I had a doctor appointment at Pullman Family Medicine with Dr. Ben Adkins on 1/31/19. All vitals were taken and I was asked to sit in a room and wait for Dr. Adkins. Several minutes later Dr. Adkins entered the room, pulling a portable rolling computer station along with him. I didn't think anything was odd, but on top of the computer station was a laptop. It looked like a video chat window was perhaps open, but I didn't think anything of it. Dr. Adkins positioned the laptop on the rolling computer station, so that the laptop screen was facing me, and in hindsight, I believe he was ensuring I was in the frame of the web or video cam of the laptop. Dr. Adkins left the laptop positioned that way near the door, and sat down at another desktop computer station on the other side of the room. We conducted the appointment as normal, discussing various medical issues I was dealing with at the time. Towards the end of the appointment, I glance back at the laptop, which is to the right and slight rear of where I am facing/sitting on the exam table. I notice that the application open is indeed some sort of video chat application. I immediately am taken aback, because I realize there is someone connected on a live video chat, monitoring our appointment, seeing and listening to everything. I'm under the impression I'm in a private appointment with my physician. I'm completely shocked as the realization sets in that it's not a private appointment and there is someone else seeing and hearing everything. I ask Dr. Adkins, "Is that a live video chat open now?". He says, "Yes, that's our Stenographer, she's taking notes of our appointment." I'm a little incredulous at hearing this, feeling like my privacy was violated, as I wasn't informed that this was occurring. At this point, I tell the Dr. to have a nice day and leave, while informing him that this type of activity is unprofessional. From Dr. Adkins' reaction this isn't an isolated instance. It seems to be their policy at this facility to allow such invasions of privacy.
After all this, I still had numerous issues getting some basic prescriptions filled. Dr. Adkins couldn't even print out basic information for the medications I was being prescribed. That took me nearly two weeks and half a dozen phone calls to remedy.
Several of my issues that I discussed with Dr. Adkins were treated with the prognosis of "this is something you just have to live with." He didn't even evaluate me to come to this conclusion which is the odd thing. For example, in my foot, I described a symptom I was experiencing and he didn't even examine my foot. I'm describing the symptoms and he's just coming up with some prognosis without evaluating the issue. Just leaves me shaking my head.
Lastly, during my first visit some months ago, (this was my second and probably last visit) Dr. Adkins suggested and offered to refer me for an X-Ray for one particular issue. During my second appointment, though nothing had changed, he stated he was "uncomfortable" referring me for an X-Ray. Ironically, despite that statement, he still referred me, which doesn't provide me with much confidence in prognosis. Again, as with my medications, he couldn't or wouldn't print me out any referral information (e.g. Doctor Name, Location, etc).
This is the second physician I've tried in Pullman, the first was Dr. Robert Spady with Total Health Physician Group, and he and his team were even worse if that's possible. Unfortunately, I've been disappointed with the quality and professionalism of healthcare in Pullman. Based on our conversations with individuals and families that have lived here for any decent amount of time, most people seem to reluctantly find physicians in Spokane or even Seattle/Portland, which is really sad. read more