In a message dated 97-08-22 19:05:45 EDT, writes: > > If you and your husband don't already have a collection agency, now's the > time. [. . .] > Sorry for such a long post. I hope people find it useful. It sure was > therapeutic writing it :) > It was well worth reading. I was about to write something similar, but I read yours first, and agree completely. You're right--the only people who complain about the way my office manager or insurance/collections person treat them are the ones who owe us money and refuse to pay. We do have patients who really cannot afford to pay, and really make an effort. Even if they pay a small amount monthly, we're willing to work with them, and will frequently charge a reduced fee, or not charge at all. But it really upsets me when I get a long sob story from a mother, and then talk to my office manager and get a completely different story about unanswered letters and calls, and total unwillingness to try to pay even a small amount. And of course, there's the mom who gets a check from the insurance company for an office visit she hasn't paid us for. We send a statement, and hear nothing from her. We call, and tell her we got an EOB from the insurance company stating that they paid her for that office visit, and remind her that she still owes us for it. "Sorry, I already spent it." Those go to the collection agency right away. By the way, you get some satisfaction when one of these really belligerant people tries to get a mortgage to buy a house. We have gotten two angry calls when the bank wouldn't approve a mortgage because of a bad credit rating. It was all our fault for sending them to collections several years before. They did not, however, apologize for never paying us. We said we'd be glad to clear it up when their balance was paid. Moshe Adler, MD