Lots of feuding at this medical facility between the Business Office and the Physician Owners. I was caught in the tug-of-war. One day the physicians convince the business office that the "billers" (normally positioned offsite at the B.O.) should be moved into the actual medical suites which makes sense. We billers often have to communicate with patients about their bills and it is more personal to be there then to call them on the phone. So my boss gets upset and quits without notice. Seems she felt her control over us billers slipping away. So we get moved, and a coworker "Patty" gets promoted to be our manager. She has never been a manager, but we were happy to report to her. Things are going very well, doctors are happy, patients are happy. But the B.O. was not happy. They wanted to move us back. But do they do it in logical honest way? No. It just happens that it is time for my annual review. Patty says " Do you want the good news or the bad news". I say, give me the bad news first. Well that bad news is that a patient has complained about me and for that reason it has been decided that I be moved back to the B.O. "so they can keep an eye on me". Well I didn't take this news well. I didn't care where I was put to do my job, but I am floored that I am being "punished" for something I know nothing about. Keep in mind my main function is to get people and insurance companies to pay their bills, so it is not surprising that occasionally someone gets upset and complains. The biller is always the bad guy. She proceeds to tell me about the complaint. Takes me a few minutes but I figured out who it was. I had the task of telling the mother of a young child that she could not sign her ex-husbands name to the paperwork. She being the parent to bring said child into the office, she had to sign her own name. She believed (incorrectly) that since the child was covered under ex's insurance policy, the signature should be his name. I had to gently correct her, which was done within earshot of a receptionist and a nurse. This mother eventually had her child seen and went home without indicating anything was wrong. I never thought it was a big enough issue to make note of it in the account. Weeks go by and now I am being told she complained about me. I was never asked for my side of the story. No one at the office was asked about it. The only investigation was to look at the child's account and see that I never made any notes. No notes, so I must be guilty. So as I stated, I didn't take the news well and I could not stop myself from crying. To console me Patty says " The good news is you are getting a great review score". Now call me crazy, but she just indicated that I am a problem employee, so much so that they have to move me back to the Business Office to keep an eye on me, however I am getting a great score on my review????? By this time it is 4:00 and that is the normal time I am off. So I get up and tell her I am going home. She keeps calling me back, I ignore her. A week later I am called into a meeting to discuss my behavior. CEO asks Patty if there has ever been problems from me before. Answer: No. Is my work satisfactory outside of this one-time outburst? Answer: Yes. Is it a good idea to keep me as a Pratt employee? Answer: No. Did anyone mention the petition that was signed by every employee at the office including the surgeon begging to keep me where I was? No. So there you have it. An inexperience manager is given the authority to fire me because I had the nerve to be upset at the trumped-up reasons for moving my desk. Is that good for business? I later learned that they pulled the same game on the other biller. She quit. It was a cowardly move to make me look bad in order to get me back into the business office instead of being up-front with the doctors and making a case for the move. The story has a happy ending. I am now employed by the largest medical organization in this area and being paid a lot more for it. This organization has fair policies on correcting problems. They don't give the power to fire a good worker to a solitary person. That might explain why my company is growing and expanding and Pratt Medical Center is consolidating offices and closing others.
POST A COMMENTthe confessor(08/13/2006)
Unfortunately, by walking out, you fell under the category of unstable employee. We had an employee that constantly walked out when she didn't get her way, and she should have been fired. You have good reason to be upset-a good review score and being placed under a sort of probation by being moved to where you can "be watched" doesn't make sense. Tell the same story you told us to someone you know in authority at the company. If they are going through a period of change, they are bound to make some mistakes. Ask them to forgive your emotional response and reinstate you. Good luck!
the confessor(08/13/2006)
Ooops! Didn't catch the last part... Still, don't let someone rattle your cage. I went to an informational meeting that I knew was really a firing squad, and calmly sat through it. Some of the antics of my office rivals were infuriating. I noted all and won a sizable reward in the end. The business has been sold and a general housecleaning is under way. I was told that in most cases, people summoned to such meetings never showed up....allowing the jerks to make whatever allegations they wished without being challenged.
PrattMedicalSucks(08/14/2006)
took it too personally as Patty was a friend (I thought) of mine prior and after her promotion as my manager. I can understand a company screwing you, but hard to understand a friend doing it. It really did turn out for the best but I had no way of knowing that then.
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