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  • 2 days ago
Hear my recorded phone call in the video.

A new Google review accuses Vulcan Imaging Associates of having collections contact a recent hospital patient (who who claims they were told they had paid in full). When the patients spoke with the collection agents, inquiring into the nature of the debts owed (another review mentions the collections people they are using are not in Alabama but are originating out of a foreign call center (OUTISDE USA)), the customer writes they were asked for personal information first including Social Security Number. After Vulcan left an email and local phone number in a review reply, this patient's attempts at getting them to write back or answer the phone were thus far futile. He also mentions something I noticed looking up reviews of this business: Vulcan Imaging often replies to online reviews with contact info and a receptive boiler plate response, but when you actually try to contact them, it never leads anywhere.

I was a patient of Vulcan Imaging MD Michael Brant Ruff who missed 6 inches of infection in my head / neck and evidence of a broken skull injury I almost died from in 2019. I include my April, 2022 call with Vulcan's Kim Mooney. She presides over 37 radiologists doctors in their group. I was told by Mooney that they "100% Stand By" a report of their radiologist who missed serious injuries in the MRI. She did not elaborate on who "they" were however. Mooney does not possess a medical license. I was also told they do not consult with patients and there was nothing their company could do in regards to my request to have a 2019 MRI scan reread, in which their doctor Michael Brant Ruff, stated I had no injuries and in which evidence of around 6 inches head trauma and infection can be observed. They would not put me in contact with the doctor or attempt to correct the error of their doctor.

Mooney gave me the phone number to reach the company CEO Eric Blackman (strangely she would not transfer me to him or his voicemail despite working in the same office with him).

