Earlier this year, Grace Elizabeth Elliott got a mysterious hospital bill for medical care she had never received.
She soon discovered how far a clerical error can reach — even across a continent — and how frustrating it can be to fix.
During a college break in 2013, Elliott, then 22, began to feel faint and feverish while visiting her parents in Venice, Florida, about an hour south of Tampa. Her mother, a nurse, drove her to a facility that locals knew simply as Venice Hospital.