In 2013, Grace E. Elliott spent an evening in a hospital in Florida for a kidney an infection that was handled with antibiotics. Eight years later, she obtained a big invoice from the well being system that purchased the hospital. This invoice was for an unrelated surgical process she did not want and by no means acquired. It was a case of mistaken identification, she knew, however proving that wasn’t straightforward.
Shelby Knowles for KHN
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Shelby Knowles for KHN
In 2013, Grace E. Elliott spent an evening in a hospital in Florida for a kidney an infection that was handled with antibiotics. Eight years later, she obtained a big invoice from the well being system that purchased the hospital. This invoice was for an unrelated surgical process she did not want and by no means acquired. It was a case of mistaken identification, she knew, however proving that wasn’t straightforward.
Shelby Knowles for KHN
Earlier this yr, Grace Elizabeth Elliott obtained a mysterious hospital invoice for medical care she had by no means acquired.
She quickly found how far a clerical error can attain — even throughout a continent — and the way irritating it may be to repair.
Throughout a university break in 2013, Elliott, then 22, started to really feel faint and feverish whereas visiting her mother and father in Venice, Fla., which is about an hour south of Tampa. Her mom, a nurse, drove her to a facility that locals knew merely as Venice Hospital.
Within the emergency division, Elliott was recognized with a kidney an infection and held in a single day earlier than being discharged with a prescription for antibiotics, a standard remedy for the sickness.
“My hospital invoice was about $100, which I bear in mind as a result of that was some huge cash for me as an undergrad,” mentioned Elliott, now 31.
She recovered and finally moved to California to show preschool. Venice Regional Medical Heart was purchased by Neighborhood Well being Techniques, primarily based in Franklin, Tenn., in 2014 and finally renamed ShorePoint Well being Venice.
The kidney an infection and in a single day keep within the E.R. would have been little greater than a reminiscence for Elliott.
Then one other invoice got here.
The Sufferers: Grace E. Elliott, 31, a preschool instructor residing together with her husband in San Francisco, and Grace A. Elliott, 81, a retiree in Venice, Fla.
Medical Providers: For Grace E., an emergency division go to and in a single day keep, plus antibiotics to deal with a kidney an infection in 2013. For Grace A., a shoulder substitute and rehabilitation companies in 2021.
Service Supplier: Venice Regional Medical Heart, later renamed ShorePoint Well being Venice.
Whole Invoice: $1,170, the affected person’s accountability for shoulder substitute companies, after changes and funds of $13,210.21 by a well being plan with no connection to Grace E. Elliott. The preliminary fees have been $123,854.14.
What Provides: This can be a case of mistaken identification, a billing thriller that began at a hospital registration desk and did not finish till months after the file had been handed over to a collections company.
Early this yr, Grace E. Elliott’s mom opened a invoice from ShorePoint Well being Venice that was addressed to her daughter and sought greater than $1,000 for current hospital companies, Elliott mentioned. She “instantly knew one thing was incorrect.”
Months of sleuthing finally revealed that the invoice was meant for Grace Ann Elliott, a a lot older lady who underwent a shoulder substitute process and rehabilitation companies on the Venice hospital final yr.
Consultants mentioned that accessing the incorrect affected person’s file due to a reputation mix-up is a standard error — however one for which safeguards, like checking a affected person’s photograph identification, often exist.
The hospital had handled no less than two Grace Elliotts. When Grace A. Elliott confirmed up for her shoulder substitute, a hospital worker had pulled up Grace E. Elliott’s account by mistake.
“That is the form of factor that may undoubtedly occur,” mentioned Shannon Hartsfield, a Florida lawyer who focuses on well being care privateness violations. (Hartsfield doesn’t characterize anybody concerned on this case.) “All types of human errors occur. A employee can pull up the names, click on the incorrect button, after which not test [the current patient’s] date of delivery to verify.”
It was a seemingly apparent error: The youthful Elliott was billed for a process she did not have by a hospital she had not visited in years. Nevertheless it took her almost a yr of hours-long telephone calls to undo the harm.
At first, frightened that she had been the sufferer of identification theft, Grace E. Elliott contacted ShorePoint Well being Venice and was bounced from one division to a different. At one level, a billing worker disclosed to Elliott the birthdate the hospital had on file for the affected person who had the shoulder substitute — it was not hers. Elliott then despatched the hospital a replica of her ID.
