I had quite a journey with RMA and am ultimately landing on a review between 4 and 5 stars. It's…read morehard for any practice to achieve perfection in fertility treatment - there are so many interactions and variables. I visited RMA over 25 times during my care across 3 different locations. But overall, it came together well and I left feeling like RMA was in my corner and delivered on their promise. I'm very grateful to them for helping us.
Doctors
Our initial interactions with RMA doctors were not good. Some of the older doctors in the practice are very condescending and controlling - one said some very offensive things to us. Stuff that would make your jaw drop. We considered terminating care but ultimately contacted the practice manager who took our concerns very seriously and we switched to another RMA doctor who we liked right away. This doctor created a very personalized treatment plan and helped us make the right choices at each stage of the process. He also kept me safe through very close monitoring during a very long IVF stim process where I was at very high risk of OHSS and had 10 visits in 14 days.
Financial counseling
RMA has a robust financial counseling department that gave us accurate information about our costs and took swift action with preapprovals and insurance. In addition, I had to submit some appeals to my insurance and they produced supportive materials / letters swiftly. I received an insane bill from a third party for the anesthesia and they were on it right away - it was a mistake.
Our personal financial breakdown:
Procedures and appointments $25 copays
PGT testing $3000 (optional)
Embryo biopsy $1700 (optional)
Meds $2200
Insurance paid for everything else
Nursing and medical assistant care
We had good interactions with nurses and MAs and some of the MAs started to treat us like friends over time. One area that could use improvement is the prior authorization process for drugs - this is managed by MAs and there is no direct line to patients for questions and concerns. "You can't speak to them but we can pass along a message." I had a complex situation (two insurances with different rules) and really needed personalized help. I eventually - through sheer willpower - figured out who to speak to and their email address (and they were happy to help) and got them to submit the right authorizations but by then it was too late. I paid $2200 out of pocket for my meds and the next week an insurance approval letter arrived. Nothing was reimbursed because the approval came too late.
Focus on patient comfort
IVF treatment is not comfortable but it doesn't have to be traumatic and you should be in control. At RMA in my experience, if you don't advocate for yourself, you may find yourself in physically uncomfortable situations, usually mild but it was definitely upsetting for me at times. For example, if you prefer to insert the ultrasound wand or if you want Valium for procedures - you will have to know to ask. I expressed that I didn't want to do 9 weeks of IVF progesterone shots and my doctor agreed to do a natural cycle - had I not asked, it might not have been offered. Some doctors at RMA don't do any natural cycles. I also turned down the hysteroscopy procedure because of anticipated discomfort and they were not happy - I had to really put my foot down. Eventually they offered to do it under anesthesia to try to convince me, I still said no. My mock transfer and FET transfer were also tricky, taking almost 20 minutes each, and they did present me with options like Valium and even anesthesia for the FET after the mock transfer left the doctor sweating but I had to ask.
One other thing I noticed that really bothered me is that the receptionist asks male patients dropping off sperm if they've abstained from sex SO LOUDLY that everyone in the waiting room can hear. Give the guy a little privacy, come on.
Communication
I was pleased with the communication processes from RMA. There are multiple ways to receive your results and there is always someone to answer your questions. If they say they're going to call, they always do. Instructions for medication administration are thorough and you always know what to expect.
Overall result
RMA delivered on their promise and got me pregnant with one round of IVF, which is what they expected (they said it was about a 70% chance per round if you do PGT testing). I would recommend them to other patients with the caveat that you should have a perspective on what you want, pick the doctor that suits you, and stick up for yourself.
