UCHealth Poudre Valley Hospital

On 20190628 I went to the UC Health urgent care shortly before they closed. I had been throwing up for most of the day and had some stomach pain. After paying a sum around $200 I was seen by a physician, who informed me that they were ill-suited to care for me and I needed to go across the street to the emergency room. The urgent care closing in about thirty minutes was also referenced, as was the fact that the lab was third-party, not part of the clinic, and was closed or about to close. At this point they refunded the amount I had paid earlier.

My visit to the emergency room was generally uneventful. I was admitted, given some fluids, monitored, and ultimately written a prescription that I believe was intended to sooth my stomach, but which generally gave me a severe headache. Within a couple of hours I was feeling well enough to leave. We were in consultation with the physician during the visit regarding the cost of the services, in essence the "tab" that we were accruing. Upon leaving we thought we had a good understanding of what the charges would look like.

We received a bill that was more than double what we had expected to pay. Upon visiting the Harmony billing office for an explanation I was given the breakdown by level and generally understand why I was charged what I was charged. This leaves some difficult questions:

1. Why was the amount I was told I would be charged so much different (more than 2x) what I was told to expect to pay? I understand it is difficult to estimate these things but margin of error only gets you so far...certainly not 200+%.

2. Why was I sent to the emergency room in the first place? I didn't really question this at the time but now It starts to look shady. The urgent care could have administered the same fluids and observation, as well as writing the prescription, all for a fraction of the price and with the ER next door in case there were problems. So now we are left wondering if people just didn't want to risk having to stay late or if there was some idea that we could afford to pay more and should be sent to the emergency room for the inflated rates.

3. I am told that patients can't be told what services will cost because it will "discourage them from seeking treatment". Can you give me another circumstance where you might be more likely to purchase something because you do not know the price tag?

In closing, it seems that much of what is wrong with our current health care system is due to a lack of transparency. However, perhaps it has more to do with your staff genuinely not having the most basic information that a patient needs in order to make well-advised decision with the attending physician. I have already discussed this with a very nice gentleman in your billing office until we were both generally out of things to say. I am left extremely dissatisfied, to the point of wanting to make this matter much more public, as it seems I am responsible for mistakes on your end.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,
J S

During the period from September 1 through October 1 of 2017 I received twice daily infusions of an antibiotic at the infusion clinic of Poudre Valley Hospital. Most of these were paid by insurance but I received 10 billings from UCHealth for a total of $1630.31. These billings came from an address of Business Services - Patient Accounts, P O Box 732144, Dallas, TX, but the services were provided at Poudre Valley Hospital.
I paid the full amount of $1630.31 by credit card ending in *** with the payment processed on December 18, 2017. I then found an additional charge against the same credit card of $1455.31 on December 27, 2017. This charge was invalid and was never approved by me or anyone else. I have written to the credit card company requesting that the billing be reversed, and have also written to the billing company making the same request.
Today I received another bill, for $175, citing the same service, and threatening to use a collection service. My account page at UC Health also shows $1455.31 as unpaid and past due.
I have not only paid this bill in full, the hospital through UCHealth and the billing company have overcharged me by $1455.31 and are claiming that I still owe them money. This is completely wrong and without basis.