| rev:text
| - This is not the way to treat your patients.
Last year I went to Dr. Rueckl's office for a freckle screening. As explained to me by a staff member, Dr. Rueckl did not take my PPO insurance carrier but she informed me Dr. Rueckl's friend and colleague, who was now sharing his office, with him did. So he did my freckle screening,
His nurse collected my co-pay and insurance card even before I sat down. And I thought nothing of it. A year later a collection agency called me and said dr. Rueckl's office had filed a collection on me for $30.00. I thought $30? I was pretty shocked, to say the least,, I'd been a client for 14 years, spent thousands over that time and honestly thought I'd built a lovely report with him and his office staff.
One afternoon I paid $2600 for laser hair removal, and three months later the hair came right back. Later, I found out his machine was 12 years old, outdated and the staff had been begging him to replace it. But his tech at the time was so kind I didn't have the heart to say anything. I just didn't do hair removal with his office and Simplicity hair removal fixed it. I never left his Spa or office paying anything less then $500 a visit. So for $30 I was pretty surprised that I never got a bill, piece of mail, phone call, email or that anyone from his office tried to reach out to me.
In the 14 years I was his patient, I never owed anything, not a penny. So wouldn't that have seemed out of character to them. 1) They always collect funds the day of the visit/treatment and 2) I'm not the type to ever leave a bill unpaid. All you'd have to do is view my file.
I immediately called the office and the lady I spoke to sympathized with me. She said they had some issues with that doctor and his nurse and they were no longer working there. She said she would look through the records and see what she could find but didn't have much from them to reference. I told her I would call my bank and credit cards to see if I could somehow track down a record of payment. But if I couldn't, I would just pay it because it was now effecting my credit.
One thing led to another and I just didn't have the patience or time to track down a charge I had potentially made over a year ago and find on what card I might have used. Being so long ago, I honestly didn't remember if I might have paid cash or used a credit card. I ended up just going in and paying it because, at that point, $30 was not worth the trouble and time.
And I did just that. So I paid the bill which they now said was $44. While I was in the office I figured I'd book my yearly freckle scan and that's when I was told by staff I was released as a Patient of Dr. Rueckl's and could no longer book an appointment with him. I just kind of stood there for a moment in disbelief. I said is that what Dr. Rueckl said? She said yes he signs off on all his terminated patients and his office manager, Kate Rueckl, writes them up. I can't say I've ever met a doctor before that's in the business of "terminating" his patients, but ok...
I guess more then anything, I was just a little taken back that patient priority, human dignity, kindness, loyalty or even understanding had no value to them compared with a $30 co-pay that I had never even been made aware of. Also charging me a $10 late fee, and an extra $4 for who knows what... On top also dinging my credit 13 points - a bit ridiculous in light of professionalism. I had paid the $44 bill because in the end it's better to just be done with it. Kate Rueckl would not even come out of her office to speak to me directly, she sent staff members to do the dirty work, and who you could tell were really uncomfortable breaking the news to me. And you'd think if $30 meant so much to them, all they had to do was just call me instead of allowing me to find out a year and a half later through a collection agency. They'd send me weekly emails trying to sell me things but can't reach out to someone before you file a $30 collection against them - it all seems odd. And when all is said and done this is based on nothing more than their poor accounting.
I hope Dr. Rueckl, Kate Rueckl and their staff are never treated the way I was yesterday. No one deserves that, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to stand on the other side of the coin yesterday, because the way they behaved and conducted business is far from classy. I saw and felt first hand what they prioritize at Lakes Dermatology, and for the Rueckl's, it's not treating people with respect.
There are many amazing dermatologist and health care providers out there to choose from, who's bottom line surpasses just being decent human beings.
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