OrthoArizona - Shelden L. Martin, MD, Chandler AZ

Terrible. Although the staff and the other doctors were super nice Dr Martin was the complete opposite. Because of my age the FIRST thing he asked me if there was money involved in this because I got into a car accident. He also made me get X-rays or else I couldn’t see him after I already got recent ones. I decided to continue with my appointment and get the Xrays but I wish I didn’t! He was so rude I walked out of there with no knowledge about my injury, he didn’t listen to my concerns and made me feel very stupid about asking a question. I literally went out of his office and was crying in my car cause of how flat out rude and not caring he was towards me.

Ok, I have to start by saying the Surgeon and his staff are AMAZING and deserve 5 stars. However THE BILLING DEPT IS PART OF THE WHOLE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND HIS BILLING DEPT DESERVES A NEGATIVE 5 STARS - DO NOT PREPAY YOUR DEDUCTIBLE _ DO NOT GIVE ANY MONEY TOWARDS YOUR DEDUCTIBLE BEFORE SERVICES HAVE BEEN RENDERED AND YOUR INSURANCE HAS PROCESSED THE CLAIM. MY HUSBAND RECEIVED A PHONE CALL, A WEEK BEFORE SURGERY, FROM THE SURGEON'S OFFICE STATING THEY NEEDED TO COLLECT $2700 OF OUR $3500 DEDUCTIBLE. SO, HE GAVE THEM HIS CREDIT CARD OVER THE PHONE AND THEY PROCESSED THE PAYMENT. THEN THE HOSPITAL, HONOR HEALTH SCOTTSDALE, THE MORNING OF THE SURGERY WANTED THE ENTIRE $3490 OF OUR $3500 DEDUCTIBLE (OUR INSURANCE SHOWED A $10 SCRIPT CLAIM). THEY ACTUALLY GOT UPSET WITH ME WHEN I FINALLY AGREED TO GIVE THEM ONLY $500 AFTER GOING AROUND AND AROUND WITH THE GIRL ABOUT HOW I HAD ALREADY BEEN PAYING MY DEDUCTIBLE AND THE SURGEONS ALREADY RECEIVED $2700 OF THE $3500. YES, THIS ARGUMENT IS WHAT I WANTED TO HAVE THE MORNING MY HUSBAND IS GOING INTO SURGERY. SERIOUSLY WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE. I HAVE INSURANCE AND THEY ARE HARASSING ME AND CAUSING ME STRESS WHILE I AM GETTING READY TO SEE MY MY HUSBAND INTO SURGERY AND THE WORRY OF IT?

THEN, THE SURGERY IS COMPLETE AND EVERYONE INVOLVED PUT IN THEIR CLAIMS TO MY INSURANCE. MY INSURANCE DOES THEIR JOB AND STARTS PROCESSING THE CLAIMS IN ORDER THEY ARE RECEIVED. ONCE THE PROCESS HITS THE $3500 DEDUCTIBLE. THEY START MAILING OUT CHECKS THEMSELVES WITHIN A FEW DAYS. THE SURGEONS OFFICE CAME IN NUMBER 3, SO AS FAR AS MY INSURANCE WAS CONCERNED, i MET MY DEDUCTIBLE WITH THE FIRST 2 CLAIMS AND THEY PAID THE BILL. DO YOU THINK THEY RECEIVED THAT CHECK AND SAID "OH, SHE ALREADY PAID, WE NEED TO REFUND HER CHECK". NO, THEY KEPT BOTH PAYMENTS AND DIDN'T EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE THE MISTAKE UNTIL I SPENT A GREAT DEAL OF MY TIME 2 MONTHS LATER, WITH MY INSURANCE OFFICE EXPLAINING THAT I ALREADY PAID AND ONE OF US NEEDS OUR MONEY BACK SO WE CAN PAY ALL THESE OTHER CLAIMS CORRECTLY.

MY INSURANCE COMPANY CONTACTED THE SURGEON'S BILLING OFFICE THAT VERY DAY. NOW 3 WEEKS FURTHER INTO THIS SITUATION, I LEAVE MESSAGES FOR BOTH MY INSURANCE AND THE SURGEON'S BILLING DEPT (BTW-FINDING THEIR NUMBER IS IMPOSSIBLE. I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF IT WAS THE CORRECT # OPTION ON THE PHONE SYSTEM). OF COURSE MY INSURANCE CALLS ME AT 815 PROMPTLY ON MONDAY MORNING AFTER CALLING THE SURGEON'S BILLING DEPART FIRST. THE RESPONSE THEY RECEIVED WAS "OUR REFUND PROCESS CAN TAKE 3-4 WEEKS AND IT HASN'T BEEN 4 WEEKS YET" SERIOUSLY - WHEN IT COMES TO CUSTOMER SERVICE SATISFACTION OR FAILURE - BILLING DEPARTMENTS ARE A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THAT OVER-ALL EXPERIENCE AND I AM BEYOND UPSET AT THIS WHOLE PROCESS.

MORAL OF THIS STORY: DO NOT EVER GIVE A BILLING DEPT A PREPAYMENT WHEN YOU HAVE INSURANCE - IT IS WRONG OF THEM TO ASK AND CAUSES YOU, THE CLIENT, A WHOLE LOT OF USELESS STRESS!

Just a Note: I am extremely sad that Dr Martin and his staff work so diligently to provide AMAZING service and that I had to put this here - please know that it is your reputation that brought us to you and you have a right to know when your overall experience is being sullied. Only you can make a difference to allow all of your clients the benefit of a 5 star experience by your entire team. Thank you for reading and your time.