CoxHealth Center review: Kendal Bates

FORMAL COMPLAINT REGARDING PATIENT FINANCIAL SERVICES / MEDICAID ASSISTANCE

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to file a formal complaint regarding Kendal Bates and the way my family and I were treated while attempting to obtain financial assistance for an emergency room bill.

We came to the hospital seeking assistance with the financial burden of an emergency room visit. We expected to be treated with professionalism, respect, and discretion. Instead, our interaction with Mr. Bates was extremely uncomfortable and concerning.

During the conversation, Mr. Bates began asking questions about matters that appeared to have little or nothing to do with the patient's eligibility for financial assistance. He questioned us about romantic relationships, who lives where, and the living arrangements of other individuals. We were taken aback by the nature of these questions and did not understand why he needed this information to address the patient's hospital financial assistance.

More seriously, Mr. Bates proceeded with paperwork that, in our understanding, incorrectly represented the patient's household circumstances. The patient was not a member of the household Mr. Bates was attempting to associate the patient with, and Mr. Bates was aware of that fact. We were extremely concerned that Medicaid paperwork was being submitted or prepared with information that was not accurate.He was denied, which Kendal knew he would be and my household lost our SNAP because he inaccurately placed the patient in the wrong household.

We specifically asked Mr. Bates to stop what he was doing because we did not agree with the information being entered and did not want inaccurate information submitted on the patient's behalf. His response was extremely inappropriate. Rather than stopping to address our concerns, he responded in a manner that was nearly a yell, essentially refusing to stop and continuing with what he was doing.

That interaction left us feeling as though we were not being heard and that information was being submitted despite our objections.

I want to be very clear: we came to the hospital seeking legitimate financial assistance for an emergency medical situation. We did not come to provide false information, and we did not authorize anyone to misrepresent the patient's household. If an application was submitted containing information that was inaccurate, I believe the hospital needs to investigate exactly what was submitted, who entered the information, and why.

I am also concerned about the manner in which Mr. Bates handled sensitive personal questions. Patients and their families should not be made to feel interrogated, judged, or pressured when seeking financial assistance. Questions concerning someone's romantic history or relationships are particularly troubling when they are not relevant to determining household composition or Medicaid eligibility.

We understand that hospitals have procedures for determining Medicaid and financial-assistance eligibility. We are not objecting to legitimate questions required by those procedures. We are objecting to irrelevant and intrusive questioning, inaccurate household information, and the refusal to stop when we raised a clear concern about what was being submitted.

We would appreciate a written response explaining the outcome of your investigation and confirming what, and the paperwork he submitted to Medicaid or any other agency concerning this application was fraudulent.

This situation was already stressful because we were dealing with an emergency room bill. The way this interaction was handled made an already difficult situation substantially worse. Patients seeking financial assistance deserve to be treated with dignity, respect, and honesty.

I respectfully request that this complaint be reviewed by the appropriate hospital administration, patient relations department, and/or compliance officer.