I would give negative 300 (-300) stars to Katzen Eye Group if I could. On Friday, May 21, 2021, I visited the Lutherville location. I met with Dr. Katzen himself. The visit went well enough until he determined that I wasn't a lasik candidate, and that my "only option would be cataract surgery". Sound enough advice but the referral to Dr. Booth at the Reisterstown office was a complete misstep. And I think he knew, with the statement, "if insurance won't cover it, it will be costly". That was the start of what I'll call: the Katzen micro-aggressions.
On Wednesday, June 23, I went to Katzen's Reisterstown's location. It started with the technician that performed the eye tests. The belittling small talk - "your hair it looks long, does it take a long time to do" and my appearance - "that's a nice bag, it looks expensive". Then I meet Dr. Booth, who explains that cataract surgery would correct my vision issue, but insurance won't cover it, and it is a costly out of pocket expense; "I wouldn't be able to pay for it out-of-pocket - could you" she asks me. I state that no one has given me a cost for the surgery so, I don't know. She goes on to say that it is expensive (again), and she thinks "I can find better things to do with that money, oh and today's visit won't be covered by insurance. Can you pay for today?" I reply that "when I'm informed of the price, we will see". I go on to meet with the scheduling coordinator, who finally provides prices for the surgery. The visit is over and I'm ready to leave. I go to the front receptionist who runs my credit card for $30 insurance copay and gives me a receipt and card back. When the technician comes to the front with my file and says, "the doctor says insurance won't cover today, she has to pay out of pocket". With that the reception looks stumped and says what. The technician repeats, and the receptionist turns to me, takes my card again and runs the card for $270.00 and gives me the small receipt from the card reader. At this point we all know that this visit was not above board and I state that I need an itemized receipt. To this the receptionist replies that she's busy with other patients and "can I call back later, billing can assist you with that". After all of this I'm emotionally drained and don't want to be the black woman causing a scene, so I leave.
Per the receptionist's instructions I called the office number back 5 times to no avail. Each time I was transferred to the billing department, where I got a voicemail instructing me to leave a message. On November 15, when I called, the receptionist gave me the direct number to the billing department. I have left an additional 3 voicemails from calling that number, with each voicemail the leading message states that they return phone calls in 2 business days. To date, I have not received a return phone call nor the requested itemized receipt.
A few options could have made my experience with this office less aggravating. The first, I find unfortunate in having to say, is to train physicians and staff on how to speak to patients no matter their race, which includes understanding micro-aggression.
The second, I should have been informed prior to my appointment that the office did not participate with my insurance and that I would be responsible for the visit but be given an itemized receipt (which I requested at the time of visit and have yet to receive) to see if I can be reimbursed by my insurance.
Or third, I could have been provided with the CPT and ICD codes to verify prior to my visit that it would not be covered, and after visit to verify that cataract surgery is not covered by my insurance as well. read more