My experience with Dr. Romello's office was extremely disappointing…read more
At my four-week follow-up appointment after completing physical therapy and an initial course of prednisone and anti-inflammatory medication for a back injury, Dr. Romello seemed to be in a tremendous rush. The visit felt rushed from start to finish, and he left the exam room almost immediately. He prescribed Lyrica and instructed me to ignore the directions on the prescription bottle and instead follow his verbal instructions--but he never actually gave me those instructions.
I was also told that the next step would be submitting an MRI request to my insurance company for prior authorization. The following day, I received a call from Georgia, who handles insurance authorizations, telling me that my MRI had been denied because I needed to complete six weeks of physical therapy. When I asked what the insurance company specifically required, she said she didn't know and that it was up to the physical therapist.
Wanting clarification, I contacted my insurance company directly. They informed me that they had never received an MRI authorization request from the doctor's office. While I was on the phone, they contacted the office, which confirmed that no request had been submitted and that the six-week physical therapy requirement was actually the office's policy--not an insurance denial as I had been told.
I immediately left Georgia a voicemail. She returned my call at 7:45 a.m., which I felt was an inappropriate time, and stated that the authorization had been submitted and was pending. When I called her back, she repeatedly interrupted me, insisted I was wrong, and again claimed the authorization was still pending and would likely be denied. By that point, however, my insurance company had already called to inform me that the MRI had been approved.
To make matters worse, when the authorization was finally submitted, it listed the wrong imaging facility--even though I had told the office twice which facility I wanted to use. This was yet another example of the office not listening to the patient and failing to communicate accurately.
In my opinion, the repeated miscommunication, conflicting information, failure to provide complete medication instructions, and lack of attention to important details created an experience that felt both dangerous and negligent. Patients rely on their healthcare providers to communicate accurately and coordinate their care. Instead, I was forced to verify information myself with my insurance company to determine what was actually happening.
Patients dealing with painful injuries deserve clear communication, accurate information, and honesty throughout the treatment process. Unfortunately, that was not my experience.
