Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  10/29/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Armstrong County Memorial Hospital Account # ************ Date of service. 1-18-24 and 8/19/24 This letter will explain an issue that has been going for 7 months. At which time I paid my co pay as suggested at the Doctors office,I have been receiving bills since then (7/22/24 calI ). Spoke with ****************** and explained I have paid . I had been told it would take 2 to 3 weeks to check their records for Payment . I continually received statements for payment. (8/9/24 call ). Return call from ****************** explained they couldnt find the payment and that I need to email a copy of my receipt, (8/10/24. 10:28 a,m, ) emailed receipt to ********************************** Attention ***** (8/27/24 1:14pm) Phone call from ****** asking to email again the information. (8/28/24 2:32 pm). Resent email again (9/10/24) Received another bill , (9/12/24 10:34 am) Phone call to Billing again , Spoke with ***** to forward a message that I would like to have a Supervisor phone me.(9/12/24 11:29 am). Phone call from *****. I explained the issue ,and Paid at time of visit, she said I need to pay for facility.? She suggested to send again my receipt to ********************************** attention ***** .(9/12/24 11:48 am) Emailed receipt again , attention ****** (9/13/24 11:00am). MAILED a copy of my bill with a copy of my receipt.(9/18/24 call from****) returned call 4:05 pm Advising I did send information (9/23/24 11:09am) Miya at ***** and Jan **** on phone Insurance said **** was paid and on EOB no balance due. Jan at **** suggested I call the doctors office to transfer money to ****, (9/24/24 9:54am) left message at ****. No return call (9/30/24 8:53 am.) Phone call to MD off ******* shared all bills are paid and has no idea what the **** hospital is referring to as to sending money to the hospital for Facility Fee???(10/2/24). Received two more bills1/18/24 &8/19/24 past due

  Business response

  11/10/2024

  
  

  In response to the BBB complaint: ********

  In response to the BBB complaint and to address your concerns, *** *******:

  Standard billing protocol for services provided during an outpatient hospital visit typically results in two or more separate bills: a bill for professional services, usually physician fees, and a facility bill for services, which include facility charges such as drugs, laboratory services, radiology services, and supplies.

  *** ******** *************** acknowledges and pays both claims but applies an identical $30 co-insurance to physician and facility bills every time she visits the hospital-based clinic. This co-insurance is a standard practice to ensure that patients share in the cost of their care.

  Upon investigation, *** ******** $30 payments are being applied toward her ************************ physician group professional claims. In contrast, the two outstanding corresponding Armstrong County Memorial Hospital facility claims remain unpaid as we continue to bill her for these $30 balances, totaling $60.

  Listed below is what Armstrong County Memorial Hospital has outstanding:

  Account# ************- DOS 1/18/24

   ACMH Facility claim billed for a clinic visit- G0463 for $314- insurance paid $94.07, $189.93 contractual adjustment, and $30 copay for the patient. Account#

  V00140963539- DOS 8/19/24

  ACMH Facility claim was billed for a clinic visitG0463 for $327. Insurance paid $94.07, $202.93 contractual adjustment, and $30 copay for the patient.

  For your peace of mind, please note that each future visit to this clinic by *** ******* will result in Aetna paying and applying two $ ***** payments per visit, leading to a total out-of-pocket amount of $60.

  If *** ******* has any additional questions or concerns, please have her contact me, ******* R *****, Director of Revenue Cycle Billing, at ************ or via email at **************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************. I would be happy to assist her in understanding her insurance policy and how it applies to her hospital bills.

   

  Customer response

  11/12/2024

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  

  I am not satisfied with the resolution however, I will may payment to business.  

  I will watch closely if the business billing in December is any different and if so will advise of double standard,   

  Thank you for your time and assistance in this matter; 

  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. (With exception in subsequent billing if any different)
  

  
  Regards,
  
  ******* *******

• Initial Complaint

  06/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  As soon as I walked into the ACMC hospital to visit a family member, I no longer had ANY cell phone service. When I asked the staff about Wi-Fi options, they stated that if Verizon is my carrier, the cables have been damaged during a storm and suggested switching to AT&T. They had no plans on fixing it. Because of this issue, I was not aware I had received an emergent phone call/text messages until I left the building. This is unreasonable. The hospital staff also expressed their frustration about this issue. Imagine working a 12 hour shift without being able to send or receive a call or text. For a lot of us, our cell phones are our lifeline. It is unreasonable to expect patients, family and staff to switch their cell phone carrier because they are unwilling to fix a Wi-Fi connection cable. This needs to be addressed.

  Business response

  07/10/2023

  Concerning *** ******** concern over ACMH Hospital cell phone coverage, approximately 9 years ago ACMH installed a cellular booster system to aid in signal for all carriers in the facility. That system failed completely several months ago during a power outage and did not recover. We contacted the vendor who installed the system and 1 other vendor who both claim the system is no longer repairable and obsolete. On NUMEROUS occasions we attempted to get Verizon wireless to assist us in getting a solution to the lack of signal in the facility, and they have refused all requests. We then proceeded to contact 2 other vendors to propose installing a new system. The proposal to install a new system to support all carriers on LTE and 5G service is over $140k. This is cost prohibitive at this time, for any community hospital, not just ACMH. We provide public WiFi access in all patient areas, which *** ****** or any other visitor is permitted to use while we attempt to determine what areas are absolutely critical for cell phone use and get new quotes for covering just those areas.
  
  ACMH is under no obligation to provide cell phone signal coverage and had done so in the past as a courtesy to our customers as our finances permitted. It is our opinion that if Verizon at all values their customers as they claim to, that perhaps they should invest part of their 77 billion dollar profit from last year in enhancing their coverage near hospitals and other critical infrastructure. Perhaps the BBB complaint should be against Verizon as it is their service that is inadequate, not that of ACMH.
  
  COVID has had a disastrous effect on the financial standing of nearly every community hospital in this country and unfortunately many of us are in the position of prioritizing upgrading critical infrastructure and clinical equipment over that of the convenience of cell phone signal.
  
  Please respond to me with any questions or concerns regarding this matter.
  
  Thank you.
  
   Tom A******
  
  Director of Information Technology

• Initial Complaint

  05/27/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  The hospital is double billing me. I do not have insurance. The hospital contacted me and asked if I would like to prepay for the procedure. I prepaid the full amount. After the procedure the hospital sent me a bill for the same amount I already paid. I called them and they said it was a billing mistake and they would get it straightened out. The next month they send me the same bill again. I called them again and this time they said that I owed them more money and that they were incorrect when they told me it was a billing mistake. The statement they sent combined the discounts and payments (I did receive a large discount for prepaying in cash). I have called multiple times trying to resolve the issue but they refuse to correct it. This has now been 90 days and they are going to send it out for bill collection in 2 weeks.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