Mountain Medical Physician Specialists, P.C.

We provide services at local hospitals and we rely on the hospitals to provide us with the correct billing and insurance information for each patientThis does not always happen and it can be difficult to collect that information after the factThis was the situation with Mr [redacted] -we did not have a correct address and we were unable to track him down in a timely mannerIn early July 2016, Mr [redacted] ’ insurance sent us the payment of $and we refunded him later that month

We can understand Ms. ***’s frustration because healthcare bills can be very confusing, especially an ER visit as she stated this was. Multiple providers will send bills from an ER visit and sometimes patients assume it will be taken care of by insurance or will be wrapped into the hospital bill. However, we sent statements to her in late December 2014, late January 2015 and a pre-collection letter in late February 2015. In addition, we placed a series of phone calls to her in March 2015. With all of this correspondence, Ms. [redacted] never contacted Mountain Medical. We provide nearly one million services per year and it is impossible for us to follow up on every single patient who does not pay. This is why we and other medical providers turn these cases over to collection agencies that have additional resources. When people see that their credit may be affected, they respond. The collection agency has record of contacting her 22 times before finally speaking to her in late May 2016. At that time, they explained the bill and how it was different than the hospital charges and offered the ability to make payments. She questioned that she was responsible for the charges. They agreed to send her the details and she agreed to call them back within 30 days. She did not respond within the allowed time frame so it was sent the attorney’s office. Ms. [redacted] and her mother spoke with the attorney’s office several times in late September and the attorney’s office offered a payment plan. She told them she could not make payments. Her mother called them again in mid-November 2015 but they were unable to reach her back. Then, several calls took place in late December and early January 2017 when they finally settled the case for a reduced amount. As stated above, we understand that she is frustrated. The reality of this situation is that if she had contacted us or worked with the collection agency when they initially spoke with her, she would have only been responsible for the amount her insurance left as her responsibility. But, by not resolving this in a timely manner, the collection agency sent this account to their attorneys who added the additional fees.

Regarding [redacted] # [redacted] We provide radiology services for several hospitals and rely on the hospitals to send along the appropriate insurance information that they collect from patients Unfortunately, this does not always happen and we send statements to the patient asking for the informationWe appreciate Ms [redacted] ’s efforts in sending along her insurance twice There were two dates of service very close together and the charges are independent, so that is likely why she was asked to send it in twiceWe utilize an outside billing company and there are high call volumes at certain times during the day, which may explain (but not excuse) the long hold timesWe are disappointed that she wasn’t notified that they had received her insurance information and will follow up with our billing company to review their processesThese charges were pulled back from collections and billed to insurance in late February and her insurance paid in early MarchShe has a zero balance with Mountain Medical and her credit has not been affected by this situationWe are sorry for the confusion and frustration Ms [redacted] experienced Thanks! -Mary Mountain MedicalMary C [redacted] (801) 284-| (801) 269-fax

We provide services at local hospitals and it is often confusing for patients to receive a bill from us, a doctor that provided services for them but they did not see and don’t know their name Based on the information she states regarding our doctor, she is likely confused, as our doctors are radiologists and interpret exams behind the scenes and do not see patientsOur policy is to send out statements/letters, one pre-collections letter and phone calls before we send on to a collections company to pursueIf the collections company is unable to collect, they forward it to their attorneys who tack on additional feesOur policy was followedMs [redacted] has never contacted Mountain Medical but she placed a review on Google about the same time she contacted youWe replied to her, encouraging her to contact us to work through the details, but that never happened See snip belowThe problem now is that she has let it go so long without any correspondence that the collection attorneys are involved and it is out of our hands Had she contacted us earlier, we could have worked with herUnfortunately, the only thing she can do now is to work with those attorneys on some sort of settlement

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me
Sincerely,
*** ***

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:I have called the company multiple times and every time they gave conflicting answersThey did not follow the process like they outlined, just sent the bill straight to an attorney after YEARS of no contact and no attempt to contact me at allThe hospital had all of my updated information on billing and was at their disposal per the agreement I signed at treatmentI am not the only patient who was billed in this manner, the reviews are very clear that this happens a lotAfter months of trying to work with the company and asking for copies of my medical records and my medical bills to have an outlined bill from them and they never sent it and refused to send one to meAfter they attacked my credit and refused to work with my and piled on $of fees attached to my bill while I was trying to clarify my medical bills with them I had no choice but to pay the outrageous fees, they were paid, but this company should not be able to behave this way and say they followed protocol when they did not.
Sincerely,
*** ***

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to meMary has been very helpful to me! It has been wonderful working with her and Mountain Medical!
Sincerely,
*** ***

We have been in contact with Ms*** regarding the collection letter she receivedIt was actually for two separate dates of service, which was confusingSince our doctors provide radiology services at local hospitals but they do not actually meet the patients, it can add to the confusionWe
pulled the charges back from the collection company and have made payment arrangements with her. We believe this is now resolved

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me as long as they follow through with their plan to appropriately bill my health insurance company to receive payment. 
Sincerely,
[redacted]

