Great Lakes Anesthesiology

March 27,2017Revdex.comBryant Woods SouthAmherst, NY 14228RE: ID [redacted] Christopher [redacted] Dear Ms [redacted] This is letter is in response to the above complaint flied by [redacted] on behalf of his wife, [redacted] , who wasa patient of Great Lakes Anesthesiology PC, formerly doing business as CGF Anesthesiology Associates.We appreciate and value all of our patients and regret that Mr [redacted] is dissatisfied with our collection process.We would like to take the time to respond to each of Mr [redacted] 's clams specifically from his response to our letter of March16, 2017:Claim: "Great Lakes Anesthesiology insists this is our error in providing proper insurance information but I was told theyreceived our information from the hospital, whom had no problem billing l may add, and it clearly shows in the attachedstatement that they attempted to bill Blue Cross Blue Shield when it should have been Meritain"Response: It is lmportant to clarify that Great takes Anesthesiology is not a part of the hospital in questionWe are twocompletely separate entities with separate employees, billing systems, etcThat being said, it is the patient's responsibilityto provide correct insurance information to the hospitalWe receive patient information as an interface/download fromthe hospital billing system, Whether that information Was a patient error or hospital employee data entry error, GreatLakes Anesthesiology would never know without the patient informing us (upon receiving their statements).Mr [redacted] also claims that the hospital bad no problem billing themThis is incorrectHospital bill was not settled andpaid in full for days after several attempts to collect.Claim "To their second point of sending us notifications to the address provided once again this information was providedby what we produced to hospital it should be noted that the address they utilized was an apartment complex and did nothave our unit room listed., that is the only reason we may not have received information from them"Response: We received the address information through and interface with hospital system and never received onestatement back from United States Post Office as undeliverableFurthermore, I spoke to Mrs [redacted] on March 9, 2017revisiting our billing procedures and verifled with her that the address we had on file was correct and she indicated that itwas.Claim: "They did not address my initial concern about just avoiding all of this in the first place by contacting one of us byphone"Response: It is not our policy to contact our patients by phone for delinquen.t billsThat is what we hire our collectionagencies to d.o which is why this account was sent to County Credit in April20!2, County Credit made counties~ attempts toreach them by telephone with no response.Claim: "How am I just being notified of this five years later? This seems wrong to me and will put a high financial strain on myfamily"Response: We have evidence to show that Great Lakes Anesthesiology and our respective collection agencies madeconcerted and repeated attempts to contact the necessary parties to resolve the outstanding bill:Mr [redacted] is aware that his wife received anesthesia services that would require paymentMrs [redacted] signed a Consentfor Treatment and Payment Agreement which outlines specifically that she understood that in most cases heranesthesiologist is considered an independent contractor and that she would receive a separate bill for their servicesMr.and Mrs [redacted] can refer to this signed agreement in her Medical Record.Finally, Great Lakes Anesthesiology, as a courtesy to Mrs [redacted] , discounted her bill an additional 25% of the customaryand usual payment we would have received from Merltain had It been billed appropriately initiallyFurthermore, as anadditional courtesy we developed a payment plan with Mrs [redacted] which she verbally agreed to and wished to have her$payment to Secured Resolutions as her first installment made towards payment plan.We feel that we have done our best to serve Mrs, [redacted] as our patient and to make reimbursement to us as flexible as possible.These services were rendered and the balance of $is expectedAs always, we would gladly honor the payment plan that Mrs [redacted] agreed to and look forward to the opportunity to review that again with her, if desired

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Great Lakes Anesthesiology insists this is our error in providing proper insurance information but I was told that they received our insurance information from the hospital, whom had no problem billing I might add, and it clearly shows in the attached statement that they attempted to bill Blue Cross Blue Shield when it should have been Meritain. How can this be our error when it was their staff taking down information from the hospital? To their second point of sending us notifications to the address provided...once again this information was provided by what we produced to the hospital (whom had no problems sending/receiving information from us). It should be noted that the address they utilized was an apartment complex and did not have our unit number listed, that is the only reason we may not have received information from them but they are stating they did not receive a return service from USPS either so I'm not sure where the breakdown was. Neither my wife nor I saw any of the statements via mail from Great Lakes Anesthesiology.They did not address my initial concern about just avoiding all of this in the first place by contacting one of us by phone or even contacting our insurance to see where the mistake was. How am I just being notified about this 5 years later? This seems very wrong to me and will put high financial strain on my family. Great Lakes insists we pay $652 (-$100 we already put down when we first received the call from Secure Resolutions) and I am not willing to pay for their mistake five years after the fact.Regards,
[redacted]

