I had high hopes for this office, but I was pretty shocked at the treatment I received here. I loved Dr. Noelle and wasn't going to post my original letter to his office, but after STILL having problems with them, I feel like this is warranted. I apologize for the length of this review, but I hope that it might help someone avoid this horrible office.
This is a list of most of what I went through:
After my repeat CBC on 02.26.2013, I hadn't heard anything for a long period of time and called to check on the results. I spoke to the nurse and she gave me values identical to those in the first test. I thought it highly unlikely that my blood results would be identical and asked her to clarify which date the results were from. She was incredulous at the simple question and became belligerent fairly quickly. The fact is, she gave me the wrong information and refused to admit that she had misspoken. The point of the repeat was to check my iron levels, which she assured me were "fine". Over the course of a 20 minute long conversation, she never once apologized or admitted any mistake. I was just asking a logical question and was really confused as to how she managed to mess up a routine question about results and why she was so irate.
A while later, I was tired of waiting for anyone to contact me with my results and attempted to file a formal complaint and request all of my records. I spoke to quite a few people, and was given more information about my repeat CBC and was told that I needed to come in for a third time for a special iron test that was supposed to be done with the repeat CBC but was forgotten. Despite the improved attitudes, I hit my limit of incompetence. I don't have extensive or complicated medical issues, but I still fell through the cracks. The conversation ended with many apologies and the promise that all of my records would be sent in the mail.
Once again, I waited weeks and didn't receive anything. I called again on 04.04.2013 and was told that I needed to fill out an Authorization Request. That is information that should have been mentioned, but wasn't at all. I filled out and faxed the Sterling office the form the same day (04.04.2013) and called to verify that they had received it. I was told that the record requests are usually processed on Wednesdays and that I could come in any time after the next Wednesday, which was 04.11.2013, and that the records would be ready at $0.50 cents a page.
On 04.16.2013, I physically stopped by the Sterling office to pick up my records and have my blood results addressed. They looked for my paperwork and said that they didn't have it and that if I didn't specify which office I was coming to, it automatically defaulted to the Ashburn office. I was stunned that even though I had called ahead and verified with the receptionist, my records were not there. Moreover, the woman took no responsibility and flatly said to go to the Ashburn office. I had never gone to any office besides the one in Sterling and I couldn't imagine that any office in 2013 would be so backwards as to not be able to access a patient's records or print them. Even so, having records at an office a patient has never visited is another crucial piece of information that was never conveyed to me.
After leaving, I called the Ashburn office to verify. Speaking to the office manager, I was told that the records were not there and that all records are actually processed off site. Once again, every employee has a different story and no one has my records after nearly two months of getting the run-around. She told me to send them the Auth Request and they would mail me my results. I told her that I had indeed faxed it to the Sterling office two weeks prior and confirmed that they had received it, but she was adamant that I had never sent it to them. She told me to fill out the form and send it to them, and then they would send the records to the Sterling office.
I went back to the Sterling office to let them in on what the plan was and fill out the necessary paperwork. I had updated my address before my first physical on 02.26.2013, but my records were still not updated. To keep with the theme of gross incompetence and poor customer service, the woman at the front desk was extremely rude. After two months of dealing with staff incapable of doing their jobs or knowing basic protocol, I filled out my forms and made sure she knew what the office manager had told me was their policy. She was 100% wrong, but decided to argue with me in a condescending and nasty tone. The fact that staff members I spoke to felt so comfortable being wrong and combative with patients only reinforced my desire to get far, far away from this poorly run practice.
As soon as I got home from another argument, I had all of my records (including the Auth. that supposedly didn't exist) in the mail.
There is no reason to go to this terrible place. read more