ComplaintsforProliance Surgeons Inc PS

• Initial Complaint

  03/12/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I paid a bill off in full to collections from ******* Surgery Center via Proliance Surgeons in June of 2023. I have confirmed with collections that the bill was paid off in-full. In January of 2024, I received another bill from Proliance for the amount of ****** - this matches a line item on the bill that was previously adjusted for "bad debt write off." I have called Proliance and ******* Surgery Center repeatedly (nearly every single week since January 2024) and have not been able to reach a single person to answer why this bill suddenly appeared after it has been paid off. Proliance keeps telling me it is no longer their account since they are no longer affiliated with ******* Surgery Center, and ******* Surgery Center keeps telling me it is not under their accounts since they are no longer owned by Proliance. I have made repeated attempts to reach someone to explain this bill and have not reached a single individual who has been able to explain why I'm receiving this - yet I continue to receive a bill from Proliance each month. At this point, it seems no one knows where my account falls, which seems as though the bill is illigetimate as well.

  Business response

  03/20/2024

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond and address this complaint. The complainant has been contacted regarding the issue and resolved. 

  Customer response

  03/20/2024

   
  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

  01/30/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I had carpal tunnel relief surgery on my left hand in January 2023 and on my right hand February 2023 at the Proliance clinic in ******. After all the coinsurance was paid my health insurance paid and the dust settled they ended up owing me approximately $93. I have been trying to get this money from them for the past several months, there excuse is the card I used to pay the bill is no longer active, which is true, I believe it expired and I got a new card. I have supplied them the new card information which they requested. I have made calls multiple times have been promised money have been promised a phone call from management have been promised a resolution and no money has arrived no phone calls from management zero satisfaction to date.

  Business response

  02/02/2024

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond. The individual has been contacted and the issue has been addressed. 

  Customer response

  02/03/2024

   
  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.

  
  I spoke with a representative yesterday and was assured that the refund check was being sent Friday 2/3/2024

  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

• Initial Complaint

  01/23/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I wrote you about the issue with Edmonds office ********************* but nobody answered the letter For months In **************** patient abandoned is illegal you are supposed to contact the patient and help them or allow 30 days for new provider reference ********** call back but when I called with questions and how to reschedule your office did not honor that I asked several times to speak to the dr and we never called by him You, him, and your Edmonds office are liable unfortunately as you left the patient in distress and never addressed their issues while under his care The cost to my health over the year after We resulted in 2 emergency room visits I had to pay for and a few at home drs I got stuck out of the country at a cost greater than expected because your office did not answer when I asked to reschedule or how important this was and it was so important I had to come back but your office manager refused contact to even explain why I couldnt get an appointment and I wasnt here for your registered letter so I dont know its exact content but the patient break and referral should have been done January last year not months later anyways I finally had the surgery and had to spend six extra months here unexpected to find a new ENT and establish care You cost me a year of my life to a tune greater than fifty thousand I have a couple weeks of healing time which is plenty to work this out at something we can agree to as you did break the law and it did cost me and it shouldnt have Im asking your company to at least engage to rectify this possible at a lower amount of compensation but if the office continues to ignore the law, it leaves me other choices that will incur higher cost and Im trying to mitigate that as sometimes the stress is not work fighting someone for years especially when you are supposed to be a good company You can reach me at my cell or this email Ill be home recovering from this surgery your office was to provide but didnt for the next two weeks

  Business response

  01/30/2024

  Thank you for making us aware of this complaint and we will address this. 

  Customer response

  01/30/2024

   
  Complaint: 21188076
  
  I am rejecting this response because: compensation agreement will be needed. Not a huge amount but I lost a year of my life and money because of what is legally titled as medical negligence in ****************. Please reach out to me to make arrangements. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************************

• Initial Complaint

  01/22/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  The complaint is about the delay of refund between the prepayment of surgery and the after insurance amount that patient is responsible for. I had a shoulder surgery on 11/1/2023. One day prior to the surgery, I was asked to make the pre-payment for the surgery over the phone. I paid the $789.05 for doctors' charge and $789.06 for the facilities charge on my credit card. Few weeks after the surgery, I received the summary of benefit from my insurance company (United Healthcare) and the amount that patient is responsible for are less than the pre-payment. The amount I am responsible for are $181.15 and $478.50 for Proliance Highland Outpatient Service (facilities), $246.19 and $34.47 for provider change. I called Proliance billing department on 12/28/2023. I was told a refund of the difference will be credit back to original payment but there is no confirmation number I can write down or record I will receive as the proof. As of 1/22/2024, I still don't receive the refund. So I made another phone call on 1/22/2024 and was told the refund was issued on 1/8/2024. I checked my credit card statement and no refund/credit received. I was told the Proliance refund department/team needs to be involved to figure out where did the money go. There won't be any refund until they know what's going on. My complaint are:1. I was told to make pre-payment before the surgery happened as it's Proliance's policy. This is really odd to collect money upfront instead of the health care provider to work with insurance for the final bill. 2. There is no confirmation letter or any record number for the refund. There is no way for a patient to trace down the status of refund or even recall the case when issue arises. I was lucky I put down the date/time of the phone call and the name I talked to so I can have him on the phone. 3. The refund process is not transparency. If a patient didn't notice he is over-paid, healthcare provider won't refund automatically.

