My daughter had been a patient of Dr. Salansky's for years. She recently had an appointment and arrived at the doctor's office on time. The doctor refused to see her and put her out of the office because of confusion--on their part-- over her insurance coverage. The details of the situation follow, for those that are interested in the story; but it is important that you know that my daughter was a regular patient of the doctor's for years, arrived on time, had never missed a prior appointment, and always paid our bills promptly when due. My daughter felt humiliated and confused by this experience and is not will not be returning to this doctor's office again.
If you are interested in the circumstances, they are as follows: My daughter arrived at her appointment on time. They informed her that her insurance was no longer valid (a mistake on their part) and asked her for new insurance info. She did in fact have a new policy, having aged out of our plan, but at the time of her appointment, was covered by both policies. Since the doctor was not on her new individual plan, there was some confusion. My daughter offered to self pay until we could get the insurance details worked out, but the office manager told her she would not be able to work anything out because no changes could be made to her insurance policy for a year (this is incorrect; it is not a marketplace plan, it was a private insurance plan that can be modified) and she was informed by the office manager that too much time had been spent on her insurance details and she had missed her appointment. They actually put her out of the office. The doctor refused to see her. They were rude and condescending to my daughter. When I followed up with a phone call later in the day with the office manager, she lied about the circumstances. First she told me she was late; but she had called me from the doctor's office when the first question about the insurance came up and I had the time stamped on my phone. It was 2 minutes after her scheduled appointment time. When I told her that was not true, then she said "she came to her appointment without her insurance card!" as if that was some major offense. Even though it turns out they already had the correct insurance information on file, I emailed a picture of her new insurance card, that had just arrived in the mail, four minutes after her scheduled appointment time. Then she said they offered her a "self-pay" option, but she refused. Again, a lie because she asked me when we talked at 10:04 if it was okay to self pay, and I told her that would be fine and to just use her change card. Then they said that the ensuing research by their office staff into her insurance matter took 20 minutes, and she had missed her appointment. They said they offered to see her "one more time" but she would have to come back later in the day. Since she was reporting to work after her appointment, that was not possible.
In all my years I have NEVER been turned away from a doctor's appointment. There is absolutely no reason for them to have treated my daughter this way, other than perhaps they were running behind and wanted to get rid of patients in the waiting room. When I spoke to them later in the day after having confirmed that the original policy was still in force in effect, they offered no explanation, no apology, just the lies reiterated above. Their behavior was absolutely shocking and unprofessional. My daughter does have a condition that requires continued care, so now we are left scrambling to find another PC doctor before her prescriptions run out. read more
