09:21 AM PDT on Friday, September 9, 2005

By GARY CHITTIM / KING 5 News

SEATTLE - What started out as a couple of billing complaints against a Seattle medical center is about to get much larger. On Thursday, a court cleared the way for hundreds of patients to join a class action lawsuit.

KING

The suit against Seattle's Virginia Mason Medical Center involves billing from a clinic next to the downtown Virginia Mason Medical Center. It alleges patients going to the clinic for very basic office visits were billed as if they were admitted to the hospital.

"I went in to have a small bump removed from my neck," said Delois Gibson. She says it took a doctor in the Virginia Mason outpatient clinic less than five minutes to remove the bump. Then came the bill.

"The total bill was about $1,480," said Gibson. The bulk of the bill was categorized as something that Gibson didn't understand … "miscellaneous hospital services."

Court documents allege only Virginia Mason's downtown outpatient clinic charges hospital fees for office visits, and the documents allege none of those patients were told they would be charged hospital fees.

Virginia Mason representatives declined to explain the charges on camera, but late Thursday they did issue a statement. It reads in part, “Most of our downtown campus is licensed as a hospital (including the downtown clinic). Therefore, when a patient visits the downtown clinic, they are, in effect, visiting the hospital and are charged a hospital fee for some services."

Virginia Mason fought in court to keep attorneys from turning the allegations into a class action lawsuit open to hundreds of patients. They lost that attempt Thursday, but will have the chance to fight the charges in court.

Here’s the entire statement issued by Virginia Mason:

“Virginia Mason Statement

September 8, 2005

Virginia Mason learned today that a Seattle judge has granted a motion certifying a class action in a case involving Virginia Mason’s billing practices. This decision is not a ruling on the merits of this case.

Most of our downtown campus is licensed as a hospital (including the downtown clinic). Therefore, when a patient visits the downtown clinic, they are, in effect, visiting the hospital and are charged a hospital fee for some services.

This is a standard industry practice and is used by hospitals here and around the country. In fact, Medicare recognizes these charges as appropriate and permits reimbursement of hospital fees for outpatient services.

Certain procedures at our downtown hospital-based clinic may have a facility charge because portions of the downtown clinic are licensed as a hospital. As a result, it may cost more to get some services at our downtown hospital-based clinic than at a free-standing clinic.”