March 27,2017Revdex.com100 Bryant Woods SouthAmherst, NY 14228RE: ID [redacted]Christopher [redacted]Dear Ms. [redacted]This is letter is in response to the above complaint flied by [redacted] on behalf of his wife, [redacted], who wasa patient of Great Lakes Anesthesiology PC, formerly doing business as CGF Anesthesiology Associates.We appreciate and value all of our patients and regret that Mr. [redacted] is dissatisfied with our collection process.We would like to take the time to respond to each of Mr. [redacted]'s clams specifically from his response to our letter of March16, 2017:Claim: "Great Lakes Anesthesiology insists this is our error in providing proper insurance information but I was told theyreceived our information from the hospital, whom had no problem billing l may add, and it clearly shows in the attachedstatement that they attempted to bill Blue Cross Blue Shield when it should have been Meritain"Response: It is lmportant to clarify that Great takes Anesthesiology is not a part of the hospital in question. We are twocompletely separate entities with separate employees, billing systems, etc. That being said, it is the patient's responsibilityto provide correct insurance information to the hospital. We receive patient information as an interface/download fromthe hospital billing system, Whether that information Was a patient error or hospital employee data entry error, GreatLakes Anesthesiology would never know without the patient informing us (upon receiving their statements).Mr. [redacted] also claims that the hospital bad no problem billing them. This is incorrect. Hospital bill was not settled andpaid in full for 365 days after several attempts to collect.Claim "To their second point of sending us notifications to the address provided ... once again this information was providedby what we produced to hospital .... it should be noted that the address they utilized was an apartment complex and did nothave our unit room listed., that is the only reason we may not have received information from them"Response: We received the address information through and interface with hospital system and never received onestatement back from United States Post Office as undeliverable. Furthermore, I spoke to Mrs. [redacted] on March 9, 2017revisiting our billing procedures and verifled with her that the address we had on file was correct and she indicated that itwas.Claim: "They did not address my initial concern about just avoiding all of this in the first place by contacting one of us byphone"Response:  It is not our policy to contact our patients by phone for delinquen.t bills. That is what we hire our collectionagencies to d.o which is why this account was sent to County Credit in April20!2, County Credit made counties~ attempts toreach them by telephone with no response.Claim: "How am I just being notified of this five years later? This seems wrong to me and will put a high financial strain on myfamily"Response: We have evidence to show that Great Lakes Anesthesiology and our respective collection agencies madeconcerted and repeated attempts to contact the necessary parties to resolve the outstanding bill:Mr. [redacted] is aware that his wife received anesthesia services that would require payment. Mrs. [redacted] signed a Consentfor Treatment and Payment Agreement which outlines specifically that she understood that in most cases heranesthesiologist is considered an independent contractor and that she would receive a separate bill for their services. Mr.and Mrs. [redacted] can refer to this signed agreement in her Medical Record.Finally, Great Lakes Anesthesiology, as a courtesy to Mrs. [redacted], discounted her bill an additional 25% of the customaryand usual payment we would have received from Merltain had It been billed appropriately initially. Furthermore, as anadditional courtesy we developed a payment plan with Mrs. [redacted] which she verbally agreed to and wished to have her$100.00 payment to Secured Resolutions as her first installment made towards payment plan.We feel that we have done our best to serve Mrs, [redacted] as our patient and to make reimbursement to us as flexible as possible.These services were rendered and the balance of $552.00 is expected. As always, we would gladly honor the payment plan that Mrs. [redacted] agreed to and look forward to the opportunity to review that again with her, if desired.

RE: Revdex.com ID 1[redacted]Dear Ms. [redacted]:This is letter is in response to the above complaint filed by [redacted] on behalf of his wife, [redacted], who wasa patient of Great Lakes Anesthesiology PC, formerly doing business as CGF Anesthesiology Associates.[redacted]...

[redacted] registered with Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo on January 1, 2012 giving her current address andinsurance information at that time. This information is then electronically transferred to our system once services have beenperformed by Great Lakes Anesthesiology PC.Mrs. [redacted]'s BCBS insurance (that she registered with through the hospital) was billed on January 5, 2012 and waselectronically denied as unable to identify. Our office billed Mrs. [redacted] via statements on January 11, 2012, February 10,2012 and March 12, 2012. Addition to the statements, our office sent two letters advising if payment or current insuranceinformation was not received, the account would become delinquent. These letters were sent February 27 and March 12, 2012.All statements and letters were sent to the address that was provided when Mrs. [redacted] register with the hospital. Our officedid not receive any returned mail from this address.This account was sent to our collection company in April 2012 tc County Credit. This company has since been dissolved,therefore the account was then sent to Secured Resolutions to obtain payment.I spoke ro Mrs. [redacted] on, March 9, 2017 revisiting our billing procedures and verified with her that the address we had on filewas correct. I also advised her to contact her insurance company requesting they waive timely for us to bill and to confirminsurance number and address. Upon her retum call, she stated they would not waive timely and the billing information sheregistered with was NOT correct. I then discounted her account beyond our reimbursement rate with BCBS and set up apayment plan as a courtesy. She disclosed she had already made a $100 payment with Secured Resolutions and would like to set up a monthly payment plan. I agreed and advised Secured Resolutions myself of our verbal agreement to settle account.It will always be the member's responsibility to provide complete insurance information to their provider, without thatinformation provider's cannot obtain payment. Unfortunately this case is in error of the member. Our office is dedicated inserving our patients and their families clinically, as well as financially. Member is currently responsible for $552.00If you would like any additional information, you may contact me directly at [redacted].Best Regards[redacted]Billing Manager