Kanwar T. Mahal, M.D. Internal Medicine

In response to [redacted] ***s complaint of his outstanding bill of $122.74, please see the attachment and explanation below.? It is very unfortunate that this situation has come to this, but we will try and explain the time line of charges and payments made.? [redacted] was seen in our office on July 28th, Aug31st, Sept1st (for an ultrasound) and Sept15th of On July 28th he came in for his initial visit, which his insurance coveredHe paid his $copay; his balance was zero at this timeOn August 31st he came back for a physicalHe was charged for an office visit/physical and urinalysisHis insurance payed for the office visit and physical, but the urinalysis was not covered leaving him a balance of $On September 1st (the next day) Mr [redacted] was scheduled for an ultrasound here in the officeUnfortunately his insurance did not cover the ultrasound and the $charge was applied to the patientThe office discounted 60% of the charge, the remainder balance $was applied to the patients accountUnfortunately the insurance had not processed the charges from the day before, so we had no way of knowing the patient had a balance of $This is why he was not asked to pay on the September 1st visitOn September 15°, [redacted] came back to review his ultrasound results which were discussed and explained to himMr [redacted] payed his copay and was told at this time that there is no balance the insurance was still pendingThere is no time line to when the insurance will reimburse us, and we do not send out bills until the insurance reimbursement is made and patient responsibility is knownThis process can take from weeks to months; we have no control over thisMr [redacted] stated we did not collect payment from him on September 1st (his ultrasound visit) this is because insurance payment was still pendingOnce insurance payments were made [redacted] was sent a bill for $and $for a total of $which was his responsibilityHe was sent three invoices on 10-4, 11-6, and 12-8-to W [redacted] ***Our office policy is that patient's would receive invoices and then a phone call, which is an industry standard.? Our billing department contacted Mr [redacted] on January 2,The phone disconnected twiceThe billing department assumed the calls were dropped; when in fact Mr [redacted] admitted disconnecting due to being on the phone with his boss.There is no way we would spend the time and effort to call someone times in two minutes; that is not even possible nor is it trueWhen Mr [redacted] answered the phone he was very agitated, rude and loudThe biller was not given the curtesy or opportunity to explain the charges, he just talked over her and stated "I'm not going to pay the bill" and hung up.? We are professionals and try our very best to keep our patients happy and provide great customer service.It is very unfortunate that a simple phone call regarding Mr***'s bill has resulted in this complaint and an unfounded and fabricated yelp review; which Mr [redacted] knows we cannot dispute or explain due to HIPPA rules and regulations.? We would have hoped for direct contact through the office management or directly through our Doctor to resolve this issue, but we were not given the opportunityIt is our feeling that there was no misconduct or fault on our part.? There is no portal "amendment" that Mr [redacted] is referring toThe portal is controlled by a software company, not our staffThe portal is not intended as a source of communication between the office and the patient; as stated in the portal.Mr [redacted] was given great medical service; his referral for ultrasound was within hoursHe was given a 60% discount on the ultrasound, so the total he owes is $(remainder of the ultrasound) and $for a routine urinalysis.? Respectfully,? [redacted] ***, MD

I am rejecting this response because:This is an unacceptable response and I can tell you, the statement being made that I was lying and they did not call my phone that many time infuriates me. I am curious as to how Dr*** would know all this, other than to admit that he is siding with his staff. Secondly, not only was it the offices failure to explain the details of the coverage, the provider ordered two Ultrasounds, in which the US technician stated when I got there, "I am going to just do one, because it can be included as an Abdominal Ultrasound instead of separatelyThis is alarming in addition to everything else, that this provider wouldn't consider the patients best interestYou can obviously tell what their incentive is here. Also, I was not called again after asking to speak with the manager, in stead I received a YELP response to reach out to them, and then received within days via US mail a notice of "Dismissal" from the providers office. Why would they dismiss me? If they were really concerned about handling it respectfully and understanding my position, why didn't the provider call me himself? Is that against the rules? He obviously has no problem writing Revdex.com about the "fabricated" responses from his staff. Also, wouldn't you want to collect something from a patient on the day of the procedure if you knew it wasn't covered 100%? Why would you not take the time to do that? They NEVER told me anything about payment that day when I asked and did not even try and project a costUnbelievable.I have also attached the dismissal letter I received from the office with no verbal communication prior from the office or providerI will also be reaching out to legal on this. Thank you for your time.

