I have no doubt that Dr. Blankenship is a good provider. However, I found the practice's process for determining which patients it will see unnecessarily burdensome and somewhat elitist.
I received a referral to Dr. Blankenship for a second opinion. When the office contacted me, I was asked to provide my medical records. I offered to sign a release authorizing the office to request the records directly from my providers, but I was told that they do not do this because they have experienced difficulty obtaining records from that facility in the past.
As a result, I had to obtain the records myself. Like many people, I do not have access to a secure fax, so I had to leave work and physically deliver them to the office. After completing all of these steps, I was contacted and told that Dr. Blankenship could not see me because I had undergone surgery within the past year--even though the purpose of my referral was to obtain a second opinion regarding that surgery.
This process made me wonder how an older patient, someone with mobility limitations, or someone without flexible employment or reliable transportation would manage these requirements. Cumbersome administrative practices can unintentionally exclude entire groups of patients. Whether intended or not, this process gives the impression that the practice is willing to serve only a select demographic. read more
