Roy Sleep Medicine review: Medical test that was unnecessary; charges that were submitted to me nearly 2 years after the fact

Dear BBB, you guys have helped me in the past and for that I am grateful. In this new case, Roy Sleep Medicine administered a sleep test that was unnecessary. Please read the attached letter that I sent to Roy Sleep Medicine that explains in detail why this test was extraneous and the charges are disputed.

A synopsis of the situation is as follows:

Roy Sleep Medicine took me as a patient. I drove 116 miles one way to their clinic for two different sessions with the doctor/nurse. They diagnosed and treated me for sleep apnea and prescribed a CPAP. At that point, all good. In the follow-up tele-health calls (there were may), I told them that I still had chronic insomnia and needed something to help me sleep. They ordered another sleep test and it reconfirmed the chronic insomnia condition. After that they stated they would not order any kind of sleep preparation to address my chronic insomnia because they had a policy/rule that no prescriptions would be assigned to anyone living over 90 miles from their location. As far as I can tell, that is simply an arbitrary “requirement” set by the clinic. If that is the case, anyone living out in the country more than 90 miles away cannot be properly treated by this clinic. I never heard from them again - until recently.

Almost 2 years after the sleep test, I received my first bill for that test. Up to this point I had promptly paid all bills submitted to me. When the last bill came in, I was astonished. I called them and talked to someone in billing who seemed sympathetic to my complaint about the bill and about the tardiness of its submittal to me. They said they’d look into it. I never got a return call. Less than 30 days after receiving the first bill, Roy Sleep started dunning me with bills for a past due account. When that happened, I sent them the attached letter. I got no response. I received another past due notice.

The problem is Roy Sleep accepted me as a patient. When it was confirmed after a second test that I still had chronic insomnia they refused to treat me because of a 90-mile limit. They did not send me a bill for the second test (that was unnecessary because they could not treat me) until nearly 2 years later. When I tried to communicate with them verbally and in writing they were unresponsive.

There are 7 problems with this situation:

1. They have an arbitrary 90-mile limit that discriminates against people who live out in the country. We simply do not have access to specialists like this clinic without having to drive over 90 miles.

2. They accepted me as a patient when they were not able to treat me because of the 90-mile limit.

3. They ordered a second sleep test for which they could not treat me after the results came in.

4. They did not bill me for nearly 2 years and suddenly a bill showed up in the mail. They promptly started dunning me for a past due account.

5. I tried to communicate with them verbally and in writing in a timely manner and I was ignored.

6. They started dunning me with past due notices less than 30 days after receiving the first bill even though they were nearly 2 years past due in sending me the first bill.

7. Patients have rights too.

I believe Roy Sleep’s behavior is not patient-focused. It also discriminates against people who, because of where they live, do not have access to specialized medical care. I believe it was extraneous for Roy Sleep to order the second sleep test when they knew that, because of their 90-mile limit policy they could not treat me for the condition that was confirmed by the second test.

From my perspective, it’s not about the money, it’s about their behavior and their 90-mile limit and their unwillingness to treat properly diagnosed conditions.