The first half of this complaint is regarding a ridiculous charge. It is now this hospital's practice to charge you for a days use of a hospital room when you need a quick and simple procedure that takes 15 minutes tops. They charge you for the room for the day and they could use that room the rest of the day and charge others for the room you paid for too. Years ago they used to take you into a storage room or even the bathroom to do this. I don't agree with the bathroom but I'm not happy about paying $300 for a hospital room that I don't need and used for 15 minutes.
Next, I had 3 incidents that produced three separate bills all within 3 days. The hospital sends three separate bills. A total waste of money/paper and probably another way to confuse people. I made a payment on one bill then called about a payment plan. The billing department was nice enough to consolidate the 3 bills but did not bother to give me credit for the payment already made. To me, while it could have been an innocent mistake, it seems more like a fraudulent practice given how often hospitals do things like this.
When I caught the mistake and mentioned this to the billing department they became defensive. Had they been sympathetic and apoligetic I would probably have been satisfied and left it at that.
While there is probably not much that can be done about this, my message to everyone is stay healthy and avoid doctors/hospitals when possible. I am lucky they only messed up with my money and not my life.
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