ComplaintsforINOVA Hospital Patient Financial Services

• Initial Complaint

  04/27/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  On April 27, 2023, I went to the Lorton INOVA facility for a non-emergency X-ray. When I checked in, I made it clear that it was a non-emergency . I was charged a $300 copay which I believed was high for a simple non-emergency x-ray. I suggested that I might go somewhere else for the x-ray (because I was in no hurry) but was specifically told that the copay was set by the insurance company and that its would be the same everywhere. I paid the $300. I called my insurance company and they explained that the copay was $0 unless INOVA billed "as a facility". My complaint is that INOVA misled to me when they said it would be the same copay wherever I went. INOVA advertises that the Lorton facility has imaging services on site and that no appointment for X-rays is necessary. They should not mislead customers into thinking that getting an x-ray at their facility is the same as the dozens of other imaging facilities in the area.

• Initial Complaint

  04/17/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  According to the billing department paperwork was sent out to me March 7th 2023 to correct 1 page that I had filled out incorrectly while filing for financial aid. That paperwork has yet to come, and now my credit has been affected by it. I called today to find out about the paperwork that was supposedly sent, and the lady I spoke with told me to file for financial aid all over again. How helpful. The last financial aid assistant I spoke with told me that the bill was on hold, that I would not be sent to collections. This assistant told me I was sent to collections. Ive been waiting for the paperwork the entire time. Simple mistake. I put my name instead of my daughters name in the incorrect field.

  Business response

  05/25/2023

  Good afternoon,

  We have called and spoke to the patient's father and resolved their concerns.

  Thank you again for taking the time to bring their concerns to our attention, and allowing us the opportunity to address it.
  
   If you have any further questions, please contact me directly for assistance.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************
  PFS Patient Contact Center Liaison
  Inova Health System
  8095 Innovation Park Drive
  Building D Suite 501
  Fairfax, VA 22031

• Initial Complaint

  04/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  On 17 Nov 2021, I received medical services from INOVA. The bill was $782. Two weeks later, my insurance company issued an EOB. The allowed amount is $428.95, my insurance paid $365.65, I owed $73.30. In spite of the EOB, I was continually billed the entire amount of $782 by INOVA. Also, the check issued by my insurance company to INOVA was “retracted” (words of INOVA). On 2 May 2022, my insurance company reissued the EOB for the original amounts and resent the check. That check ($365.65) was cashed on 6 May 2022. In spite of this, INOVA continues to bill the entire amount and sent bill to collections. I made 5 calls to INOVA between 24 May and 20 Sept 2022 to inform them that they needed to contact my insurance company about the EOBs and checks issued. These calls were accompanied by calls to my insurance company to confirm the EOBs and checks. INOVA seems to have ignored my pleas. Since other INOVA bills were adding up, I totaled the amounts according to EOBs and paid the estimated total of ($583.93) on 20 Aug 2022. I hoped that things were settled in Oct 2022 when my INOVA account indicated zero balance. There was also a list of fully paid bills, including bills for services provided on 13 June 2022 ($12.45) and 31 March 2022 ($37.34). Bills for these services were paid in Aug 2022. Instead, I was contacted by INOVA’s bill collector in Feb 2023. To complicate matters, my March 2023 statement from INOVA indicates that I owe $12.45 and $37.34 for the March and June 2021 services that were paid 7 months earlier. INOVA’s computers say one thing, my insurance says another. I, the patient, do not have access to either system and cannot correct the problem. Yet I am held responsible and suffer the consequences from lost time on phone, lost time estimating correct bills, and anxiety over bill collection. To date, my insurance company has been more than willing to help. So, it is now up to INOVA to correct the mess.

  Business response

  05/16/2023

  Dear Sir/ Madam:

  Our office received your letter dated 04/27/2023 outlining the billing complaint filed by ****************** regarding the medical services that he received.  
  
  The patient has been contacted today and a message was left on his voice mail to inform that his billing concerns has been resolved.
  
  Thank you again for taking the time to bring his concerns to our attention, and allowing us the opportunity to address it.
  