In response to *** ***s complaint of his outstanding bill of $122.74, please see the attachment and explanation below.? It is very unfortunate that this situation has come to this, but we will try and explain the time line of charges and payments made.? *** was seen in our office
on July 28th, Aug31st, Sept1st (for an ultrasound) and Sept15th of On July 28th he came in for his initial visit, which his insurance coveredHe paid his $copay; his balance was zero at this timeOn August 31st he came back for a physicalHe was charged for an office visit/physical and urinalysisHis insurance payed for the office visit and physical, but the urinalysis was not covered leaving him a balance of $On September 1st (the next day) Mr*** was scheduled for an ultrasound here in the officeUnfortunately his insurance did not cover the ultrasound and the $charge was applied to the patientThe office discounted 60% of the charge, the remainder balance $was applied to the patients accountUnfortunately the insurance had not processed the charges from the day before, so we had no way of knowing the patient had a balance of $This is why he was not asked to pay on the September 1st visitOn September 15°, *** *** came back to review his ultrasound results which were discussed and explained to himMr*** payed his copay and was told at this time that there is no balance the insurance was still pendingThere is no time line to when the insurance will reimburse us, and we do not send out bills until the insurance reimbursement is made and patient responsibility is knownThis process can take from weeks to months; we have no control over thisMr*** stated we did not collect payment from him on September 1st (his ultrasound visit) this is because insurance payment was still pendingOnce insurance payments were made *** was sent a bill for $and $for a total of $which was his responsibilityHe was sent three invoices on 10-4, 11-6, and 12-8-to W *** *** *** *** *** *** ***Our office policy is that patient's would receive invoices and then a phone call, which is an industry standard.? Our billing department contacted Mr*** on January 2,The phone disconnected twiceThe billing department assumed the calls were dropped; when in fact Mr*** admitted disconnecting due to being on the phone with his boss.There is no way we would spend the time and effort to call someone times in two minutes; that is not even possible nor is it trueWhen Mr*** answered the phone he was very agitated, rude and loudThe biller was not given the curtesy or opportunity to explain the charges, he just talked over her and stated "I'm not going to pay the bill" and hung up.? We are professionals and try our very best to keep our patients happy and provide great customer service.It is very unfortunate that a simple phone call regarding Mr***'s bill has resulted in this complaint and an unfounded and fabricated yelp review; which Mr*** knows we cannot dispute or explain due to HIPPA rules and regulations.? We would have hoped for direct contact through the office management or directly through our Doctor to resolve this issue, but we were not given the opportunityIt is our feeling that there was no misconduct or fault on our part.? There is no portal "amendment" that Mr*** is referring toThe portal is controlled by a software company, not our staffThe portal is not intended as a source of communication between the office and the patient; as stated in the portal.Mr*** was given great medical service; his referral for ultrasound was within hoursHe was given a 60% discount on the ultrasound, so the total he owes is $(remainder of the ultrasound) and $for a routine urinalysis.? Respectfully,? *** ***, MD

Thank you for allowing us to respondFirst, our objective is not to upset or infuriate anyoneOur goal is to resolve the issue by stating the factsAgain we were not given the opportunity to explain the charges to the patient, since he was not interested in communicating with usAs you can see from the call log (attached) on January 2nd at 4:PM, the first call was made to Mr***; the duration was minutes because he hung upThe second call was an incoming call from Mr*** at 4:PM lasting minutes and secondsThe minute conversation with Mr*** was futile; since he was so angry for being called while he was speaking to his boss; we were again disconnectedOur biller not knowing if the ended call was intentional called back at 5:01PMMr*** confirmed it was intentional as stated in his yelp reviewWe called him times not as he statedHe never asked to speak to the office manager and in fact she reached out to him and asked that he call her directlyThe Yelp review is attached to this email.? Second, in question to ordering ultrasounds instead of one; our ultrasound technician would never change a study based on her opinionThe case is always discussed with the physician to come up with the effective plan to cover the complaint and the symptomThese studies are discussed prior to the technician proceeding with the ultrasoundAfter discussing the case a decision is made if one or two studies are necessary; obviously the patient's best interest was taken into account since one study was preferred and more cost effective.? Third, again there is no way for us to know if the Ultrasound would be covered for a patientWe would never project a cost to a patient; this is unfair and puts unnecessary financial stress on a personMajority of insurance plans cover ultrasounds, it's the patients responsibility to know what their insurance company covers.? I thank you for allowing us to explain the process and would hope this will resolve the situation.? Respectfully,?