  Business response

  01/25/2024

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this complaint. The individual has been contacted to address their concerns and provided an update on refund.

  Customer response

  01/25/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********. A refund check is sent out today (1/25/2024) and will take 7 to 10 business days to arrive. I find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. If anything issue raised later I'll reopen the ticket. 

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Customer response

  01/30/2024

  I want to reopen this issue ***********. 

  I received the check from Proliance Surgeons and the check amount is $400.40. This amount doesn't match the difference between pre-payment and after-insurance amount which should be $637.80.  

  I prepaid $789.06 for facilities charge and $789.05 for provider charge. The patient responsible amount (received from insurance company) for facilities are $181.15 and $478.50 (2 bills). The patient responsible amount (received from insurance company) for Dr. * ****** is $246.19. The patient responsible amount (received from insurance company) for Dr. * ******** is $34.47. So the difference (the amount to be refunded) should be $637.80 ($789.06 + $789.05 - $181.15 - $478.50 - $246.19 - $34.47).

  Also the related PO on the check is from ******* MD, **************** who is not the surgeon for the surgery. I'm worried there is a mistake on calculating the refund and where the refund came from. 

  Business response

  02/06/2024

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond. We are addressing the concerns with the individual. 

  Customer response

  02/06/2024

   
  Complaint: 21183083
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The business called on Friday 2/2/2024 said the person in charged of the instance was out of office and they will respond (call) the following Monday 2/5/2024. I didn't receive that phone call. It is still unclear how the business determine refund amount and the effort the patient needs to go after to get the excess charge back. The clinic's billing department should take action for their patients not the other way around.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ********* ****

  Business response

  02/15/2024

  The individual has been contacted since last response to address their concerns. 

  Customer response

  02/19/2024

   
  Complaint: 21183083
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I was contacted and provided itemized receipts but one of my question about two transactions is not yet answered so not able to close the ticket. Thanks.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ********* ****

  Customer response

  02/21/2024

  The business (Proliance Surgery) has a policy that refund will be applied to patient remaining balance first and then issued back to patient. This makes tracking how the refund was calculated difficult. In my scenario, I have balance ************* provider side, nursing/facility side, and physical therapy side. The refund was applied to these three sides that the itemized transaction records I received from business (after BBB involved) are bunch of credit applied to PT or applied to facility charge without clear explanation which doctor visits exactly were credited to. With the help from ****** (from Proliance), the transaction between provider and nursing/facility sides are clear. But there is still question about what PT charges the credit being applied to. I don't know who is the goto person for the answer as ****** from Proliance who provide the transaction list is not the one owning that area. 

  The policy of pre-paying the surgical and corresponding post-op visit charges is really putting patient on the frontline to fight to get the over-paying balance back. In my scenario, there is no phone call or email telling me there is refund I should claim because I over-paid the surgical charges. It took me 3 phone calls (1 month) to get the refund check. And another month (many phone calls and emails with the help from BBB) to get details on transactions used to calculate refund, then the credit and payments cannot 100 percent match (there's still holes on where credit goes). 

   

• Initial Complaint

  01/19/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My name is *****************, and I, along with my wife *********, underwent DIAGNOSTIC COLONOSCOPY as recommended by my insurance (refer to the ad copy).When ******** Surgery Center called us to notice us about the screening and the confirm the diagnostic tests for each of us, we were never informed at any point that the ***************** for the checkup was out of network with my insurance provider and we might face high amount of bills for the DIAGNOSTIC COLONOSCOPY, to let us decide to either go ahead with the diagnostic test or not. Instead, both of us were told by the doctor and surgery center staffs that the diagnostic test would be covered by my insurance and we would not be charged or just a little bit except in the case that we had issues that required immediate treatment/surgery, during our consultation with ****************** clinic of ******** Medical Center, and before the screening in ******** Surgery Center when we were asked to signed hospital documents.This lack of disclosure has led to unexpected financial burden as my wife and I are now facing a bill of $1,500+, total $3000+ for the services provided at the surgery center facility. I don't think the doctor or the surgery center staffs intended to trick us but definitely they made mistake. Should we pay for their mistake like the current bills, no, it's not fair for us.I understand the importance of healthcare providers and hospitals offering patients the ability to make informed decisions about their treatments and checkups. As a patient, I believe that I have the right to be fully informed about the financial aspects of accepting a medical checkup, especially when making choices that could impact my finances significantly. I kindly request that you review the case, and ask ask the surgery center to adjust the two bills.

  Business response

  01/30/2024

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond. The individual was contacted and their concerns were addressed.

  Customer response

  01/31/2024

   
  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

  03/16/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I received a bill dated 1/31/23 for my daughter's treatment including dates 1/5/23 and 1/10/23 which I paid on 2/13/23 (payment shows on their own billing site) I received another bill dated 3/7/23 listing charges for other dates AND AGAIN for 1/5 and 1/10 trying to get me to pay almost $400 dollars twice have I not noticed the issue.