More on my attempt to call (University Of Tennessee honors graduate) Neuroradiology specialist Dr. Michael Brant Ruff MD (Vulcan Imaging):
I'm a patient attempting to have a misdiagnosed MRI reread (Broken Skull). The truth of my issue is I had broken the underside of my skull, over about a year the wound became infected and infested with some type of parasite. I received a $600 bill from (Ascension) St. Vincent's Ambulatory Healthcare Network LLC in 2019 for this scan, I was told no injuries appeared here. Subsequent to this, between 2018-2019 I had several X-Rays and CT scans through Saint Vincent's East Hospital Birmingham AL., in which I was told no injury appeared. When I obtained my medical records of these scans, however, broken bone appears clearly in the underside of my skull in the exact area where I had (and still have) pain.
Transcript
00:00All right, as always, you can go to YouTube channel My Medical Nightmare and see 40 plus
00:07hours video on everything that happened to me. Viewers to my channel, no stranger to negligent
00:13radiology group Vulcan Imaging Associates. 50 doctors on the payroll. Stay tuned, I'll play
00:21my recorded phone call. Almost died from a broken skull injury several years back. A highly
00:29experienced neuroradiology doctor on their payroll looked at my MRI scan and he wrote
00:37in his report, I had no injuries. All right, so yeah, is it just me or does it seem that
00:43the number of negative reviews on the internet of local medical practices around Birmingham,
00:50Alabama, there seem to be more and more examples. I'm not sure what this is indicative of. People
00:57thought they were getting ripped off in the past and didn't say anything about it? Or
01:02is this a case of professional medical negligence as standard operating procedure? A new review
01:10has been posted to Google. The date is August 13, 2024. It says this was written up six days
01:18ago. You can see this by looking up the business name, Vulcan Imaging Associates. Look on the right
01:24hand column of Google where it says 16 reviews. Click on that, expand it. You'll see a bunch of
01:32information there. William writes, they replied to this post with a phone number, which I see they do
01:41to all these, but they never answer. They appear to care, but it's just for looks. He writes,
01:48told by hospital I was paid in full. Then three days after my procedure, I start getting phone calls
01:54from collections. I asked why they were trying to collect something that they have not billed me for.
02:00I asked what they wanted, and they said they wouldn't tell me without my giving them personal
02:06information such as date of birth and social. With spammers and scammers we have today, what would make
02:14them think I would volunteer that info to someone I didn't know? I've emailed Vulcan numerous times
02:21to return my call since they refuse to answer their phone, and they have yet to reach out to me.
02:27When they want to act like professionals and conduct business like professionals and speak to me,
02:32I'll determine if this bill is legitimate. I will follow up my concerns with the Better Business Bureau,
02:39the State Attorney General, as well as the Alabama Medical Board. All right, so yeah, I was going to
02:44do a video on this subject myself. If you look around at the complaints and issues that people write up
02:53on the internet regarding their experience with Vulcan Imaging Associates, you'll find that this
03:01organization often replies and they write something similar. Vulcan Imaging's response to
03:09this. Hi, William, can you reach out to us at, and they give their email address and phone number.
03:15We would appreciate the opportunity to talk through this and work toward a resolution.
03:20I'll play my recorded phone call to Vulcan Imaging so you can hear what happens when you get on the phone
03:26with them, and I must have gotten lucky because a lot of these reviews, they say they can't get a return call
03:33or get in touch with Vulcan Imaging Associates. They're public relations people. They reply to these
03:40negative reviews acting like they care about the concerns that are expressed. My experience, as you'll
03:48hear, is when the rubber meets the road, you get these people up against the wall, you get them into a
03:54corner. They will not acknowledge patients' issues. They will not address and fix their errors of their
04:01doctors. All right, so today we're trying to follow up on the Michael Brandt Ruff MRI that I had done in
04:082019. I was referred to this scan by Northside Medical Associates nurse James Frankie Currum. This is now
04:17Complete Health, owned by Faro's Capital. This is located off of Happy Hall Road, Trustville, Alabama,
04:25headquarters in Pell City. Michael Brandt Ruff is a doctor who read the MRI for St. Vincent's Ambulatory
04:38Healthcare Network, LLC. That's Ascension. If you're following my documentation, you'll note here
04:45that in Birmingham, Alabama, we got a real big problem with responsibility, accountability,
04:54and radiology. And this week I talked to the two main radiology companies in Birmingham, Alabama.
05:04And I recently spoke with Doyle Stewart, CEO of Birmingham Radiological Group. According to their
05:13website, they have 38 radiologists who work with them. And here in this call, you'll hear me speaking
05:19with Kim Mooney. She is the administrative coordinator at Vulcan Imaging Associates. And
05:28she states that they have 37 radiologists who work with them. So if you got radiology issues, you go in
05:39to a medical practice or hospital doctor, you have an x-ray, MRI, CT scan. These are the types of doctors,
05:47doctors, and these may be the actual doctors, who will be looking at your scan in the Birmingham area.
05:56And yeah, according to my findings here, not very reassuring. If your scan is misread,
06:04you discover this and you try to seek a redress on these misdiagnosis issues. Not encouraging,
06:14my experience here. You have reached Vulcan Imaging. Vulcan Imaging, this is Kim.
06:21Yes, ma'am. I called last week. I was trying to get in touch with one of your radiologists, Dr.
06:27Michael Brandt-Ruff. I had an MRI scan that was looked at by this doctor in 2019. I got a report
06:37with his signature on it, saying I don't have injuries. However, in the MRI images themselves,
06:45I have evidence of a very serious head trauma-based injury. And yeah, I was told last week that you
06:53guys would try to have this doctor get in touch with me. So it's been about a week and I just wanted
06:58to see what the status of that was. Okay, so I did look into this and based on, I mean,
07:08there's not anything else we can do. So there's not anything that Dr. Ruff can do to assist you
07:14with that since the report's already been read. So there's not anything we can do.
07:18Well, I beg to differ. This was a $700 MRI scan. This doctor was paid to have this scan looked at and
07:26he did not note the injuries. So he is at fault. And so is Vulcan Imaging.
07:32We stand by that report, 100%. Okay, well, the report is an error, 100%, ma'am.
07:38Can I speak to somebody in management? Yes, sir. I am the practice administrator.
07:46Okay, can I speak to the head of the company? Let's see. Who's above you?
07:53Um, the chairman of the board. Okay, well, I need to speak to somebody in authority because
07:59uh, you're an error with your statement, ma'am. Non-professional.
08:05I am so sorry you feel that way, but will you stand by?
08:08Well, it's not how, it's not how I feel. It's the facts, ma'am.
08:10Now, what you, if that's, if that's, if you're, what you're stating, I would, I mean, we would
08:18respond, you know, maybe if you consult an attorney to have...
08:21Well, I mean, if I can't, if I can't speak to somebody on the telephone about this, I'd be
08:27happy to come clear it up in person.
08:28You're more than welcome to come up here, um, and talk to whoever you need to talk to,
08:35um, uh...
08:38Because this is a serious issue.
08:41I, I understand that from your perspective.
08:44Yeah, your, your excuses aren't going to cut it either, ma'am.
08:48It's not, it's not an excuse, sir. I, I really don't know how to help, um...
08:52What you should do is, okay, you're in business, all right? Well, you have a doctor who went to
08:57school for 10 years, they're millionaires, okay? They're reading, uh, radiology reports
09:02for hospitals and other doctors, okay? What you need to do is, you need to have
09:07them do their job correctly, and if they miss major injuries in patients that they
09:12almost died from, such as myself, you need to simply, uh, make an attempt to correct this error.
09:18Now, I could get in touch with Dr. Michael Brant Ruff. I could supply my records. He could look
09:23at these images again, and we can clear this up in a few minutes. Could I please talk to him?
09:27No, sir, you're, you're, I can't reach out to Dr. Ruff. Um, we, we don't consult with patients.
09:34Um, that's a, that's a very sorry excuse, ma'am.
09:38I'm so sorry. That's our policy. Um, let's see, what can I do to help you? Let's see. Um, let's see.
09:46Uh, Eric Blackman is my CEO.
09:51Well, I mean, why, why are you mentioning his name? Why don't you just connect me to him?
09:56He's not in the office. Well, that's pretty convenient, huh?
10:00Well, it's the truth. Um... Well, I don't believe you.
10:05I'm so sorry about that. Um... Yeah, me too.
10:09Uh, let's see. What I can do is I can give you... Let's see. His direct number is...
10:21How many radiologists work for your company, ma'am?
10:23Um, I have, uh, 37.
10:29So you have 37. Um, why don't you take this scan, call somebody right now and have them look at this
10:34scan and correct this issue for me?
10:35But that is not how radiology works. We can understand...
10:40Yeah, you're not professional. We've already established that.
10:43See ya, everyone.
10:44All right.
10:46Let's go.
10:46Thanks, guys.
10:47Thanks, guys.
10:48échir,
10:57the
10:59the
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