Andover Ear Nose & Throat Center

First, I know some of this has to do with insurance. However, what an awful experience with the billing department. I went for two visits all they did was look at me and come to find out I went to my primary care doctor and said that my ears were so bad with wax. So, they looked in my ear charged 400 and 30 co pay for 2 visits after insurance. They did not do their job. Now, supposedly I was trying to take to Jennifer in billing, she is useless cannot set up a payment plan for anything. I still am getting late notices. Now, three months later they are adding on a 34 charge for co pay. If you are smart don’t go to this office. I really think they bill you for cut back. I have never in my life paid 400 for visit that no one has done anything.

I have never had an appointment on time here. 30 – 45 minutes late is the norm. Every time I wait up to an hour. Poor scheduling.

Unfortunately, I had a VERY BAD experience here. My complaint is mainly regarding my experience with the billing dept, how disrespectful they are & how the company informs their clients about procedures. This year i’ve had 6 sinus infections. I’ve been going to my doctor & they’ve given me antibiotics, but they reoccur. I took it upon myself to find a specialist to find out how to prevent so many infections. At the time, I was battling a 4 week infection. Dr. Thatcher at Andover ENT was a nice man & eager to please. I was disappointed by his inability to offer me any solutions or potential reasons for my issues. I suggested everything, he said Sure to everything I asked
I received a recap of my claim. I knew my allergy test & office visit would be expensive because its a specialty office & they were $ 320 office visit & $ 750 Allergy Test. This was OK. No complaint. I then saw a charge for Nasal/​Sinus Surgery for $ 435. I didnt have nasal surgery. I called to remove the charge. I ended up on the phone w/​a woman for 45min. It was unpleasant, she was disrespectful & lacked understanding/​care for the situation/​patients
SUMMARY OF WHAT WE SPOKE OF
–She drilled me about my appt
–She told me that the charge was for an «Endoscopy» & they could offer a payment plan –I asked what it was, she said it was the camera he stuck up my nose
–I told her I was not remotely informed that this was an additional procedure. It was 15 secs, he told me he would look at my sinuses «real quick». It reminded me of when the doctor looks into your ear/​nose with the light, except this went further up
–She told me how expensive the piece of equipment was & that they could offer a payment plan
–I said thanks for the option. I told her I wouldn’t of known that about the equipment & would have thought the doctor would have told me this was an additional procedure, especially if the charge would be more than the office visit
–She told me that specialty doctors are expensive
–I told her i expected that & if they charge $ 435 for an «Endoscopy» that is ok. But if a doctor is going to perform an additional procedure that is simple & high cost, the patient should be informed before its performed
–She asked me if I read my paperwork
–I said Yes, but this would not have been thought of as an additional procedure for the reasons previously mentioned
–I told her i felt very ripped-​off by their company & that i felt she wasn’t hearing me. At this point i started feeling very misunderstood.
–She offered a payment plan, she offered no understanding
— I said thanks for the option & I told her I wanted to see if I could remove the charge because I felt manipulated
— She said she can offer a payment plan
— I asked if there was someone i could speak to resolve this because she didn’t seem to understand that this charge was unreasonable because of previous reasons mentioned
— She said no, you’re talking to her (very aggressive tone) & that we had been on the phone a long time
— I asked if this happens to many other people
— She said yes
— I asked if there was something they tried to implement to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else
–She said its in the paperwork when you become a new patient
–I told her I read the paperwork & I still felt ripped off because of the reasons stated before. He’s a specialist so i expected him to have tools I’m not used to. I wouldn’t expect the light tool in my ear or a nasal inspection chair to be an extra charge
–She said we’d been on the phone enough that she hadn’t had a chance to have a glass of water & she had other work to do
–I asked if at the least she could try to do something to make sure this doesn’t happen to other patients
–She ignored my comment & offered a payment plan. This happened several times
SUMMARY OF INAPPROPRIATE THINGS SHE SAID TO ME
–She compared me to low-​income elderly 80 yr old patients who are able to pay their bills & I should be able to pay my bill
–She told me she had other work to do & she wanted to get off the phone
–She said she wasn’t able to get a glass of water this morning because she’d been on the phone w/​me since she came to work
–She put the phone down to gossip about me to her coworker
–I told her if I ran a business it would be important to me that I make sure other clients do not go through the same experience. She said «You own your own business? You should be able to pay this bill!»
–When i asked if she would try to do something so this wouldn’t happen to others she said «What are you my supervisor?»
–She said this happens to a lot of other people & never once said she had/​would try to do anything to resolve it
–She spent a lot of time trying to get me off the phone and whining/​laughing at me. She should not be working on the phone w/​patients. I was disrespected, compared to other patients, misunderstood, ignored, belittled, laughed at & emotionally drained. Her person-​to-​person skills are not kind. She doesnt seem to care for the welfare of her patients or the company