Tri-City Medical Center

Review: I was referred to their outpatient radiology center for a lower back at the suggestion of my physician. He said it was precautionary to make sure there were no significant issues. I asked him if I would have to pay additional charges. He confirmed it would be fully covered under insurance. I went to the hospital (received very unprofessional care however that is another issue) and upon intake I asked the person taking my insurance if there would be any out of pocket expenses. He confirmed there would not be. I went through procedure and confirmed I owed nothing before leaving. A month after the service I receive an invoice showing a "balance due" of $533.02 showing my insurer had paid over $300 already. I contacted the billing department multiple times of a several month period. My complaint is that $1134 is not what an XRay costs so I thought they had billed me for an MRI. In the first round of contacts no one seemed to ever want to confirm the "imaging" I was charged for was an XRay. They put my account on "hold" while they review my dispute. Eventually they tell me that I was being charged for an XRay, and "That's a competitive rate with other local providers". That did not sit right with me so I contact every other provider in the area I could find online (about 8 places) the prices range from $35-$85 for the identical service. I then call the radiology department directly and they confirm that for a full set of XRay images on the lower back the price was $80. I file a formal complaint with the hospital via fax (because that's the only way they accept formal documents). I then proceed not to hear back from them for months. I thought they accepted the dispute; however, 2 months later I get a notice that I still owe. When I call up they seem to have "lost" the formal complaint and say that my account is about to be delinquent. I re-send the complaint with a letter from my attorney asking that the $300+ already collected from my insurer be accepted as full payment for the $80 service. Another month passes and I get no response. I call up to find out their legal counsel [redacted] in "out on vacation". I leave 2 or 3 messages over a 2 week period never to hear back. This week I call back to find out that they ignored my letter but are not clear on the reason why. Monday I receive a notice showing that 10 days earlier they had put my account back on notice (apparently it takes 10 days for the mail to make it down the street to my house to inform me I have 14 days to pay or be sent to collections leaving me 4 days to do something). Then on Tuesday (today) I receive a notice from a collection agency saying I had been referred to collection on 5/2 (6 days before that 14 day period was up, but still after I was even notified I owed the money still) and now I have to worry about a negative item on my credit report while waiting to actually hear back from anyone at the hospital.

I would understand this action had I not been aggressively trying to reach anyone at the hospital that might be able to elucidate the situation but instead all they do it say they will "put the account on hold while they review the info" and then contact me when they have a decision; however, they never contact me. This organization is so large and convoluted I can't tell if they are acting out of sheer malevolence or sheer incompetence.Desired Settlement: I want them to stop trying to collect hundreds of dollars for a service they charge $80 and over $300 has already been paid on my behalf.

I would also like them to provide a decent and professional standard of health care, but I am trying to be realistic here...

Business

Response:

This letter is written in response to the concerns that you brought to our attention on May

21 , 2014 regarding a patient's visit to Tri-City Healthcare District in October, 2013.

We appreciate our patienrs feedback. as it enables us to constantly improve our services

and the care we provide for our patients and their families while at Tri-City Healthcare

District.

It is my understanding that the patient's concern was resolved to the patient's satisfaction

via the patient, his attorney and our Compliance Qfficer. You may want to contact the

patient as we believe he was satisfied with the hospital's responsiveness and conclusion

to his concern.

lf l can be of further assistance please call me at 760-940-3350.

Respectfully,

Patient Relations Specialist

Review: I had gone to the emergency room at TriCity hospital on Tuesday, December 17, 2013 with acute pain caused by kidney stones. At triage my blood pressure and temperature was taken and I was promptly escorted back to a bed where I waited for well over an hour in excruciating pain. During my time in the emergency room I never saw a physician; I never had any lab tests, x-rays, drugs, IV, or treatment of any kind. I finally left after a very long and painful wait and drove myself to another hospital for treatment. To date my insurance provider has paid TriCity Medical Center a total of $1,160.04, $303.13 of it for drugs I never received. TriCity has been attempting to collect an additional $80.10 payment from me for supposedly administering a drug Zofran and for an exam by a physician. I have tried for one year and three months to resolve this issue with them; I have filed a dispute with the hospital saying I did NOT see a doctor; I did NOT receive any treatment, but to no avail. I believe that TriCity falsified records in order to collect money from my insurance provider and myself for services which were never rendered. The drug in which TriCity claims they administered is Zofran, for nausea. I adamantly deny receiving this drug or any other drug by this hospital. I adamantly deny any claim by TriCity that I was examined by a physician. TriCity Medical Center has fraudulently billed and collected money from my insurance provider for services they never performed and continues to send billing statements to me for an additional amount of $80.10.Desired Settlement: I would like the $80.10 fee waived and a letter stating that they have made the adjustment and my account has been paid in full. I would like this letter to come from an individual at this facility who is authorized to make such an adjustment so there will be no future billing statements coming from them for services they claimed I received on December 17, 2013.

Review: On August 26, 2012, I visited the Emergency Room at Tri-City Medical Center. I registered my name with Admissions, and completed a brief questionnaire about the reason for my visit, my insurance and personal information, etc. I waited for over six hours in the ER, and saw the waiting room fill up and empty out several times over yet my name was never called. I checked in at Admissions periodically, and was told that I would be seen shortly. My name was called at one point for a blood draw, yet I was told to return to the waiting room after that was completed. I waited still hours longer. With my symptoms worsening, and my patience exhausted, I finally decided to leave Tri-City and to seek treatment elsewhere. I had been there ALL day. To my dismay, my insurance and I were both billed for the entire ER visit. Keep in mind, however, I was NEVER treated by a nurse or doctor. Besides a simple blood draw, the results of which I never received, there was no treatment administered to me. I contested the bill with several letters to Tri-City, to which I never received a response. They continued to bill me for a $150 copayment, required for ER visits under my insurance plan. I investigated further and realized that Tri-City had billed my insurance for various ER services and care, which I never received yet my insurance paid! A separate bill for the blood draw was written off by the pathology lab when they learned of my dispute.Now, my $150 bill is with CMRE Collections. I do not understand why Tri-City ignores my correspondence. When I called them, they said that I owe $150 and argue that since I had blood taken, that it was considered an ER visit by the Billing Dept. I tried to explain that I never received treatment, and stayed in the waiting room for hours instead. As a result of this, my credit is at risk of being damaged, and the $150 bill (+interest) continues to be sent to me. I have tried on my own to get this resolved, but it has proven fruitless. Thank you.Desired Settlement: I would like Tri-City to recognize its erroneous billing practices with me, and to stop billing me for a copayment for services never rendered. I would also like the bill to be removed from Collections immediately. I would also like to see Tri-City reimburse my insurance company, Aetna, for fraudulent charges. The charges are over $500.

Business

Response:

June 18, 2013