Facial Plastic Surgeons Dr. Burchard Screwed my son over on a lab charge Sarasota, Florida
My 19 yr old son was referred to Dr. Burchard to have a mole removed from his face. The doctor recommended cutting it off which would have left a large scar. He chose a conservative treatment and chose to have it shaved off hoping it wouldn't grow back. This office was in our insurance network so we never saw this coming! The doctor sent off the speciman to a lab but did not use a lab in our network. Now we have a $300.00 bill.
I tried working with them, but the office manager said it is our problem. She said they don't have time to check with everyone's insurance to see what lab they take. She said the doctor choses which lab he uses for certain reasons "that only he knows why". I pointed out that my son was never told it would be sent off and she said it was standard practice. Standard practice is known by a doctor with a degree, not a 19 yr. old kid.
I told her that it would have taken five minutes to check with the insurance company online to see what lab our insurance takes and it is "standard practice" to do those checks with other doctor's offices. She then tells me that not even the patients understand their own insurance so there is no way that their office can figure out what lab is covered.
You know darn well they would have made that call to see if for example, an MRI needed a referral and it would have taken five minutes to do so. In today's world everything is driven by insurance. We went to someone in our network and they didn't even care enough to check where they were sending something off or even telling the patient.
What does he care? He got his money!
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Diogenes
Averill Park,New York,
USA
Lying office workers
#2Consumer Comment
Sun, November 20, 2011
My sister-in-law works at a physician's office. She is the practice's Insurance Clerk and works for several physicians there. That's all she does - check on patient's insurance as to what they pay, and what they don't pay; which labs are in the patient's insurance network, and which are not; which specialists they can send the various patients to, and which they cannot. Believe me, she KNOWS all of the various insurance companies, their programs, their networks and with whom they are associated. And she takes the time and trouble to advise the patients of anything that might be a problem to them. Her employers want to keep their patients happy, and therefore pay her and rely on HER to make sure that everything concerning the patient's insurance is covered. This woman can sit down beside me right now and name - off the top of her head, mind you, - EVERY medical insurance company in the area, their various medical and health plans, their networks, what they will pay, what they won't pay, as well as all of the physicians, specialists and hospitals with which they are associated. And she claim's that she does nothing special; it just her job !!!!! Gotta love her !
And now this IDIOT of a clerk tells you that it's impossible to keep up with ?????? She is a freaking liar and is too stupid and lazy to do the very job for which she was hired !!!!! She is PAID to do the very thing that she tried to tell you was impossible to do !!!! What a lying, lazy, dumbass loser she is !!!
First of all, I would schedule a visit with the physician who saw your son, and let him know what his ignorant, lazy, no good "insurance clerk" is trying to pull with HIS patients, and how much it has cost YOU !! Tell him how she fools around all day, claiming that she can't do the job for which HE is paying her. And let him know that if this ever happens again, you will take your business elsewhere and will tell everyone you know all about it ! And, on top of that, you're calling the insurance company as soon as you return home. If he's any kind of decent physician, he'll fire that lazy, no good moron on the spot and hire a competent employee. There are PLENTY of other highly qualified physicians available through you insurance company from which you can choose, and I'm sure he knows this.
Now, be sure to report this to your insurance company, no matter how much this physician begs and pleads. This is the most butt-kicking thing that you can do to him !!! He will DEFINITELY get a phone call from them that will get his full, wide-eyed attention concerning what he is costing THEIR customers !! Because, once enough complaints are received, he will be dropped from their program so fast, he'll never see them coming. I don't think he, nor the other physicians in his group, would like that very much, as they would lose the majority of their patients. In fact, they will most likely need a new pair of underwear upon receiving the bad news. Now, go get 'em !!!
Special thanks to my sister-in-law who supplied me with all of this invaluable medical office information !!