I rarely leave negative reviews, but this experience was so disorganized that I feel others should know what to expect.
A few months ago, I called Cascade Eye & Skin because I have a torn earlobe that I wanted repaired. I specifically explained that I was hoping it could be covered by insurance. The receptionist recommended that I schedule with the medical side rather than the cosmetic/surgery division because it would give me the best chance of insurance coverage.
I waited about a week and a half for my consultation, paid my copay, and met with a PA. She told me repairing my earlobe would be “no problem.” They were booking about two months out, but said that would give them plenty of time to submit everything to insurance. I was told they would call me if there were any issues.
Over the next two months, I received appointment reminders, so I assumed everything had been approved or was at least moving forward.
On the day of my procedure, my husband and I both took time off from our very busy jobs because they recommended someone drive me home. We arrived 15 minutes early, checked in, and were asked to pay another $55 copay before being taken back to a room. I was excited to finally get this taken care of.
Instead of the billing manager or the provider coming to speak with me themselves, they sent another staff member who was obviously uncomfortable. She explained that they likely couldn’t perform the procedure under insurance after all because the billing had been coded incorrectly. Apparently this had been known for over a month, yet no one bothered to call me. She shouldn’t have been put in the position of explaining someone else’s mistake. If you’re responsible for an error that costs a patient time and money, you should have the professionalism to face that patient yourself, explain what happened, and apologize personally.
To make matters worse, as I was leaving, no one mentioned refunding the $55 copay I had just paid for a procedure that wasn’t happening. I had to ask for it myself, and the front desk employee had no idea what had happened and had to investigate.
The issue isn’t that my insurance ultimately may not have covered the procedure. The issue is that your office knew there was a billing problem for over a month and never bothered to call me. No one discussed my insurance, no one provided an out-of-pocket estimate, and no one gave me the opportunity to decide whether I wanted to proceed. Instead, you let me take time off work, ask my husband to take time off work to drive me, come to my appointment, pay a copay, and sit in an exam room before telling me something you had known for weeks.
The most frustrating part is that I chose Cascade Eye & Skin because they’re a respected local practice. I could have gone to any number of other providers months ago and likely had this taken care of by now. Instead, after waiting months, taking time off work, and trusting your office to communicate with me, I still have a torn earlobe and now have to start the entire process over from the beginning with another provider.
Mistakes happen. Poor communication and a lack of accountability are choices.
Cascade Eye & Skin, you need much better communication between your billing, scheduling, and clinical teams. Patients deserve better than finding out there’s a problem only after they’ve rearranged their lives to be there. If I treated my clients this way in my own business, we wouldn’t stay in business for long.
