BAIT & SWITCH! I was told by the person on the phone that I would be charged $125-175 depending on what what done at the time of the visit. At the end of the procedure I was billed $584. I came in for some flat warts on my arm (doctor told me to use Compound W).
The doctor ended up freezing a small pin head scab off my scalp and cutting out another pin-head size Keratosis on my shoulder (5 minutes in total for both procedures). The problem is that the office bill does not correlate to the actual 'a la carte' pricing that is done at the time of the procedure. Each item that is done to you has a SEPERATE CHARGE. This is not in itself unethical IF IT IS DISCLOSED BEFORE THE PROCEDURE IS CONDUCTED.
What this means is that you pay the high office fees plus the additional fees for the procedure(s) of which you have no idea their cost. Total BS and I advise anybody else wanting to use this clinic to take extra precaution. The billing agent by the name of Heather actually used the excuse that if they did not remove the cancer from my shoulder I might be in serious health condition today! The fact is that I along with 58 million other Americans have Actinic Keratosis.
The fact that Heather used the CANCER scare tactic as an excuse to bill me without first advising me of the extremely high fee is inexcusable. The ethics of this individual and this office are deplorable. By the way, I had a follow-up call with Dr. Aaron Bruce (nice enough guy) who actually admitted to me that he forgot to discuss the additional fees with me. Heather said it was my job as a patient to make sure that I asked enough questions before hand to avoid the over-billing issue. Again - don't get stuck like I did. Avoid this clip shop at all cost... pun intended. http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/actinic-keratosis
Doug S.
Bozeman,#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Tue, April 21, 2015
The format of this report says I am the owner of the practice, I most definately am not!
Being raised in a time before sunblock and having been treated by numerous dermatologists over the years I am in the unfortunate position to be able to compare a good number of them. I have also been treatred enough for various skin cancers to worry more about my health and in fact my very life than I do a couple bucks. I have also been to enough different practices to know what most would know without saying, the more different things that are treated the more it will cost. That isn't a bait and switch, it is only common sense. I've yet to see a doctor who kept an adding machine in the treatment room, did a running tally and quoted prices as the treatment progressed "LOL".
My experience with Dr. Bruce has been outstanding. I've come to trust and depend on his careful observation and excellent treatment of my various cancerous and pre-cancerous lesions. Prior to Dr. Bruces reccommendation to me by a friend my Dr. was 90 miles from my home and his charges and fees were almost exactly the same as Dr. Bruce's. On my first vist to Dr. Bruce I was there for a second opinion on a biopsy on my lip and he immediately noticed a spot at the base on my nose that turned out to be a malignancy that neither I nor my "prior" dermitologist had noticed. Dr. Bruce did an outstanding job removing it using the MOHS surgical procedure he's trained in and yes, it cost more than the second opinion I'd originally come in for "wink-wink"!
I also want to make it clear that I am not a family member or personal friend of Dr. Bruce, nor is he aware that I am posting this. I am instead a most satisfied patient who jumped on the internt to get a phone number and when I saw this absurd report I felt compelled to post "my" diametrically opposed experiences to the poster about some rediculous "bait and switch" acusation leveled at a fine and trustworthy Dr.