VA (Virginia) Pulmonary Association

September 10, 2015To Whom It May Concern:We are in receipt of the complaint received from [redacted] that your office had received on August 13, 2105, regarding our business, Virginia Pulmonary Associates, P.C.The following facts are without dispute: [redacted] presented to our...

office on June 18, 2015, for a sleep disorder consultation with Dr. Benham G[redacted]. After the consultation, [redacted] scheduled a sleep study appointment for the evening of July 7, 2015, of which he did not attend.As a courtesy to our patients, I personally make reminder calls to our sleep study patients the afternoon of their sleep study appointments. As such, a reminder call was placed during the afternoon of July 7, 2015 to remind [redacted] of his scheduled sleep study that evening. During that call, the patient stated that he had called in after our normal business hours the week previously and had left a voicemail requesting to reschedule his sleep study. He states someone from our office had called him back and had left him a voicemail message stating we had received his message and were calling him back to reschedule. He confirms that in spite of our supposed voicemail message, he never called back to actually reschedule the sleep study.I asked the patient to hold as I inquired as to who had received his message and had called him back as he had not been cancelled on the sleep study schedule. All office staff members were present that day with the exception of the front desk receptionist. The office staff that were present did not have record of [redacted]’ voicemail nor were aware of his intent to reschedule his sleep study. Moreover, I checked the front desk receptionist’s voicemail log and also did not find any record of her receiving his voicemail from the week previous. I advised [redacted] that I could not find any record of any members of our staff receiving his voicemail, much less calling him back to reschedule. [redacted] stated that he “still had the voicemail message on his phone” from the staff member that had returned his call. I asked if I could hear it so I could ascertain which staff member had called him back, but that did not occur.I reminded [redacted] of our cancellation policy for sleep studies and advised him that if no record of his cancelling his sleep study could be located, that he would be charged the $125 fee for not cancelling 48 hours prior to his sleep study. This fee is accessed when patients do not attend or cancel within 48 hours of their scheduled sleep study in order to cover the cost associated with the sleep technician that had been scheduled to perform said procedure. As his study was scheduled for that evening, I advised the patient that he could avoid the fee by attending his study that evening. [redacted] stated he did not want to attend that evening and insisted that our front desk receptionist had received his message and had called him back. As the front desk receptionist was out of the office, I advised [redacted] that I would have her call him back upon her return, just to make sure that she had no record of his voicemail or returning his call. I advised [redacted] at that time, that if she did not substantiate his claim, that he would be accessed the $125.00 charge. [redacted] understood.The receptionist returned the following day, July 8, 2015, and called [redacted] and advised him that she checks the general voicemail box, in which his after-hours message would have been left, and advised him that she had not received his message. As such, [redacted] was charged the $125.00 fee for not cancelling his appointment per the terms of our office policy, of which [redacted] had been provided a copy. We have not had any contact with [redacted] since that phone call.However, I have been advised by the medical director that the $125.00 fee would be waived for [redacted] in spite of having to pay the sleep technician that arrived that evening to perform [redacted]’ sleep study.Please do not hesitate to contact me with any additional questions or concerns.ards,Wendy *. J[redacted]Office Manager Virginia Pulmonary Associates, P.C. Sleep Disorders Center of Woodbridge