I have visited Dr. Zober's a total of 4 times beginning November 2013 with my most recent…read moreappointment in mid-March.
Each of my appointments have been to check out moles and perform biopsies. This was encouraged by my primary doctor since I had a few moles and spots that had seemingly darkened since my last check-up with them.
Because I was unfamiliar with the dermatologists in the area, my primary doctor went ahead and just picked one for me. Dr. Zober was approved by my medical group, so I scheduled an appointment in mid-October. When I called, the receptionist was nice, however, she said that because I was a new patient it would be about a month before I could get in to be seen.
Come the end of November 2013, I finally had my preliminary, and rather thorough, appointment with the Dr. Zober. My appointment was at 9 AM, but I realized the doors were shut at about 8:30 that morning. I wasn't sure how much paperwork I needed to fill out so I got there pretty early. (Much of the parking lot, by the way, was filled to the max.) It wasn't until 8:45 that the office opened their door, but that was right after I called to make sure that I was in the right place.
From the time that I signed in and was asked for my copayment until the moment that they called me back, about 20 to 30 minutes transpired for each appointment. (They only accept checks or cash for copayments.) My first visit, though, took about 40 minutes before I could see the doctor.
I waited at least another 10-30 minutes to actually see Dr. Z each time I was called back. This is not a new phenomenon within the medical field, but dermatology?
Meeting Dr. Z, I had already lowered my expectations based on the first two horrible Yelp reviews. I don't let doctors get away with bad bedside manners or rushed visits, though. My entire thesis for my masters degree encompassed the communication between patients and the wide array of caregivers, so no issues there. In fact, I already knew what she was most likely going to tell me... more biopsies & more follow-ups. My dad says, sure, more money for them. Probably so, but I feel better about getting checked.
The issue I had/have with any and all doctor's office comes from the lack of communication between the front office (in this case Dr. Z's office staff) & my medical group. Not wantingly, I had to switch insurance companies halfway through my visits to Dr. Z. I called my medical group to verify authorizations from my primary doctor to continue seeing Dr. Z. Even they dropped the ball on me several times with other specialists so that's a separate issue. But what irked me was when I called Dr. Z's office to ask THEM if there was anything else I needed to do after a certain point. They said no, just to schedule a new appointment and they would ensure I was authorized. I thought everything was hunky dory until I show up for my most recent appointment and a lady from the front desk yells out my name roughly 20 minutes after I had already been sitting there and says, "we're sorry, but currently do not have any insurance." Did they think they were doing me a favor by announcing out loud in front of a room full of other (granted OLD) patients in the waiting room about this issue because I had a nine-month-old baby with me? All I wanted was the results from my biopsies which were over two months ago at that point. I had already twice explained to those ladies that we couldn't do anymore biopsies or anything pertaining to medication on my skin since I was having a second pregnancy - I just wanted the results from the previous biopsies and nobody would tell me any information. So, it took me saying this out loud in front of the entire waiting room to get results. "Without insurance," I was told I could go ahead and meet with Dr. Zober about my results. That took a whopping 1 minute for her to recheck those areas, tell me that one was benign, and another was a vascular lesion and I had nothing to worry about.
I have plenty of time to reconsider whether or not I want to go back to this office, but the relationship I have established with Dr. Z is mostly copacetic. She did a good job on my biopsies and did not butcher my skin.
I can deal with the incompetent tendencies from my primary doctor's office and my medical group (& I have already resolved this--they were just slower than usual processing everything perhaps thanks to the political arena surrounding health insurance) since they are not directly related to Dr. Z's office, however, I would have appreciated a little more disclosure and professionalism from the front office staff. If they have an issue, next time they should call me up to the front as most staff do everywhere else, and present me with some solutions instead of yelling out "my problems" in front of other patients. I would also appreciate them following up on what they said they would do for me instead of just treating me like a number.
Review #231