ComplaintsforSouth Shore Women's Medical Associates, L.L.C.

• Initial Complaint

  05/17/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I'm in disbelief at how unprofessional and dismissive this practice has become over the years. I've been going to ************** for over 5 ************* receptionists have always been terrible. They either don't answer the phone or put you on hold forever during business hours. They don't effectively communicate anything and cause billing issues & appointment discrepancies with patients including myself. Appointments with ************** have always felt rushed and she was not willing to run tests for what she did not deem necessary even after expressing concern. During my last appointment, ************** abruptly left to assist with someone else's pregnancy while I had an appointment scheduled weeks in advance & already been brought to the medical room to be seen. I was already undressed to be told I would have to reschedule because of an "emergency". As my appointment was also urgent I asked to see the other doctor at the practice named **********************, while her bedside manner was good and she was very patient with listening to my concerns, she accidentally yanked my Mirena IUD out during my procedure (mind you I had this IUD for less than 2 months). It was so painful that I decided to not have it reinserted and switched back to another birth control method. ********************** offered to check if my insurance would cover a new one due to her mistake. All of this happened just for me to be told a month later that my services were not covered by my new insurance when I was reassured by the front desk while booking my appointment that it WOULD be covered. Now I am being held liable for a medical bill $1000+ that I wouldn't have been responsible for if their staff effectively and accurately communicated information to me. The staff also never send needed prescriptions over to the pharmacy when they say they will. I always have to follow up to make sure it is sent. I waited weeks and had to end up having my PCP prescribe me the medication due to their neglect.

  Business response

  05/31/2024

  This is in response to complaint ID ********. ********************************************************************************************************** would like to apologize for any inconvenience and personal issues that this patient feels they have endured with our practice. This notice is the first time we are able to respond to these complaints. 
  ************** is an Obstetrician/Gynecologist, so there are times when she must leave the office with very little notice when a patient is in labor to deliver a baby safely. This does cause patients that are in the office at that time to either wait until she comes back (************** will let us know how long she *** be), or they are able to reschedule their appointment for another day and they are assured minimal waiting time to be seen due to the inconvenience of having to reschedule. Patients are mostly understanding of this occurrence, knowing the importance of having your Obstetrician there when it is time for a baby to be born. When office hours are disrupted by a delivery, patients are not told there is an emergency unless an emergency is happening, they are made aware that she has to deliver a baby and they are given options for their appointment. 
  When billing issues like this one occur, it is due to our office not having the correct Insurance information, for example, an incorrect member ID number which does not correlate with the ***************** provided. This can easily be corrected once we have the proper ***************** name and member ID number so that we can resubmit the claim.  The  receptionists at the front desk can never determine if an office visit will be covered, they are not certified medical billers and they do not know the levels of coverage for any individual Insurance plan, they are trained to advise any patient with billing inquiries prior to being seen to contact their Insurance Plan directly and obtain their specific plan details regarding coverage. We apologize that this patient was not instructed to do this as per the details of her complaint.
  5 years builds a strong Doctor/Patient ************* from this complaint, this patient has made statements that span over a period of time. Communication is key and the patients' voices matter to us, what they communicate to us about their experience at our practice helps us to identify things that *** need to be worked on or give proper praise to employees that go above and beyond.
  We take this complaint seriously and have been trying to contact the patient to obtain her correct Insurance information to resolve the billing issue.
  
  

  Customer response

  06/06/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************************
  
  
  
   
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  02/15/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I received a **** from this doctors office multiple times for a date of service 9/9/2021 for $139.57. I submitted a receipt proof to them that I paid this **** through Instamed and that they received it several times through fax and email. I paid it on 10/15/2021 because thats when I received the claim in my Cigna account. I faxed the receipt to them through staples a couple of weeks ago and I emailed the receipt to them on both 11/3/2021 and 12/30/2021. Ive also called them several times about it. They keep sending me a **** for this amount and now theyre threatening to send this **** to a collection agency in 10 days if I do not pay and I am afraid my credit is going to be ruined as a result. I am not sure what to do at this point besides this.

  Customer response

  03/29/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  At this time, my complaint, ID ******** regarding South Shore Women's Medical-****************************** has been resolved.
  

  (By clicking "OK", your complaint will be closed as Resolved.)

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************************

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