Suburban Eye Associates

[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 the claims of making numerous attempts to contact me regarding the balance could not be further from the truth. My mother in law is an employee of Suburban Eye Associates and it would be very easy to contact me. My wife and daughter are also patients, being the subscriber of the insurance - I am sure my information is on their files. When I had my most recent visit in 2014, I was informed by the woman at the desk Aleeah (pardon the spelling) that my balance should have been taken care of but was not that she would bring it to the attention of Brittney and it would be taken care of.
I find it unfair of you to say I ignored your many attempts to contact me however when I received the letter in August, I called and left a message asking for an immediate return phone call and at the urging of my wife sent a letter that I also did not receive a response too. I only received a response when I contacted the Revdex.com. The claims of attempting to contact are "he said, she said".I am sure it was and is a staff member's job to make these necessary phone calls and it wasn't you personally calling. I have my doubts that your staff was making the calls and that you were even give my messages. The many phones calls made were from August 27 - September 11th per your records. After I sent my letter. Where are the other "numerous attempts prior to 8/27/14? From 2012 to August 2014? Additionally, I requested a response from you not from Joyce F[redacted], I wanted to speak with the person that made the agreement with me. I find it very insulting that you could not be bothered to personally attempt to contact me.
However, you and I did speak shortly after my procedure, after I received the first statement and the bill was being adjusted. It was not a payment arrangement. I never would have agreed to this.
At the time due to my mother-in-law's employment, I did not alert the insurance company that procedures were billed for that were not completed. However if this is not settled, I absolutely will.  I am not threating fraud. I will contact the attorney general and request an investigation into their medical insurance billing practices.
I find it a disgrace that this has come to this, that a business is not keeping its word. My mother in law is a longtime employee, even my wife was employed there under Dr. Dorfman. The practice has greatly changed and sadly not for the better. I am asking for what was promised to me, if it had not been promised I would have paid it years ago. Especially after other employees have confirmed with me that the balance should be and would be removed.
Regards,[redacted]

September 15, 2014
In reference to the attached letter- we are disputing information supplied by the patient. We received the letter on 8/18/14(dates are whiten out by patient and changed.] We immediately tried contacting the patient (See attachments) with no success. We wanted to discuss...

the situation to see how we could rectify the balance that is owed by the patient.Original letter sent (see attached August 13, 2014) stated that he received no bills/statements from “early 2012” prior to August of 2014, Our records indicate that he received at 14 statements. As for the patient stating that he contacted hisinsurance company about procedures we billed for that weren't performed is not accurate (See exam notes)Patient also stated that he immediately contacted us to have the charges removed.Patient contacted us to work out a payment arrangement with him. We adjusted the balance to $250 for the patient to be responsible which he has not complied with as per our agreement. (See Attached fee ticket)The letter from your office dated 8/27/14 states that he has attempted numerous times to contact us. I can assure you, that we would have responded each and every time he contacted us. We have no documentation of the patient contacting us prior to this letter but we do have documentation stating how many times we have tried to contact him to clear up his balance.As for his reference about speaking to [redacted] and "was billed for procedures not completed" if this is true, then why didn't [redacted] request their money back or contact us about this. On another note, why and how would they say that since they are not in the office and this could be construed as slander against us? We will follow up with [redacted] about this.
We also do not approve of his original letter threatening us with fraud, Attached are numerous references for you to review. We have complied with not using the patient’s name but how is that fair to us if he continues to threaten us?Patient was seen in our office on 4/28/14 and there is no documentation of him trying to straighten out his balance.Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Respectfully,Ijaz C
Practice Manager

Review: I was a patient at Suburban Eye Associates in 2012. I had a laser procedure performed by Dr.C[redacted]. It was processed through my insurance and I received a bill from Suburban Eye Associates. I called my insurance for an explanation of benefits and payment and I was told the procedures they were billed for and I was billed for procedures not completed. I called and spoke with the office manager Ijaz C[redacted] and worked out a settlement. I sent my payments and the remaining balance of $250.00 was to be removed. Fast forward to August 2014, I receive a bill for $250.00. I have called and requested return phone calls and sent letters requesting a response, with no response. I want the remaining $250.00 to be removed as promised by Ijaz C[redacted] for procedures that were not performed.Desired Settlement: Balance removed.

