Attorney patient threatens to sue over a bill

[stacynyc]

An attorney patient had both basic and elective procedures done in the office, signed all the docs and paid by a credit card. The next day he called the insurance company, complained that he was charged for basic services and called his credit card company stating he never authorized the transaction. All the signed paperwork was submitted to the insurance and credit card company.
Patient's insurance company underpaid for basic services and authorized our office to collect the balance. The invoice was sent to the patient. The patient called the office and screamed at the receptionist. He called back an hour later stating that he would sue our doctor and the receptionist. He called us again and left a nasty message stating that "he was calling from the law office; he was starting a case against the office; that our so -called doctors are unlicensed and so-called receptionist will be included in the lawsuit".
What are our options?
Thank you

 

[dee_dub]

As long as your so-called doctors are licensed, you probably don't have anything to worry about.

You have two options:

1) Forget about it. Wait for him to sue you, which option will never materialize because he has no case. This option minimizes your headache, but does not result in you getting paid.

2) Send him a polite but firm demand letter for the balance. If it goes unpaid, sue in small claims court.

Also consider a report to the law society. Keep a record of any communications you have with Mr. Congeniality. Lawyers are not supposed to threaten lawsuits in order to get out of paying their bills.

 

[stacynyc]

thank you

Thank you for your help

 

[presutin]

This is a duplicate posting by the same poster.

http://www.thelaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26916

 

[dee_dub]

I thought it sounded familiar.

 

[stacynyc]

is this a collection agency matter

He called again today stating that nobody from the office called him back to give him the name of the receptionist!! so that he could include her in the lawsuit. Can we just send his account to collections to avoid the headache?

 

[presutin]

Stacy - Your postings are inconsistent when it comes to the background you presented regarding this case. The accont was charged back and that is not the case anymore? Please, don't mislead those here in the forum. Seek the advice of an attorney in your hometown so s/he can see ALL the evidence you have. Changing your stories is a big red flag raiser and leads one to believe that there is more to the story than what you are posting. Good luck to you!

 

[stacynyc]

There is no inconsistency in the postings. The chargeback was for the elective (cosmetic) treatment that the patient paid with Am Ex as services were rendered, which he later stated was a processing error and the account was chargedback.
The basic services that he also received the same day were billed to the insurance company that underpaid. That balance (the copay for basic services such as anethesia) was presented to him in the bill which he refuses to pay. These are two separate charges which unfortunately were not paid.
When I submitted the posting about the chargeback I had no way of knowing about the insurance underpayments since it takes 2-3 weeks for the insurance to process it.
Thank you

 

[stacynyc]

Just reread both postings. Thought was quite clear when started the first sentence separating the charges for basic and elective treatments in the second posting.

 

[presutin]

My suggestion for you to seek the advice of an attorney is still the best thing you can do so they can evaluate what you have as evidence and guide you on how to pursue a case.

 

[stacynyc]

For your reference, the elective treatments are always paid as services are rendered because they are not covered by insurances. The basic treatments have copays and coinsurances. The basic treatments are always charged after the insurance company processed the EOB.
The elective treatment are cosmetic and alternative treatments.
A lot of times patients call their insurance companies complaining about certain cosmetic treatment not being covered. In this case, he called the insurance company stating that he was charged for a basic treatment in full (whereas it was cosmetic). When we submitted the evidence of cosmetic surgical procedure, the insurance found all charges to be legal then patient called AMEX to dispute the charge.
*It's not in my interests to defraud any forum users.

 

[stacynyc]

Thank you

Thank you. I'll let the senior doctor know to seek the advice of an attorney.
Just to summarize for all who read the postings:
*attorney patient on Medicaid/healthy NY had elective (cosmetic) +basic procedures done
*paid by business Amex card for elective treatment the day of the procedure
*called his insurance, stated we charged him for basic treatments in full
*medical evidence including x-rays+all paperwork with physical signatures confirming cosmetic procedure sent to the insurance
*insurance found no violations, all charges were found to be valid
*patient called AMex stating there was processing error/unauthorized transaction
*chargeback on our account, evidence submitted, 75 days waiting period
*explanation of benefits received from the insurance for basic treatment, insurance underpayments in the form of copays and coinsurance presented to the patient in an invoice
*patient called the office numerous times, harassed the receptionist, left messages on our phone stating that our "so-called doctors" have no credentials which is completely not true; patient refused to pay the balance as per the insurance company EOB; patient threatened to sue.
*I'm responsible for financial coordination, want to do my job right, thought would get some answers since it's the financial matter only and no medical damages were done and this is not the matter of malpractice where doctors would usually get involved. Just wanted to ask if the attorney patient's account can be sent to the collection agency so that I don't have to deal with all this nonsense.

 

[dee_dub]

Absolutely it can be sent to a collection agency. It's a legitimate debt. Let him try to weasel out of it in court if he wants to.