Hear an AI get a duplicate $1,860 hospital charge removed

What happened

Robert Kessler’s ER bill had a CT scan on it twice. JooVoice called the hospital’s billing office, gave the account number and his date of birth, and said it was an AI assistant calling for him and that the call was recorded.

Tammy first said hospitals bill the technical and professional parts separately. JooVoice pointed out that the facility fee was its own line and that both scan lines had the same code and the same minute. Then she said to take it up with the insurer. JooVoice already had the insurer’s answer: they had denied the second scan as a duplicate, and the fix was on the hospital side.

Tammy checked the order log: only one scan was ordered and performed. She removed the $1,860 charge, bringing the balance to $555, put a 45-day billing hold on the account, and gave reference BR123456. JooVoice read it all back.

The outcome

Duplicate charge

$1,860 removed

Balance

$555, down from $2,415

Collections

On hold for 45 days

Itemized statement

By email in two business days

Reference

BR123456

Moments to listen for

1. Says it’s an AI ▶ 0:33 I’m an AI assistant calling for the patient
2. Knows the bill line by line ▶ 1:01 These two are both 74177, same code, same minute
3. Has the insurer’s answer ready ▶ 1:27 Desert Mutual already looked
4. Gets it called a duplicate ▶ 1:43 that’s a duplicate posting
5. Reads it back ▶ 2:13 Let me read it back.

The whole call

Tap a line to hear it.

1. Billing office 0:01 Saguaro Valley Patient Billing, this is Tammy.
2. JooVoice 0:05 Hi there, calling about an ER bill, got a CT scan on there, billed twice. This is the patient billing for Saguaro Valley, right?
3. Billing office 0:13 Yes, that's correct. I can help you with that. Now, before we discuss the account, can you provide me with the account number and the patient's date of birth? That's just policy.
4. JooVoice 0:25 Sure. Account's S-V-2-0-8-7-6-6-1-4.
5. JooVoice 0:33 I'm an AI assistant calling for the patient, Robert Kessler, and this call's recorded, so he's got an exact record of what we settle.
6. JooVoice 0:40 His birthday is June 9th, 1961.
7. Billing office 0:43 Okay, bear with me.
8. Billing office 0:46 Yes, I have pulled up Robert Kessler's account. I see you were asking about that second scan charge. Generally, the hospital bills the technical and professional parts of a procedure separately. That's standard practice.
9. JooVoice 1:01 Fair enough on the facility fee, but that's its own line, 1120. These two are both 74177, same code, same minute,
10. JooVoice 1:10 So only one scan was done. Need the second one taken off.
11. Billing office 1:14 Mm-hmm.
12. Billing office 1:16 Well, that is something you'd have to call your insurer, Desert Mutual, about. Sometimes they deny charges as duplicates during processing. You should appeal that with them.
13. JooVoice 1:27 Desert Mutual already looked, they denied the second scan as a duplicate, claim D-M-5-5-0-9-1-3. The fix is on the hospital side. Need to get that second scan removed.
14. Billing office 1:39 Okay, hon, bear with me. I'm going to pull up the order log.
15. Billing office 1:43 Oh, yeah, looking at it now, only one CT scan was ordered and performed. So, you're right, that's a duplicate posting. I'll get that removed. That $1,860 is gone. The corrected balance is now $555. I've placed a 45-day billing hold, so don't worry about it. And I'll email you that updated itemized statement within two business days.
16. Billing office 2:07 Your reference number for this is BR123456. Thank you for calling.
17. JooVoice 2:13 Hang on, writing that down. Let me read it back. Removed 1,860, new balance 555, account's on hold, itemized bill to the email within two business days, reference B-R-1-2-3-4-5-6.
18. JooVoice 2:32 Is that right?
19. Billing office 2:33 That's correct, hon. Thank you for calling.
20. JooVoice 2:37 I appreciate you, you made that easy.
21. Billing office 2:39 You're welcome. Goodbye.

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