Worst experience ever. This podiatrist was a horrible waste of my time, and it cost me much more money than I ever anticipated. I write this not to rant, but as a public service.
Imagine that you are a man on a fixed income, with Medicare. You discover one day that you have problems caring properly and comfortably for your toenails. You decide you should see a podiatrist. You've never seen a podiatrist before, so this is an entirely new medical experience for you. Checking your medical plan's in-network providers, you pick Seema Fatima DPM (in Orange City, FL) and make an appointment. Little do you know that this new experience would end in great financial pain.
My office visit in April was very short. Dr. Fatima spent about 10-15 minutes with me in the exam room (that is my estimation of the time), even though this was my first visit with her--and my first visit with any podiatrist. She said a few words to me and then looked at my feet and toenails; she then proceeded to clip a couple of nails, placing the clippings in a small plastic baggie. Without telling what she was going to do with my nail clippings (more on this later), instead said she wanted me to fill a prescription for a medicated foot bath. The prescription was for a compounded medication from a pharmacy in Tennessee. A phone number was provided on the written prescription she gave me. Then she said goodbye and left the room. That was the extent of my brief meeting with Seema Fatima DPM. A med assistant came in shortly thereafter and trimmed my toenails. Later, at home, I phoned the Tennessee pharmacy to inquire about the prescription foot bath. They wanted $95, and it would NOT be covered by my Medicare plan. I declined the foot bath. That's the summary of my visit in April.
I thought it was strange that she chose an out-of-state pharmacy, when a local pharmacy surely could have done the same compounding. But wait, there's more. Now it's August, and I received a bill in the mail from another out-of-town provider--this time a medical lab--for $500! This, they proclaimed, was my share of a $1,125 bill for "Surgical Pathology, gross & microscope" plus "Special stains, etc." That was where she sent my nail clippings. Surprise! And the out-of-town lab was NOT in my network. I was never advised of that very expensive lab expenditure and would not have agreed to it--or at least would have demanded an in-network provider had I been properly informed.
I have my own suspicions as to why Seema Fatima DPM would send prescriptions and lab work to out-of-town (also out-of-state) and also out-of-network pharmacies and laboratories, but I will not voice those suspicions here.
Can you guess why I refuse to return to Seema Fatima DPM as a podiatrist? Think carefully before you make your choice of podiatrist, especially if you want to avoid financial harm.
Although the text of the Hippocratic Oath does not contain the exact phrase, the very heart of the oath is summed up in "Do no harm" and in the physician's duty to use medicine as a tool for healing, not for hurt. Shame. read more
