Sentara Healthcare, a nonprofit health system based in Norfolk, Va., is pointing to a billing program error as the reason numerous patients received incorrect billing information.
In an emailed statement to Becker's Hospital Review, the health system said it initially discovered the error April 13, after some patients' billing information was mistakenly placed on other patients' statements.
"This error was caused by a computer programming issue at the company that prints and mails our bills. Once the error was detected, we immediately stopped production of patient bills and the computer program was corrected the same day," the statement reads.
Overall, billing information for nearly 600 patients was distributed to more than 16,300 people, according to Sentara.
The health system said corrected bills were sent to affected patients "with apologies for any inconvenience this error may have caused." "Our IT division is working with our print and mail vendor to prevent any such errors in the future," Sentara added.
More articles on healthcare finance:
9 recent hospital outlook and credit rating actions
Moody's affirms 'A2' rating on Greater Baltimore Medical Center's bonds
Letter to the editor: Cigarette tax is key for our community