Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]
 Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
I received, at the most, three IV bags over the course of 8 hours in the hospital. The hospital is charging me over $3000 for three IV bags. This does not make sense.
Regards,
[redacted]

November 13, 2014Dear [redacted]:
Thank you for bringing this complaint to the attention of the Lehigh in the LVHN strive to provide quality care for our patients and review those instances when we did not meet our patient’s expectations.
The patient's provider recommended...

that he undergo a diagnostic test in response to a finding during the physical exam. The diagnostic test was indicated to assist in determining the underlying cause of the finding and to rule out damage to cardiacfunctioning. The test did not require pre-authorization from the patient's insurance company, but it did result in a charge to the patient. We are very sorry if the patient was not aware that this test would result in him being responsible for a portion of the cost of the service provided. Further, we apologize if the reason for the test being performed was not thoroughly explained to him. It is my understanding that a representative from the Practice has contacted the patient and resolved.Thank you, Carolyn CDirector, Risk Management

June 10, 2014
Dear [redacted],This letter is in response to the above complaint filed for services rendered to [redacted] at Lehigh Valley Hospital, on October 31, 2013 under account number [redacted].After billing [redacted]s insurance for these services a balance of $487.55...

remained as patient liability. We billed [redacted] and according to her letter to your office and the front copy of a check she submitted it appears that she did indeed pay this balance. However, [redacted] bank cannot locate this payment which is why we were still billing [redacted]. In order for them to locate the payment we need a legible copy of the back of check [redacted] for $487.55. Until we receive a clear copy of the back of this check we are unable to apply funds to the outstanding balance of $487.55 on account number [redacted].Please have [redacted] submit a legible copy of the check specifically the back of the check so we can work with the bank to locate the payments and resolve this balance for her. The copy can be sent to my attention at:[redacted], PA [redacted]Ive enclosed a copy of the check that was submitted for you to see that the bank is unable to read the audit trail on the back of the check to locate the missing payment.I appreciate your cooperation along with [redacted]s and apologize for any inconvenience [redacted] has encountered trying to resolve this balance. Please contact me directly at [redacted] if you have any questions.

I will be brief. My wife has two calls into Lehigh Valley Health Network to make an appointment with a neurologist, but a month later, still no call. They must have forgotten her name and phone number. Ya Think??
Obviously, the NETWORK is far to big for it's size. Horrible communication and Horrible service. They don't GIVE A DAMN about anyone, unless you are a relative of an employee.

June 20, 2014
Dear **. [redacted],This letter is in response to the above complaint filed for services rendered to **. [redacted]’s son [redacted] at Lehigh Valley Hospital, from December 19, 2013 to December 21, 2013 under account number [redacted].In reviewing this account with [redacted]...

[redacted], Administrator of Patient Financial Services we confirmed the following:• The total amount due on this account is $ 1,769.67• We are not contracted with [redacted] and therefore entitled to 100% of the billed amount•    This account was pulled from our collection file before ever being sentI apologize for any incorrect information that may have been conveyed to **. [redacted]. At no time was this account sent to a collection agency nor will her credit report be affected by this account. An outstanding balance of $1,769.69 listed as patient liability still exists on this account. A copy of the detail bill is attached for your review, if you need financial assistance to help you resolve this balance please contact one of our Financial Counselor at ###-###-####.I again apologize for any inconvenience **. [redacted] experienced in trying to resolve this balance. Please contact me directly at ###-###-#### if you have any questions.Sincerely,

March 3, 2015
Dear [redacted],
This letter is in response to your correspondence dated February 25, 2015 regarding a bill that [redacted] received for his adult son, [redacted], for services rendered to [redacted] from March 1, 2014 to March 4, 2014 under account number [redacted]...

[redacted] was listed as the guarantor on this account which is the reason he received the billing notices for his son. I’ve had the account updated to reflect [redacted] as the guarantor; [redacted] will no longer receive notices for this bill and is not responsible for these charges.I apologize for any inconvenience [redacted] experienced in trying to resolve this issue. If you have additional concerns, please contact me at ###-###-####.
Sincerely ,
Jeff H. 
Administrator, Patient Financial Services

Review: I received a bill dated March 7, 2014 from the Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), for services that my son received during a recent hospital stay. When I received this bill, I compared it to the Explanation of Benefits (EoB) that I received from my insurance company. There was a discrepancy between the two documents - the EoB stated that our balance was $0, and LVHN was claiming that we owed $1769.67. I called LVHN on March 13, 2014 to discuss this, and during this discussion the billing representative agreed that we should not owe anything and that she would send the bill back to be reprocessed.

