AVOID THIS DOCTOR AT ALL COSTS.
THE ONE PARAGRAPH SUMMARY: He doesn't do a full work-up, tries to push pills without explaining their potentially hazardous effects, refuses to give you access to your medical records, and tries to bring you in for as many visits as possible to get more money.
I had Dr. Ravi Prakash as both a PCP and Cardiologist (which isn't actually a legal possibility, but they didn't tell me that).
From my first physical exam (visit 1), I noticed something was off. He didn't use a tongue depressor when checking my throat and didn't check my ears or nose AT ALL despite my previous history of sinus procedures (I didn't even see an otoscope in his office). He didn't check full inhales/exhales when using the stethoscope, but just touched the stethoscope over my shirt for less than a second from front to back.
When I mentioned my balloon sinuplasty and how it felt like my sinuses had re-inflamed, Dr. Prakash simply recommended I take Sudafed daily for the rest of my life (no joke, I literally asked for him to clarify if this was what he meant and he asserted he had been doing that)
THE REAL ISSUES:
Because of regularly reoccurring chest pain I'd had for the last ~4 years, I had a stress EKG + Ultrasound done which revealed some abnormalities in hearbeat (visit 2) and later scheduled a second appointment to have a Holter monitor (24/hr ECG) approved and attached to me (visit 3). I had some additional bloodwork run, and after dropping my Holter monitor back off, returned a week later for my scheduled appointment (visit 4).
On this last visit, the doc looked at my bloodwork and said there were no extra clues because there were no abnormalities. He then began prescribing some medication for the pain. After clarifying that I didn't want any pain meds, he clarified that the medication would hopefully prevent the pain. When I asked what the medication would do, he said something along the lines of "it should make your heart beat less strongly." When I expressed concern that such a medication sounded dangerous, he didn't elaborate on the reason why he wanted to prescribe the medication, but instantly just crossed out and said "Nevermind, we won't do this then."
Note: He tried to prescribe this medicine BEFORE he had looked at my Holter monitor results.
After crossing out the medication, he started talking about how we should schedule ANOTHER appointment to review my Holter monitor results (which I had turned in a week before). When I expressed that I was expecting to be going over all my results today for a final diagnosis as I had turned in the Holter monitor a week before, he said they had JUST started scanning the Holter to pull the data and it wouldn't be ready (and I QUOTE) "not everyone can be as fast as you" which was EXTREMELY rude. As he abruptly thanked me for coming in and shook my hand as he tried to leave, the nurse came in with my Holter scan. Nothing had showed up abnormal from that scan either, so he scheduled another appointment three months out to see if the issue would resolve itself (which it hadn't in the last 4 years).
When I asked for a copy of my tests and medical report (which had prices listed on the wall in his office), he told me that I couldn't have a copy of my medical records, but could only provide me the opportunity to take pictures of my chart (which he was rushing me to take and was deterring my ability to photograph all my records). After I later asked the nurse if I could retake a picture of my chart because one of the pictures didn't turn out, I overheard the doctor telling her in a low voice to not let me have it.
VIOLATION OF Individuals' Right under HIPAA to Access their Health Information 45 CFR § 164.524
This all doesn't include the issues with billing I had which... Is a story for another time. read more