This is a beautiful campus especially in the spring and summer! Taken on those merits alone, this would be a wonderful place to spend a relaxing evening. Unfortunately, this is not guest accommodations; this is a sleep disorder clinic and if you are here then your visit is medical in nature, not for rest and relaxation. More unfortunately, the beautiful campus is where the good ends because the sleep disorder center is lacking, at least in my experiences. I will say that the staff, all of them, seemed to be nice. Which is nice. However, from the very beginning, to what finally became the end, of my sleep apnea diagnosis saga here at BMC was riddled with misinformation which cost me time and caused me frustration. The entire process and procedure of diagnosing sleep apnea, and then treating sleep apnea, was not ever quite correctly described or explained to me by one single person but, rather, pieces of information from various people combined painted the whole story. Luckily, I had the foresight to investigate and research the process myself before beginning it so I knew the things I was hearing and being told were not quite correct and so knew what to expect. One very basic example- after my initial consultation one of the staff, and I was not sure whether she was a nurse or a receptionist or what her role was, told me that the next step was for me to pick up my CPAP machine at a local pharmacy, use it for one month, and then return for evaluation. If you are a CPAP patient then you know very well this isn't the normal procedure followed. In this person's defense, she did call me later that day to correct herself and describe the actual process to me. While I appreciated that, it shouldn't have been necessary. The techs who wired me up for both of the studies were a little, shall we say, nonstandard. Of course, part of their job is to stay up all night every night so maybe that's par for the course but they certainly were not calm, cool, collected and soothing in their bedside natures. That said they got the job done. After beginning CPAP therapy, it's necessary to have annual "compliance reviews". I was told this was required by the insurance companies. When I asked my health insurer about this I was told by more than one representative that they don't care, at all, whether I am "in compliance", meaning using the machine. But I suppose it's good to be monitored by a medical professional. If a patient is found to be in compliance then the prescription is renewed for one year and sent to the medical supply provider. After my second to last compliance appointment here at BMC, the provider I use did not receive my prescription almost one month after my appointment so I called the sleep clinic for clarification. The receptionist informed me that she did not have, and could not provide, any information about my prescription; further, that it was a question which could only be answered by a doctor. OK. So she made me a "telehealth" appointment. When the call came, I asked again about my prescription; the doctor answered that it should have been sent but would confirm that it had been, and then wondered aloud why the receptionist had not been able to assist me with this.... She asked if there was anything else, I replied that there was not, that I was busy, thanked her for the call and disconnected. I was later to learn that our brief conversation had been billed as an actual office visit and, as seems to be standard practice for BMC, I was charged two co-pays, one for the provider and one for a 'facility fee', with my insurance picking up the rest of the $180 tab for what was a conversation lasting several minutes and, as it turned out, a conversation I could have and should have been able to have with the receptionist. On the date of my next compliance check, I answered all of the requisite questions posed and then had a question of my own, whether or not the doctor realized or recognized that patients were being billed for needless appointments? I was respectful and reasonable but forthright and clear regarding my displeasure. Clearly, that was not a conversation the doctor wished to have. The fact is doctors are now expected to bring in money; that's how medicine works in this modern world- doctors are expected to bill, bill,bill. Most of us know medicine is big business. I understand the conversation is distasteful; I don't like the process/policy, but it does seem to be in keeping with the emphasis BMC places upon revenue. The upshot was that I gave her the option of continuing to be my physician or not. I was told to expect a call from the receptionist to schedule my next compliance visit. That call never came. Message received. The doctor who administers my CPAP therapy now is a wealth of information and makes himself available to patients by chat five days a week- at no charge. His emphasis is on providing good patient care. read more

the worst provider I have ever dealt with. obtaining treatment here is basically impossible. they constantly cancel your appts right before even if you've been waiting months to get in. they do not care about you period! read more

I met with Dr. Jack Ringler. He arrived a half hour late to the appointment and when I finally discussed the results of my sleep study with him, he dismissed my questions and attempted to show off his intellect by using unnecessarily large vocabulary. His advice was to "tire my body out" by adhering to the poor sleeping schedule I was currently maintaining - finally falling asleep at 3 a.m. and waking at 7 a.m. Eventually, he speculated, I would adjust into a normal sleep pattern. When questioned how I was to maintain a normal life with minimalistic sleeping patterns, he suggested I do this "on a weekend". He then surmised that my sleeping pattern must have something to do with changes in my life and upheaval (I moved to MA three months ago) and recommended me to his "friend" - a psychiatrist. Even after I reminded him my sleep disturbances were present at least two YEARS before I relocated. Must have been a psychic sleep disorder. This doctor seems intent on passing the buck instead of listening to a patient and their needs. He is a lazy physician with a God complex. I would NEVER NEVER recommend this man to any patient, that is, if you want to get any sleep. There are other physicians at BMC Sleep Disorders Center - just don't go to this one. read more

