I always get an appointment easily & within a week. I am impressed with the doctors & NP I see. I've been a patient for at least 20 years.

If I could give 0 stars, I would. This place is heinous. They misscheduled me for a visit and made me come back to do it, and send me a HUGE BILL FOR THEIR MISTAKE. I put in a billing request through insurance to get this taken care of and they informed me the bill is valid and I have to pay it in full (did not offer discounts or payment plans) after having to call them for an update. This is legitimately the worst office I have ever been to and would advise anybody to not look in this direction. Absolutely heinous, waste of time, a literal disgrace to be called a healthcare office. What a blow!!!!! read more

The worst! People at the front desk and over the phone are always rude and not willing to help. Inova has high standards and this office is just not up to it. I'll be finding a new doctor's office. read more

I've been going to this practice for more than 8 years, prior to Inova's takeover. In that time I've had great doctors and doctors that probably shouldn't be practicing medicine because they have zero bedside manner. My current Physician, Dr. Toth, is one of the good ones. Management of the practice on the other hand has been on a steady decline ever since Inova took over. This location was previously colocated with an Urgent Care center on another floor. They have since closed the urgent care but still advertise walk-in services for established patients. Except what they mean by walk-ins welcome is "we'll see you if we have any openings in our schedule, otherwise we'll tell you to go to the nearest urgent care more than 2 miles away". So not true walk-in service, which would have been great to know before heading there in person, but good luck getting anyone on the phone. You're lucky if you even get connected to a mailbox or callback system, 3/4s of the time their phone system will just go silent and drop the call. I attempted to make an appointment on MyChart, and even when selecting "any physician" it told me the next appointment was at least 2 months in the future. They can't seem to retain staff as their roster has been a revolving door for the past several years. I think I may finally be done with Inova. What's the point of a primary care physician practice if it's impossible to be seen in a reasonable timeframe? read more

I've been with this practice for 25 years. Dr. Ellen Jenkins was my doc until she left the area a couple of years ago. She was the best! I was then transferred to Dr.DeBass who was also good, but she left the practice. Since then it seems the practice has gone down the tubes. The doc they assigned me is cold, impersonal, perfunctory and humorless. I'm searching for a new general practitioner now, but it's a long, slow process. I'm so disappointed in GIMC. read more

Bottom line: Poor medical care and callous disregard for even long-time patients at INOVA-GIMG. you can't get in to see your doctor with an urgent issue. (Not an issue for an ER. Yet.) Even after you've dutifully seen a PA and/or a nurse, you can't get to a doctor although your urgent medical issue is persisting and apparently worsening. Think you can reach out to your doctor on-line? Not with this crowd. INOVA-GIMG offers the on-line MyChart app but incredibly, the practice apparently uses NON-MEDICAL staff to screen incoming messages for doctors, nurses etc. So to you -the patient in need - it appears you're sending a note to your doctor, but non-medical staff apparently can prevent your doctor (or a nurse) from ever seeing the message. So people who are medically untrained and ignorant triage what a doctor does or does not see. Your health, well-being and safety is in their hands; NOT the patient care providers. Incredible and ridiculous. GIMG became affiliated with INOVA a few years back. Looks like INOVA ruined what was a dependable practice. read more

If you need proper healthcare, avoid this place like the plague. My sister was seen 4 times in 2 months for the same symptoms with no clear action plan or referral until the symptoms got really bad and ended up needing to go to a hospital for emergency treatment. I work at a hospital so I know what proper healthcare looks like - mistakes happen but this type of negligence should never happen. The PA's are not qualified here and never cross-check their recommendations with the MD's. Kinda makes you wonder how these people sleep at night when they send patients home misdiagnosed, when a referral costs them nothing. If you are unsure of the patients diagnosis, refer them to the experienced professional. Insulting your ego is better than risking patient lives. read more

