First, the good: (1) Dr. Haider has been our daughter's eye doctor for several years and when you finally get in to see her, she is absolutely fantastic. She is smart, professional, and very good with kids and we think she did an exceptional job with our daughter's vision treatment over the years. I would recommend her and would continue to use her - if she were working for a different organization - one that was actually organized and patient-focused; and (2) the staff working in the eyeglass fitting area were always pleasant and good to work with. This is the only part that earns this place 2 stars. I'd give Dr. Haider 5 stars and Midwest Eye Institute negative 10 stars if possible. Math was never my strong suit so I ended up landing on 2 stars.
Now, the bad: I've had glasses and contacts my whole life. As a result, I've gone to many eye doctor offices across different states in which I have lived over the course of several decades. I can honestly say that I've never waited for an appointment for more than 30 minutes to see an eye doctor, and that was the exception, not the rule. Midwest Eye Institute is the exception..... They either have way, way too many patients, or they simply have no idea how to manage them, so plan on waiting for your appointments for *hours* (that's right, hours - not minutes - hours), and the staff handling check-ins could literally not care any less and still have a pulse.
We always try to schedule the first appointment in the morning when their office opens, because this issue has gotten worse over the years and it's the only way to have a chance (albeit slight) to get out of there within a few hours time, but it apparently doesn't matter anymore. We had an 8:45am appointment (originally 8:30, but see below for more on that), and we were still waiting to see the doctor at 10:10am. After about 45 minutes or so and no one having come to give us an update, I checked in again with the front desk staff to make sure we had not been forgotten (as patients who arrived and checked in after us had been seen), and was told we were "still on the list." Once we had been there nearly an hour and half with no one providing us with an update, and couldn't wait any longer (we had another appointment later that morning), I went up to the front staff to respectfully indicate our disappointment and to reschedule. No apologies from the staff. No explanations from the staff. Common decency and common courtesy should dictate at least some form of explanation or apology. We received neither. I guess my expectations are way, way too high (I ask rhetorically)? I mean, just tell me we were going to be next, or just give me a simple "sorry you waited so long." If I showed up an hour and half late for an eye appointment, I assume they would tell me to leave and charge me a missed appointment fee as a parting gift. Likewise, I'm a professional that has paying clients and if I made my clients wait in my office waiting room for nearly an hour and half for a scheduled appointment, I wouldn't have any clients left (in fact, I probably wouldn't be employed). [As an aside, we originally scheduled the appointment for 8:30am (which is when the office opens), but we received a random text message a few weeks before our appointment that Midwest had unilaterally elected to change the time of the appointment to 8:45am. OK, fine. 15 minutes. Not a big deal. We're flexible. But, then don't make us wait for nearly an hour and a half to never see the doctor.]
I'm reminded of the old Seinfeld episode where the rental car company neglected to keep a car available for Jerry and Elaine. Jerry reminds the rental car clerk that literally anyone can just *take* a reservation (waving his arms in the air) - but it's the actual **holding** of the reservation that's really the most important part of the reservation. (If you haven't seen this, check it out on YouTube as it could be one of the best tv clips ever, but I digress.....)
Come on Midwest Eye Institute - do better. If you schedule someone for an 8:45 appointment, at least try to honor that appointment - perhaps even within an hour or so. And if you just can't for some reason (i.e., an emergency with another patient) - OK - then mix in some effort to communicate that to the insurance checks ..... errrr..... I mean .... the patients in the waiting room. Dr. Haider deserves better and so do the people that want to see her who have jobs, lives, and clients of their own.
As for us, we'll just plan on going elsewhere in the future - where hopefully the *holding* of the reservation actually matters. read more