North Shore LIJ Health Systems

This review is not about the hospital itself, it is about Customer Service for Northshore LIJ. The hospital staff was very friendly and accommodating. The issue is that a person cannot contact Northshore’s billing department. You have to speak to a Customer Service Representative who has no idea about the billing process. My daughter was in the hospital on 8÷18÷15 at the doctor’s request. A few weeks ago, we get a letter from Northshore that Rachel owes over $ 1000.00. The letter stated that they made many attempts to call and write us. That letter was the «first» notice we received for that particular hospital visit. We called our insurance company and we were told that it was not medically necessary for my daughter to go to the ER and that she could have gone to an urgent care center. If she is told by the doctor to go to ER, that is what she is going to do. I Checked the EOB on the website, It appears the staff doing the billing for the hospital did not code the visit correctly. Furthermore, while checking on the billing for the lab, I noticed that there was unbundling. Certain things are supposed to be billed as one. We sent a letter to the hospital and copied the insurance company. We received notice from the insurance company that they received the appeal. Today, a representative from Northshore calls for my daughter. We thought it was in regard to the letter sent to Northshore. We called them back and discovered the call was from their Collections Department. As far as I know, when a charge is being appealed, the collection process is supposed to be put on a freeze. We spoke to a Customer Service or Collections representative at Northshore, and was advised the billing cycle does not stop. In addition, we were told that they don’t have record of the letter on file. The letter was faxed and mailed, so they definitely received it. On a final note for this review, I must say that I am curious as to why we have to speak with Customer Service representatives and cannot speak with someone in the billing department of Northshore LIJ now known as Northwell Health.