My review is mainly directed at Dr. Prem P. Manchanda. I could give him 0 stars I would. Dr. Prem P. Manchands is hands the most disrespectful doctor I've encountered in my life. Today was the 3rd time I've been treated as insignificant and as if my life does not matter. I can't believe it took me this long but I will no longer be using GIMG ever again. If you have to make an appointment at this office some of the other physicians are good, but avoid Dr. Manchanda at all costs!!!! read more

The providers here are alright once you can get to them, but heaven help you if you need to get in with less than a month's notice. I've never been able to get a same day appointment, even when calling at opening. What's the point of having a doctor if you can't see them? They have "call in hours" where you might talk to your doctor, but you'll be told to come in, redirected to the receptionist and told again that they can't see you for a week. Don't worry, they'll direct you to the urgent care downstairs, where they'll tell you that you just need to wait and not actually treat you. read more

I did blood work to see if I am pregnant on 11/06, the test results were reported back to the GIM a day later from the lab 12/06. I have not seen the results till 18/06 AND COUNTING.. because DR. MRIDULA SOOD has not reviewed them, and therefore they are not releasing the results to me. I have called 4x times, and they keep saying "doctor will look at the results soon". It has been a WEEK. They have the results but they are just not releasing them to me. The whole organization and Dr. MRIDULA SOOD in particular have failed to give a basic care. I will be reporting her to the medical board. read more

Administrative set-up is extremely inefficient and anti-Customerservice. Neanderthal-like reliance on "fax machines" and "you have to drive all the way out here during business hours because we won't take 60 seconds to email you a piece of paper". This business deserves to fail and does not deserve to have customers who can do much better anywhere else. read more

Can't get an in-person visit with a doctor because of a cough. Have other major symptoms but was told only virtual visits or go to emergency. read more

Service is absolutely 0 stars. I've never waited any shorter than 30 minutes here - it's like they give 0 shit about their patients' time. I'm a busy professional, I don't have time to sit around in your stale office staring at your rude staff for more than 30'mins every time. 2 stars because the doctors and nurses are nice. But I'll be looking for another doctors office soon read more

It appears that the founders of this practice sold it to Inova and retired. All (but one?) of the core MDs who were with the practice for decades are gone. No notice was given to longtime patients. Adios GIMG. read more

I have always enjoyed my Dr at this location and really like the PA Genvieve (even after my dr left the practice). However, the person at Arlington in charge of "records" is one of the most incompetent people I have EVER had to deal with. In addition to her incompetence, she bold face lied to me. When people need records to get quickly to specialists because of very serious medical issues and it takes over 3 weeks because of her incompetence and lying, well that is unacceptable and I will be looking for a new practice. read more

this place was gimg, a small, cottagey practice where the doctors got to know you, but other than the personal feel, nothing spectacular. then they were purchased by inova. after the inova purchase there was a mass exodus of all of the people who where familiar with you, and your health, and now it is inova. if you're considering becoming a patient here, prepare to advocate for yourself. i lost patience with them, and have since left the practice. read more

I needed to find a place near home and who had availability. Everyone here are truly courteous and energetic! They actually behave as if they want to be at work! read more

This was my first visit to this office, and unfortunately I encountered a really rude receptionist. She cut me off when I spoke, and was just awful. I asked when I might be called back to see the provider (I thought there might have been an error checking me in, since several people arrived10-15 min or more after me, and were called back before me) and she didn't provide any response other than an annoyed "I told them you are here" with a smirk. Eventually I was the only patient left in the waiting room, and about 5 non-clinical staff were sitting / milling about behind the reception desk. I watched other people arrive after me, and finish their visit and leave while I was in the waiting room. I was finally called and taken to an exam room around 55 minutes after my scheduled appointment time. The doctor and nurse were great, but I won't be back to this office. There are plenty of places to get primary care, where you don't have to wait so long, and deal with bizarre rudeness from the reception staff. read more

