New Jersey nurse practitioner stuck in endless auto-renewal loop gets help from 7 On Your Side

RUMSON, New Jersey (WABC) -- A Rumson, New Jersey, psychiatric professional was losing her own mind when she kept getting charged monthly for a medical billing service she never used.

After several sleepless nights, Denise Allen decided to make an appointment with Nina Pineda and 7 On Your Side.

As a health professional running her own practice for decades, in May of 2023, Allen decided to outsource her billing of her patients' insurance claims. She says what was intended to create time and efficiency for her office instead added frustration.

"It wasn't cutting down for Carol, my secretary, and making more work for me," said Allen.

In fact, she says she canceled the contract after the initial training.

"I never did get an acknowledgment," she said, adding, "I kept sending them emails."

Some were short and simple, says she, "decided not to go ahead with this service," or that she was no longer "interested in continuing" with the program.

Another, in all caps said, "I AM NO LONGER INTERESTED IN CONTINUING WITH THIS PROGRAM!!!!"

That was back in August of 2023, and every single month since, a $59 invoice from Veradigm would come. By October 2025, the total bill was thousands. Today, Veradigm is an Allscripts company.

Allen said the bill was $6,000 for something she never used.

She says that for a whole year, she was going out of her mind addressing the issue. Then, her body betrayed her.

"I was diagnosed with breast cancer and so everything's slowed down at that point because I was dealing with surgery and all that stuff," Allen said.

The good news? She beat her cancer into remission. The bad news? The charges from Allscripts still kept recurring.

She was obligated by the contract to pay for the first 12 months. It allowed Allen to cancel 60 days prior to the end of the first year. Allen's emails show she canceled within two months of signing, yet, she says the contract kept auto-renewing year after year.

She says nothing worked.

"How many emails do you think you sent them?" asked Pineda.

"Probably 25 or 30, and then again, I said, 'can I please speak to someone? Obviously, nothing's happening with my emails,'" she said. "And then again, nothing."

After nearly three years of unpaid bills, the mental health counselor landed in collections.

"I got very angry and got upset or walked around the office screaming to myself," said Allen. "It kept me up at night. It really did."

She finally chose to take the advice her 400 or more patients took: get help!

Allen sent a lifeline to 7 On Your Side.

"Not being able to get a solution no matter what I tried, I hired an attorney; that didn't help. Then I said, 'OK, maybe 7 On Your Side could help me. Maybe they can do something," Allen said.

As soon as 7 On Your Side reached out to the billing service, we heard back from the Vice President and General Manager of Customer Success Jesse Tripp. In an official statement to 7 On Your Side, Tripp wrote, "We appreciate this opportunity to address the concerns that Ms. Allen has brought forward.

Ms. Allen's experience does not reflect the standards we set for our clients. After receiving your outreach, we quickly realized there was a billing error. We personally called Ms. Allen to apologize and credited her account for the full amount she was billed for unused solutions. Recognizing the importance of a decade-long relationship that we highly value, Veradigm has provided a 3-month credit for Ms. Allen's ongoing electronic health record subscription.

We believe Ms. Allen is pleased with this resolution and we are excited to support the important work of her practice in the years ahead."

That was $6,296 wiped clean from her bill. No mark on her credit or, more importantly, her mental health.

"Nothing happened over a two-and-a-half-year period from the company until 7 On Your Side wrote a letter, and they actually finally took action and did something about it," said Allen. She added, "Thank you so much!"

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