My husband and I brought our newborn daughter to LPP 2 days after her birth for a color check. The exam room was cramped and claustrophobic.
A nurse came in with one of those old IBM ThinkPad laptops and proceeded to ask me a series of questions.. What was my daughter's weight at birth? How long was she? Was the birth natural or cesarean? We answered all her questions as she entered the information into her laptop.
LPP thought my daughter looked "ruddy" so they sent us to the lab for bloodwork . The nurse said they should have the results by that afternoon and someone would call us by the end of the day. We were told to come back in two days for a color re-check.
No one called us on Monday to give us the results of our daughter's lab tests.
Tuesday morning I called LPP to request the results of my daughter's blood work. The receptionist said they had the results but only a nurse could share that information. She said she would have a nurse call me back by the end of the day.
Again, for the second day in a row, no one from LPP called us back with our daughter's lab results.
Wednesday morning, my husband and I took our daughter back to the cramped office at LPP for her follow-up color check. This time another nurse comes into the exam room with a laptop, and proceeds to ask me what my daughter's birth weight was, her measurements, was my delivery natural or c-section.. the same exact questions we had just answered two days prior. I was more concerned with my daughter's health at that point than to question them on why we were being asked the same questions all over again, so I let it go.
When I told the nurse that nobody had called us back with the results of Monday's blood work, despite me calling to ask for them on Tuesday, she seemed surprised. She said the results were fine but still thought my daughter looked too red. She asked me if we were putting our daughter in the window, in sunlight, with her clothes off for 15 min at a time multiple times a day. I said, no, are we supposed to be? She said Yes, weren't you told that on Monday? "Um, no.. Nobody told us anything like that." Not the first nurse nor the doctor who examined her on Monday ever told us that we were supposed to put our baby in the window with her clothes off several times a day!
Next the doctor came in and recommended we go back to the lab for another round of bloodwork. This time this nurse promised me she would call me back by the end of the day with the results, and thankfully she did. Our baby was not jaundiced.
Friday morning I discover my daughter has thrush, so I call LPP and get in for a same day appt. The nurse comes in with her laptop and Again, for the 3rd time, starts asking me what my daughter's birth weight was, what her measurements were, was my delivery natural or c-section.. My husband and I looked at each other in frustration but still didn't say anything as again we were more concerned with our daughter's health at that point.
After the nurse left, we waited nearly an hour before the doctor came in. He apologized for the long delay, wrote a prescription, and asked us to come back in a week for follow-up.
The following Friday I bring my daughter back into LPP for the 4th time and *I kid you not* the nurse comes in with the IBM ThinkPad again and starts asking me what my daughter's birth weight was, her measurements, was my delivery natural or c-section, etc.. I was getting very frustrated that this is my child's pediatrician and they don't seem to even know who she is!
Finally I said "This is the 4th time I've been asked this same set of questions.. Don't you guys save this information? " She said Oh we have it, but I have to close this program on the laptop and open up another program, blah blah. Less work for her, but it doesn't do much to instill confidence in the parents of their patients.
By the time I left that claustrophobic little office, I vowed never to go back. I gave them 4 chances and was not thrilled with any of our appointments or at repeatedly answering the same questions.
The four times that I took my daughter into LPP, we saw 3 different doctors. The practice has about 10 doctors in it and they seem very busy. My husband initially told me that any good pediatrician's office will be busy and to expect to wait. However after our multiple visits to LPP, it seemed like my daughter was just a 10-minute allotment that they squeezed in to their overpacked day, they didn't have the programs available to know her vital stats when she came in for appointments, medical advice was not dispensed as it should be, and follow-up calls didn't happen 2/3rd of the time.
A practice's busy-ness doesn't necessarily mean they are "better" or that your child will receive more quality care. The lack of coordination within the office regarding patient information, call backs, not being able to see the same doctor, and cramped office space was tedious and frustrating. read more