I would give a minus one rating if I could. DO NOT GO HERE if you want to be treated with respect. DO NOT GO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT HERE if you value your time. The staff is extremely rude, unprofessional and does not give a shit about the patients. I was scheduled to have an appointment at 1:50pm today. I wanted to confirm so I called at 1pm and no one answered, which is fine. I checked the website to learn that they are closed from 1pm to 2pm which left me wondering if my appointment was supposed to be at a different time. (I am a new patient so I obviously had no idea about their policies, confirmation calls, etc. etc.) When I called them at 2pm to confirm, they were so rude to me and blamed me for not showing up at my appointment. The guy on the phone said to me in a condescending manner that I should have had the common sense to know their policies. I should have known that the clinics usually make announcements if they needed to cancel the appointment. How can I just assume that?..How can you talk like that? How can you be so mean to a patient? He told me to schedule an appointment somewhere else at a different clinic. (Am I supposed to get an immediate appointment at another clinic immediately? There is a typical 1-3 week wait everywhere. You WASTED my time!) To the customer service rep: You cannot be rude to people when you work in customer service, especially not when you are dealing with patients. Also, WHAT KIND OF A HUMAN BEING are you? How can you be so rude, disrespectful and condescending to someone, to someone who is a potential patient? I seriously hope you reconsider your career choice if you cannot be understanding of people. If you don't give a shit about people, you shouldn't be working in health care or customer service. If I had known how incapable and rude the staff is, I would not have wasted my time and energy in scheduling an appointment 2 weeks in advance only to be disappointed now. I really hope that they train their customer service staff better. Or they will lose several patients!! They already lost me. read more

I cannot tell you how horrible this office is these days. I went in with symptoms that involved complete loss of smell. I was told that it could be due to my BP medicine, so I was taken off my beta blocker. Then they scheduled a CT scan for my sinuses and brain. I had a follow-up appointment before the CT scans where the doctor confirmed those tests were needed and I informed her that my smell was still gone despite being taken off the medication. I got my CT scans two days later and called the next week to find out if I had a brain tumor or not. I was left a message saying "everything came back normal, you're ok!" Yay, right? Well, no, I checked the patient portal and the only lab result that came back was the sinus. I called and asked, "did you look at the brain CT scan?" Pause. "Oh no, we only have the sinus scan. The radiologist mustn't have sent them to us." So despite them ordering the tests and KNOWING that they ordered two (not one), they only reported on one test, and they gave me FALSE information. I went from a high to a low in 0.4 seconds. So another two days go by and no call or follow-up from them. It's just a possible brain tumor, right? Surely it doesn't matter that I am really anxious to hear the news of any results. It's not like they think that I matter or anything. I call them again and find out that they haven't requested the brain scan report at all from the radiologist because the doctor "was out." (Can't someone else order the report?) So I have to call the radiologist on my own and get him to fax the scan to them, and email it to me (because I don't trust them to tell me what it says). 2 days later, the doctor's office calls and makes NO MENTION OF THE CTs. Then they say, "we need to schedule you for the MRI for your sinuses and brain scan." Um, you said I needed a CT scan. That's in the script. And I already got the CT scans. The ones you didn't review. Pause. "Oh no, I have MRI written down here on the screen." Great, so I got an incorrect script for the wrong tests. The doctor wrote down the wrong thing. So I call and ask them if they can just give me scripts for the MRIs. "Yes, just stop by the office." That I do. Almost immediately. The woman behind the desk looks for my scripts for 2 minutes, sighs, gets on the phone and then tells me she can't find anything. She looks again before handing me a script for a Patrick Terrell. Guess what? That's not my name. I hand it back and tell her it's not the right patient. Hello, possible HIPAA violation? I tell her that I JUST called and was told that the scripts would be waiting for me. She sighs again, calls someone and then does another search. Oh look, there it is. Right where it should have been. She basically throws it at me with utmost contempt. How dare I make her have to search for something. Then I call the radiology department at Washington Radiology to set up the MRIs. Except wait....what's this? The doctor has written down INCORRECT codes! That sinus scan? It's for deep tissue in the NECK. That Brain MRI with contrast? She coded it WITHOUT CONTRAST. Which means no scripts for you! They say I have to get correct scripts from my doctor before I can schedule an appointment. So now I have to wait until Monday for new scripts to be issued, because.....everyone is now closed! All the meantime, my sense of smell is still gone and I could be DYING from a brain tumor. I'm back at square one some three weeks later with absolutely nothing to report. No progress. Only hell to report. This place is inept beyond words. Do not go if you value your well-being. Note, my normal doctor is great. This was a substitute doctor that I got. I can't trust anyone practicing medicine that messes up this much. And this experience really showed the ineptitude of the staff. The staff is beyond bad. They are unimaginably terrible. read more