   If you have any further questions, please contact me directly for assistance.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************
  PFS Patient Contact Center Liaison
  Inova Health System

  Customer response

  05/22/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed as Answered]
  
   Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The telephone call from INOVA to the BBB does not say that the complaint has been resolved.  The message from INOVA says that INOVA Financial Services is calling me "in response to customer service issues & resolution."   The phone call then requests that I telephone INOVA.

  Since this issue has been festering for 18 months, the complexity of the accounting for my bills has increased considerably and my case has gone to collections.  It is even possible that INOVA owes me money.  In order to resolve this issue, all communications from INOVA to me must be in writing and should include detailed itemization of amounts owed (per EOBs from my insurance company) and amounts paid.   Once this is done, it is straight forward to determine who owes whom and to identify any discrepancies (such as the check lost by INOVA).

  Many thanks to BBB.  After months of fruitless telephone calls to INOVA, BBB seems to have gotten their attention!
  

  Regards,
  
  *****************************
  

• Initial Complaint

  02/27/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Guarantor#********** On 1/21/23, I went to the ER, needed an ultrasound to figure out the problem. Came in and sat for almost a couple hours just waiting, did a urine test, and then eventually was taken to get my ultrasound done. Once that was done, I was sent a text, asking for the ER visit payments and it was about 200 something after insurance deductions, and at the time I was thinking, "Okay 2 something for a ER visit, pretty fair." Then paid it and moved on, then later on I get a bill in the mail saying I need to pay 4,437, and that's after insurance deduction. The full charge was 5,689. Coming in for a medical emergency all to just sit for hours and just get one scan done, and have to pay 5000 dollars.. I don't understand why I'm getting two separate bills for the same one visit. And the prices are absurd! 

  Business response

  04/26/2023

  March 17, 2023 
  Dear Sir/Madam: 
  Our office received your letter dated 03/09/2023 outlining the complaint filed by *** ******* ****** regarding his medical services provided by Inova. This letter serves as an acknowledgement of the complaint. The reference number provided for this complaint is specific to the date of service noted above. 
  We have responded to *** ****** via a formal letter dated March 17, 2023, addressing his concerns, and was mailed to his address on file. 
  Thank you again for taking the time to bring his concerns to our attention and allowing us the opportunity to address it. 
  If you have any further questions, please contact me directly for assistance. 
  Sincerely, 
  *********** 
  PFS Patient Contact Center Liaison 
  Inova Health System

  Customer response

  04/27/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  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. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ******* ******  
  

• Initial Complaint

  01/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been trying to work with ********* *********** of Virginia, an Inova Hospital affiliate to get them to properly submit an insurance claim from 2/9/2022 for my child. It has been a year of phone calls to them, *****, and the collections agency that they keep sending it to. There is no reason that this claim shouldn't have been paid in full, which ***** will attest to other than they simply aren't resubmitting it with insurance listed with the primary and secondary in the correct order. Instead, their business practice is not actually resubmit the claim, but send me to collections. Today ***** told me to call them back and demand I be taken out of collections as the claim is in process. The billing department refused to do so. Also they or their debt collectors has either been unfair, deceived me or mislead me on the situation, plus I think it now qualifies for harassment because they are hunting down my family members to call, all of which is against the fair debt collections act in Virginia. ****** swears and the online information confirms that the medical practice nor the debt collector have never refiled my claim. The debt collector asked for my insurance information on December 7th and I was told today that they aren't allowed to file a claim so they sent it back to the medical provide to do so, which the medical provider won't confirm and ***** says is completely untrue. They are likely to do harm to my credit rating for no fault of my own, as the amount is in collections and the claim takes at least 7 days to process.

  Business response

  02/23/2023

  Dear Sir/ Madam:
  
  Our office received your letter dated 01/30/2023 outlining the complaint filed by ********************************* regarding her childs medical services provided by Inova.  This letter serves as an acknowledgement of the complaint.  The reference number provided for this complaint is specific to the date of service noted above.
  
  We have reached out to **************** and have resolved her concerns.  
  
  Thank you again for taking the time to bring her concerns to our attention and allowing us the opportunity to address it.
  
