ComplaintsforMercy Hospital

• Initial Complaint

  12/10/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  I have been contacting Mercy billing for over 4 months now and they are refusing to honor their contractual agreement with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. I have provided an explanation of benefits twice now and have followed up on 8/23, 9/8, 10/19, and 10/26. They continue to attempt collection on an invalid balance and can only respond that the billing is still under review and advise me to pay the balance even though the EOB says patient portion is 0.00.

  Business response

  12/14/2021

  We have reviewed the accounts in question and have received the correct explanation of benefits, the specific charges have now been adjusted to zero for those specific dates of service. 

  Customer response

  12/16/2021

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  Patient portion owed was 0.00.  Not only did the charges need to be adjusted to 0, but the amounts that I overpaid need to be refunded.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** *******

• Initial Complaint

  12/09/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On May 13 2021 I took my daughter for her 2yr check up. I received a bill for $205.00. I contacted mercy to see why my daughter Medicaid didn’t go through. I was told it was denied. Upon calling Medicaid I was told they never received a bill. Come to find out they were billing United healthcare community (her current plan) not Healthy Blue the plan she had at the time of her visit. After talking to multiple people in Billing and still receiving late notices for an unpaid bill I finally called again and explained that they need to send bill to healthy blue not United healthcare community. I was told they didn’t have that information on file anymore. I called ******** ****** *********** ***** and was told that they will cover the cost but never received a bill. So on a 3 way call, a very nice lady from Medicaid (****** ****) called mercy with me on the phone and gave all the correct insurance info and billing address for Madison Peer and her healthy blue account. They lady from mercy didn’t seem like she knew what was going on but insisted she would submit the correct info to insurance. Since I hadn’t hear from(got a letter or another late payment bill) I assume it was all properly taken care of. On Sept 27 2021 I got a letter from Receivable Solutions LLC stating my bill was turned over to collections. I contacted Missouri health net (****** **** Medicaid) and they never received anything from mercy. The Lady we spoke with at Mercy never submitted the information that Medicaid had provided her with for it to be covered by insurance and mercy failed to notify me before turning my debt over collections a month later.

  Business response

  12/10/2021

  Good Afternoon, 

   

  The corrections were made to the insurance to show **** ****** **** ** Medicaid and a claim has now been submitted. We have also pulled from collections and contacted Receivable Solutions to let them know to close in their office as this was our error. Please let us know if we can be of further assistance. 

  Customer response

  12/10/2021

  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

  11/05/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am complaining about Dr ********* at 12200 Weber hill Rd st Louis mo, 63127. I have been told that in order to have my Adderall script filled I have to call 3 days prior to the refill date. For the past 3 months I have had to make that call and still argue with the office because they failed to call it in several days after I notified them. That's 3 months of on and off withdrawals that are not necessary. I feel like I am cornered and need some guidance as to what I should do

  Business response

  11/08/2021

  Please see the attached response 

  I appreciate the opportunity to respond regarding concerns of billing/collection practices for clinical services provided to the complainant.

   

  Out of respect for the privacy and confidentiality of our patients protected health information (PHI), which may encompass both clinical and financial records, we have developed an internal system for responding directly to the complainant in accordance with local, state and federal regulations. The complainant may in turn release a copy of our original response directly to the Better Business Bureau, at their discretion.

   

  The patient’s complaint is a care concern and has been forwarded to Dr. ******* *******’s office. I have requested for the office to review and contact the patient.

   

  Please let me know how I can be of further assistance in the resolution of this concern.

• Initial Complaint

  10/14/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Incident Report: ****** ****** Against: Mercy Clinic OB/GYN - Sunset Hills, ***** ****** ****** ** ***** **** *********** ** ***** Incident #1 – September 22, 2021 Patient woke up at 6 am with breast pain. Called physician at 8:30 am to inform them of a suspicion of mastitis. Was told that the physician would speak with a doctor and call back to see when the patient could be seen. Patient sent email through portal at 8:52 am, describing symptoms, asking to be seen. Patient called again at 1 pm, asking for an update. Was told to continue waiting for a call back. Patient sent an email through the portal at 1:40 pm, stating that she had a fever. Physician responded at 2 pm, alerting patient that they would be unable to see the patient that day as there was not availability. Patient went to urgent care at 3 pm. Every urgent care in the city of St. Louis was booked solid. Patient was told there would be an hours long wait, or to come back the next day..

  Business response

  11/30/2021

  November 30, 2021

   

   

  Case ID: ********

   

  Dear Better Business Bureau Investigator,

   

  I appreciate the opportunity to respond regarding concerns of billing/collection practices for clinical services provided to the complainant.

