Surgicare Outpatient Surgical Center

Overall: Not Recommended

Don't have your colonoscopy at SURGICARE unless you have a BIG wad in the bank. The total cost billed from St. Vincent was $10,394.78. I finally got an itemized statement after about a 4 week time span (and calling at least once weekly) and found out they charged me for $1,229 for anesthesia, even after the anesthesiologist group had already billed for $510.00. I had IV Propofol, which had an additional charge of $66.15...over and beyond the two previous charges, Oxygen was $345.00 for 30- minutes to less than an hour. Recovery room charge was $1,642.00 for an outpatient procedure at an ambulatory facility... really?!?!? (The first MINUTE was $965.00.) From the time I went "back" for my procedure, to the time I was wheeled out the door, it was approximately an hour. Even my husband could see that I was not stable on my feet , but he had to ask for a wheelchair. I also had an additional charge of "Remove/Ablate Lesion" of $2,054.00 for the doctor to snip what she called a "tiny polyp". I got numerous run arounds when I started asking questions about the bill, so I sent a letter to the doctor, who forwarded it to the administrator. The Administrator called to verify all the charges were valid. By the way, there is no one in Evansville that will talk to you when you call any of the St Vincent's numbers. You get someone from Indianapolis that knows nothing about what goes on in Evansville. I was told " St Vincent's Evansville doesn't have a billing department". Granted the base cost of the colonoscopy was billed as 4,495.00, then they tagged on the colonoscopy "kit" at $138.00, as well as charging for the "forceps" at $84.00. This all said, I was billed a separate bill from Dr Matheson of $988, the Anesthesiologist Group Associates billed for $510, and the Tri-State Pathology Association billed for $145 (over the $300 already charged by St. Vincent), the total cost for the colonoscopy was $12,037.78...UNBELIEVABLE!!! On the day of my colonoscopy, after getting called back to the prep room and filling out all paperwork I was asked if I knew I was there too early. I responded, that , "no, I am here at the time they told me to be here". They went and checked and said my "appointment had been changed-- but someone forgot to call me". They corrected the problem by taking me in very quickly so I wouldn't have to wait til later in the day to be taken care of. (Thank you for owning up to your errors.)