Walk Out Doctor Fee

That's crazy.

She should be able to get some ideas here (State's Atty General office): http://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/consumers/healthca...

Or here (Illinois dept of professional regulation): http://www.idfpr.com/dpr/default.asp

She can call the state attorney general and get a complaint form

I work at one of the 3 Credit Reporting Agencies and I need to stress that if they sell it to a collection Agency, a simple call will not get it removed. A collection agency pays the doctor's office so much money (usually 10 cents for every 1.00 owed), there's no way that they would be willing to remove it because you waited too long and walked out.

I'd try to rectify the situation before they sell it. I'd suggest (like others have) to contact your insurance company (not sure how much they can help tho), The Attorney General's office - that would be Lisa Madigan and I'd avoid BBB (they are pretty much useless). Contacting the Suntimes (I can't remember her name) may help too because if she gets involved, the doctor's office may not want that much bad publicity. Oh yeah, feel free to go on www.yelp.com, yellowpages.com, kidwinks.com and rate that doctor’s office negatively.

I know you can fill out the form on line for the Attorney General's office.

Have your friend call her insurance company. They will handle it and fight it for her.

I would try the BBB. Im not sure if they handle medical offices, but i would try it. And tell that dr she is not going to pay to wait for 90 minutes. NO WAY. That is totally ridiculous.

Hi M.:

I subscribe to a group called Angie's List that has always been a fabulous guide for a variety of service vendors. They are now offering the same service for medical. I have not ventured to this section yet, but I have to believe that it will be managed just as professionally as their service providers. So, take a look at the site (www.angieslist.com). Consumers use the tool to provide feedback on services received. I can tell you that getting a poor Angie's List ratings is not good and service vendors go out of their way to keep their reputation on the site high. That might just be enough to get the doctor's office to come around and be more practical.

M.

Scarlet's idea is a good one. There is a column in the Sun Times called The Fixer and the columnist's name is Stephanie Zimmermann. Here's her website: http://www.suntimes.com/news/zimmermann/about-fixer.static It's worth a shot! Good luck to your friend.

I had a similar issue with a counselor my son was going to see...if this is her first time seeing this Dr., tell her to ask them to produce her signature on a form where it says there's a cancellation fee. Furthermore, if the Dr. is part of a hospital or a group, I would try to contact the manager there. People in billing can be NASTY at times, and just follow the "rules" they have set.

If it were me I would start by calling and speaking directly with the physician - not a nurse or receptionist or billing staff. It is not inappropriate for her to request a couple of minutes time since she already gave the doctor 90 minutes. She can also rate the doctor's office it Aetna.com if he/she is listed. She can also call or write a letter to the administration of whatever hospital the doctor is affiliated with. She should definitely not pay the $75.00. If it does show up on her credit report at any point it can be fixed with one phone call more than likely. She should be sure to keep detailed notes about who she spoke to and when, and what the basics of the call were.

Not sure what you can do in the afterwards, but I can share with you what my mom always did.
When she arrived in an office, she would go to the desk & say ........
"I know the doctor's time is valuable & so is mine, I can be here for an additional 15 mins & then I will reschedule & leave"
I can tell you she was always seen in a timely fashion.

I've heard of doctors charging a no show fee or a fee for cancelling less that 24 hours in advance, so maybe that's why they think this fee is ok.

Since she was leaving due to the doctor's inability to stay on schedule and give her another option, I don't know how they can justify the charge. Now if they called her ahead of time and notified her of the delay and she still came and waited, I think that would be another story.

M.

Sorry if this is a duplicate to someone else's post.

I would call the doctors office and ask to see documentation about thier walk out policy. I never heard of such a thing.

It they can't show you a written policy, how can they charge you?

If a patient is late or cancels the appointment, the patient gets penalized. If a doctor is late or cancels the appointment, again, the patient gets penalized.

Keep us updated, I would like to know how this works out. I am sure others would also like to know.

Good luck.

M.

That is ridiculous! And it says something about that doc's office if they have a "walk out fee" established. That means it happens on a regular basis! Not good for PR!

There is no reason that the family should have been kept waiting that long. When they complained, they should have been offered a date/time to reschedule. It was the fault of the office, not the family!

