Business ProfileforAllied Dermatology and Skin Surgery

I had established care at this practice and planned to schedule appointments for cosmetic procedures as well. However, after one of the worst experiences of my life with discourteous, unhelpful, and negligent front-office staff and billing personnel, I no longer feel comfortable receiving care at this practice. My last appt in Dec 2022, I paid my balance on-site at the front desk. I received no contact from the office until this last week (June 2023), with a letter from a debt collections agency threatening to send a “past-due bill” to credit agencies. I immediately called and was advised the billing manager was unavailable. I left a message, but did not receive a return call for some time. She then claimed they had sent letters showing a past-due balance. I advised I never received any and had paid my balance in Dec and was told I was paid in full. The billing manager agreed she could see my payment and said it was a front-office error to not advise me of an additional copay. She did not apologize for the oversight or sending my account to collections without my knowledge. I paid over the phone and requested an email showing I no longer had a balance with the collection agency and assurance this would not affect my credit score. It was not received. I called later and spoke with Whitney. This call was one of the most unprofessional calls I’ve ever experienced from a healthcare organization. She not only refused to help, she also mocked me, then said she “didn’t have time for this because it’s almost 5:00 on a Friday” and hung up on me. It took additional emails threatening legal action to receive the correct paperwork. All over a negligible $60. TLDR: I loved my doctors and had planned to pursue costly cosmetic procedures there this year, but horrendous billing practices, terrible experience with front-desk staff, and fear of their billing errors resulting in negative impacts to my credit report will stop me from ever returning.

We are sorry to hear that this patient was unhappy with her experience with our billing and receptionist team. The patient was seen in December 2022 for a cosmetic procedure and also had a medical insurance billable visit for acne reevaluation and treatment. Three separate statements were sent to the patient in January, February, and March 2023 to collect the balance owed after insurance payment. These statements were sent to the patient’s correct verified address which she provided, and were ignored by the patient. Her account was then transferred to **************** collections agency in April 2023. The patient received a letter from **************** at the same verified address. The patient ultimately paid her balance after being transferred to collections. Our billing department expediently processed her payment and obtained a receipt from the collection debt department stating paid in full by the next business day. Unfortunately, we have no control over the credit reporting process once a debt is transferred to collections. We understand that the patient is upset, which we truly regret. Our practice took very reasonable steps to collect the balance owed. Our policy is to transfer collections after three delinquent monthly statements, and we do view this as a very fair and standard policy that gives patients adequate time to pay their balance or make arrangements for payments. We are disappointed that the patient made multiple aggressive and threatening calls to different departments within our practice. She demanded the practice owners’ personal contact information and made threats of lawsuits. Again, we regret that she does not feel that she had a good experience, but we uphold that we took very fair and reasonable steps that would have been taken by any practice in our situation.

Firstly, I was advised that the visit for my milia removal procedure, which is considered a cosmetic procedure, and has nothing to do with acne, was NOT billable to my insurance plan which is why I paid the cost ON-SITE at the front desk and asked if there were any other charges and was told “No, you’re all set!”. I will be contacting my insurance to potentially report this fraudulent billing. Secondly, even though I was assured I had no balance, I was not once called, texted, or emailed by your office to advise that there had been a mistake. And the letters were not ignored, they were NEVER RECEIVED. Perhaps you should at least reach out to your clients CONFIRMING they even are aware there’s an outstanding bill prior to putting their credit scores in jeopardy? Terrible business practice. As for “demanding personal contact information” from your employees, I literally asked for their name and she refused to provide it. Asking for someone’s name to take proper notes on a conversation is in no way, shape, or form demanding “personal contact information” and your response is extremely deceitful. I never once was “aggressive” nor would I ever act that way, but I appreciate you proving my point to all the readers of your reply in your manipulative language and blatant misinformation. As for a lawsuit, I would absolutely have taken legal action if my credit score had been affected by your poor billing policies and employee negligence — as I should have. I am one of many patients who have been driven away by your poor billing practices and I certainly will not be the last.