Dr. Melkumian is a good and knowledgeable doctor but GOOD LUCK GETTING IN TO SEE HER. She cancelled three appointments in a row, the day of, until I finally got a Telehealth one. Of course no notes were saved.
The following review is for her practice in North Hollywood.
I went to a neurologist appointment recently and the doctor wouldn't treat me for the issue I actually needed to be treated for because the ICD code was wrong on the authorization. Also not unusual.
Today I went for bloodwork at one of the two options you have for lab work (rhymes with "stressed".) The odious woman that handles authorizations and orders assured me (twice, both while interrupting me) that she'd faxed the order. I get there? No order.
I call the office and she claims she faxed it, yet suddenly changed her story and said she emailed it to me. I can't find the email, so I ask her to look at what email address she sent it to. She gets angry (more than her baseline level) and interrupts me, saying she deleted it from her sent folder. Okay girl. I give this harpy the email for [for-profit lab place] the phlebotomist hands me on a post it note, saying faxes can take up to 40 minutes to receive, and email is better. The poltergeist says she sent it. Phlebotomist says it was not received.
Still on the phone, I relay this information, and she amends her story and says she is GOING to send it. I express my confusion and am mid-sentence when she goes "SAMANTAAAA YOU WANT ME A HELP YOU?"
This was one "SamantAaaaaAaas" too many so I responded, totally deadpan, "Yes I would like you a help me." She flips out and tells me that sending orders and getting authorizations isn't her job (?????????) and hangs up on me. I shouldn't have imitated her, but I have at least 40 minutes of phone calls recorded with this woman (making her aware that she is on a recorded line) being an absolute embarrassment to her profession and patently abusive.
Lord knows where Dr. Melkumian is while her staff treat patients like they're subhuman just because they are on MediCal.
I call back after I'm hung up on. STILL AT LAB PLACE, now an hour past my appointment.
Receptionist: "Why did you ask to be transferred to [name redacted but rhymes with Modigliani and also a rude word for female genitalia but is only three letters long and a common Armenian name]?"
Screaming. Just screaming internally. WHAT I HAD ACTUALLY SAID WAS:
"Can you transfer me to literally anyone else because she is a horrible person?" Verbatim.
On this call back the receptionist continues: "Well we cannot email order it's not HIPPA compliant."
Um but supposedly the order was emailed to me directly at one point not through some kind of secure portal? I feel like Ingmar Bergman in Gaslight.
The irony is that if this woman spent less time yelling my name incorrectly while I'm talking at a normal volume, derailing the conversation with her aggression and apparent confusion about what her job actually entails, neither of us would have to endure the other for nearly as long and the likelihood of a positive outcome would increase exponentially. Apparently, she is behaviorally incapable, or that realization has not dawned on her in the fog of her displaced rage at other people for her own ineptitude. Clearly she isn't afraid of losing her job, which is unfortunate.
It cannot be overstated how unpleasant, inconsistent, and ineffective the staff is at this office- though they treat the native Armenian speakers markedly better. I can understand and sympathize with a language barrier, but not lesser quality of care because of it. They deserve an extra special award for the most unpleasant woman I've ever had the misfortune of speaking with. That is a high bar.
I've already reported this office for their negligent, rude, and ineffectual staff. Naturally MediCal did the bare minimum, despite having a representative from the complaints department hear this woman speak to me first-hand.
Of course I got a letter following up on the complaint, and the extent of their investigation was asking the staff about my issues with their behavior, and because they said they're perfectly nice to me they concluded there was no issue. Classic.
The only reason I have not switched offices is because the actual doctor herself is very good, if elusive, and I think I might actually throw myself under a bus if I had to start all over with a different medical group.
It is legitimately causing me psychological distress and affecting my quality of life. I am surprised more people are not pushed to the point of psychological collapse dealing with this woman and "Sorry You're Poor F*ck You" healthcare.
I would give them three stars just because Dr. Melkumian is lovely, but she makes it so impossible to see her and her staff is so unendurable I am losing faith and my sanity.
Truly a shame Dr.Melkumian is all but unreachable due to the battalion of assholes that run her office. read more