Has anyone heard of a consumer reporting agency for doctors called CRMedsearch.com ? This seems to be a new CRA for doctors and other medical providers to use to reject "deadbeat" patients. I saw no way on their website to check to see if you are on their database and request a report. Tim http://www.CRMedsearch.com
They certainly appear to be a cra. I found the following on their web site. Coastal Recovery Services po box 5711 :: wilmington, nc 28403 voice 910.392.2998 fax 910.392.3488 email info@crmedsearch.com Perhaps you could write for a report?
It is not just a collection agency. Doctors can subscribe to a service to check a medical credit file through this website. Tim
...by offering a way to verify a patient's medical payment history before providing medical services. ************************************************************** SORRY, YOU OWE BACK MEDICAL BILLS...I CAN'T TAKE YOU AS A PATIENT...
I just sent them an email asking how I go about getting a copy of any and all records they may have on me. I'll advise as to their response.
When I moved to COLORADO...I needed a new family DOCTOR and DENTIST... They always ask for SS#, insurance and other financial JUNK... ANSWER------>VISA/MC/DISCOVERCARD...
That's all I need, medical accounts make up most of the negatives on my report as it is. They start checking before service and no one in my family may ever see a doctor again. What really gets me mad though is that they never report the medical accounts that are paid in full and on time, only the negatives.
WE PAY IN FULL BEFORE WE LEAVE THE OFFICE...except some blood work office REFUSED PAYMENT...they said they ONLY BILL THROUGH INSURANCE, or they will mail a bill to the house... THEY WON'T EVEN TAKE A CHECK OR CASH...EVERYTHING MUST BE PAID TO THE "BILLING AGENT"... They wouldn't even give an ESTIMATE COST OF SERVICES!!!
A couple of quick points: 1) CRMedsearch is a collection agency which resells medical CRA data offered by the Medical Information Bureau. CRMedsearch doesn't resell that data to consumers. 2) However, any of us can request our medical credit file from the source -- the Medical Information Bureau -- for a charge of $8.50. Here's the link: http://www.mib.com/html/home.html I haven't requested mine, but I'm going to do so. They are FCRA-compliant, meaning that you can request your file, dispute items therein, etc. Here is some additional information for MIB: MIB, Inc. P.O. Box 105 Essex Station Boston, MA 02112 Telephone: 617-426-3660 Doc
I thought that the Medical Information Bureau only reported information about your medical condition, etc to insurance companies and not how you paid your medical bills. The website mentions nothing about reporting credit data. Tim
The follwoing is taken from the front page of the web site mentioned above. CRS wanted to help doctors become more proactive with payment collections by offering a way to verify a patient's medical payment history before providing medical services.
Sorry Tim, I was referring to your link at the top of the page. For some reason I did not realize that PsycDoc was referring to the Medical Information Bureau.
You know, on second thought, I may be wrong about what exactly each of these organizations is reporting. This really deserves further investigation. Step one -- order MIB report. Step two -- put in a call to the other group to find out how we can order our own file. Doc
...by offering a way to verify a patient's medical payment history before providing medical services. ************************************************************** SORRY, YOU OWE BACK MEDICAL BILLS...I CAN'T TAKE YOU AS A PATIENT...
MIB MIB is an insurance service organization, reporting only medical conditions/illnesses for life and health insurance companies. They are FCRA compliant (truly) and will tell you what, if anything, is in your file. As I have offered previously, if someone finds inaccurate information there, I will help you get it corrected. They do not report payment histories of any kind, are not a collection agency, have nothing to do with payment or credit info. You can order from their website. Most people don't have any file there at all. Only if you have chronic, or life-threatening conditions, have had abnormal test results (like EKG), emergency room treatment for suicide or drug or alcohol abuse/OD/domestic or spousal abuse requiring medical treatment, or mental illness requiring treatment/medication (like depression). If you are in good health and have never been turned down for insurance, never had EKG, cancer, conditions requiring continuous meds (like hypertension/diabetes) etc, don't waste your time, you won't even have a file there.
Re: MIB let me add... if you have ever been misdiagnosed, tested with faulty equipment, etc, you might have an erroneous report there. For some reason known only to medical providers, they do not report with corrected information when that happens.
Re: MIB Just what we need a 5th CRA. I think we should have one for every type of business there is don't you all agree? Just think of all the frustration aggravation and harassment we are missing out on by not having enough CRAs.
