Augusta University Medical Center

Reviews 4

HO

Howard Holm

If you value your credit rating you will never visit GRHealth. There are plenty of other local doctors and hospitals. Columbia County should definitely look elsewhere for a partnter. On Feburay 7 I saw a doctor at GRHealth. I gave them my insurance information. I later recieved a bill for aproximately $400. I used my GRHealth on-line account to look at the details. In capital letters it said NO INSURANCE FOUND and had thoughtfully discounted my even larger bill because I was "uninsured." So I used the on-line form to give them my insurance information. Again. And expected that would be the end of it. Next month, I got billed again. Checked on-line. Still NO INSURANCE FOUND. I called them. They updated it. Again I got billed. I called again. I was told not to worry about it, they didnt know what had happened, but theyd fix it. Again billed. My wife went down in person to tallk to them. By this time they were accurately billing my insurance for other claims for both me and my wife. They copied the insurance card again. Then on July 31st, I recieved a notice from a collection agency. I called again, and at first was told that I had to talk to the collection agency the the account was "no longer with [them]." I eventually got to a "supervisor", Alex. Alex promised it would be pulled back from collections and that he would call me on August 5. He did not call. On August 7th I called him. It was like he had forgotten who I was. Eventually he recalled that he had "sent e-mail" about that, but hadnt heard back. When prodded, he decided that he could send another e-mail to see what happened, and would call back on the 11th. Its now the 12th. Still no Alex. Twice, so far, today, the GRU billing phone system has assured me my wait would be "minimal" before deciding many minutes later, that I could leave a message with no option to wait for a real person. At this point, GRHealth has essentially admitted its their problem, but they cant or wont do anything, and my account is STILL with the collection agency. I like my doctor at GRHealth, but this is not the first billing issue, and my time is valuable to me. Not so much to them apparently. It seems like its time for a doctor affiliated with another hospital, and again, I can not recommend the institution less. As painful as its been for me, this has to have cost GRHealth an outragous amount of money in time spent talking to me, costs to rebill me and the writedown to use a collection agency. Since it appears Im not memorable to Alex, I can only assume Im not unique and wonder how they manage to stay in business. [update] They finally seem to have resolved this issue. So I give them credit for working with me to get it fixed, and I do like the doctors there, but after all this I think three stars is all I can legitimately give.

---

EL

Elizabeth C

I became a patient at MCG/GRHealth Family Practice 2 years ago. Although my physician and the nurses were outstanding, the billing practices and procedures at GRHealth are deplorable and I am now utilizing University Hospital. I received a bill from services received on September 2014 in March 2016. When I contacted the billing department they explained that they had changed billing software during this time and had "lost" and then "found" many patients bills. This level of disorganization is common. I have received past due statements for bills that had been paid in full and statements with incorrect insurance information or where my insurance had not been billed at all. Their billing practices are so disorganized and unprofessional but the worst part is what they charge for medical services. I have excellent insurance through BCBS that has covered several surgeries, hospital stays, and ongoing health care for my family while we lived in Columbia, SC. Even with the most serious and lengthy procedures, our bills for the patient responsibility amounts were always fair and expected. However, at Gr Health one can expect to be charged at least double what most medical providers charge. On what was my final visit, I received a mammogram and blood work for cholesterol monitoring. The bill for that short outpatient visit was $1533, with $465 being my responsibility. When I contacted my insurance they said that GRHealth was an in-network provider and agrees to accept specific amounts for procedures and the remaining balance is billed to the patient. However, what they charge is consistently well over the standard contractual amount. My insurance carrier was shocked at what they charged for a yearly physical, routine blood work etc. Although I am not happy about how high my bill is, I am lucky enough to be able to pay it. What happens to people who cannot? Will someone have to skip a lifesaving test due to fear of what they will be charged? Will they be hounded by the billing department or collections as is standard with GRHealth? Their billing system is unethical and represents absolute greed. I would never recommend this medical facility, as they value money well above patient care.

---

WI

William King

Recommend to avoid and consider healthcare elsewhere, e.g., University Hospital. As a medical school employee, it was convenient to schedule an eye examination at the universitys eye clinic as it is across the hall from the cafeteria. For a reason thats unclear to me, upon checking in the clerk could not find me in the system, which I found strange as I had already been a medical school employee for 3 years. I presented my ID badge and the clerk continued to say youre not in the system and verbally asked for my name, address and social security number (very confidential information) while the waiting room had a dozen or so people in it!!! After a thorough eye examination, I got out my wallet to pay and the clerk smiled and said there was no charge and that all employees receive a free annual eye exam. A few months later I get a call (after hours) on my mobile from a collection department asking why I hadnt paid my $305 bill. I said I had never received any bill in order to consider to pay it and that I had no memory of having charged anything that was $305. After some time, I remembered my eye exam and mentioned that the clerk said all employees receive a free annual eye exam (unfortunately, she did NOT provide me with a receipt that showed $0 balance due) and that Id have to check into this and get back to him. He said that hed allow 24 hours, to which I said my schedule is completely full for the next 2 days and that otherwise absolutely nothing on that campus consisting of state employees can be accomplished within a 24 hour period. I found out that the campus hospital is actually a FOR PROFIT institution (note that the name is VERY SIMILAR but different that the universitys name) while the rest of the campus, consisting of the medical school, Augusta State, and other entities, are non-for-profit so the hospital is able to generate profits and they also have different health care. I paid the monies but will never return. In the mall I can get an eye exam and a pair of eyeglass frames for $99 or you may elect to go to Georgia Regents hospital and pay 3 times that amount and be aggravated in the process.

---

TR

Trikiya Whiteside

My son was in the Pediatric ICU for about one week. He had a stroke at two months old. A lot when a child, especially a n infant, has a stroke it is due to trauma from a fall or being shaken. This was an assumption that was made by doctors at MCG (now GHSU). I wont say that all of the doctors assumed this with my son but there was at least one (Dr. Mehtna) that I could completely feel that she did. The doctors at University were even worse that this doctor at MCG. The way show spoke to me was in a very condescending manner and it hurt me to the point of bringing me to tears in front of her. The simple fact that they called DFCS to investigate was bad enough but for the doctors to treat me like I was a bad mother just killed me. Here my 2 month old son was laying in a hospital bed with us not knowing what the outcome would be and I was being treated like some kind of criminal. They ran all kinds of tests on him to rule out abuse, each one which we passed. My son is now 13 months old and is still recovering. Come to find out my son had a mild stroke at birth that went unnoticed which was the cause of the multiple seizures he was having that had also went unnoticed due to the fact that I did not know what a seizure looked like in an infant (doesnt often involve the shaking and limbs jumping that you normally expect from a seizure). The other doctors there were great and very understanding but I do not like how quickly some of them are to assume that a child has been abused. I understand that certain precautions have to be taken and I am grateful for that for the children that are being abused but I think its wrong for a doctor to be biased towards a patient and talk down to them in a hurtful manner. The only reason I recommend MCG is because they have the best services available to for children in Augusta but unfortunately the best in Augusta is still not good enough for my two. I give my all to both of my children and I put them before myself. I am beyond glad that I am no longer in the Augusta area. I refuse to ever step foot in that hospital again.

---

---