Stephanie Kurkoski

Review of Minnesota Gastroenterology, P....

I canceled my appointment before ever actually ste...

I canceled my appointment before ever actually stepping foot in the clinic because the administrative and billing was such a nightmare. I called as a new patient to set up a consultation and the person who scheduled me was very friendly but ended up incorrectly inputting my information that I needed to access the patient portal. My birth date and my email were incorrect, and somehow they had two addresses for me. Needless to say, they seem very unorganized. Then I spoke with someone in billing to find out roughly what the consult would cost; she said she'd email me the fees, which I received and within each of three categories, the billing levels between class I and class V billing range from $150 to $750. What?! When I called back with questions about the fees, she immediately became very defensive, which seemed shady. She explained that my consultation could be between $300 and $500 based on the billing class, which I don't understand- how do they decide which class you are? She also explained that without knowing what my insurance will cover, she can't give an exact number; this I completely understand, but again, why was she so hostile? Then she made the snappy comment, "This is why we send people the fees; if we don't they get very angry with us when they get their bill." Um, no kidding! She didn't even send me the fees voluntarily, which she also admitted then that patients should request them, as I had done. Everything about this place just gave me a terrible gut feeling; no pun intended (gastro clinic). The woman was so awful on the phone, and clearly she is used to people having the same reaction to her. Maybe those fees are typical for a specialty clinic, maybe the doctors are phenomenal, but I will still be taking my money elsewhere, because everything else about that place, for lack of a better term, just sucks.