Since that time, I had not received any communication (no phone call, mail or email) from LVHN regarding the status of this bill. Based upon the conversation that took place on March 13, 2014, I was led to believe that we had no outstanding balance, or we would be contacted if there was in fact money that we still owed.

Today I called LVHN to pay another medical bill for a follow-up appointment, again for my son. During this call, it was revealed that there was an additional outstanding balance on my account, for the $1769.67 amount, that I discussed above. In addition to stating we had this balance, this billing representative also informed me that this amount had been sent to a collection agency to retrieve the apparent owed money.

I pay my bills on time. In this case, I was not even aware of any owed money. LVHN failed to inform me of the reprocessing outcomes, outstanding balance, and knowingly submitted this to a collection agency without notifying me.

The billing representative during today's phone call told me that she would withdraw my name from the collection company and put a temporary hold on my account.Desired Settlement: I am requesting a letter with an explanation and apology for this unethical occurrence. This practice of sending information to a collection agency without giving patients any chance to respond and pay debts is reprehensible.

I am also requesting, in writing, confirmation that my name has been withdrawn from the collection agency.

I also am requesting a updated bill be mailed to me, so I can see the updated balance to the account and make payment as appropriate.

Business

Response:

June 20, 2014Dear **. [redacted],This letter is in response to the above complaint filed for services rendered to **. [redacted]’s son [redacted] at Lehigh Valley Hospital, from December 19, 2013 to December 21, 2013 under account number [redacted].In reviewing this account with [redacted], Administrator of Patient Financial Services we confirmed the following:• The total amount due on this account is $ 1,769.67• We are not contracted with [redacted] and therefore entitled to 100% of the billed amount• This account was pulled from our collection file before ever being sentI apologize for any incorrect information that may have been conveyed to **. [redacted]. At no time was this account sent to a collection agency nor will her credit report be affected by this account. An outstanding balance of $1,769.69 listed as patient liability still exists on this account. A copy of the detail bill is attached for your review, if you need financial assistance to help you resolve this balance please contact one of our Financial Counselor at ###-###-####.I again apologize for any inconvenience **. [redacted] experienced in trying to resolve this balance. Please contact me directly at ###-###-#### if you have any questions.Sincerely,

Review: I received an expected bill following surgery on 10/31/13 at Lehigh Valley Hospital. I paid the bill via online payment through my bank. The check was submitted to Lehigh Valley Hospital, and cashed by such. I later received a late notice on the payment. After several calls to the billing office, my local bank and main bank branch, they are still sending overdue notices. My local bank branch, then the main bank branch both sent proof of the cashed check along with a letter stating that the payment was made and with the matching account number to my patient account number on the hospital billing. I have done all they have asked for me to provide. I paid this bill as evidenced by the cashed check. I firmly believe my payment was wrongfully posted to another account, and/ or lost in their possession and now they are harassing me and causing undue stress. I have provided the proof of payment they asked for and received.Desired Settlement: I would like to receive proof of payment in full from Lehigh Valley Hospital. I also do not want any more phone calls or mailings from them. They need to recognize their error and find the cashed check on their end as to where they posted it since it was not credited to my account.

Business

Response:

