ComplaintsforDenver Surgery Center

• Initial Complaint

  03/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Hello -Denver Surgery Center (***) wrongfully sent an outstanding balance to a collections agency. I had shoulder surgery through *** in February 2022. On March 13, 2023 I was notified by a collections agency that an outstanding balance from this procedure had been sent to them from ***. Throughout the some odd 13 months since the procedure, *** failed to notify me for this outstanding balance. I spoke to a billing representative, and he claimed a statement was remitted in March and April of 2022. I have informed delivery through the **** so to make sure I wasn't making a baseless claim, I double checked historical deliveries in this time frame. There is no record of any bill from ***. They also did not try to make contact via email or phone call. It was not until the aforementioned collections letter that I was made aware of this balance. Over a year later. I was also contacted by the *** head of account receivable, *****. I explained this exact situation and she bolstered their claim that there is nothing they can do. To me this feels like poor practice and a disrespectful way to treat a patient. It has no impact on them individually, they just don't want to help I am more than willing to pay the balance to ***. However, the fact that they sent it to a collections agency without regard is my issue. This agency has not only added interest but also impacts my credit score. I am submitting that *** failed their due diligence to notify me of this balance and wrongfully submitted it to collections which has brought about multiple negative impacts. They will claim they sent the statements and I can prove they did not. Furthermore, their lack of communication has led to this unfortunate circumstance.Should BBB be able, I would greatly appreciate some assistance in this matter. It is a principal matter of right and wrong, and the way *** handled my account was wrong. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.****** **********

  Business response

  03/23/2023

  I received your letter through the Better Business Bureau. I am sorry to hear about your experience with our billing department. After speaking with the billing manager it looks like we sent out 3 statements after your procedure on 2/22/2022. After the 3 statements we sent you to soft collections on July 27th of 2022, where they continued to try and get ahold of you for 6 weeks before sending you to hard collections. I do apologize that you never received those statements. This looks like it was a break down in our system. They should of reach out to you via phone before sending you to collections. My billing department will remove your account from TSI and any financial charges on the account. This will take a couple days. Once this happens, you can call our billing department ************** and pay for the patient portion of your bill. 
  
  Please let me know if you have any other questions. 
  
  ************ MSN, MBA | Denver Surgery Center 
  CEO

  Customer response

  03/23/2023

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** **********

• Initial Complaint

  12/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On Monday 11-28-2022, I was scheduled for an endoscopy at this center. My procedure was at 10 AM. The facility asks you come in 1.5 hours before the procedure because there is prep involved.. For this procedure you cannot eat for 12 hours or drink anything for 2 hours before the time. When I arrived shortly after 8 AM, the paperwork took 5 minutes. I sat in the waiting room until shortly after 10 AM. At that time a nurse came out from the back and announced loudly that, "*************** just showed up and he will still see all his patients." I glanced at my wristband and I was scheduled with ****************. I then asked the nurse what exactly did her comment mean, and I was told the Dr. could explain. She did verify there were two other procedures before mine scheduled! I told her the Dr. *** have had a very legitimate reason for being late, but why didn't anyone, the front desk, a nurse, explain to people like me who had been sitting in the waiting room for almost 2 hours that they may be delayed by another few hours? I explained I am diabetic and had not ate, I was very thirsty and could not drink, and I was to wait until when? She again said the Dr could explain, and I told her I was already feeling ill from not eating and I was leaving. The information on the Surgery Centers Patient Bill of Rights is not updated. The number I called, the gentleman said he no longer worked for the company. I have left messages for the person he said was the *** to call me. Her voice mail is full, so I left msg with the operator to have her call me. I have never received a call back. I waited a month and a half, and took a half day of my personal leave to have this procedure done, I feel very slighted. That could have been alleviated had I been told earlier in the day the Dr was running late, then it would have been my choice to wait or not. But no one there seems to care about the discomfort of prepping for a procedure, only to have it delayed without notice.

  Business response

  12/14/2022

  Dear *****************************, 
  
  Visit 11/28/2022 at Denver Surgery Center
  
  First, I wanted to say thank you taking the time to write me a letter about your experience at DSC.I apologize that I never received your phone messages. I will speak with the receptionist and see why I did not receive your message. May I get the phone number you have been calling? The ** facility is separate than the Denver Surgery Center, many times if one calls the ** facility, we would not get the message. ** of the Rockies does have an operator and we do not, so I am wondering if you were calling them? 
  
  We are truly sorry that the care you received was not up to our standards that we strive for here at Denver Surgery Center. Your care, comfort, and safety are our top priorities.  We do realize that the Colonoscopy prep is unpleasant and that you can not eat for hours before hand. We ask you to come in an hour and half early to make sure we can get you prepared for your procedure without you feeling rushed. Unfortunately, there are times that a physician that comes to Denver Surgery Center falls behind and there are delays. In this situation it sounds like it could have been communicated to you in a better way. I will address this with my employees. I have also addressed the late issue with **************** and I will continue to monitor this so if we have a delayed again, we can learn from your experience and communicate better with our patients.
  
  Again, thank you for letting me know about your experience and change our processes to better communicate with our patients. 
  
  
  ******************* MSN, MBA | Denver Surgery Center 
  CEO
  

  
  

  Customer response

  12/14/2022

   
  Complaint: 18513400
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  The response was all lip service and I was offered no restitution for my time I took off work, my energy and physical unease, and my medical issue still persists since they could not keep an appointment I had for well over a month.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business response

  01/10/2023

  Dear *****************************,

   

  Visit 11/28/2022 at Denver Surgery Center

   

  Denver Surgery Center did not take money from Patient *****************************. He was charge nothing when he checked in, and has not been billed anything by Denver Surgery Center.

   

  We spoke with Gastroenterology of the Rockies, the patients physician. They confirmed that ***************************** only paid for an office visit at their center. We spoke with ***** the billing manager from Gastroenterology of the Rockies and informed her that the patient would like a refund for his time. We have also asked Gastroenterology of the Rockies to reach out to the patient.

   

  Please let me know if there is anything else I can do,

   

  ******************* MSN, MBA | Denver Surgery Center

  CEO

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