Business

Response:

September 15, 2014In reference to the attached letter- we are disputing information supplied by the patient. We received the letter on 8/18/14(dates are whiten out by patient and changed.] We immediately tried contacting the patient (See attachments) with no success. We wanted to discuss the situation to see how we could rectify the balance that is owed by the patient.Original letter sent (see attached August 13, 2014) stated that he received no bills/statements from “early 2012” prior to August of 2014, Our records indicate that he received at 14 statements. As for the patient stating that he contacted hisinsurance company about procedures we billed for that weren't performed is not accurate (See exam notes)Patient also stated that he immediately contacted us to have the charges removed.Patient contacted us to work out a payment arrangement with him. We adjusted the balance to $250 for the patient to be responsible which he has not complied with as per our agreement. (See Attached fee ticket)The letter from your office dated 8/27/14 states that he has attempted numerous times to contact us. I can assure you, that we would have responded each and every time he contacted us. We have no documentation of the patient contacting us prior to this letter but we do have documentation stating how many times we have tried to contact him to clear up his balance.As for his reference about speaking to [redacted] and "was billed for procedures not completed" if this is true, then why didn't [redacted] request their money back or contact us about this. On another note, why and how would they say that since they are not in the office and this could be construed as slander against us? We will follow up with [redacted] about this.We also do not approve of his original letter threatening us with fraud, Attached are numerous references for you to review. We have complied with not using the patient’s name but how is that fair to us if he continues to threaten us?Patient was seen in our office on 4/28/14 and there is no documentation of him trying to straighten out his balance.Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.Respectfully,Ijaz CPractice Manager

Consumer

Response:

[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] Review: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because the claims of making numerous attempts to contact me regarding the balance could not be further from the truth. My mother in law is an employee of Suburban Eye Associates and it would be very easy to contact me. My wife and daughter are also patients, being the subscriber of the insurance - I am sure my information is on their files. When I had my most recent visit in 2014, I was informed by the woman at the desk Aleeah (pardon the spelling) that my balance should have been taken care of but was not that she would bring it to the attention of Brittney and it would be taken care of.

I find it unfair of you to say I ignored your many attempts to contact me however when I received the letter in August, I called and left a message asking for an immediate return phone call and at the urging of my wife sent a letter that I also did not receive a response too. I only received a response when I contacted the Revdex.com. The claims of attempting to contact are "he said, she said".I am sure it was and is a staff member's job to make these necessary phone calls and it wasn't you personally calling. I have my doubts that your staff was making the calls and that you were even give my messages. The many phones calls made were from August 27 - September 11th per your records. After I sent my letter. Where are the other "numerous attempts prior to 8/27/14? From 2012 to August 2014? Additionally, I requested a response from you not from Joyce F[redacted], I wanted to speak with the person that made the agreement with me. I find it very insulting that you could not be bothered to personally attempt to contact me.

However, you and I did speak shortly after my procedure, after I received the first statement and the bill was being adjusted. It was not a payment arrangement. I never would have agreed to this.

At the time due to my mother-in-law's employment, I did not alert the insurance company that procedures were billed for that were not completed. However if this is not settled, I absolutely will. I am not threating fraud. I will contact the attorney general and request an investigation into their medical insurance billing practices.

I find it a disgrace that this has come to this, that a business is not keeping its word. My mother in law is a longtime employee, even my wife was employed there under Dr. Dorfman. The practice has greatly changed and sadly not for the better. I am asking for what was promised to me, if it had not been promised I would have paid it years ago. Especially after other employees have confirmed with me that the balance should be and would be removed.

Regards,[redacted]