Consumer complaint received 2019-12-02
Company: Optimum Outcomes, Inc.
State: NC
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Medical debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive enough information to verify debt

Complaint:
I visited the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX in XX/XX/2019 as a referral from the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX facility, due to interpretation of XXXX XXXX  by their staff that suggested a certain medical condition was present. 

The XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX facility claimed that because it was after XXXX they could not do XXXX XXXX in a reasonable amount of time and I would need to go to the ER to get a comprehensive diagnosis. Because of the potentially dangerous medical situation, XXXX XXXX XXXX was the only facility within a reasonable distance that could conduct XXXX XXXX quickly. Upon entering the ER I was triaged and waited approximately 1.3 hours to be seen by an ER physician. A few minutes prior to speaking to the physician, my XXXX  was XXXX  and was tested for XXXX  and XXXX. After speaking with the doctor, he said that the XXXX XXXX  looked normal and when he viewed the XXXX XXXX   he said that he did not see ANY evidence whatsoever of any medical condition that was suspected by the urgent care facility and quite clearly implied that the previous interpretation of the XXXX XXXX  ( done by a physician assistant ) was incompetent. The physician inquired as to whether or not I wanted to conduct any further lab tests and I mentioned that I did not want to have any additional expensive bills that I would have to pay out of pocket with my XXXX plan which ruled out XXXX or XXXX  XXXX  but he informed me that XXXX was one test that could help rule out some conditions so I agreed and the XXXX results came back mostly normal. 

Following my visit to the ER, I was given a packet with discharge instructions. Part of the packet included information about the billing information and procedures for paying bills available in XXXX, an online web application and mobile phone application. Several months after my visit, I received information in the mail itemizing my bill which included the same items that were present in the XXXX application totaling approximately {$700.00} after adjustments for insurance. I set up a monthly payment plan in the XXXX application and paid all monthly payments on time. I also called the XXXX XXXX Hospital billing department several times to verify that I was current in my payments and they confirmed that I was. In XX/XX/2019, I started receiving automated phone calls and voicemails from a company called Optimum Outcomes claiming that I owed a debt. I asked Optimum Outcomes if I was ever mailed a bill, prior to the debt being sent to collections. They confirmed that they had the incorrect city listed as part of my address ( listing XXXX, NC instead of XXXX, NC ) and that two attempts to send mail to that address had come back as undeliverable. I inquired with XXXX XXXX Hospital who then said that the ER doctors bill separately from the hospital using a system called XXXX XXXX. I had never been given this information in any communication prior to this moment including in my discharge paperwork. I called XXXX XXXX and their representative told me that since the bill had already been in collections for over a month there was nothing they could do. So because of an incorrect mailing address made by the creditor, my bill was sent to collections and risked showing up on my credit report. I then sent a request for debt verification via certified mail to Optimum Outcomes which was delivered successfully. Optimum Outcomes did not respond within the allotted 5 day window with debt verification and has proceeded to call me and leave automated voicemails during the time period since they have received my written request for verification without responding to the request in writing. I still have not received any correspondence whatsoever in the mail from Optimum Outcomes, including any itemized bills.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation