I understand there are some positive reviews and, I'm guessing that most people needing basic…read moretreatment would walk in and out feeling that they had a good experience, but after what my wife and I went through, on every level, I would warn those needing quality and professional therapy that they might want to look elsewhere. If there is insurance coverage or an insurance settlement involved, expect the prices to be tremendously increased from what a cash pay client can expect -It may seem harmless to you, since insurance is paying, but it's that much less settlement you get, that much faster you reach the limit, and that much more you have to pay if insurance won't cover for any reason. If insurance won't pay, our experience was that Advanced Physical Medicine will not suddenly reduce your bill to normal rates.
We went there looking for treatment and pain relief following a terrible rear end collision, and instead walked out with an enormously inflated bill of $15,000 - about double the initial quote, plus some additional pain. The $15,000 therapy fell quite short of success as my wife still can't turn her neck past a certain point and she developed a new pain in her chest that she felt may have been related to the adjustments. She brought up the issue of the new pain, but it was swept aside and ignored. She still feels pain in her chest.
Dr. Berkey seemed like a really nice guy at first, and he assured us that he understood the limitations of the insurance coverage and would work to keep the cost within those limitations (we have this in writing), but when the treatment was over, the final bill was double the estimated quote intended to stay within the insurance budget.
Instead of working to keep the cost within affordability, Dr. Berkey seemed to add very dubious charges at every opportunity.
We found that five short conversations during the scheduled Physical Therapy visit (also billed separately) were charged at $190 each as "Consultations". She did not make an appointment for these billable "consultations" - they were happening without her knowledge.
Reusable ice packs placed on our necks were billed at $35 every time. If you walk in off the street for a massage it would cost you $35, but in our "insured" case, Dr. Berkey ramped it up to $210. Thirty seconds of adjustments at $60 each, aside from which, to this day there are also "Manual Therapy" charges at $60 each that were never explained. These higher alternate prices were never disclosed to us when we began treatment.
From my experience, the therapy itself seems nothing more than a standard cookie cutter routine with very little effort on their part. You go through simple exercises on your own while they do other things. It was the same for both me and my wife, despite the fact that we had different injuries. I had a very specific area of pain, but nothing targeted was ever done to help it and it did not improve. They popped our neck and back exactly the same each time, and I have to assume that everyone else gets the same undifferentiated treatment. Most of the excercises are so basic you can look them up online and do them yourself.
We have tried to speak to Dr. Berkey to get an explanation about the enormous bill and were completely stonewalled in ridiculous runarounds of logic. When he eventually began responding to our emails, it was pretty hostile. When we asked to come in and speak to him, we were told that they had invested enough time in us already. The office does not return our calls, and we were told that requests for records are billed at $25 each.
It has become such a lousy situation. We went to Advanced Physical Medicine looking for treatment and pain relief, but Dr. Berkey sees it as an opportunity for a cash grab. It's just a bad bad experience.
So understand that at the very least, Advanced Physical Medicine has two sets of prices and they differ greatly. If you go there, especially in an insurance situation, demand to know exactly how much every single thing costs. From before the second you walk in, do not take any conversations for granted as free, and analyze every single charge.
We are currently in the process of filing complaints to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
