How does eCardio get away with it?

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Just got off the phone with ecardio. Their staff are worthless I would have deleted 4 events if I listened to what they told me to do. People on the phone are clueless how the monitor operates. They also speak so fast you can't get what their saying. I have been trying for years to get to the bottom of whats going on with me, really hope they don't screw it up. Had 4 events to transmit. They told me it was done transmitting them manually. The machine wouldn't start back up so after a few minutes I called them back, this is where they told me to pull the battery. Lucky for me I asked if they had received all 4 events and they said they have no way of telling. Described what was on the display then they told me to pull the battery. Turns out the machine wouldn't restart because it found a signal somewhere and was transmitting even though I had just transmitted manually. It would be nice if there was a real manual that explained exactly what all the buttons do and explain all the possibilities of what could be displayed on the monitor screen. All it explains is press if your nor feeling well. Would be nice to know it was transmitting but the person at customer service didn't even know what was going on. No training or severe lack of training. Typical of most of health care these days. Had a doctors assistant tell me my insulin pen didn't use needles it just passed through the skin, even though the need for needles was in BIG letters on the box. Guess this stupidity is everywhere. I have to wonder how many people these assistants and customer reps have killed. Gee can't wait to see what this costs!
 






Dear Anonymous,
I would truly appreciate a call from you so I can personally listen to your concerns regarding our service. More importantly knowing when you called and whom you spoke with will allow me to investigate more so I can correct and improve our process. We look into all issues and do take them seriously so we can improve our standards of care.
Please call our Lab and ask to speak with me, anytime.
Sincerely Yours,
Director of eCardio Monitoring Center.
 






I had hoped to find a more mature, civil discussion here regarding eCardio and hopefully get a good explanation of the differences between the eCardio ER920W and the CardioNet MCOT.

I wore the ER920W for 21 days in late summer, early autumn 2010 and unfortunately, can not find my EOB from Medicare nor my BC/BS Michigan EOB. However, Medicare paid their amount in full and my secondary BC/BS paid my copay. There was no cost to me whatsoever.

I found the eCardio staff pleasant but not prepared to answer the questions I asked. My questions were not the type that most patients would ask. The last day of wearing the ER920 I finally talked to "Adam" and he knew whereof he spoke and was able to answer most of my somewhat unorthodox questions.

I recently finished 21 days on an MCOT.

Frankly, I detested the MCOT the minute I opened the kit. I wasn't any happier wearing it or using it. I found the staff pleasant when I called to ask questions but totally unprepared and unable to answer my questions. I realize that my questions were somewhat unorthodox and not what the staff would usually encounter from patients. I was curious why 3 leads instead of 2 for instance, what benefit?

I recently received a billng from CardioNet for the Medicare copay which was a bit of a surprise. The billing code used was 93229 and my secondary BC/BS of MI is refusing payment saying the MCOT is experimental.

Just opening the CardioNet kit was overwhelming when one is expecting a cigarette pack size item and some leads and wires. We live in a rural area w/poor cell reception, we have no phone jacks in the bedroom, we have slow speed dialup. Why CardioNet couldn't provide a CD or DVD w/their instructions videos is a mystery to me. I wasn't about to spend forever waiting for those 9-10 videos to download so a day was lost to scheduling a phone call. It was extremely inconvenient to have to carry around both a sensor and a monitor. Having to carry along the battery charger as well as the monitor and sensor when leaving the house for any amount of time was an even more aggravating PITA. The battery life on both sensor and monitor was short, especially the sensor. I'm sure I am probably forgetting other things I didn't like about the MCOT.

The eCardio ER920W was so easy and so convenient. Sensor and monitor in one small carry case attached to your belt or on a lanyard around your neck. Two or four (I forget which) batteries in the sensor/monitor. No need for a battery charger. You didn't even had to return it in the box it came in. You just put the sensor/monitor in its case into a padded envelope along w/the lead wires and sent it back to eCardio.

I do admit that I liked that CardioNet had you return unused electrodes which eCardio didn't. That seemed such a waste since I had no use for them.

Just one patient's experience and opinion. Make of it what you want.
 






I might as well cut and paste too.


