To put it shortly, Dr. Halem's staff are rude, condescending, and (at best) incompetent, or (at worst) downright shady. I came in knowing exactly what my copay would be for a routine procedure. While I was seated and the procedure was already underway, I was presented with paperwork stating that I would need to pay nearly 4 times what I was expecting. I refused to sign this, and told them I knew that this was wrong, but they refused to listen to me. I began to cry. They ushered me out to the receptions desk, and sat me (sobbing at this point) in a chair in direct view of their waiting patients in the lobby, so I was made a spectacle of. I kept insisting that they had done something wrong, and they kept telling me I was wrong. I was told multiple times that it's my responsibility to research and know what I would be charged, which I had done! I was told multiple times that they couldn't believe how terrible my insurance is, and how terrible my company must be to offer such terrible insurance, which I found incredibly unprofessional and unhelpful. I was given the alternate options of either applying for a medical credit card, or paying $500 for a temporary crown that could potentially last as little as a month. I refused both of these absurd and unhelpful options. After I left and calmed down, I called my insurance company. They thought the whole thing sounded incredibly strange, and told me I would be on hold for 2-3 minutes while they got some information from the office. 30 minutes later, I was brought off the hold and my insurance provider let me know that the team at Dr. Halem's office somehow managed to put in a completely wrong insurance policy in place for me, and that I was right the entire time. I got a call about an hour later from Dr. Halem's office. It was the male who had been "helping" me earlier. He gave me the most laughably insincere apology I have ever heard. When I asked him why, when I was sitting with him for 20 minutes, sobbing, he chose do speak down to me condescendingly and not actually double check to make sure his facts were straight, the only thing he commented on was that he disagreed that he had come off as condescending. His entire apology was essentially him placing all of the blame on his female subordinate. I'm sorry, but if you are involved with a situation like this for any length of time as a supervisor, and aren't able to quickly double check that everything was input correctly, than you are so much more at fault than your staff member. At best, Dr. Halem's team are bumbling idiots. At worst, they are downright shady. Regardless of which is true, I know that I will never step foot in that office ever again, and I sincerely urge anyone reading this to stay far, far away. read more
