Not Made Of Money

I recently wrote about an error we’d found on a hospital bill. I wanted to update on the situation that was resolved last week.

I’d had an outpatient procedure done at a local hospital in February. The day before the procedure, the registration department of the hospital contacted me, helped me with pre-registration, and took my payment of my 20% portion on my VISA card. A receipt was emailed to me which showed a confirmation number and transaction ID.

Last week we received the hospital bill which did not show a credit for the amount of my pre-payment. I called the phone number on the bill, only to be transferred over to the main billing office for the hospital, which is located in another city. I was told that they had no record of the payment I had made, and that I would need to provide proof that I had indeed made the payment. I decided that it would be better to go in person to the billing office at the hospital where I had the procedure done. I made a copy of the email that gave my confirmation number, a copy of my VISA bill which showed that my account was charged, and the original bill that was mailed which did not show the payment I had made.

I made the visit on Friday and am happy to report the outcome was successful. There had been an error when the original payment had been made; it was credited to the account of another patient! Once they found the error, they were most apologetic and quick to correct the error. Hospitals are notorious for billing errors and everything seems to be driven by an account number, rather than your social security number or even a medical ID number. If you are disputing a medical bill here are some techniques that worked for me:

1. Visit the billing office in person. It is so much easier to talk with someone face to face than be transferred between departments. It is also easier to ask to speak to a supervisor if the need arises.

2. Be polite but direct. I found that telling exactly what I wanted helped to keep the conversation focused, (i.e. there is an error on my bill that I would like corrected).

3. Bring copies of supporting documentation. I made copies of the email which showed my confirmation number along with a transaction ID. Likewise, I brought a copy of my VISA bill which showed the amount charged to my account.

4. Double check account numbers. If you have not received credit for a payment that you’ve made, ask them to double check your account number. Perhaps a wrong account number was used. Likewise, if you are being billed for a procedure that you did not have done.

5. Get written confirmation when the dispute is resolved. I received a receipt showing that the bill was incorrect and the amount that was to be credited. I also got the billing representative’s name and phone number along with the name of her department manager.

6. Be courteous. At the end of the meeting, I thanked the billing representative for taking the time to resolve this matter for me.

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