The health system learned about the error this month and attributed it to its financial software.
Excela spokesperson Robin Jennings told TribLive.com banks started issuing bad check charges for refund checks related to hundreds of Excela patients billed under the system’s medical group.
After finding the error, Excela stopped payment on the checks, notified affected patients and reissued checks to patients for thecorrect amounts, according to Ms. Jennings.
She told TribLive.com Excela is also working with banks so patients won’t be penalized with fees.
“As it can take up to two weeks for checks to clear between financial institutions, we also noted in the letter that anyone who may have already deposited the check into an account that the funds will be withdrawn,” she told the website.
Ms. Jennings told Becker’s that Excela will include a letter in upcoming refund checks to reassure patients that the issue has been resolved and their check is valid.
Excela has made various efforts to improve its finances in recent months, including outsourcing its accounting and billing operations to Optum 360. But Ms. Jennings told TribLive the error does not reflect the system’s overall finances.
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