I know that there should be an expectation to wait when you go to the doctor, but we all have jobs and so it's just so disrespectful to require patients to wait for almost an hour for a five minute appointment. They should at least give a heads up when you check in about the doctor running behind, or call scheduled patients at the point in the day where it is clear the doctor can't make appointments to shift everything later. We have obligations too. Beyond the ridiculousness of the wait, I don't have faith the doctors really listen or try to figure out what's wrong when I come here. Been going here for approx 4 years and realizing I need to search for a new practice. read more

I went to GIMG Ballston in Arlington VA, because I had small issue and I wanted to get some help. Waited for 1.5 hr to be seen by Dr. Sood. After 5 min conversation, she stated that she can't help and I need to see a different doctor. She said she could not prescribe medicine that deal with this type of problems. When I scheduled the appointment, I clearly stated why i am coming to see the doctor. She accepted me as a patient, just to tell me that she can't help me and of course charge me $150 for the 5 min it took her to tell me that. STAY AWAY. read more

Never seen a medical facility less concerned with patient health. All this office cares about is making money off their patients and insurance providers. Have a question about a medication you are on? Make an appointment. Need a refill? Make an appointment. Have a question about your bloodwork? Call during "call hours" and pay $15 to talk to your doctor. Patients should advocate for themselves but the fact that this place refuses to provide any follow up care or patient satisfaction without making a $ is pathetic and insulting. A new thing they do is punt you to urgent care even though you made an appointment with one of the providers in the main office. They tell you they bill your insurance the same, what they don't tell you is you have to wait with all the folks who already checked in at urgent care, appointment is irrelevant. Don't waste your time. Go elsewhere. read more

I am FURIOUS right now at GIMG and Lauren Naughton. I have been seeing her for about 4 years. I scheduled an annual physical with her for 1:50pm, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, I was about 10 minutes late. I tried to call them to let them know, and all I got was their automated machine since 1-2 is "lunch time". Not sure why people can't stagger lunch so someone is available to answer the phone, but whatever. So. I have taken off work. I have not eaten all day (it is TWO PM), because you have to fast before doing annual blood work. I run in, apologize and let them know I couldn't get a hold of anyone, and assume I'll sit there and wait 20-30 minutes to be seen like I always do. NOPE. I am told that Lauren refuses to see me. I have to reschedule because "I have missed half my appointment". EXCUSE ME. First of all, there's no way that appointment would have started on time, because it literally never has. Also, does this woman know how many hours I've waited for her over the last few years, and she can't be bothered to see me because I'm 10 minutes late, once in my life? No. This is the epitome of irony. I will need to find a new doctor, who has the slightest bit of empathy. And now I need to eat lunch. read more

Dont come here. They rip you off every chance they get. They changed one of their policies convienently didnt say anything then sent sent me a bill. Its not the amount that matters its how sneaky and decptive they were about it. I don't appreciate being scammed. The wait time is always ridiculous then you are rushed through your appointment! The staff is extremely rude and annoyed whenever you ask a simple question even if its, "where is the bathroom." They made a mistake on their billing. Instead of fixing it right away or atleast looking into it they said well its in the system so you owe it. Never again! read more

After years of using this practice, I switched to an entirely different doctor in her own practice. I never knew how nice it could be to be treated with respect and be able to reach the doctor easily. The most recent doctor at GIMG that I used when Dr. Jenkins moved away prescribed me with medications that made me very ill. Instead of taking me off them, she prescribed another even more expensive solution. The front office doesn't have anyone who smiles when you visit and its a challenge to get anything done when I call. I am so glad I don't have to be treated like a mouse in a maze or a number on a chart and my health must be figured out in the 15 minutes I am allotted. Quality of care and patient care and front desk has really deteriorated. read more