We can understand Ms. [redacted]’s frustration because healthcare bills can be very confusing, especially an ER visit as she stated this was. Multiple providers will send bills from an ER visit and sometimes patients assume it will be taken care of by insurance or will be wrapped into the hospital bill. However, we sent statements to her in late December 2014, late January 2015 and a pre-collection letter in late February 2015. In addition, we placed a series of phone calls to her in March 2015. With all of this correspondence, Ms. [redacted] never contacted Mountain Medical. We provide nearly one million services per year and it is impossible for us to follow up on every single patient who does not pay. This is why we and other medical providers turn these cases over to collection agencies that have additional resources. When people see that their credit may be affected, they respond. The collection agency has record of contacting her 22 times before finally speaking to her in late May 2016. At that time, they explained the bill and how it was different than the hospital charges and offered the ability to make payments. She questioned that she was responsible for the charges. They agreed to send her the details and she agreed to call them back within 30 days. She did not respond within the allowed time frame so it was sent the attorney’s office. Ms. [redacted] and her mother spoke with the attorney’s office several times in late September and the attorney’s office offered a payment plan. She told them she could not make payments. Her mother called them again in mid-November 2015 but they were unable to reach her back. Then, several calls took place in late December and early January 2017 when they finally settled the case for a reduced amount. As stated above, we understand that she is frustrated. The reality of this situation is that if she had contacted us or worked with the collection agency when they initially spoke with her, she would have only been responsible for the amount her insurance left as her responsibility. But, by not resolving this in a timely manner, the collection agency sent this account to their attorneys who added the additional fees.

Health insurance billing can be complicated. We rely on a blend of people and automated software to push things through. There are multiple areas that the process can get bogged down. This service was provided at a hospital and we rely on them to send information regarding patients and their...

insurance. It is not uncommon for some information to be missing or incorrect. In this case, the insurance information from the hospital was incomplete, which is why a statement was sent.   We outsource our billing to a company in North Carolina. The billing company’s database contains insurance from the areas of the country where they do billing. We are in Utah, but the patient was from another state. When Ms. [redacted] called them with the insurance information, they chose the preloaded information in the database and billed it out again. The insurance address had changed due to a merger so it was returned and another statement was sent out. Ms. [redacted] called again with the address. The billing company had information in the system for the new company, but at a different address. Since adding a new insurance to the database needs to be done carefully, the claims representative wondered if they could just send it to the address already listed. She sent an email to ask but it was not responded to and therefore never addressed, which was why Ms. [redacted] continued to receive statements. Mountain Medical and our billing company truly apologize for this situation. The insurance was one that they were not familiar with and it complicated things. The billing company manager has assured me that she will process this herself and Ms. [redacted] will not receive another bill unless there is a balance due. We have been in contact with Ms. [redacted] and let her know who she can contact directly with any questions or concerns.

We provide services at local hospitals and it is often confusing for patients to receive a bill from us, a doctor that provided services for them but they did not see and don’t know their name.  Based on the information she states regarding our doctor, she is likely confused, as our doctors are...

radiologists and interpret exams behind the scenes and do not see patients. Our policy is to send out 2 statements/letters, one pre-collections letter and phone calls before we send on to a collections company to pursue. If the collections company is unable to collect, they forward it to their attorneys who tack on additional fees. Our policy was followed. Ms. [redacted] has never contacted Mountain Medical but she placed a review on Google about the same time she contacted you. We replied to her, encouraging her to contact us to work through the details, but that never happened.  See snip below. The problem now is that she has let it go so long without any correspondence that the collection attorneys are involved and it is out of our hands.  Had she contacted us earlier, we could have worked with her. Unfortunately, the only thing she can do now is to work with those attorneys on some sort of settlement.

We provide services at local hospitals and we rely on the hospitals to provide us with the correct billing and insurance information for each patient. This does not always happen and it can be difficult to collect that information after the fact. In addition, it is often confusing for patients to...

receive a bill from us, a doctor that provided services for them but they did not see and don’t know their name.  Our policy is to send out 2 statements/letters, one pre-collections letter and phone calls before we send on to a collections company to pursue. This policy was followed. In late June 2016, we received a letter from her disputing the charges and we sent the information to her that day. She paid her balance a few weeks later.

We provide services at local hospitals and we rely on the hospitals to provide us with the correct billing and insurance information for each patient. This does not always happen and it can be difficult to collect that information after the fact. This was the situation with Mr. [redacted]-we did not...

have a correct address and we were unable to track him down in a timely manner. In early July 2016, Mr. [redacted]’ insurance sent us the payment of $182.45 and we refunded him later that month.

Regarding [redacted] #[redacted] We provide radiology services for several hospitals and rely on the hospitals to send along the appropriate insurance information that they collect from patients.  Unfortunately, this does not always happen and we send statements to the patient asking...

for the information. We appreciate Ms. [redacted]’s efforts in sending along her insurance twice.  There were two dates of service very close together and the charges are independent, so that is likely why she was asked to send it in twice. We utilize an outside billing company and there are high call volumes at certain times during the day, which may explain (but not excuse) the long hold times. We are disappointed that she wasn’t notified that they had received her insurance information and will follow up with our billing company to review their processes. These charges were pulled back from collections and billed to insurance in late February and her insurance paid in early March. She has a zero balance with Mountain Medical and her credit has not been affected by this situation. We are sorry for the confusion and frustration Ms. [redacted] experienced.  Thanks!  -Mary Mountain MedicalMary C[redacted] (801) 284-1719 | (801) 269-0073 fax