   If you have any further questions, please contact me directly for assistance.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************
  PFS Patient Contact Center Liaison
  Inova Health System

• Initial Complaint

  01/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I went to urgent care for rabies shots but they did not carry those so they sent me to Inova hospital ** for the shots. The hospital also did not carry the vaccines so they told me to wait. While I was waiting, the county police called and recommended I should not take any shots til they got the animal tested. So I decided to leave and told them I would come back if the test is positive but the staff at the hospital would not let me leave, forcing me to give up my information and only let me leave once they obtained the discharge paper from the doctor. Despite I only came for the shots and not requested to see any doctor or any other unnecessary treatment.Months later, I received the bills from the doctor and from the hospital. I called the billing department and disputed the bills, explained to them that I did not get any treatment but they insisted that I must pay the bills because I went to the ** and was being seen by the nurse there for blood pressure therefore I must pay the bills. They then sent the bills to pre-collection.

• Initial Complaint

  12/02/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I have never received a bill from INOVA in the past 2 years. I had a workers comp injury and they tried to go through an inactive insurance after the front desk was told that this was a workers comp injury and not to use my insurance. My mother received a bill from INOVA last year about a charge to her insurance, the previous insurance I was on 3 years ago. I have called INOVA several times and they have told me I have no remaining balance. Today I received a collections statement in the mail connected to INOVA, with no summary of services. If I had a balance why did I not receive a bil! I'm furious they have sent me to collections without making proper contact with me or sending a bill. And to top it off their collections agency never left me a voicemail so I automatically believed it to be spam since I never received a bill or notified from INOVA.

  Business response

  01/03/2023

  Good afternoon,

  We have received the complaint and is currently being reviewed.

  We will provide an update once the review has been completed.

  Thank you,

  **********

• Initial Complaint

  10/06/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  This complaint concerns a payment that was never credited to my account, guarantor #**********. I was first made aware of this fact when I received a "first notice of delinquency" dated 08/06/22. I contacted INOVA customer service and agreed to pay the bill including charges for subsequent services with the understanding that I would be reimbursed for the check when it was found. A visit to my bank revealed that the check had been cashed three days before the date of the delinquency notice. On August 31, I mailed a copy of the check for $437.31, bearing the endorsement "CREDIT ACCT OF NAMED PAYEE [INOVA] .. 08/03/22 .. ENDORSE GUAR BY *********************** **," to the ********* address to which payments had been sent. Believing that the mix up was a simple case of nonfeasance, I requested a refund so that I could pay future bills by credit card due to the demonstrated uncertainty of paying INOVA by check. Naively expecting the courtesy of a response, I waited until last week before again calling the inaptly named customer service. The representative agreed to make a specific inquiry as to the disposition of my letter containing the copy of the check and cleverly got me to reveal the number of my cell telephone. That, at least, got a formal acknowledgement of my inquiry - calls from my telephones have been blocked by INOVA hospital financial services.

  Business response

  11/03/2022

  October 14, 2022 
  

  Dear Sir/Madam: 
  

  Our office received your letter dated 10/08/2022 outlining the complaint filed by *** **** ****** regarding his medical services provided by Inova Healthcare Services. This letter serves as an acknowledgement of the complaint. The reference number provided for this complaint is specific to the date of service noted above. 
  We have responded to *** ****** via a formal letter dated October 14, 2022, addressing his concerns and was mailed to his address on file. 
  Thank you again for taking the time to bring his concerns to our attention and allowing us the opportunity to address it. 
  If you have any further questions, please contact me directly for assistance. 
  

  Sincerely, 
  Leo T***** 
  PFS Patient Contact Center Liaison 
  Inova Health System 

  Customer response

  11/04/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is conditionally satisfactory to me.  It should be noted that I was quite satisfied with the medical services provided by the INOVA professionals.  My dispute was with the financial services component of INOVA, e.g, cashing a rendered payment but not crediting my account then ignoring my calls and letter, accompanied by a bank copy of the negotiated check, requesting correction.  Blocking my telephone calls was a nice touch!   The INOVA financial services letter sent to me suggested that I should have divined that the portion of the bill to be returned with my payment was inadequate for the purpose of properly crediting payment.  It was inferred that I should have annotated my payment check with theretofore unrequested information.  Preposterous.