I was just hung up on as I was trying to make an appointment, after they canceled on me. I had the appointment for 3 months, they canceled at the last minute and didn't have anything available for another 5 weeks. I was asking about the schedule and they just hung up. Do NOT go here. I love my doctor, but the staff is AWFUL. I also had an appointment several months ago, I waited TWO HOURS to be seen UPDATE: I called back to try to reschedule my physical and they said they didn't have anything available for at least 2 months... read more

I've been a GIMG patient for a little over a year. In the three times I have had to go to see a doctor, I've seen a doctor once. The other two times, I was only able to see a PA, as my doctor had no available appointments for weeks. Every office is covered in policies that explain all of the additional fees you will have to pay to speak to anyone about anything. For my annual physical, I was received a two minute phone message of mumbled test results, which can only be retrieved from an automated system with no way to speak to a staff member or your doctor. You have to pay an additional fee to actually speak to your doctor about your test results, and an additional fee if you'd actually like your test results in writing. I don't want to come off as only concerned about the fees, but let me explain what the result is. I am sitting here with notes I jotted down from the phone message and I am looking up the results on WebMD to understand them. I have no option to ask questions and get good medical advice from GIMG. I kind of have to figure it out for myself, which isn't a great way to understand medical tests. GIMG clearly doesn't want to spend any more than the absolute minimum amount of time they can on each patient, and if you require anything more they will charge you a fee. Their office policies actively discourage you from trying to understand your health. The individuals I have seen there have been good (which is why I won't rate this one star), but as an organization they clearly do not care about your health or well being. read more

Let me start by saying that Dr. Zane Kirby is awesome. Took the time to hear me, run the appropriate tests and his bedside manner was superb, I would go back for him alone...if I ever go back. This is a pretty unprofessional office. On the phone, they throw you on hold, if they don't put you on hold they will have conversations with each other, and I've been directly in front of a woman when she got into an argument with a fellow receptionist for "stealing her chair". They don't take anything seriously and do not go the extra mile at all. Yes there are one or two receptionists that are professional, but the rest of them overshadow the few. I was just there yesterday and the doctor (not Kirby) strongly suggested that I needed to be tested for a lot of very serious diseases. I have a cold, infection at best. When I told her that I didn't need to be tested, she pushed and looked at me like she couldn't trust me. I would never suggest this place to anyone unless they needed something for that day only and needed something very close to the Ballston area. I've had conversations with people who have gone there and left about how unprofessional they are. If you're looking for a doctor in Arlington, keep looking. read more

YES, THE FRONT STAFF IS THAT BAD. I've been going here since 2010. Lets just say that within the last several years I've seen the front office staff take an absolute NOSE DIVE in customer service, manners, ethics, and professionalism. I've honestly dealt with nicer staff at the freakin' DMV! Let's see, the eye rolling, the name calling, the actual petty fights I've seen the younger female staff have with their boss sitting in the back telling them to stop gossiping and get back to work, the absolute rudeness when you've arrived and finished with an appointment: "Hey! Hellloooooooo You checking out? Get over here." Umm... excuse me? If I wanted to sit around and listen to college age punks trash talk each other, the GIMG patients, and whatever "crazy drama" they have going on in their lives, GIMG's waiting room is the place to do it. Shame on you GIMG. I'm so glad I'm leaving the area in a couple months. I've tolerated you way too much. This place is definitely NOT worth your time. Don't believe me? I whole-heartedly encourage you to go and experience this dumpster fire for yourself. read more

The office staff is incredibly rude. It's not just a one-time thing either, as I've had to deal with it every time I call and/or visit. I put up with it because I liked my doctor but when he stopped being responsive, I pulled the plug on this place. Looking at everyone else's complaints about their office staff, it's clear they're failing their patients. Also, it's clear this obvious problem has not been rectified by looking at the long history of complaints. I'm switching practices to a much more friendly place. If you're reading this, it's best to stay away! read more

