I went to NFFM (Dr. Cheaves's office) for a physical after coming back from traveling in a developing country. The nursing staff was rude and made it seem like it was my fault that they were constantly overbooked. I specifically asked that they not bill my insurance because the billing goes to a separate organization. What did they do? They billed my insurance anyway. The front desk lady looked at my forms like I was from another planet and obviously did not appreciate having to deal with me. So, instead of getting all my paperwork in a timely fashion, I had to wait weeks longer while my insurance company received my paperwork, rejected the claim, then sent everything to me.
Because of the number of blood tests I had to have done, the doctor suggested I come in three weeks later to go over the results. She said I should just make an appointment in case they are overbooked again. I made the appointment to come in for 5 MINUTES and receive my lab results. Two weeks later I get a bill for $82 for "Office/outpt visit, est, exp prob." Whatever that means.
I was furious. It is completely inappropriate to make someone pay for coming in to get their lab results. Some of these tests REQUIRE that the person receive the results in person. I emailed and called the office several times. I never got an email back, and after leaving several messages about the fee, I still haven't heard back from their business manager. I thought it was particularly funny how, in their convoluted automated phone system, you never get to talk to a person. I also thought it was funny that if you click "self-pay" or "not insurance related" on the automated system, the phone just rings and rings but never goes to an answering machine. Finally I just chose "Blue Cross/Blue Shield" and went straight to someone's voicemail. I guess if you don't have insurance, you're not worth talking to.
On top of that, I just received a repeat of the bill for the visit (s), and they charged $50 for me to read 10 letters off a wall, $44 to listen to beeps for 1 minute, and $21 for an immunization that they didn't even give me. I didn't go there for immunizations; I had had 15 given to me before leaving the country.
I have never in my life been so irritated at a company or organization before. It's not only that they are truly incompetent, it is that they are deliberately avoiding customer service. Now I have to go down there (a 45 minute drive) to deal with this in person. Do yourself a favor, avoid North Fulton Family Medicine!
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