I waited FIVE WEEKS for an appointment at Melrose Internal Medicine to establish care with a PCP…read more My appointment was scheduled for September 2nd at 3:30 PM, and I arrived early as requested. I specifically explained when scheduling the appointment that this was not simply a routine visit. My OBGYN referred me for a CT scan on JULY 16th due to dysfunctional bleeding and persistent lower-left abdominal pain, but because of my insurance requirements, I needed to establish with a PCP in order to obtain the necessary referral. I made all of this VERY clear when I scheduled.
Despite the urgency, I waited the five weeks. I also took a HALF DAY OFF FROM WORK and lost wages in order to attend this appointment.
When I arrived, the receptionist told me I did not have an appointment. I immediately showed her my appointment confirmation. At that point, the explanation suddenly changed: now I supposedly DID have an appointment, but it had been "rescheduled."
I told her very clearly that I NEVER rescheduled it.
Then the story changed AGAIN. She claimed she had called me on August 27th. I pulled out my phone and checked my call history and voicemails. Nothing.
Then she claimed she had emailed me. I pulled up my email. I have several emails from this practice, but conveniently, NOT ONE informing me that my appointment had been canceled or needed to be rescheduled.
Then, unbelievably, she claimed she had called me FROM HER PERSONAL CELL PHONE. She began rapidly scrolling through her own call history trying to find evidence that she had contacted me. She couldn't.
She then checked the office phone. Again, she couldn't locate a call to me. At that point, she claimed the office phone "only logs calls for 24 hours," despite the fact that I could literally see older calls displayed on the phone.
At this point, the issue was no longer simply a scheduling mistake. Mistakes happen. What was completely unacceptable was watching the explanation repeatedly change every time I was able to demonstrate that the previous explanation wasn't true.
No appointment...appointment was rescheduled ... we called you ...we emailed you ... I called you from my personal cell ...the office phone doesn't keep the records.
Which one is it?
I was then told I could "have a seat" while she waited to speak with her manager. When I directly asked whether I was actually going to be seen by the doctor that day, the answer was NO. I was then told they could "accommodate" me the following day.
That is NOT accommodating a patient.
Accommodating me would have been recognizing that YOUR OFFICE apparently mishandled my scheduled appointment, that I had confirmation of the appointment, that I had waited five weeks, that I had taken unpaid time away from work, and that I was trying to obtain follow-up care for an unresolved medical issue dating back to JULY 16TH -- and finding a way to make it right.
Telling me to lose additional time from work and come back another day because of YOUR scheduling problem is not an accommodation.
What makes this even worse is that I had difficulty with this SAME receptionist when I initially tried to schedule the appointment. I overlooked that experience because I needed a PCP and was willing to give the practice a chance. Clearly, that was a mistake.
I can tolerate an administrative error. What I cannot tolerate is being given one explanation after another as each previous explanation falls apart, particularly when I am standing there with the appointment confirmation, my call history, my voicemail, and my emails in front of me.
Patients entrust medical practices with their HEALTH. At the absolute minimum, they should be able to expect basic professionalism, accurate scheduling, accountability when an error occurs, and honest communication.
Instead, after waiting FIVE WEEKS, delaying an already-needed medical referral, and losing wages to attend the appointment, I left without ever seeing a physician.
If this is how a brand-new patient is treated before they even make it into an exam room, I have absolutely no confidence in how this office manages actual patient care.
I would NEVER recommend this practice based on my experience.
