This review has NO bearing on the ability of the doctors as I have heard all within the practice are fantastic. I won't lie - this will be long, but all information is necessary for anyone looking to go here.
Here's our story:
In the beginning of July, my husband and I set out to meet with a doctor as we were expecting our first child. All doctors within the practice came highly recommended from family and friends, so we were excited. We sit down in their lovely reception area where we were greeted with a smile. We were handed a clipboard with a sheet to fill out some information. On said sheet of paper was a line for all insurance information. I pull out my card, fill out all info and proceed to hand back the clipboard with no issue. It was looked over and we were told, "Great! Have a seat and Dr. XXXXX will be with you shortly." Awesome!
We see the Dr. (Who was absolutely what we were looking for and was incredibly sweet to us!) She checked our info, told us to call her when our son arrived and we'll see each other soon. The husband and I walked out fully confident in the care that our son would be receiving for the next 18 years of his life.
Our son was born on Friday, 7/25 and we call first thing Monday morning on 7/28 to set up our initial appointment. They took a while to call us back, but that wasn't the problem. The problem is what happened next...
Christine (yes I am using her name) proceeds to ask me for some info which I gladly give her. When we get to the insurance part she says, "Hold on one second..." No problem - I wait. When she comes back she says, "We don't take that." The following conversation goes:
Me: "Is this recent? I made sure I filled out the insurance portion of the form."
C: "No. We don't take that."
Me: "Oh...kay, I understand that. But why weren't we informed when we came in for our interview appointment a few weeks ago?"
C: "We just don't take that."
Me (now getting really agitated): "Yes. Again, I understand that. But I filled out the paperwork weeks ago. Why are we just being told this now?"
C (rudely and obviously missing the point): "There's no way for us to bill them. You'll have to pay $85."
Me: "Unfortunately we don't have that right now. My husband's insurance should be kicking in. Let me find out what we can. Again, I don't understand how we're just being told this now. I'll have to call you back."
C: "Ok." *click*
I'm now pretty upset at this point. My husband proceeds to find his insurance info and we find out it doesn't kick in until 9/1. New job rules and all. I'm still agitated, so he calls back for me and it's more of the same back and forth conversation that she and I had. Not only was she not listening to what we were telling her, she was incredibly rude and ridiculously condescending to us and speaking to us as if we're incompetent. Way to treat first-time parents that are just looking to take care of their child. She said, "Let me talk to the dr. I'll call you back." *click* She had also suggested that we go to a random free clinic for the first visit since it doesn't really matter, save our $85, and call them when we have the correct insurance.
Both of us are seriously annoyed at this point. Not only were we left hanging without care for our son, we were being treated as if it was our fault. Not once did she apologize for anything that was going on. Including her nasty, haughty attitude.
She calls back and leaves a voicemail saying, "Well I spoke with Dr. XXXXX, and she said she'll wave the fee this time, but we do expect payment at every visit after that. Call us back." *click* Um, really? That's the way you speak to potential clients over the phone? The way she made it sound was as if she was the one doing us a favor and it was inconvenient to do so. We couldn't believe what we were hearing nor what we were experiencing. At that point, I had already called the practice associated with the hospital I delivered at and they were more than sympathetic to our situation and couldn't believe how poorly we were being treated. They also took our insurance, so it was a no brainer.
As a courtesy, my husband decided to call back and say, "Thanks, but no thanks." He makes one last attempt to get her to understand and to offer a suggestion about making sure this doesn't happen to anyone else. Her response? "Well the doctor should've checked it." *click* and that was the end of that conversation. So, not only had she just hung up on my husband, her piss poor attitude cost her and her practice 18 potential years of our business, and any referral that we might have given to any of our friends expecting children. Oh, and last time I checked, it was NOT the doctors' responsibility to oversee the billing of patients. I believe that falls under the actual billing department and the people that answer the phones.
I hope this review gets to the doctor to prevent this from happening to others. I also hope Christine loses her job for being a complete bitch. read more