TeamHealth employs unethical billing practices. A full year after receiving emergency care at a local (Maine) hospital in February, 2019, we received notice that we were delinquent on a $113 invoice. Upon further review, we found that we had paid the invoice in full after insurance paid their share.
When we started receiving text messages last month from an organization called TeamHealth, whom we've never heard of, it raised some red flags. We called the number online and spoke with someone who knew about the emergency visit. They claimed TeamHealth never received what they needed from our insurer until January 2020, hence the delay in billing. Things still didn't sound right, so I called the Patient Accounts department at the hospital we visited. Apparently, the ED physician seen was in fact employed by TeamHealth. How were we to know???
Patient Accounts at the hospital confirmed that our bill had been paid in full an entire year ago. My next call was to our insurance company. They informed me that as far as they can tell, the invoice has been paid, and they sent the necessary documentation/information to TeamHealth in April, 2019.
Why then, are we being harassed by a company we've never even heard of? I can't help but wonder if illegal coding methods are being practiced.