  Business response

  03/22/2023

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond. Our staff will reach out to the individual to explain the issue and address any questions. Thank you again. 

  Customer response

  03/30/2023

   
  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. They did reach out and explained that prior payment was applied and where. There was no double billing. I was incorrect in that statement. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************

• Initial Complaint

  03/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was received medical care from this business on 8/26/22 at the *********, ** location. I received a bill stating that this business does not accept cash as a form of payment as of October 1, 2020. Cash is legal tender and NO business should be allowed to refuse cash to pay for services rendered. I would like to this business to start accepting Cash as a form of payment once again.

  Business response

  03/17/2023

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this complaint. Due to a variety of reasons, including the Public Health Emergency, we no longer accept cash payments. If there are additional questions regarding alternative payment methods, please feel free to contact our clinics to discuss other options. 

• Initial Complaint

  03/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Surgery was 01/19/2023 The surgeon ************************* agreed to perform a surgery on my back on the date above and scheduled the surgery at a hospital operating room without my consent. The surgeon had previously mentioned they were considering the operating room but never confirmed the need or my agreement before scheduling at the hospital.When I asked about the billing, the surgeon and his office assured me my insurance would typically cover all charges other than a small copayment.They never informed me that their unilateral choice of scheduling the surgery at the hospital operating room with no obvious benefit to me would result in a charge of $1,885.72 to me at a billed rate of $2,000.00 per 15 minutes of room use alone, not including surgical, anesthesia, or other services.Providence Hospital, where the surgery was performed, confirmed there was no obvious need for the operating room via telephone call. ***** at ******************* billing was rude, dismissive, and loud on the phone, offering no response to why the surgery was scheduled at the hospital and pushing another bill from the office of the surgeon instead of responding to the questions asked.

  Business response

  03/07/2023

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this complaint. However, ***************************** and ******************* are not associated with our organization, Proliance Surgeons, **** Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  12/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  *********************** and Prolaince Surgeons have failed to refund me my overpayment. Before surgery is scheduled Proliance Surgeon required authorization for surgery approval by Regence BlueShield and that I pay my out-of-pocket network costs. *********************** and Prolaince Surgeons completed a carpool tunnel procedure on my left hand, on 6/20/ 2020. However, Regence Blue shield had not paid its portion of the bill. ***************************, Proliance Surgeons, and its affiliates broke the bills down and turned them into various collections agencies. However, in addition to making my pre-surgery payment, I paid a total of ****** to Proliance ********************* directly just to get those bills off my credit report. On June 30, 2022, Regence BlueShield resolved its issue which resulted in payments being issued to *********************** and all parties involved full payment for the surgery that took place on 6/20/20. On July 1, 2022, I contacted 4 different doctors' offices including Prolaince Surgeons ******, ** location, and confirmed that they too received payment was received their full payment from Regence Blue Sheild. I was told that because of the insurance payment my records showed a credit balance, and the lady confirmed my credit balance and said it would be refunded to me. On November 14, 2022, ****************** emailed me a statement confirming every entity involved was paid and they also confirmed that neither ************************** nor Proliance Surgeons have returned payment to them. As of December 18, 2022, *********************** nor Proliance Surgeons have returned any amount to me irrespective of the law stating overpayment is to be refunded within 30 days. I would like my payment in its entirety to be issued to me immediately. Thank you

  Business response

  12/22/2022

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to complaint ID of ********. Initially, the individuals insurance denied both the professional and the facility claims as member responsibility.  The individual did not make any additional payments to the denied claims and therefore, was sent to collections. However, the insurance reprocessed the professional claims, which did have a credit that was being held until the facility claim reprocessed.  The individual was notified of this, and it was requested for her to speak with the insurance company to prompt them to reprocess the facility claim. At this time, Proliance will adjust the facility claim, notify the collection agency to pull the individuals account, and submit the individuals refund.

  Customer response

  12/22/2022

   
  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 providing Proliance expedite the refund process and send the refund to my address in the complaint.

  Simply because the credit balance existed since July ************************************************************************ August 2022 and it now December and still no refund. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************************

• Initial Complaint

  08/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  This is regarding a payment of $249.39 I already made for an office visit on 09/10/21 and which is not reflected in Proliance's accounting system. The payment was sent out of my *** with check #******** on 10/15/2021 (the payment cleared on 11/10/2021). I called the billing inquiries number listed on the bill several times to explain the situation and was told that they would need more information. I then spoke with *******, which manages the **** Premera offered to call the same billing department and did so on multiple occasions. Whether by coincidence or intentional, ******* representatives' calls went unanswered so they left messages asking Proliance's billing rep to call them back but no one did. I have the *** statements and email exchanges with Premera as proof of payment and I's like to see this resolved as soon as possible.The Patient Account Number listed on the bill is ****************

  Business response

  09/02/2022

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to complaint #********. Proliance Surgeons, ***** P.S. has completed an investigation into this matter and identified the error. Proliance has notified the complainant of the resolution.

  Customer response

  09/06/2022

   
  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,
  
  *****************************

*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. ↩