   

  Out of respect for the privacy and confidentiality of our patients protected health information (PHI), which may encompass both clinical and financial records, we have developed an internal system for responding directly to the complainant in accordance with local, state and federal regulations. The complainant may in turn release a copy of our original response directly to the Better Business Bureau, at their discretion.

   

  The patient’s complaint is a care concern and has been forwarded to Dr. ***** *****’s office. The patient was advised the office was unable to get her in at short notice due to Dr. ***** being out of the office for an intense spine surgery and the office being fully booked. The patient was directed to go to an urgent care or emergency visit. The urgent care the patient went to seems to be outside of Mercy. The patient communicated with the clinic that the urgent care was able to get her in and treat her.

   

  Please let me know how I can be of further assistance in the resolution of this concern.

   

  Sincerely,

   

  ****** ****

  Patient Services

  Mercy Health Systems

   

• Initial Complaint

  09/16/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My wife was a patient for Orthopedic Surgery on 2/23/2021. Dr. ******* ********* was her surgeon and it seems all went well medically. The adversity has occurred with "billing." We are receiving bills stating that they are severely past due. This is not true. When we receive a bill, it is paid, usually by Discover card. One bill was for $347.52 and I paid it on Discover, and then put it on my secretary's desk to file. She thought that it was to be paid and mailed in my company check, *********** Financial Services on 4/26/2021, check# 1511. The check was cashed by Mercy on 5/3/2021. I had put the charge on my Discover card on the same date, 4/26/2021, and it was charged to my Discover card on 4/26/2021. Please see the Discover card statement, close date 5/20/2021. Too, please see the check# 1511 and note it was cashed by Mercy on 5/3/2021. When you read the letters you will discern what has happened since we realized the double payment and started calling Mercy at their prescribed number and the many house that we have dealt with this. Of all the folks I have talked to at Mercy, the only one who made any sense at all was Anthony, see page 2, first paragraph, who recognized that the bill had been paid twice, and promised a refund in 7-10 days. The refund came, see the attached check from Mercy, and we thought all was well, and then the duplicate bills started arriving, and when I called a plethora of Mercy Services folks. I would be put on hold, one even left me on hold for over 30 minutes so I hung up and called again and got Jennifer on 7/22/2021 in an office near Memphis and she declared that I owed the bill again even though they had refunded the overpayment. She promised a supervisor would call me the following Monday and I am still waiting. I am whole as to return the overpayment, though they keep sending bills telling me how negligent I am and threatening to turn me over to outside collections. I have sent copies of my file on Mercy, all concerning my wife ****'s surgery of 2/23/2021. As a side bar, this was ****'s 89th birthday and I told her that the new left hip was her birthday gift, but, I did take her a dozen yellow roses just in case that the hip gift was not well received. This lady had been my bride for 66 years. Please read or view the attached materials and see if you can call Mercy off, as I am still employed and this has now taken well over 20 hours of my non billable time.

  Business response

  09/29/2021

  A call was made to Mr. *********** and a discussion over the statements and payments made. The extra payment of $347.52 was applied to a new balance due so the statement that went out did include this credit, causing a new balance due after the payment was refunded. He understood how everything was processed and the remaining balance due was paid in full. 

  ******* *********

   

• Initial Complaint

  08/30/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  I went to my Mercy primary care physician A. Gage on 6/29 to get a work physical. This visit is paid 100% by my employer. Mercy charged and additional $25 for a blood pressure reading which was part of the physical and should not be an additional charge. They did this last year as well and I didn't protest but I won't anymore because this is a fraudulent charge. They can put any code they want but they didn't perform this service and I work in this industry so I know what they are doing and I won't pay for this because they did nothing. I want Mercy to stop billing me for this charge and reverse the $25 charge from last year to offset the aggravation I have gone thru. I have called three times, waited endlessly on hold for them to answer or get back to me only to hear they coded the charge correctly which I know they did not. I really don't believe they did anything to resolve this. The invoice # they used was 31040329 and the account # is *********. Thanks for your help. ****

  Business response

  09/07/2021

  I appreciate the opportunity to respond regarding concerns of billing/collection practices for clinical services provided to complainant.

  Out of respect for privacy and confidentiality of our patients protected health information (PHI), which may encompass both clinical and financial records, we have developed an internal system for responding directly to the complainant in accordance with local, state and federal regulations.  The complainant may in turn release a copy of our original response directly to the Better Business Bureau, at their discretion.

