I had been going to this medical practice for a few years before deciding to seek care elsewhere. I have seen both Dr. Joseph and Dr. Sinha, who are both attentive and have great bedside manner. However, the front desk staff, particularly Ms. Doreen, needs to be re-trained in how to address patients in a professional manner. She has been extremely rude and condescending towards me on a number of visits to the office. The first incident occurred when I called seeking a referral to see a specialist. She agreed to complete the referral and placed me on hold; however, she forgot to actually mute the phone/press the hold button. So I overheard her complain to staff that she is tired of having patients call last minute for referrals. So when she returned to the phone I informed her that I heard her complaint and don't appreciate being talked about in that manner. I asked her isn't it her job to handle the referrals??? Instead of apologizing for her unprofessional behavior she became loud, abrasive, and defensive. She repeatedly yelled into the phone that she does not have to take referrals at the last minute. My response was that she could have found a polite way to inform me of this (because I genuinely did not know that it was an issue), instead of begrudgingly completing the task and making me feel like a nuisance. Instead of complaining to staff, inform patients of what office protocol is. Something like, "I will complete this referral for you today as a courtesy; however, moving forward blah, blah, blah". I would have had no issue with such a response. Apparently, this went over her head because on my next visit there, instead of speaking to me privately, again in a rude manner, she reiterated her statements in front of the entire office-patients and staff, alike. Instead of responding to her I contacted the office manager, whose brief and meager responses made her seem wholly uninterested in anything I had to say; however, she ended the conversation by stating that she would address my complaint with Ms. Doreen. Anyway, Ms. Doreen continued her unprofessional behavior (I guess she was upset that I complained) during follow-up visits, she barely acknowledged my presence whenever I approached the front desk and refused to make eye contact with me when I needed to check in or out or request medical documents. So I complained to Dr. Sinha, who was very nice, but reiterated Ms. Doreen's point that last minute referrals are indeed a hassle for front desk staff, missing my point entirely that had I been informed of that instead of having to overhear front desk staff complain about it, the encounter would have gone more smoothly. In the end, I decided to stop visiting the practice because each subsequent interaction with Ms. Doreen became increasingly uncomfortable. It came to a point where I dreaded having to see her when I had to stop at the front desk and always hoped to see one of the other, friendlier staff who worked there. The overall experience left me feeling like an undervalued patient. read more