June 10, 2014Dear [redacted],This letter is in response to the above complaint filed for services rendered to [redacted] at Lehigh Valley Hospital, on October 31, 2013 under account number [redacted].After billing [redacted]s insurance for these services a balance of $487.55 remained as patient liability. We billed [redacted] and according to her letter to your office and the front copy of a check she submitted it appears that she did indeed pay this balance. However, [redacted] bank cannot locate this payment which is why we were still billing [redacted]. In order for them to locate the payment we need a legible copy of the back of check [redacted] for $487.55. Until we receive a clear copy of the back of this check we are unable to apply funds to the outstanding balance of $487.55 on account number [redacted].Please have [redacted] submit a legible copy of the check specifically the back of the check so we can work with the bank to locate the payments and resolve this balance for her. The copy can be sent to my attention at:[redacted], PA [redacted]Ive enclosed a copy of the check that was submitted for you to see that the bank is unable to read the audit trail on the back of the check to locate the missing payment.I appreciate your cooperation along with [redacted]s and apologize for any inconvenience [redacted] has encountered trying to resolve this balance. Please contact me directly at [redacted] if you have any questions.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have been in touch with [redacted], who responded to the complaint. I gave him what information I had regarding the missing check, from the main branch of my bank. He stated that he will make an administrative adjustment to my bill so I will no longer receive billing. He will contact their bank with the information I gave to locate where the check was wrongfully deposited, then he will contact me with the progress. Thank you.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

HORRIBLE CARDIAC CARE FROM NURSE TONY TAYLOR WORKS on 3RD FLOOR REGIONAL HEART MEDICAL, HE SHOULD BE FIRED! ELREDLY ABUSE WITNESSED FIRST HAND. He BODY SLAMMED MY FATHER 3 DAYS AFTER OPEN HEART SURGERY!

Review: I received a Bill from Lehigh Valley Health Network on 3/26/2014 for medical services my wife received in January of 2014. The Bill was for the amount of $1912.13. According to [redacted], our Health Insurance Company, this bill was incorrect. We contacted Lehigh Valley Health Network billing department on March 31, 2014 about this discrepancy. After reviewing their records they acknowledged their Bill was in error. They told us to ignore the Bill they sent us and that they would correct their records and reissue a corrected bill to us. We received the corrected Bill on April 12, 2014. However, this bill was marked as PAST DUE. This bill is not PAST DUE since we followed their instructions to ignore the original incorrect bill.Desired Settlement: I desire the following resolution;

Lehigh Valley Health Network shall reissue this bill noting that it is NOT PAST DUE

Lehigh Valley Health Network Shall provide a letter of apology - this is not the first time their Billing Department has made such an error

Lehigh Valley Health Network shall RETRAIN their billing personnel so these error do not reoccur in the future

Lehigh Valley Health Network Shall be legally responsible for any damages to my credit rating - including legal fees and penalties

Business

Response:

May 1, 2014Dear **. [redacted],This letter is in response to the above complaint filed for services rendered to **. [redacted]’s wife, [redacted] at Lehigh Valley Hospital from January 20, 2014 through January 23, 2014 under account number [redacted].In reviewing this account I do see where an incorrect contractual adjustment was originally taken which resulted in the incorrect balance of $1,912.13 being billed to [redacted]. [redacted]. Upon notification from **. [redacted] the account was corrected and the correct balance owed of $1,506.21 was billed.On April 25, 2014 the outstanding balance of $1,506.21 was paid in full. No balance exists for this account as of today.I apologize for any inconvenience **. and [redacted]. [redacted] experienced in assisting to get this bill resolved. I can assure you that no record of this bill will be reflected on **. or [redacted]. [redacted]’s credit report. We are in the process of implementing a state of the art billing system which we expect to assist in eliminating these types of errors in the future. I apologize again and ask that **. and [redacted]. [redacted] reach out to me directly at 484-884-0841 if they have any questions or need future assistance with their hospital bills.

Review: An appointment for an annual checkup was scheduled on 6/25/14 with W. William S[redacted], DO at Lehigh Valley Health Network at [redacted], [redacted] PA [redacted]. Phone ####-###-####. The Dr. recommended blood work and questioned slightly high BP @132/92. I responded that it is a chronic dietary issue with me that I have struggled with for years. When asked if I’ve ever had any testing done I replied that I had an EKG done approximately three years ago at another practice but the test was clear. I asked if he would like me to have the records transferred so he could see them. He stated, “No, that won’t be necessary, but we should at least order a 2D ECHO for a baseline to see that your heart is healthy if your BP has been up for a while”. With my past knowledge of the EKG testing, I was lead to believe from his statement that this was just another routine test being ordered, which I agreed to after some thought. The 2D ECHO was performed on 7/28/14 in this same office by the Cardiology department. The tech told me I was totally fine but she would let my Dr. discuss the official results at my next appointment. My follow-up appointment occurred on 8/8/2014 and my blood work results were discussed with my DR. I had a slightly low vitamin D level which was the focus of the appointment. My blood pressure after a few weeks of a healthy diet was 123/83, back to my normal. After leaving, I realized my 2D ECHO results were never mentioned which didn’t concern me at the time because of the tech’s statement during the test. I just assumed the results were clear.