  Customer response

  09/07/2021

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: This response is hiding under the cover of HIPPA and not addressing my concern. They sent out a form letter which obviously shows their lack of concern or any attempt to fix this problem. I am very disappointed with this organization that portrays themselves as helping those who can't help themselves. Their last paragraph  states how can they be of further assistance, well they can start by explaining what their letter means short of a legal way to dodge fixing a problem.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ******

• Initial Complaint

  08/27/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On May 18, 2018, I had a wellness colostomy at Merch Hospital, Lebanon, Mo. On November 2019, I received a bill from Merch for $1,861.00--20 months after the procedure. I called Dec. 6th to question, finding I owe bill, I immediately disputed this bill. After contacting my insurance company, UMR, it was explained that they were double billed by a mistake in coding. 1. UMR asked for $587.99 back. My unpaid bill was $1,861.00. 2. I called Mercy 19 times - Dec. 6, Dec. 9, Jan. 7, 2021, Feb. 7, March 4, March 6, March 12, March 23, April 10, May 4, June 2, June 10, July 18, Oct. 17, Jan. 5, 2021. At least 3 calls were conference calls with myself, UMR and Mercy. 3. Not one call was returned! 4. Mercy set up a schedule to pay - Mercy set up payments to their convenience - causing hardship to me. 5. I have not received a statement for over a year causing me to loose track and finding myself in collection.

  Business response

  08/27/2021

  Please see the attached response.

  Out of respect for the privacy and confidentiality of our patients protected health information (PHI), which may encompass both clinical and financial records, we have developed an internal system for responding directly to the complainant in accordance with local, state and federal regulations. The complainant may in turn release a copy of our original response directly to the Better Business Bureau, at their discretion.

   

  The patient had a procedure on 04/23/2018. The patient’s insurance processed and paid and then recouped their payment. We never received another payment from the insurance and after statements were mailed an no payment plan set up, the balance went to collections. I have called and spoken to the patient.

   

• Initial Complaint

  08/05/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I’ve been getting collections calls for 2 years now regarding different things. I have nicely asked for them to take me off of there list. As of a couple days ago I was told I was off the list. And I just got a phone call at 11:24 Ct. When I called back I was put on hold and then sent to an answering machine

  Business response

  08/06/2021

  We were calling for the current balances due, not only for the collection balances. However I have sent to get this added to the Mercy DO NOT CALL list, so we will only call if its pertaining to a call for medical reasons. 

• Initial Complaint

  08/02/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My son was born at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis on 3/25/21. Upon reviewing the medical bills that Mercy charged to my account #*********, I found 2 separate bills using the same billing code 54150, from different medical providers within Mercy, for my son's circumcision. I paid the first bill from the doctor who I know performed the circumcision, and wrote Mercy a message online asking them to explain the second charge. A billing representative responded saying the second bill was for "technical charges" and said I would be put on collection. I responded asking what was meant by "technical charges", and why are these "technical charges" using the same billing code as the actual circumcision? Mercy has not responded to my last message. I have tried calling Mercy's billing department multiple times but am always put on hold indefinitely with a recording telling me to pay my bill.

  Business response

  08/03/2021

  After review of the charges there was a charge for the nerve block for the circumcision that uses the same CPT code as well as the physicians charge. I have contacted the patient to explain this in detail and asked her to return my call. 

  Customer response

  08/03/2021

  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

  08/01/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I went to hospital because my side and back was hurting, they gave me a pain shot and a steroid shot and a referral to a specialist, I was harrased multiple times because I refused an xray, which was already done by my primary physician, got a bill for $1499.82, it states 1,386.00 for Emergency Care/ Urgent care, my copay for Urgent care is $100, there is no other explanation and I was charged $518 for therapy, I did not receive any therapy, the bill states I paid $807.60 and the insurance company didn't pay anything, I did not make a payment for $807.60 and I don't see where this was turned into my insurance company at all. Also ther is no explanation of what they say I received, all I reived was two shots, a prescription and a referral, nothing else, I do not know what the $1,386 is for or why I am being charged $518 for therapy that o did not receive and I am not understanding why a blood test to check my electrolytes is $356

  Business response

  08/20/2021

  The charges are correct, the therapy services are actua;;y therapeutic services which is the IV/Injection charges for the medication given. The insurance was filed and left towards the deductible instead of a co-pay. You will want to contact your insurance to make sure they processed this correctly and is in network. I see where a itemized statement has been mailed out to you with a detail of the services. You can also call the medical records department to request the records of the visit for further verification. 

  Customer response

  08/21/2021

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I have spoke with the billing department and there are multiple errors and I am waiting for a revised bill to be mailed to me.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ***

  Business response

  08/23/2021

  I understand that you would rather wait for customer service since you have already spoken with them, however we are both a side of the billing team. They will go through the same process I did to have the charges and coding reviewed. An itemized statement has now been sent out to you, please call our office if you have any additional questions pertaining to the discussions you have had with our team. 

*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. ↩