ComplaintsforCenter for Vein Restoration

• Initial Complaint

  08/24/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have endured duplicate billing efforts from CVR since the onset of treatment. Despite prompt payment from me at the Prince Frederick office at time of service - the billing department and online billing entity continue to bill for service rendered but already paid. This month I realized I was actually being billed under two different patient billing account numbers for agreed services on 1 leg and during 1 procedural plan. Why two accounts? Why two different billing addresses? Specifically, two different business addresses - *********************** and **** respectively. I have sent certifed letters to both addresses and listed account numbers. I'm requesting justification for two accounts and a reconciliation audit of both accounts to include billing records regarding payments received and what is not authorized charges under the **** network plan of which they are a member. Very suspicious business practice with clear advantage to CVR. Need a full time accountant to manage the billing statements previously sent despite payment if full verified with office staff (face to face.)

  Business response

  09/16/2022

  ---------- Forwarded message ---------
  From: *********************** <**********************@centerforvein.com>
  Date: Thu, Sep 15, 2022 at 2:41 PM
  Subject: RESPONSE TO BBB COMPLAINT ID: ********* (Dated 8-31-22) - *************************** (*** **-***)
  To: Dispute Resolution Team <drteam@mybbb.org>
  Cc: compliance officer ********************************@centerforvein.com>

  Dear BBB Team:

  Thank you for the additional time to perform our complaint review.  Please accept this email communication as the Formal Response to the above complaint.

  The investigative and corrective process included the following:

  1. The complaint was entered into our Incident Mgmt system (#**-***) and was routed to the Billing Review Dept.
  2. The Billing Dept contacted the patient to clarify the CVR billing for our Practice and the amount owed.
  3. The CVR Compliance Officer called the patients daytime phone number today and left a detailed message to address and clarify his concerns.
  4. The patient was explained that he is getting bills from (2) separate Practices and only one is my Practice (CVR)
  5. He is getting bills from:

  • ********* = ****** *** ******** ******** (***) This is not my group [they are arterial specialists]
  • Suite **** = Center for Vein Restoration (CVR) my group [we are venous specialists]

  The patient is not being double billed or experiencing any other billing fraud from CVR or ***.

  Thank you,

   Curt

• Initial Complaint

  05/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Account # ****** I had an exam on 02/06/2019. I had a procedure on 02/28/2019. Then a follow up appointment on 03/04/2019. I was told that after the procedure on 02/28/2019, they would give me a complimentary injection to take care of the spider veins above my knee on my right leg. That is the reason I originally went to them. To be clear, the injection to take care of the spider veins would be at no charge to me after the procedure on 02/28/2019. Near the end of 2021, after 2.5 years from the date of service, I received a bill for 484.10 from them. My husband has called them a couple of times to find out why we are getting billed now after all this time. He also asked for a detailed account history document which we still have not seen. We are questioning if this is a legitimate bill because this bill arrived 2.5 years after the procedure was done and we believe we already paid the balance in full. At this time, they are still insisting on payment. Again, this does not seem right to us. Your assistance in this matter would be very welcome.

  Business response

  06/20/2022

  June 20, 2022 
  Dear BBB Representative: 
  As the Director of Compliance for the Center For Vein Restoration (CVR), your complaint referenced above  dated 6/5/2022, was forwarded to my attention on 6/15/22, at which time I emailed your group to request - and was granted, an additional 10-days to investigate and respond. I thank you for the additional time. 
  Once received, I shared the complaint with our Revenue Cycle Mgmt team who reviewed the patient’s account and the financial activity that resulted in patient balance. I have attached a PDF file of the email  from my RCM staff to support the narrative shared here. 
  Our review of the patient account found there is an open balance of $484.10. This patient balance is due  to their insurance plan’s coordination of benefits(the assignment of co-insurance and copayment charges) for the following dates of services: 
  • 2/6/22 – CPT ***** (Minor Visit) with a balance of $20 co-payment. 
  • 2/28/22 – CPT ***** (Vein Ablation) with a balance of $432.97 for co-insurance. • 3/4/22 – CPT 93971 (Diag. Ultrasound) with a balance of $31.13 for co-insurance. 
  • 4/10/22 – was a “no charge” ($0.00) for the Cosmetic Sclero – the patient was not billed for the  complimentary sclerotherapy. 
  CVR also sent out a series of Billing Statements to the patient on the dates listed below:
  
  The dates reflect a ‘gap-period’ during the COVID Public Health Emergency (2019-2021) when the billing cycle for certain patient account types and locations were relaxed. Now, with the pandemic waning and returning to the new ‘normal’, CVR restarted the patient billing cycles and unfortunately the patients  noticed; some get angry, thought we are doing bad things – which is not the case here. 
  As far as the patient not receiving a timely or satisfactory response to questions directed to the Billing  Office, our RCM call center staff logs and documents each call. From our internal log notes, CVR staff spoke  with and shared the requested information with the patient, and they further explained that the billing  detail was also available on the Statement and through their account on the CVR Patient Portal. 
  The complainant finally requested that the balance be adjusted to zero – thinking we billed for a Free  service, which we did not. And as much as I would like to adjust the patient balance, I cannot as the balance  is based on the patient’s insurance coordination of benefits. CVR – like other practices, have provider  contracts with many insurance plans that all state the providers have a contractual obligation to bill and  collect the patient’s cost-share portion to maintain compliance with participation contract terms. 
  However, for those patients that are experiencing financial hardship or are requesting financial counseling,  CVR has a Financial Assistance Policy that any patient can inquire about and make application. 
  I hope this explains the misunderstanding about the patient balance issue. Please do not hesitate to reach  out to me for any further information. 
  Sincerely, 
  Curtis U****, CPCO, CPC, CPAR, CMPA 
  Director of Compliance 
  Center for Vein Restoration 
  

*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. ↩