Lakeside Dermatology - Winter Haven

I visited this practice almost 3 years ago. The visit must have been completely unremarkable because I don’t remember much about it. I’m sure the office staff members were nice and the doctor was fine. What I am completely flabbergasted by is Lakeside Dermatology’s billing process. I’ll be honest, I can’t remember if I received a bill in the mail from this practice given that I would have received it nearly 3 years ago. If I did not have a bill, I assumed that my insurance had taken care of it, and if I did get a bill, I would have paid it. Well almost 3 years have passed since I visited this practice and I can’t say it’s been top of mind - until I received a voicemail from an unknown caller at 12:29pm on a Friday. The message said that it was Lakeside Dermatology, and that if my outstanding bill wasn’t paid by 4pm the following Monday, they would send my bill to collections (Oh, and they close at 12:30pm on Fridays so I can’t call them back). My gut reaction was “HUH??” followed by “this must be a scam”. However, the woman sounded local and the practice seemed familiar. I went online to see if I could view my bill on my patient portal, only to discover that there was no patient portal and no way to look up if you had an outstanding payment without a physical bill. Okay fine, I then went to my insurance’s online portal to find a statement from the practice, but my insurance only keeps statements from the past 2 years. Fair, I finally went to my drug store’s online portal to see if I could find a prescription filled by Lakeside Dermatology, and again, only the past 2 years of history could be displayed. On Monday morning I called Lakeside Dermatology and asked for an electronic copy of my bill so that I could evaluate its legitimacy and pay it. The women was confused that I haven’t gotten a bill from them because they’ve “sent a bill to my home every month for the past couple of months”. She verified my address, and now I know why I haven’t gotten a bill. I moved from their recorded address almost 2 years ago. The postal service will forward your mail to your new address for up to 1 year after you move. Lakeside Dermatology has been sending my bill to an address they haven’t verified with me in 3 years, and it’s been so long since my appointment that the postal service will not forward the bill to me. So Lakeside Dermatology is going to send a physical bill to me YEARS after visiting their practice, and continue sending paper statements to an address that I’m obviously not responding to, then call me at the absolute last moment 1 minute before they close for the weekend demanding that I pay a bill from 3 years ago, with no way to actually pay it because I don’t have a bill to review, and if I don’t pay it within 8 business hours it’s getting forwarded to collections? Yeah right Edit in response to the practice’s response: I checked my confirmed email on file for any communication from Lakeside Dermatology and I have ZERO messages from them. I also checked my phone log and have not received a call or voicemail from the practice in at least a year (because my phone only stores up to one year’s worth of phone call activity). Lakeside Dermatology has my correct phone number and email address on file, they just didn’t bother to reach out to me until 8 hours before my bill - that I didn’t know I had - would be sold to collections.

Excellent experience at Lakeland Dermatology!! Staff is very friendly, accommodating & helpful!! I saw the NP Barbara Ross and I would definitely recommend her!! She is very experienced, easy to talk to, and listens to your concerns!

This office is well-run; I never have to wait long. Dr. Kennon is professional, skilled, and personable. The staff is quickly attentive to my needs and questions.

I came in yesterday 11/11 with a couple of concerns. Barbara Ross addressed both of them with confidence. Plus went over most all of my body and took care of some less serious conditions , but never the less important. So pleased . Thank you Barbara.

Dr. Kennon and staff are amazing and very professional. I always have had a positive experience at every appointment.