I've been receiving my routine OB GYN-related care from this clinic for 12 years at this point. They are great if you:
1. Like having your provider leave every few years, for zero continuity from one annual exam to the next
2. Prefer your provider to ignore the latest best practices from ACOG
3. Enjoy enduring endless hassles and headaches every time you want to refill a prescription
4. Really like waiting on hold, with a voice interrupting the hold music every minute or two to say, "We apologize for the delay. Please continue holding for the next available representative" so that you can't work and be on hold at the same time
I've been through I want to say at least 3 different providers in 12 years, the latest of which I only saw twice, and I'll need a new one if I continue with this clinic; I hate this.
This clinic also insists on the highest frequency possible of PAP smears and pelvic exams. Routine pelvic exams are no longer recommended by ACOG, and also, I hate them (and really, don't we all?), but getting them to let me do a video call annual exam during the pandemic was like pulling teeth. (It's a PANDEMIC, I do not want to go into a HOSPITAL TOWER unless absolutely necessary, and there was nothing about my needs that made that necessary!) Also, in my circumstances, I only need a PAP smear every 5 years, but they're trying to tell me I need one after only 3 years (nope).
As if that wasn't bad enough, I usually end up in frustrated tears every time I need to refill my prescription with these people. They insist the correct way is to have the pharmacy send them a refill request, but I swear to you, not ONCE in TWELVE YEARS has this worked for me. Every time, they call me and leave voicemails wondering if I really intended to refill the prescription (... what?!), and telling me I need to call them back if I want it refilled. Then I play phone tag with them for several days, always with substantial time spent on my part waiting on hold for a receptionist to answer, then they ask some standard questions about whether my health has changed etc. Like, fine, okay, but they never just give me the questions up front--I could answer those in my next call back to them, or via their ONLINE PORTAL (WHY don't they use their online portal for this? Why??? I'm a millenial! I obviously hate talking on the phone! Hello!), but they never do.
The last time this happened, they sent the prescription to a pharmacy I hadn't used in years--I wasn't even aware they had that pharmacy on file for me, that's how long it had been--and even though they had two pharmacies on file, they didn't ASK ME which one was correct, AND they ignored the request the correct pharmacy had sent to them (again... Hello?!). That took a LOT of phone calls to resolve and was an utter nightmare, but at least they deleted the incorrect pharmacy from their system, so I figured the next time should go smoothly.
Ha.
My provider, in her infinite wisdom, decided to give me 9 months of birth control this time, rather than a full year. Then she moved out of state. The clinic again doubted my pharmacy's refill request, left me a mostly-useless voicemail asking me to express my desire for a refill through their online portal instead, then ignored my request through their online portal for several days. I called them today, and after hassling me about how I should have had my pharmacy send them the request (I did), how the nurses should have sent me the questions through the online portal (they did not, and never have), how I should make an appointment with them (it's three months early for that), only THEN did they tell me the prescription could take 7-10 BUSINESS days to process once the nurses actually send me the questions, and I send the answers back. When I explained that I did not have that long, due to an upcoming trip, I was basically told the only way to expedite it would be to schedule an appointment, which 1) seems doubtful, and 2) I do not NEED! I have received no assurances that my request will be handled with any kind of timeliness, or any apology at all--NOTHING. Basically an over-the-phone shrug.
I probably will need to contact a Planned Parenthood to actually get my prescription on time, and then I really just need to buckle down and find a new clinic, because this one is a TRUE NIGHTMARE. read more