NC man used insurer directory to find urgent care clinic. But it steered him wrong.
When Kent Dolan moved to Davidson from Virginia last year, he decided to look for nearby urgent care facilities in case of an emergency.
Dolan went to an online directory to learn which facilities took UnitedHealthcare coverage, which he had purchased. He selected one listed location — 705 Griffith St., Davidson — and drove there to check it out.
When he arrived, there was no urgent care site. An Atrium Health primary care clinic stood in its place. Staff there told him that the urgent care had closed the year before, Dolan said.
“If someone were to rush there in need of urgent care, it could be quite a nasty surprise,” Dolan said.
What Dolan uncovered wasn’t an isolated incident. UnitedHealthcare’s directory this week listed 23 urgent care facilities within 20 miles of Davidson, a northern suburb of Charlotte. But 12 of the addresses listed were incorrect this week, The Charlotte Observer found.
According to the directory, as of Aug. 8 six separate clinics were located at the same address: 705 Griffith St. That includes “Ballantyne Urgent Care,” “Carolinas Healthcare Urgent Care,” “Carolinas Healthcare Urgent Care East,” “CHC Urgent Care Huntersville,” “CHUC Prosperity Crossing,” and “CHUC Salisbury.”
The same phone number was listed with each. It does connect to an urgent care clinic, but at a completely different address in Mooresville.
There were more errors. Additional locations listed as urgent care facilities as of this week were actually an adult daycare, a pediatrics office, an internal medicine office, a body waxing bar, a hospital with an emergency room and a YMCA with on-site medical staff. The Observer verified using this through Google Maps, location finders for Atrium and Novant Health and phone calls to businesses and Atrium Health customer service.
“They have these listings in Davidson, but these places aren’t actually there,” Dolan said.
When Dolan discovered a primary care office when he was looking for an urgent care clinic in 2021, he called UHC’s customer service line. But it soon became apparent that the representative he spoke with was looking at the same information he saw in the directory, he said. The representative could not direct Dolan to someone who would have more information, he said.
The Observer reached out to UnitedHealthcare asking about the discrepancies, but UHC did not respond to a request for explanation.
The Observer recently reported that experts say accurate provider directories are vital for people in need of good medical care. Inaccurate directories can lead to delayed care and unexpected charges. Dolan expressed concerns about both of these issues.
“It’s a big deal to know who’s in-network,” Dolan said. “As someone who’s retired like me, surprise billing is a scary thing.”
