Doctor bill paid. Still went into collections.

write a letter with proof of payment to the collection agency.

Ask them to update your credit report. Also, ask them to send you a letter stating that they are doing so.

Contact the 3 major bureau Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You may want to do this first anyway.

If credit agency refuses or has not removed your collection, file a dispute with each bureau if they have you reported.

keep track of dates and make copies of all correspondence.

be patient because, unfortunately, it will take time. good luck.

Doubt it's on your credit report yet...usually the collection agency will give you some time like 90 days before it's reported.

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we noticed a doctor, whom we have never met. walked in, said "hi", looked at an x-ray for 2 seconds and left.

2 weeks later we received a bill for $100 from a mystery doctor. We called and found out it was the one who walked in.

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Do you know how I can get that gig?

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Do you know how I can get that gig?

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. and apparently in this case, the absolute arrogance of an SOB who would walk in to a hospital room unannounced, uninvited, look at something personal like your X-ray, and not even introduce himself or explain WTF he's doing there.

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As with many people who have achieved this:

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4 years of college with a near 4.0 avg and MCAT scores to match
4 years of Med School
6 years of Residency after Med School
a couple of hundred thousand in debt for the privilege . . .

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They are weird as shite around other people.

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. . . . . and apparently in this case, the absolute arrogance of an SOB who would walk in to a hospital room unannounced, uninvited, look at something personal like your X-ray,

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I fired a hospital doctor on the spot for doing that after my last surgery.

He walked into my hospital room and started asking me questions about how I was doing.

I asked him, "Who the hell are you?"

He said, "I'm Dr. frickface (not his real name, as Chicken would say) and I'm on the hospital staff."

I said, "Did my surgeon ask for your opinion or ask you to check on me?"

He said, "No, the hospital provides its own doctors to check on patients."

I said, "Have you consulted with my surgeon about my procedure?"

He said, "No."

I said, "So, you know nothing about my medical history? You know nothing about my surgery or the results of my surgery?"

He said, "That's right."

I said, "Well, doc, in that case, you're free to leave. Thanks for stopping by but don't do it again. And I'd better not see a bill from you."

He actually sent a bill for $250 which I wrote to the hospital and the insurance company and said there were no services delivered by the doctor named in the bill. I told them it was a scam bill and shouldn't be paid. I never heard anything further about it.

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and apparently in this case, the absolute arrogance of an SOB who would walk in to a hospital room unannounced, uninvited, look at something personal like your X-ray, and not even introduce himself or explain WTF he's doing there.

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This must be common because I had surgery and my GP who had nothing at all to do with my surgery did this. He didn't even walk in. After I got the $350 bill, I inquired. I was told because he was my GP and that was his hospital he was suppose to do this. He read my chart and didn't even lay eyes on me or my incision.

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This must be common

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It has happened twice before, but they were in situations where I knew insurance would cover it. I was too much of a non-confrontational pussy to say anything, and it is a sad situation where I need to be angry that a doctor walked in.

I suppose that's really unnecessary info to the OP. I don't mind getting extra eyeballs on our diagnostic, although I think my doctor had it covered, and it was not mentioned as part of the fee schedule. It wasn't thousands of dollars, so that's good.

I am mostly concerned about getting stung on the credit report because we plan on buying a new car in a year and buying a new home in 1-3 years.

Hey all - thread hijack and sympathy request.

THIS IS MY FRIGGIN LIFE!!!

I cannot telly you how frustrating it is.

I have an 18yo that has been sick all of his life and sees clinics / Dr's at least twice a month.

We are perpetually getting collections notices in the mail from stuff like this. Some legit, some not legit.

The standard practice for medical offices is to send a bill and then immediately send it to collections after 30 days.

Because of this, the last 18 years of my adult life has been marred mainly with bad credit.

I could go on with the ramifications of that, but don't wanna torpedo this whole thread.

/sympathy-whine off

To the OP: You can challenge the collection on each of the credit companies and they will remove the bill from your report if it was paid on time.

I am sorry to hear this. It sucks. I think my bill was 350 because it was a specialist (gyno) that operated on me. But wtf I don't need my family doctor checking up on a skilled surgeon of female parts.

If it makes anyone feel better or rest easy in any way. I have had surgeries at Duke and know that medical bills on the CR nowadays; is not frowned upon so much at all. But I understand the OP's worry of the credit score and upcoming house buying.