In December the Dr thought My Mom had another Stroke. She had some of the same symptoms as before. He gave her a slip for Steinberg Diagnostic and I called to make an appointment. My Mother is on 4 liters of Oxygen 24/7. She can can no longer drive and needs to be assisted at all Dr. visits. My Mom is handicap and uses a wheelchair. Due to bad Heart Disease. I made the appointment since I was going to be the driver. The girl asked a couple of questions about the test. I wasn't sure, the Dr did not mark it on the form. She said no worries they would get that info when they received the hard copy from the Drs office.. She was going to be sedated. It would be a MRI and MRA of the head and brain. The soonest appointment was the beginning of January. My Mother has Medicare and a AARP as Secondary. We arrived on January 6th at 9:30 for a 10:30 appointment. After waiting just a bit the lady called her up to the cubby and said she didn't have any of the info needed with the paperwork. Doesn't anybody go through the prior days patients to make sure all the paper needed has been received??? also to see if you have all the prior authorizations and orders correct? Rather than waiting until the patient is there. I could have made sure all the info was sent over prior or at least brought it with me. We waited long enough..The Girl at the counter (my fault for not getting her name) didn't seem to care. She was on hold by My Moms Ordering Dr and so was My Mom. She was just Rude. As My Mom is sitting there the girl tells her she has to pay $160.. For her copay today. My Mom says she is double covered. The Girl says you have to pay it or you can't have your procedure done today. When I made the appointment the lady said nothing about payment to Me. And since My Mom is double covered we did she think there would be a copay. The check in girl calls the office manager over and tells her what's going on. The lady Michelle says ya we can't see you unless you pay. My Mom says I talked to the girl yesterday who verified my appointment and she didn't say I needed to pay. Her deductable would probably already be meet cause she is on oxygen and they bill in the beginning of the month. She could of had my mom sign a note stating if Medicare and her secondary didn't pay she would be responsible. All retired people get paid once a month from Medicare. My Mom had not got her monthly paycheck from Medicare yet..
She usually goes to Desert Radiology and she never gets asked for money. They usually say we will bill both and let you know if there is any balance. The Drs office uses Steinberg or we would have gone to Desert Radiology in the first place. My Mom was all upset. And I said lets go. This is ridiculous. I got My Mom in the car and went back inside to get the Office Manager name. The billing girl was talking with the office manager. And when I walked up to her, she claims that she talked to my mom the day before and told her she would have to pay. And said my mom said I have double coverage. My Mom said she never asked for $160 or she would have cancelled.
I asked them both why didn't you call me ?? I left my number and I made the appointment. You People are checking My Mom for a possible stroke.. Maybe she can't remember. Thanks for worrying about the patient and letting us walk out the door. She went to Desert Radiology and they didn't ask for a dime. I'll never go there again.