  
  

  That said, I will accept the refund that was belatedly made and the final resolution of this tawdry episode when I receive my financial institution's monthly statement indicating that the two INOVA refund checks have cleared and been credited to my account.

  
  

  I have little doubt that absent the BBB's intercession, INOVA financial services would never have corrected their error.
  
  Best Regards,
  
  *********************
  

• Initial Complaint

  03/21/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Billing payments INOVA takes through phone system, does not make the payment to that Guarantor #when you call it in. Instead it splits payments out to 2 or 3 different invoices it may have but has not been sent to patient. Therefore, it steals your money and posts it to other accounts of yours. I tried to pay the Fairfax Hospital bill of $1637.60 (invoice received). When I went through their phone system, it split my payment out to 3 different accounts (Reg Dr visit $37.57, Heart Dr $37.96 and Health Care -Hospital $1562.07 which all 3 total $1637.60) This is the third time it has happened, and when you finally reach someone, they say Oh yea we know about this the computer does it all the time. Someone is suppose to fix it. But we cannot do anything for 5 days. Next time you should talk to a Rep to get it posted correctly. Seriously?! They fraudulently take my money and post to accounts I have not received invoice/bills for yet, just to pay off smaller bills faster. Not fair nor legal I would think.

  Business response

  04/19/2022

  Good morning,

  We have received the complaint and currently being reviewed for a resolution.

  We appreciate your patience.

  Kind Regards,

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

  Inova Patient Liaison Team

  Business response

  07/05/2022

  June 17, 2022 
  

  Dear Sir/Madam: 
  

  Our office received your letter dated 09/27/2021 outlining the complaint filed by *** ******** ********* regarding billing and payment collection by Inova Fairfax Hospital. This letter serves as an acknowledgement of the complaint. The reference number provided for this complaint is specific to the date of service noted above. 

  We have responded to *** ********* via a formal letter dated June 17, 2022 addressing her concerns and was mailed to her address on file: 
  

  Thank you again for taking the time to bring her concerns to our attention and allowing us the opportunity to address it. 
  

  If you have any further questions, please contact me directly for assistance, 
  

  Sincerely, 
  

  Somia M****

  PFS Patient Contact Center Liaison

  Customer response

  07/06/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  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. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************************
  

• Initial Complaint

  09/24/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I visited the ER at INOVA Fairfax Hospital for pain in ribs. They first did an EKG to make sure nothing life threatening, which they confirmed. My blood pressure was normal Then I was left for over an hour till I was moved to a room. I was in the room for maybe another 1.5 hours alone except for maybe 15 minutes in total when the doctor came to talk to me and for the X-ray. The bills are more than $4,200 (three different bills), one bill is for the "emergency visit" in the amount of $4,159.55. This amount includes 2 duplicate charges for the EKG ($306 each) and another charge for "Hc Level 5 E&m Ed" for $2,651. My insurance paid $2,954.72, the balance I am allegedly responsible for is $1,204.83.I contacted the hospital to remove the duplicate and correct the Level 5 classification, since this is not a life threatening case and I did not receive emergency care such as extensive doctor, nurses, and equp. hrs.The hospital refused to correct the bill. Account #***********

  Business response

  11/04/2021

  September 30, 2021 
  

  Dear Sir/Madam: 
  

  Our office received your letter dated 09/27/2021 outlining the complaint filed by *** ***** ******* regarding his emergency services provided by Inova Fairfax Hospital. This letter serves as an acknowledgement of the complaint. The reference number provided for this complaint is specific to the date of service noted above. 
  We have responded to *** ******* via a formal letter dated September 30, 2021 addressing his concerns and was mailed to his address on file. 
  Thank you again for taking the time to bring his concerns to our attention, and allowing us the opportunity to address it. 
  If you have any further questions, please contact me directly for assistance. 
  

  Sincerely, 
  Leo T*****

  PFS Patient Contact Center Liaison

  Inova Health System

*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. ↩