CMC-Home Infusion & Equipment

Dishonest billing practices. Was quoted $40 for supply refill, unfortunately my insurance deductible had not been met and I was going to have pay the entire cost around $220. I was never contacted by Healthy @ Home with a change notification at the time of price change or before supplies were shipped and ultimately stuck with a bill that was 450% higher than what I originally authorized...but hey, they can break that total invoice into 3 easy installments to help me out.
Oct 23rd, 2016

Healthy at Home (H@H) should be avoided at all costs. I am a chronically ill patient, with multiple comorbidities, the biggest of which is recurrent acute pancreatitis (which I was just in the hospital for 3 weeks for), with subsequent nausea/vomiting/weight loss and unable to keep food or medicine down (by mouth). Therefore, I was discharged home on TPN for nutrition with a PICC line as central venous access. I have a nurse come visit me once per week to draw blood and change my dressing. As stated before, I am unable to keep down my medicine by mouth due to the severe nausea and vomiting. I have tried everything, and having done so, called to schedule an appointment with my PCP for Friday afternoon. He said that if possible, he would like me to continue to try to keep down my antibiotics (for a severe bloodstream infection) by mouth because they are more efficient that way. He said he would add on Phenergan IM, to be given by my home health RN, daily, to see if that would get me through the weekend and would reevaluate on Monday. They gave me a shot in the office Friday afternoon, and Friday evening I was able to keep down both of my PO antibiotics. Great! Saturday am I woke up very nauseated and had not heard from anybody at H@H. I tried to reach both my nurse and the regular office at approximately 5 pm, after trying to wait patiently for a call I was ensured would come. After 6+ hours of back-and-forth bantering, it was determined (by the pharmacist that works for Healthy at Home, Leeann), and the on-call nurse, Becky, that my situation wasn't "emergent" and if the N/V was severe enough, I would need to go to the hospital to get a dose of medicine. Excuse me?! Why should I, somebody chronically ill, on disability and Medicaid, try to UNSAFELY drive myself to the ER and then pay a $200 copay for something YOU HAVE AN ORDER FOR BY MY PCP AND ARE REFUSING TO CARRY OUT?! By the time I got an actual answer, it was nearly 11:30 at night. Of course that is late. However, if you had gotten on the ball and fixed the problem at around 5 or 6 when I originally called, it wouldn't be "too late for the pharmacist to go in and mix the medication." (I don't understand how the pharmacist could even refuse to make the medication because it didn't fit HER schedule; she had a doctor's order to make it STAT). In addition, Becky was the absolute rudest nurse I have ever had the displeasure of speaking with: the first words out of her mouth were accusatory and mean: "HAVEN'T you tried under-the-tongue Zofran? What about Phenergan in suppository form?" Lady, don't you think I've exhausted all at-home options before venturing out to my doctor's office and then calling over 25 times to your company (who, because of two different computer databases, initially said I WASN'T EVEN A PATIENT WITH THEM!? How can you make that sort of error? What if you drove to the wrong patient's house and gave the wrong medication that killed a patient? Well, if I'm not one of your patient's, then I have a PICC line and SOME nurse has been coming to service it every week. Well, long story short, I wasn't able to keep down any of my ABX yesterday. It is now 1:15 pm on Sunday, the day after the back-and-forth bantering occurred. I still have not received my nausea medicine, nor have I been able to take my oral antibiotics. When my fever of 105, severe shaking rigors and dripping with sweat returns from my bacterial infection in my bloodstream returning without the proper antibiotics to counteract it, I'll make sure to call you and ask you if that is "severe" or "emergent" enough to treat at that time. Dumbasses! I seriously cannot believe the vulgarity and tactlessness of this one nurse, Becky, and the entire Healthy at Home team standing behind her. Unbelievable. Will be switching Home Health nurse as soon as able and never looking back. NOBODY deserves to go through what I have gone through in the last 36 hours. Nobody!
Apr 14th, 2016