The physicians here are fine for the most part (although you can find better physicians elsewhere). However, where GIMG really struggles is operationally as a business. Their front desk staff are rude, condescending, irritable, and generally do not understand how to get things done. There doesn't appear to be any type of standard process to get anything done smoothly, effectively, and on time. For example, despite working there for at least six months, one particular male front desk employee still gets flustered and noticeably confused when you're trying to schedule a visit to see your physician. Add on top of that the lack of communication between the front desk and the physician's assistants, the random cancelations, and scheduling meetings when the office is actually closed. For example, I made an appointment 2 weeks ago and was scheduled to come in at 5:45pm today. I had my blood drawn this morning at 8am, and at noon received a call saying that the office is actually closing early today. Would I be able to reschedule? Of course, accidents happen -- I'll reschedule my work day and come in at 4:30pm. An hour passes, and a second phone call. The 4:30pm scheduled visit must also be cancelled because the office is closing early today and they gave me the wrong time, again. Could I come in next week? Next week is too late, as my blood sample must be used within 4 days of being drawn. It's situations like these that happen time and time again. Lack of good management, and subsequently lack of good office staff, means that you will have a lousy experience at GIMG. read more

This is a difficult review to write, because I'm actually reviewing one office and two doctors. The office staff has been quite rude over the phone and previous posters are right: they have more bureaucratic rules than the Soviets. Appointments are not available within three months of calling unless you whine your way into them. You are regularly put on hold for ages and ages. There are posted notices everywhere that everything from lab results to a Kleenex to blow your nose will be billed. The good: Doctor DeBass. I hate doctors. I do. And Dr. DeBass heard that and listened to me. She was thoughtful, concerned, and present. Too bad I had to cancel my physical with her and see Dr. Chin. Dr. Chin actually came recommended by a friend I respect. A rare miss. Dr. Chin inattentive and chatty in a way that proved she wasn't interested in listening to me. I tried multiple times to bring up medical issues I was having -- including chest and kidney pains -- only to have them brushed off. I tried to discuss switching types of BC. Again, no engagement on actual medical issues. I was stunned when I tried to talk to her about getting to a healthier weight and she told me to wait for lab results before addressing it. I felt like I wasted the afternoon I took off work. Where Dr DeBass was clearly focused on her patient, Dr Chin was not. Bottom line: if you can get in with Dr. DeBass, you'll probably be willing to put up with GIMG's BS. If not, it could quickly cease to be worth your time and effort. read more

Went to see an M.D. but got stuck with a P.A. (McPhilomy) instead because the M.D. was running late. I came in with a flu that had been lasting me for more than a couple weeks and I was trying to find out if it was anything more than a flu. I also wanted a refill on my albuterol (inhaler for asthma) and Adderall (medication for ADHD) medications. The P.A. took a throat swab to check if I had strep throat, which turned out negative, then told me just to take more liquids and eventually my symptoms would go away. Regarding the refills, the doctor promptly gave me an Rx order for asthma, but gave me a scowl and the look of a skeptic when I asked for the Adderall. I had brought in my papers documenting my diagnosis from my psychiatrist from years ago (the results of my standardized ADD/ADHD test "Connors' test" as well as my bottle of Adderall) and yet she still treated me like I was a drug addict. She even put in a *note* in my records saying not to let me refill my Adderall. No doubt I will never go back. read more

I came here for a Peace Corps evaluation, and dispite their claims to the contrary, they don't have any idea how to process PEace Corps evaluations. Very unprofessional administrative staff. The PA that saw me, Ms. Thomas, was kind, with a decent bedside manner, but she made a billing mistake that I had to appeal. Back to the administrative staff: It's unfair to say that they all should be fired, but none of the people tasked with answering the phones are of any value, and of the six times I have ever called this office, 4 times, did the person answering the phone fail to provide me with the correct information. They are rude and uncoordinated. Furthermore, they failed to properly process my Peace Corps forms, and actually tried to keep my Peace Corps reimbursement money. This medical office on the whole is a disgrace. Their administrative staff actually made me feel sicker than before I walked in. read more

