What is Up with Atrium and their Billing?

What is up with Atrium medical center do they and McNeil not read the newspapers or watch the news and know that we are in a recession.

Best wishes to you and yours, Gary.  Fight the good fight.

Perhaps the hospital as a whole, needs to start providing adequate service before they ask a person to open their wallet to pay for it. Was at Atrium's Emergency Room last night with the wife being admitted with a kidney issue. Once again, for the second time in the last few months, their emergency room was a joke as to service. The people manning the front desk of the emergency room had no URGENCY about anything. Either they are grossly understaffed or they need an attitude adjustment on the subject of URGENCY and "getting off their duff and doing something pertinent". I like it when they see you standing there staring at them and they ask "has someone helped you". Answer- "No, I don't need any help" "I'm just standing here because I'm a participant in a study to judge just how inept you people really are". It just never gets any better in that area of the hospital, even after filing a complaint the last time she was there with chest pains and having told them she had had two heart attacks. We walked out after sitting for 3 hours and the pain subsided. Thank you for allowing me to vent. It does get frustrating, especially the second time around.   

Atrium billing is something else I've recieved bills for procedures done as much as 4 month prior to billing. I pay them but they sure don't get in a hurry to send them to you before they are months old. I had several procedures done there and paid twice what they cost me at University of Cincinnati . I will continue to drive the distance if it saves my insurance  and me substantial money rather than go to the Atruim. I might add I also seem to get people at UC that seem deeply concerned about the health issues and answer all your questions. The ER at Atrium is terrible so slow in getting a Dr to see patients . My Grandsom was having severe Chest pains and waited 3 hours when still not seen by a Dr My Daughter took him to Sycamore . He was immediatly examined and sent home in about a hour torn muscles in his chest.

HereIam- Did your EOB say you owed Atrium anything? With all of my wife's Medical problems over the years, we have found that the doctors, labs and hospitals love to try the old "you pay us first before we submit the charges to the insurance company" routine. IE- you have a procedure done at the hospital, a lab test done by a doctor referral or a doctor's office charge. You give each of them your insurance card and they make a copy for their records. They submit the charges to your insurance company and they collect. They then send you a bill for the same service and ask for payment. You contact them and ask them- "did you submit your charges to the insurance company first, before I pay you anything?" Most will say, "no we didn't submit yet". We then suggest that they do as the insurance is to pay first, then the patient is responsible for the remainder if any exists. Sometimes, the doctor, the labs and the hospitals overcharge for a procedure violating the contract they signed with the insurance company. The EOB will tell you that the overcharge is not the patient's responsibility and will say "0" as to your responsibility. That tells you they are trying to overcharge you and you can tell them to go pound salt.