It took weeks for an administrator at ShorePoint’s company workplace in Florida to confess the hospital’s error and promise to right it.
In August, although, Grace E. Elliott acquired a discover that the company workplace had offered the debt to a collections company referred to as Medical Knowledge Techniques. Although the hospital had acknowledged its error, the company was coming after Grace E. Elliott for the steadiness due for Grace A. Elliott’s shoulder surgical procedure.
“I believed, ‘Effectively, I will simply work with them instantly,'” Grace E. Elliott mentioned.
Her attraction was denied. Medical Knowledge Techniques mentioned in its denial letter that it had contacted the hospital and confirmed the title and tackle on file. The company additionally included a replica of Grace A. Elliott’s expired driver license to Grace E. — together with a number of pages of the older lady’s medical info — in assist of its conclusion.
“A set company, as a enterprise affiliate of a hospital, has an obligation to make sure that the incorrect affected person’s info just isn’t shared,” Hartsfield mentioned.
In an e-mail to KHN, Cheryl Spanier, a vp of the collections company wrote that “MDS follows all state and federal guidelines and rules.” Spanier declined to touch upon Elliott’s case, saying she wanted the written consent of each the well being system and the affected person to take action.
Elliott’s second attraction was additionally denied. She was instructed to contact the hospital to clear up the difficulty. However as a result of the well being system had lengthy since offered the debt, Elliott mentioned, she obtained no traction in attempting to get ShorePoint Well being Venice to assist her. The hospital closed in September.
Decision: In mid-November, shortly after a reporter contacted ShorePoint Well being, which operates different hospitals and services in Florida, Grace E. Elliott acquired a name from Stanley Padfield, the Venice hospital’s outgoing privateness officer and director of well being info administration. “He mentioned, ‘It is taken care of,’ ” Elliott mentioned, including that she was relieved however skeptical. “I’ve heard that again and again.”
Elliott mentioned Padfield instructed her that she had turn into listed as Grace A. Elliott’s guarantor, which means she was legally accountable for the debt of a lady she had by no means met.
Elliott quickly acquired a letter from Padfield stating that ShorePoint Well being had eliminated her info from Grace A. Elliott’s account and confirmed that she had not been reported to any credit score businesses. The letter mentioned her info had been faraway from the gathering company’s database and acknowledged that the hospital’s repair initially “was not appropriately communicated” to collections.
Padfield mentioned the error began with a “registration clerk,” who he mentioned had “acquired extra privateness schooling because of this incident.”
Devyn Brazelton, advertising coordinator for ShorePoint Well being, instructed KHN the hospital believes the error was “an remoted incident.”
Utilizing the date of delivery offered by a hospital employee, Elliott was in a position to contact Grace A. Elliott and clarify the mix-up.
“I am a bit of upset proper now,” Grace A. Elliott instructed KHN on the day she realized concerning the billing error and disclosure of her medical info.
The Takeaway: Grace E. Elliott mentioned that when she requested Padfield, the Venice hospital’s outgoing privateness officer, whether or not she might have accomplished one thing to battle such an apparent case of mistaken identification, he replied, “In all probability not.”
This, consultants mentioned, is the darkish secret of identification points: As soon as a mistake has been entered right into a database, it may be remarkably troublesome to repair. And such incorrect info can dwell for generations.
For sufferers, which means it is essential to periodically overview the data in your affected person portal — the net medical profile many suppliers use to handle issues like scheduling appointments, organizing medical information, and answering affected person questions.
One draw back of digital medical information is that errors unfold simply and repeat often. You will need to problem and proper errors in medical information early and forcefully, with each little bit of documentation obtainable. That’s true whether or not the issue is an incorrect title, a drugs not (or by no means) taken, or an inaccurate prognosis.
The method of amending a report might be “very concerned,” Hartsfield mentioned. “However with sufferers ready now to see an increasing number of of their medical information, they will need these amendments, and well being programs and their associated entities have to get ready for that.”
Grace A. Elliott instructed KHN that she had acquired a name from ShorePoint Well being in the last few months indicating that she owed cash for her shoulder substitute.
She requested for a replica of the invoice, she instructed KHN. Months after she requested, it nonetheless hadn’t arrived.
KHN (Kaiser Well being Information) is a nationwide, editorially impartial program of KFF (Kaiser Household Basis).
