Misleading 'Invoice Due' Notices Prompt Academy Action

Family physicians should proceed with caution before paying any "invoices" they receive from New Hill Services, Eli Research Inc. or The Coding Institute. What appears to be an invoice for payment could, in fact, be a ploy by New Hill to increase circulation for a publication called Family Practice Coding Alert.

According to members who have reported the problem to the Academy, the solicitation arrives at the physician's office as mail typically addressed to the office manager or billing manager. The caption on the form inside the envelope reads "Subscription Notice"; a highlighted message reads "Urgent Attention Required" and urges the reader to send payment immediately to avoid interruption of service. The words "this is not an invoice" appear lower in the notice in smaller type.

Last April, after the AAFP heard from members who had received what looked like an invoice for a publication they had not ordered, Academy General Counsel Thomas Robinett, J.D., sent a letter to the New Hill Services office in Baltimore, asking the company to discontinue its "intentionally misleading" marketing approach. New Hill, apparently, also does business as Eli Research Inc. and The Coding Institute.

When the company did not respond to the AAFP's letter, Robinett ramped up his efforts and turned to attorneys general offices in four states -- Oregon, Colorado, Florida and Maryland -- for assistance. In an Oct. 4 letter, he asked those offices to investigate New Hill Services' actions, and to "enforce the consumer protection laws on behalf of the physicians living and practicing in your state as well as other consumers who may also have been targeted by New Hill Services."

Cynthia Hughes, C.P.C., an Academy coding and compliance specialist, recorded some of those member complaints. She said there's reason for concern whenever a medical practice receives bogus bills.

"In a large practice, the staff person who pays the invoices may not know if a physician or the practice manager has ordered the newsletter or if the invoice is legitimate," said Hughes. "At the very least, it takes time for an employee to investigate the suspicious invoice; in the worst-case scenario, the invoice gets paid as if it were due, when in fact the subscription was never authorized by anyone on the staff."

Some relief may be in sight for AAFP members. Robinett reported activity from three of the four state attorneys general with whom he has corresponded. In addition, he recently received a letter from New Hill Services responding to his April 21 letter. The company assured Robinett that the names of all AAFP members -- except those with legitimate subscriptions to the publication -- have been removed from the company's mailing list.

Stay tuned: The company said there would be an eight-week time lag to complete the current promotional cycle; therefore, those misleading notices could continue to show up in physicians' offices for the next couple of months.