Billing Question

I'm going to guess that the therapist didn't remove your session from the computer so the billing company (who probably does billing for hundreds of medical practices) billed for the session. They would need to double check with the therapist to verify that the session didn't happen and was cancelled in time to not be billed.

So at this point you've called, they said they'd check into it, and most likely the charge will be reversed. When they call you back make sure you jot down the date and the name of the person you talk with so that if you get another billing you'll be able to name names and dates.

Z., the role of the billing department, whether a global service for many medical practices, or one employed "in house", is to send the bills correctly to the insurance companies or patients, & to collect the amount due in reimbursement.

However, the responsibility for making sure the bills are accurately charged falls on the individual departments. Sometimes, this is overseen by medical records and compliance departments, and sometimes it falls directly on the providers of service, such as in your case with your therapist.

All services provided need to be documented, so a billing department cannot arbitrarily remove a charge simply because a patient calls in & says to do so. Once they receive verification from the therapist, it will likely be taken off and the amount you owe will be adjusted.

I'm not sure why the billing department is requiring that -you- speak to the therapist. When I worked in the business office of a hospital group previously, we would send communication to the departments or medical records, and adjust claims accordingly. Hopefully, once you speak to your therapist, this issue will be resovled.

Definitely follow Diane D's advice, & keep a log of who you call, when & what was communicated. Start that now, & include the original communication to cancel the appointment.

Best of luck! T.

what happens when the office calls 1 hour before your scheduled appt. and says........"I'm sorry but the doctor won't be able to see you today they had an emergency??" We don't send them a bill for our time and the fact that we probably waited over a month for that appt.................YIKES!!!!

it does seem a bit weird, but it's probably just that the billing department doesn't have access to that information and needs the therapist (or her office manager) to confirm. sometimes the billing folks are completely disconnected, or even an outsource company, so only know what the medical professional has sent them.
i agree it sucks to be charged when you gave plenty of notice. many offices say they require 48 hours or more, but i think that's ridiculous. we don't plan minor emergencies and illnesses, and do the best we can. if they think it's okay to charge under this sort of circumstance, we should be able to bill back for the amount of time we spend waiting!
hope it gets straightened out. take a deep breath, stay patient, and work your way through the labyrinth.
khairete
S.

Billing offices bill for multiple practices. They are not required to know the policies of each practice so you must call the practice to find out what their cancellation policy is.

Oh and for an intake visit 24 hours is not adequate.

You'll need to check with the offices policies. Some have a 48 hour notice, so you may not have provided enough time according to their policy. If you did cancel in time, they will correct the mistake.

Very common. You can try talki g to therapist but I would not count on getting anywhere.

Are you using your insurance for the therapist? If so, provider contracts require that the provider let you know in advance of their cancellation policy. Since it sounds like this would have been an initial eval, you wouldn't have signed paperwork acknowledging the policy. Most, if not all, insurance carriers don't allow for no show billings for initial evals.