Doctor bill - too late to dispute?

[Anonymous]

A few months ago, I went to a new doctor that was highly recommended to me. On their website, they clearly state they charge more for their appointments because they provided “expanded appointments” where they focus on listening to patients, talking about concerns, etc and so forth. They also emphasized their appointment scheduling was setup to accommodate this and also make for minimal waiting. All of this sounds great.

Well my appointment sucked and was basically nothing more than a quick 20 minute cursory exam that included nothing other than listening to my heart and lungs. The diagnostic sheet they returned had about 6 things diagnosed but they were all issues I self reported and nothing the doctor actually discovered through any medical findings.

I was so irritated and pissed off that I wasted a whole morning off of work that I wrote a nasty letter to them that afternoon but didn’t send it because I knew it was written in anger. Every time I thought of going back and editing the letter, I got pissed off all over again and just didn’t deal with it. Same problem every time their bill showed up in the mail. The bill is now in collections. So it is to late for me to dispute it? I don’t believe I received an “expanded appointment” so should not have to pay for one but I understand I did receive some appointment and I am willing to pay for a “limited visit”. The difference in cost between the two appointments is about $150. (I was billed almost $300 for the “expanded visit”.)

[Anonymous]

It's not too late. I would send the letter, hopefully you can make it factual vs. emotional and ask for a reduction in the bill. I would imagine it would be fairly simple to resolve. I'd send one copy to the collection agency and another directly to the doctor's office...certified.

[Anonymous]

This is ridiculous - you are a grown up and if you were upset about something, you should have said it at the appointment or immediately thereafter. You are expected to pay for the appointment, so the only thing you are disputing is the $150 difference between regular and expanded. Now that the bill is in COLLECTIONS, I would advise you to just go ahead, pay the bill, and move on with life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not too late. I would send the letter, hopefully you can make it factual vs. emotional and ask for a reduction in the bill. I would imagine it would be fairly simple to resolve. I'd send one copy to the collection agency and another directly to the doctor's office...certified.

+1

[Anonymous]

Ask for a copy of your record. To bill insurance for diagnoses, they need to document history, exam, and assessment in sync with what they bill. It sounds as if this is not the case and even if they are not billing insurance (unclear from yr post), you can use that to question their practice. As practitioners, they should not just be writing/billing diagnoses you told them. It needs to be documented and supported by their work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is ridiculous - you are a grown up and if you were upset about something, you should have said it at the appointment or immediately thereafter. You are expected to pay for the appointment, so the only thing you are disputing is the $150 difference between regular and expanded. Now that the bill is in COLLECTIONS, I would advise you to just go ahead, pay the bill, and move on with life.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask for a copy of your record. To bill insurance for diagnoses, they need to document history, exam, and assessment in sync with what they bill. It sounds as if this is not the case and even if they are not billing insurance (unclear from yr post), you can use that to question their practice. As practitioners, they should not just be writing/billing diagnoses you told them. It needs to be documented and supported by their work.

Thanks for this - I didn't know that. And yes, the did bill insurance (I knew they were out of network so it would have been a partial payment only). They did bill for all the items I reported but they didn't diagnose or verify (would have required an actual blood test to diagnose).

Thanks for the replies. I think I will edit the letter I wrote and as suggested remove the emotional element and send it and see what happens.