I've been using this practice for about three years, after I switched jobs and my new insurance was not accepted by my existing provider, Premier Primary Care (who are great, btw). I've only had experience with the two PAs -- getting an appointment with one of the actual physicians is difficult, apparently -- and had reasonably good experiences with them. The front office is hit or miss -- one time I called to request a prescription refill and was given complete attitude by the girl on the other end who basically told me I couldn't ask for one. I called back 5 minutes later, got someone else, and had no problem submitting the request. The one thing that's made me start looking for another practice is that they recently started charging for requesting prescription refills over the phone. I wasn't aware of this when I called in an Rx refill -- the office didn't inform me on the phone, nor was I given any sort of notice via their email system -- so I was shocked to receive a bill for $15 to have one prescription refilled... which was more than my co-pay for the actual drug. read more

This place is pretty bad, but you could do worse I suppose. One big issue is 1) high turnover of doctors combined with 2) good luck seeing one of them regularly. I've seen 1 actual doctor in 4 trips to the office (3 were PAs). The nickel and diming is outrageous. They charged me $35 to fill out a health insurance form. It had 5 questions. "Does the patient smoke?" "Patients height and weight" "Patient's Cholesterol" "Patient's Blood Sugar" and "Patient's blood pressure." Simplest form ever, just copy all the answers from the computer. I wish I could make $35 for 90 seconds of work. I could have filled it out myself but I know they'd still charge me to make the PA sign it. I don't want to go back, but I haven't heard any great recommendations in the area. So I take the "better the devil you know" approach. read more

Disclaimer: I never actually made it in to see a doctor at the practice as I was so frustrated with the whole system I eventually gave up. I called and made an appointment a few weeks in advance for Wednesday at 9 a.m. The week of my appointment rolled around and I received and automated confirmation call stating that my appointment was Thursday at 9:30 a.m. There was no way to be transfered to the office from the call. So I hung up and tried. The woman was somewhat apologetic, but still made it seem like it was my fault for the mix up. I understand things get screwed up and if it had just been the day of the week or the time of day I would have let it slide, but both is a bit much. Anyway, the main reason I canceled my appointment (not just because I already had a meeting scheduled on Thursday, which I purposely made on Thursday and not Wednesday) was their policy for new patients. New patients cannot have a physical exam before meeting with the doctor. They must come in and have a one on one appointment with the doctor to "develop a doctor-patient relationship." After you have your meeting with the doctor you can then schedule another appointment for your actually annual exam. While it's nice to develop a relationship with your doctor, I do not have an extra workday to give up to go to the doctor or extra cash lying around for an extra copayment. They seemed insensitive to this. Maybe other practices in the area have this same consultation before granting you a new appointment, but I called another doctor after the mix up and they said I could come straight in for an exam, no consultation session needed. read more

I have only had one interaction with GIMG. I just attempted to make an appointment with them over the phone from my office. The receptionist was extremely rude and even confrontational. When I asked if It was possible for me to avoid discussing sensitive medical information with her over the phone, due to the fact that I was at my office, she said "No. You have to tell me now, we don't do general appointments". She seemed offended that I even asked. It seems that they are more interested in their procedures than accomodating their patients.This was extremely unprofessional and has left a very poor impression of their office on me before I have even walked through the door. read more

Healthcare in the DMV seems to be going to this sort of format of a lot of doctors practicing in a group. When I first went here it was clear it is a profit first sort of place. I understood that and had no problem with it. They would see you quickly, write prescriptions freely and get you on your way. I have stopped going there now since the wait time for appointments has become incredible. I called in mid-March and they told me I could see a doctor in August. I typically don't want to make my doctors' appointments five months ahead of time. Also, to make an appointment you have to call and deal with being on hold for 5-20 minutes. Just a terrible all around operation at this point. read more