TL;DR version:
The office staff is better suited for work at the DMV, you'll get to potentially get a second opinion for free due to the paper-thin walls, and they may (or may not) bill you based on some sort of scale that apparently changes based on, I don't know... THE SAME SERVICE BEING RENDERED.
It would seem to me that the practice's business decisions have created an odd atmosphere and focus on turning over patients instead of providing care. In early 2016, I was shuffled off to the space dedicated to Dr. Mayer and a terribly lit, small waiting area with a team of surly office staff. As a previous reviewer indicated, there are 3 front office staff that are in dire need of an attitude adjustment. In May of 2017, my real issue began with the clique of paper shufflers (don't know if they even do that) in the reception area.
The receptionist (who I will refer to as Alpha Attitude or AA), decided that she was going to develop a vendetta against me because I articulated this to her reasonably, and it would appear that Alpha Attitude was incapable of providing assistance with this valid concern at all. Alpha Attitude, is a frumpy 30 something nursing school washout according to my pop psychology profile. She is likely a single mom who blames the world and everyone in it for her problems. Outside of work, she probably has poor impulse control and cannot maintain a healthy relationship with anyone. Kudos to Vickery Family Medicine for employing people with personality disorders. However, being as though it is a medical practice, I would like to see them get their employee's dosages right.
Alpha Attitude would seemingly become flustered with even the most basic of requests that normal employees should be able to service. The second reception hen, who I will refer to as "Passive Beta Supporter" would simply sit at her workstation while I was causing AA's brain to overheat by means of simple request. Oddly enough, PBS would give me a knowing look every once in a while. Sad really...
Here's a fun interaction with AA. During one of our dialogs, I indicated that I could obtain the same services right down the road at the provider that I came from 3 years ago (insurance related, not by choice). AA thought that the right response to this was to advise me that "I should probably go back there for primary care services". This happened on two instances that I remember, and I agreed with her emphatically. Problem is, I work for a living, and don't sit idly at a desk trying to find novel ways to not do my job. OK. OK, you are right gentle reader, I am digressing here.
So... I received an invoice from Vickery indicating that I owed $6.00 or so. I thought to myself "Self, that's strange, why would one visit for the same service cost six dollars more than any of the other times I have been seen in the last 3 years?" My initial answer was that there was a mistake, or there is some hinky billing shenanigans going on. AA was able to tell me to "contact the billing department". Wow. I still thank AA for that advice. I have never said ever.
Look. I am calm as a cucumber and can suffer fools, but this whole thing is a cake taker. To wrap this part up, AA is obviously the dominant whatever it is she does in that office. That's great. Hooray for her. Her supervisor looks to be shook honestly. I don't know if AA bullied the entity I will refer to as Timid Supervisor, but something is rotten in the Denmark of that dynamic. Vickery Dickory Doc sent me a breakup letter.
Here is the troubling part, and I feel kind of crappy for not doing something about this prior to being motivated to do so. The walls are so paper thin, you can hear the conversations Dr. Mayer is having with the patients in the other rooms. I got 3 from three appointments I can remember. One was husband and wife talking post knee (maybe hip) surgery I believe, the second was crunchy recently graduated soccer player in short shorts talking about her work life and exercise, and the third, and one freshest in my memory, was low T 50 something guy with a drinking problem (Low T tried to beef with me in the waiting area, and I would imagine that this can be taken as evidentiary) Oh... Fun fact, Dr. Mayer recommended Antabuse for Low T's mid-life crisis disappointment drinking.
What I am saying is, THE WALLS ARE SO THIN YOU CAN HEAR DOC MAYER'S CONVERSATIONS WITH OTHER PATIENTS. At the least, this is ethically wrong, and more likely, IT IS AGAINST THE LAW. If only I were a faith healer.
Long story short, unless you want to walk on eggshells for AA, sit around and wait for an hour or more for a MED CHECK, and deal with a veritable cornucopia of neurosis in a possibly sterile environment... Either go to a free clinic, or line up an appointment at the Vickery Dickory Doc.
Vickery Dickory Dock, this caregiver is absolute schlock. read more
