This is by far, one of the worst providers I have ever been referred to! My first appointment…read moreconsisted of Svetlana Koltin suggesting I purchase about three different supplements from her and attend the Pilates class that she teaches on the side as she moved my arms around (I was being seen for shoulder issues) and made measurement notes. I received no treatment, but was somehow billed for both evaluation and therapeutic exercise in my first visit. I came for a second visit three weeks later, as I was hesitant to return after my first appointment. My treatment in this second appointment consisted of Lauren Leone sitting me in a room with a heating pad that smelled like old, dirty, wet socks for 15 minutes before coming back with three pages of exercises and a used red tension band. She told me which exercise to do and how many reps to complete, then left the room while I did most of the exercises. She seemed completely disinterested in how I was doing the exercises while in the room, so I had to continually ask if I was doing them the correct way. If I had known the extent of my treatment would have been following a worksheet with brief descriptions and pictures, I would have consulted Google and saved myself the copays. It was clear that Lauren was getting ready for the end of her day between her stops in my room to "see how I was doing." I came back for my third appointment and was told that Lauren wasn't going to make it in and that they had called to leave me a message. I checked my phone, and sure enough there was a message an hour before my appointment stating that it had been cancelled. I was very upset by this, so I just walked out and called them a few minutes later to cancel all future appointments with them. As if their sub-par care isn't bad enough, their customer service gets even worse. A few days ago, I received a billing statement from Albany Physical Therapy stating that I owed them money, which was confusing to me as participating providers on my health insurance (PPO plan) cost me a $20 copay for each visit, which I had already paid. I called my health insurance and was informed that no claims had been submitted. When I called Albany Physical Therapy, I was told the receptionist couldn't help with claims information and she'd have the office manager call me back the following day. I got a call from the office manager and I explained the situation to her: a) the billing statement was incomplete b) my insurance provider never received a claim for the first date of service. She spoke over me on several occasions, and when I got tired of that and started to continue speaking over her she got irate and said, "there's nothing else we have to talk about - goodbye" and hung up the phone. I immediately called back and told her I didn't appreciate being hung up on, to which she said, "I didn't hang up on you - I said goodbye. You're obviously a very angry and unhappy person and I have nothing else to help you with." I pressed her on the previously mentioned issues and she blamed my health insurance for processing the claims incorrectly. She also lied and said that she had an EOB for both dates of service (an EOB is only generated when a claim is submitted) She got angry, told me to "stop harassing" her and hung up the phone immediately. I then called my health insurance to find that they not only never submitted the first claim, they also did not submit authorization for treatment which is why I had a remaining balance for the second date of service - it was a penalty for no authorization. This is interesting to me, because the physical therapy office is the one that puts an authorization on file. Meaning, if they don't put an authorization on file, you get billed not only for your copay each visit, but also a $30 charge that appears as "services not covered" (because there is no authorization on file).
Long (LONG) story short, they are not only lazy, outdated, and incompetent healthcare providers, they are also attempting to scam patients coming to them in pain in need of their help and expertise. DO NOT go here, and if you do, please check your statements carefully, as they are most likely billing you/your insurance inappropriately, which is also known as FRAUD.
