to advise me to contact them first because they are “easily approached” is extremely exasperating. This is especially true because I did in fact approach the office in person, and Stephanie strongly believed that my doctor was in-network.
Another point - as a medical director who sees a frustrating and confusing situation happening at the front desk, why wouldn’t he or she want to try to help the situation out? At least show some sort of acknowledgement, eye contact, or ask, how can I help? I find this to be a more approachable persona than to walk by the front desk and the printer, and checking his cell phone nearby during our conversation with Stephanie on 8/12/2016. Even if it was busy, total ignorance, or complacency as he referred to, should not be acceptable in any public service.
I continue to disagree with how Dr. N[redacted] is defending his medical assistant, Stephanie, who denied having directed offense language to my daughter and I “in a busy front desk area.” I understand that he is trying to protect her, and to protect his business, but there are clear errors in Stephanie’s response as well. As a medical assistant at the front desk, she states that she took up the courtesy to look up clients’ insurance coverage, although it isn’t the clinic’s responsibility. I am sure she gets these requests with all new clients, since insurance coverage is always confusing, I admit, but if she isn’t sure of her abilities to do so, then why didn’t she reach out to others who would know? Perhaps ask her manager, Donna, who could have helped her assistant; or call the insurance company; or check with the billing office if able, etc.? I haven’t come across many medical offices whose front desk didn’t do further research to ensure that what they are telling their clients is accurate, and if they weren’t 100% sure, they would let clients know and get back with them later.
Furthermore, Stephanie said that she let my daughter and I “come behind the desk to show [us]” on my “last visit here which was 8/8/2016.” That is inaccurate. My last visit was 8/8/2016, and after multiple phone calls with my insurance and EWC in my attempts to understand if my doctor is covered, I decided to accompany my daughter’s 3:40 pm appointment on 8/12/2016 so that I could talk to EWC after the appointment to sort out the issue in person. Stephanie was at the front desk that day, and I really did appreciate her allowing my daughter and I to come behind her desk to see how she found our information, and printing out copies so that we could use it when calling the billing department. But as we thanked her again and headed out towards the door at around 4:40 pm, she dryly chuckled and “jokingly” said that “I was about to strangle you two.” My daughter and I were so shocked and speechless that as we went outside, we had a bad feeling from this unprofessionalism and were insulted. I put “jokingly” in quotes because I think it was more of an expression as a result of the frustration, but it is still unacceptable to say something like that in a professional business.
As a result of EWC’s errors and incorrect accounts, I have become more stressed out and frustrated with them because of their initial mistakes, and my physical health hasn’t been able to reap the full benefits of Dr. C**’s expertise. This has led to an unhappy and long-winded situation, and therefore, I refuse to pay the balance of my out-of-network costs.
Sincerely,[redacted]

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Address: 7935 216th St SW E, Edmonds, Washington, United States, 98026-7941

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