On 8/29/2014, I received a $1482.64 bill for my portion of the 2D ECHO test from LVHN. This was an unitemized bill so I assumed it was a clerical error. I phoned the billing department and was informed that this was my part of an approximately $3800 bill for 2D ECHO diagnostic testing! Following this bill were two subsequent bills on 8/30/14 from Lehigh Valley Cardio Diagnostics PC for the result screening of this test for $72.00, my portion of a $350 bill as well as well as an office bill from Lehigh Valley Physicians Group for $17.87, my portion of a $140.00 bill for the follow up visit. I am not including legitimate charges involved resulting from the first visit and blood work charges.

Upon receiving these charges I researched the 2D ECHO test to find that it is a diagnostic test used to specify heart problems for patients with known issues. It is not a preventative test ordered lightly ten minutes into an initial well office visit with a relatively healthy new patient with no medical history at all besides some occasional high blood pressure.

I have called the billing departments associated with all of these charges and have received no help. I have contacted Kelly Long, the office manager, after leaving a message on the week of September 8th. I called her again on September 19th and was able to talk with her. She very politely and professionally told me that something doesn’t seem “right” but that she wasn’t sure how to address the problem. She stated that she would speak with the “Project Manager” the next day and possibly Dr. S[redacted] to get an explanation as to why this test was ordered. After no call back, I was able after several calls to reach Kelly on September30th. She stated that she had left me a message saying the Project Manager cannot help me because the test was ordered by Dr. S[redacted]. To date this is the only explanation I have received and I am not even sure whether the Dr. is aware of my concerns.

I have no choice at this point to assume that this practice is ordering tests for income and not warning of the associated charges when they see a patient with medical insurance that will cover it. I carry a BC/BS card is means almost certain payment for them. I do acknowledge that it is my responsibility to ask questions but I feel I was misled by the relaxed way this test was thrown at me as though it was no more in depth than a simple EKG (“We should AT LEAST order a 2D ECHO”). If Dr. S[redacted] has an explanation for ordering such an extravagant test for such a small problem, I would consider changing my opinion. But with no one willing to talk about it, I have no choice but to seek legal counsel. I have already reported this to JCAHO, and peaked their interest immediately until they realized that they only have the Lehigh Valley Hospital accredited and do not have jurisdiction over its satellite facilities. I am continuing by reporting this to the PA State Medical board to bring this issue to light before I incur even more unnecessary expense by seeking private legal counsel. This letter will be forwarded to my state rep as well to express my concerns that this contributes to the problem of our ever rising health care costs. I do not believe that my case is isolated and I believe it is very important this type of questionable practice be addressed before it gets out of control. Our health care costs in this State already are bad enough.

I am seeking a full refund for these services as well as wanting the charges reversed that were billed to my insurance provider. I would also like an explanation as to how this will be prevented with other patients in the future.Desired Settlement: I would like an explanation as to why this test was ordered as well as a full refund if the services are deemed unnecessary.

Business

Response:

November 13, 2014Dear [redacted]:Thank you for bringing this complaint to the attention of the Lehigh in the LVHN strive to provide quality care for our patients and review those instances when we did not meet our patient’s expectations.The patient's provider recommended that he undergo a diagnostic test in response to a finding during the physical exam. The diagnostic test was indicated to assist in determining the underlying cause of the finding and to rule out damage to cardiacfunctioning. The test did not require pre-authorization from the patient's insurance company, but it did result in a charge to the patient. We are very sorry if the patient was not aware that this test would result in him being responsible for a portion of the cost of the service provided. Further, we apologize if the reason for the test being performed was not thoroughly explained to him. It is my understanding that a representative from the Practice has contacted the patient and resolved.Thank you, Carolyn CDirector, Risk Management

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,