I completely agree with the other person who was treated poorly by BMC Hillcrest. They have a lovely facility for sleep tests, nice crew, that is where it ends. Bottom line, Stay as far away from BMC/Hillcrest sleep Disorders Center as possible. You don't want to be under their mis-care. I first had a problem when Dr Mortellitii talked me into going on a wakefulness drug. First I had to think about it, I didn't want to just jump on some medication train, then I was so exhausted I went back and told him I would try it. Well, the script was not coded properly and I went through so many hoops trying to get someone at the sleep lab to make it right that on another attempted call when he was out of town they transferred me to BMC where these guys do their main work and a woman after my complete loss of patience finally got another doctor to fix the script. That was 2013. Now it is 2015 and I have had a worse problem. I have had so many cancelations from the doctor because he is going out of town it is intensely annoying. I had a new sleep test in November and have still not been able to see him, nor has he bothered to send me a letter updating me on the test results. I went in and asked for a recap of my results and the person said I can't get the results because they are under construction, but maybe my Primary has a letter....... My script needed to be re-newed in mid January. I followed their request and had the pharmacy fax in the request.... nothing happened. Repeated faxes and no answer. I called. No results. I called again, now I am told he was away on Vacation (and there was NO ONE to cover!) I could not believe it. I cut my pills in half and began the downward spiral of feeling worse and worse. AND when I double checked the time the appointment I had for 1/30 was "not on the books." They have a way here of treating you like they are victims and you are asking them to do something outrageous. The Hillcrest campus resents BMC taking the doctors away to cover over there all the time and BMC resents Hillcrest asking them to do anything sleep disorder related. I told everyone there I was leaving the Berkshires for the winter and was actually told a while later I could pick up a script on 1/28. Suddenly my script could not be called in and I had appointments 1/28 and 1/29 so could not pick it up until 1/30, ot was a blizzard that day. I had expected to leave by 2/2, but the weather raged on and I could not drive with my trailer until 2/6 when I dropped off the script. The Pre authorization code was no good and it did not have a diagnosis code. They were faxed at Hillcrest right away, of course it was a Friday so there goes another few days..... I called and called and called. I talked Weds three times with the woman in charge of scripts and she was so confused I could hear bees buzzing around her brain. She said on the third call she would handle it. Nope. Nothing the next day. Friday guess what, she was OFF and so were the doctors! I talked to Hillcrest and to BMC and it was one broken promise after another. I was completely exhausted and frustrated by 4 in the afternoon. Just imagine the man hours we are exerting and paying for out of our overall health care administration costs because these doctors and administrators can not sit down and come up with working plans. They can't hire some one to handle scripts who knows how to???? Ringler can't handle scripts for Mort? Or refuses to? The script woman at Hillcrest says Mort. REFUSES to answer her e-mails when he is out of the office. These doctors carelessly played with my life twice now. Causing me so much suffering perhaps only someone with this disorder can understand. I am in chaos and trying to deal with idiocy which infuriates me. Today I talked to Hillcrest twice, there are NO sleep Doctors in until Thursday when Ring. will be in.... Mort is still off on vacation. They said they were both going to talk to the administrator at BMC. She never called me and I left messages with her machine. The Nurse who promised she would handle it today with said administrator also never called me today. I can only guess she just did not know how to tell me the doctors she works for are not interested that a patient is suffering. I have felt more and more horrible every day since the second week of January. Horrible doctors. This has been one of the worst medical experiences of my life. I have been officially mistreated, mislead (nicer word than lied to when a promise is not filled) and allowed with full consent of the Doctors (for at least three are aware of this situation fully by today) to go without ANY medication for 17 days now, more than a month without the full dose. They should all be ashamed of themselves, both of these departments. If you allow patient abuse or mismanagement, you too are responsible. The nurse in Pullmonary understood a patient without medication is SUFFERING read more

I can't believe we saw the same doctor. Dr. Ringler gave us all the time we needed; was very supportive and helpful with suggestions. He had done his homework on my husband and knew everything about his other conditions without reference to his chart. I couldn't have been more impressed. read more

He's really good. Very thorough and has excellent bedside manner and highly knowledgeable and had done his homework on my case in detail. Very professional and knowledgeable on insomnia and anxiety and there impacts and implications. He also was generous with his time and even though I had to be squeezed in he seemed very comfortable with a real dialogue on my issue. read more

I found the sleep disorders center to be extremely professional from the time I got there to the time I met with Dr Ringler a week later. The gentleman who hooked me up with wires tubes and monitors was great . The nurses were extremely caring and honest with me . The only compliant I have is that I wish my bed felt as good as the one in the sleep study . I was there to see if I had sleep apnea I slept very little both times I went so I thought but in the review with Dr Ringler I actually slept alot . He presented me with graphs and slides of what my sleep patters were and why I actually had sleep apnea . He was very honest with me and sincere explained what sleep apnea was all about and what I can expect . He also told me it will take time to get used the mask and hose but stick with it . I have gone from 3 hours sleep a night to 13 Dr Ringler was extremely professional , honest and kind . He was happy I had a clue what the charts and such actually meant and we got very deep into my diagnosis . This was a great experience and now I am going back to get a diagnosis on my sleep disorder(s) I cant wait . read more