I would give him a negative star if I could. I had my worst "doctor's" appointment today than ever (and I have had plenty). I'm a new patient, so about a week ago, Al Perry sent me his open calendar system and told me to "manage my own appointments online". So I did. Because of my hectic schedule (full time job and a 2 year old), I had to change the appointment time twice (all changes were made on appts 7+ days later, and I sticked to my final appointment time all this week without any changes).
Upon coming to his office, he told me with a stern face that because of my changes back then, I had cost him $180 since two other patients can't use the slots. He then summarized by saying "This is not a good start. I do not like you."
First off, how is this possible? I didn't keep the old slots (you have to cancel one to reschedule). Anyone could have logged into his system and grabbed the time these whole 7 days, if they had really wanted the appt.
Secondly, if you trade off using an actual assistant with an online calendar system, this is what's gonna happen. If there were an real person, I would have called in and made the changes anyway, just that you wouldn't know it. If you have rules about using your system, you should have stipulated that "you can't change your appt more than twice, and if you give me a 7-day cancellation notice, that's considered too late and unacceptable".
Thirdly, and most importantly, this is not how you treat your patient, or people. I was confused and speechless for about 5 minutes while he was accusing me of my wrongdoings and was eventually sitting there in tears. I'm never someone who picks on a doctor's bedside manner - if you are a neurosurgeon, I couldn't care less of it. But you are someone people come to for chronic pain - I expect this person to have a caring heart. The way I was treated made me seriously doubt his qualifications and professionalism.
I then checked his qualifications online. He claims to be a "CMQT" - I think it means something Qigong Therapy. Being a Chinese, I know that Qigong is not widely accepted as a medical practice even in China. There are many, many other doctors in the area who are better accredited (Doctors of Physical Therapy, or actual MDs), who specialize in treating chronic pain and have 30+ good reviews on Yelp. Look on, you will find them. I'd rather try them first than someone who's so unreasonable, harsh, and unprofessional. read more