First, what is the benefit of asking "unorthodox" questions?

Are you aware with your "poor reception" you probably filled the 30 min worth of memory in the ecardio, so you carried that "convenient" unit on the lanyard around for nothing? Yes, 6 memory slots up to 30 min. was probably filled up the first 30 minutes because it could not transmit due to "poor reception". At least the CardioNet recorded the entire 21 days. I guess you get what you pay for????

Im glad you and the other patient expressed your displeasure to the MD about the product, hopefully he will not prescribe it to anyone else. You really helped a lot of people, feel better?
 


















I'd never heard of eCardio before a couple of days ago when I got a bill in the mail from them. Two red flags right away:
1. I've never had a heart monitor of any kind.
2. The billed insurance "BCBS of Texas" and I've never had insurance from them, nor ever lived in texas.

It was billing for service that supposedly occurred in 2010... it's 2013.

My first thought was "this must be a scam", and after many of the comments it seems like someone is trying to work the insurance system.

Thought I'd post here, I'll be making a few calls to find out where this stuff came from.
 






Anonymous said:
I'd never heard of eCardio before a couple of days ago when I got a bill in the mail from them. Two red flags right away:
1. I've never had a heart monitor of any kind.
2. The billed insurance "BCBS of Texas" and I've never had insurance from them, nor ever lived in texas.

It was billing for service that supposedly occurred in 2010... it's 2013.

My first thought was "this must be a scam", and after many of the comments it seems like someone is trying to work the insurance system.

Thought I'd post here, I'll be making a few calls to find out where this stuff came from.
Click to expand...

Interesting post...???.
Yes, you can receive a billing statement from BCBS of Texas and you don't ever have to live in Texas or have insurance with BCBS of Texas. Clearly you don't understand how insurance works. You have or have had insurance with a BCBS somewhere in 2010.
If you received a bill from eCardio, you or someone in your insured family had a heart monitor, you have indeed heard of eCardio and this isn't your first bill from eCardio.
eCardio is not "working" nor does it "work" the insurance system.
So, poster of the above quote...let eCardio's billing dept. be your FIRST contact if you "really" have a concern. They will be happy to correct if indeed there was an error. If eCardio doesn't hear from you, then it will be assumed you are another scammer on this site...as there are a few.
Interesting note.. that you state that you've never had a heart monitor of any kind, never heard of eCardio, but yet, you know just where to go to post negative remarks....smells a little fishy!
Bottom line...contact eCardio FIRST if you believe there is a billing problem.
 






Anonymous said:
Interesting post...???.
Yes, you can receive a billing statement from BCBS of Texas and you don't ever have to live in Texas or have insurance with BCBS of Texas. Clearly you don't understand how insurance works. You have or have had insurance with a BCBS somewhere in 2010.
If you received a bill from eCardio, you or someone in your insured family had a heart monitor, you have indeed heard of eCardio and this isn't your first bill from eCardio.
eCardio is not "working" nor does it "work" the insurance system.
So, poster of the above quote...let eCardio's billing dept. be your FIRST contact if you "really" have a concern. They will be happy to correct if indeed there was an error. If eCardio doesn't hear from you, then it will be assumed you are another scammer on this site...as there are a few.
Interesting note.. that you state that you've never had a heart monitor of any kind, never heard of eCardio, but yet, you know just where to go to post negative remarks....smells a little fishy!
Bottom line...contact eCardio FIRST if you believe there is a billing problem.
Click to expand...

Sarcasm not appreciated.
The bill was not from BCBS it was from eCardio, BCBS is shown as having paid for the service listed. I have had the same insurance (not bcbs) since 2001. Neither I nor anyone in my family has had a heart monitor. oh, and your comment about where to post? it's called GOOGLE, guess what comes up 2nd on the list when you search for "ecardio billing for services not performed". I will call their billing department, they've probably just made a mistake; was just posting here because there are a lot of scams out there.
 






People, really, get a life! If you are selling for either company, open you eyes!!! Who cares what E-Cardio does or what Bio-telemetry does (yes, new CardioNet name)!!! Get a new job and life! Reimbursement has changed, industry is shady, do you need a wake-up call?? Less money for everyone!
 






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