I know the Chicago Tribune has a column like, "What is the Problem?" where a journalist will follow-up with the doc office and get the issue resolved ASAP. This sounds like the perfect scenario: your friend did everything right and the doc office is 110% WRONG!

Good luck and keep us posted how this is resolved!

Well..she needs to check with financial policy that she signed when she 1st started going. Have her call the office and ask for a copy of the paperwork that she signed and read what is in there! If in the policy it states that she is responsible for those type of charges then unfortantly she is! It is ileagal to charge the patient for fees and charges that are not in the policy! That includes interest!!

I work in the industry and those contacts are iron clad once you get to the court level. One of my clients are suing their patients who never paid any payments, the judge states they did sign the policy, and the patient needs to come to some agreement with payments.

So my advice to all is read your doctors financial policy and make sure you understand what you are signing and ask if you have any questions!

Hope that helps!!

K.

I don't know if this will help but I once had a problem with getting the insurance company to pay my hospital bill. I had fallen and was taken to the emergency room by my boyfriend. I was diagnosed with a concussion and admitted to the hospital. I don't remember any of this. As soon as I started remembering I called the insurance company and I informed them of what had happen. They refused to pay the bill. Hello, I had a concussion!! How could I remember to call them sooner, I couldn't even remember my name! All it took was a letter from a lawyer friend and all of a sudden the bill was being paid. I don't know if you have any friends who are lawyers but it might be worth a try.

M. -

Sorry to hear about your difficulties with this particular office and their policies. I agree with sending a letter to both the physician and office manager or director - if there is one. Again - state the facts including the one that you were never informed of the length of delay; the difficulties your child was experiencing while waiting and why you decided it was best to leave as well as the failure of the receptionist to notify you that you would be charged. I would give them a specific time frame to contact you before you move on to other means of resolving this - say maybe 10days from the date of the letter. I would also outline the additional steps you plan on taking if you do not hear from them - which can include contacting your insurance provider or their representative. Since physicians usually have a contract with the insurance companies to provide services in order to receive specific payments - the insurance company may go to bat on your behalf. At minimum - they investigate your complaint. If this is one that they have received numerous complaints about - ie the "walk out fee" - then the insurance provider can drop the physician from their "preferred providers", etc... Physicians usually don't want this to happen if its one of the larger payors in the state ie Blue Cross/BlueShield, Humana etc... The idea of also contacting the newspaper column is a good one - since there isn't a provider out there nowadays that can stand any negative publicity. Make sure that you outline all steps that you are prepared to take - and most likely you will be contacted by the office to resolve this issue.

Good luck

I would be fuming mad!!! I'm guessing that, since, they actually have a fee for "walk-outs"...they have had to deal with this situation before and that's never good! The mere fact that she had to wait 90 minutes is rude enough and adding insult to injury by charging her $75 is infuriating.

My concern is that you have said the dr's office is going to contact a collection agency for payment and that would indicate that your friend really should have jumped on this, months ago. Promptness is important on matters that you think are unjust. The other concern is - was she at all late and were there any office papers that should have been submitted, in advance? She just needs to make sure she in the right on this or when she addresses this, she takes blame for her part of the problem, if she was wrong in any area.

Start by writing an honest letter to the Doctor's office, to the attention of the doctor and send another letter (cc.) to the Office Manager. Nothing nasty - nothing lengthy - just the facts. Whenever I have a problem with anyone, I always try to view the outcome that I would like to accomplish - in this case, if this were me, my letter would go something like this:

(Sample letter) "I would appreciate your (dr) reconsidering the $75 charge, considering the circumstances. Neither of us benefitted from our Doctor's visit since the outcome was unfavorable. Please send me a receipt, in writing, that this charge has been waived. Looking forward to your response. Kindly call me at 630--- --- or.... 630--- ----, should you need to discuss this further. Thank you for your consideration to this delicate matter. Sincerely, Mrs...., mother to ......"

It has always been my belief that people will do what is right. I know many who are reading this can prove me wrong but.... I have never sued anyone in my life, yet, I've been amazed at those businesses, who, through my phone call complaints and various letters, have corrected a situation for me.

If all else fails, I would send the $75 and see if it can be collected from her insurance company. It is never worth a mark against your credit.

Best of luck to you.