Callender Dermatology and Cosmetic Center

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:Their story is not trueI did not expect treatment the first visit because I knew my cyst was infectedWhen the sample medicine the DrGAVE me made My face swell, she as a professional should have scheduled another appointment so she could reassess the situationShe did not and I even asked her when I called the emergency number what will be done since she told me to discontinue the medication and creamI said if the medicine is supposed to clear up the infection and I can no longer take it how will the infection be cleared and will we still be able to proceed with the procedure in a monthShe told me yes we should be able to, it should have cleared up by thenI was skeptical but I took her word because she is supposed to be the professionalWhen I came in for My schedule surgery she prescribed me medication which is what she as a professional should have done a month prior when I had the reactionThat way I would have been ready for my scheduled surgeryMy issue was the response to my reviewI have a right to voice my opinion and I did so in the reviewThe email they sent me, IN MY OPINION was harassment, and very threateningIt doesn't matter how they felt the tone of their email was, harrassing and threatening was how I perceived itI'm sure if their customers knew that there was potential for this business to contact them in the harassing, threatening manner they did me they would not complete a reviewAll of this could have been over if I did not receive that emailI would have never visited that establishment again and everyone could have gone on with their lives Regards, [redacted] ***

[redacted] [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:I also placed a phone call and left a voicemail where they continue to say there is no record of itAdditionally, their website policy and a policy that I signed under a former insurance company are not aligned [redacted]

[redacted] Pursuant to our conversation earlier this morning, Tuesday, August 8, 2017, I am withdrawing my responses to the above referenced complaintI have discussed the matter with the complainant and have resolved the issueThe issue arose because of miscommunication and the complainant is satisfied with the resolution Errol C [redacted] ***

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:Their story is not true. I did not expect treatment the first visit because I knew my cyst was infected. When the sample medicine the Dr. GAVE me made My face swell, she as a professional should have scheduled another appointment so she could reassess the situation. She did not and I even asked her when I called the emergency number what will be done since she told me to discontinue the medication and cream. I said if the medicine is supposed to clear up the infection and I can no longer take it how will the infection be cleared and will we still be able to proceed with the procedure in a month. She told me yes we should be able to, it should have cleared up by then. I was skeptical but I took her word because she is supposed to be the professional. When I came in for My schedule surgery she prescribed me medication which is what she as a professional should have done a month prior when I had the reaction. That way I would have been ready for my scheduled surgery. My issue was the response to my review. I have a right to voice my opinion and I did so in the review. The email they sent me, IN MY OPINION was harassment, and very threatening. It doesn't matter how they felt the tone of their email was, harrassing and threatening was how I perceived it. I'm sure if their customers knew that there was potential for this business to contact them in the harassing,  threatening manner they did me they would not complete a review. All of this could have been over if I did not receive that email. I would have never visited that establishment again and everyone could have gone on with their lives. 
Regards,
[redacted]

Re: ID [redacted]Dear Ms. [redacted].We are in receipt of your letter dated Monday, December 14, 2015, requesting a response to the complaint filed by Ms. [redacted]. Thank you for the request and for giving us the opportunity to respond. Valerie Callender, MD, PC, formerly Callender Skin and Laser Center, and also known as Callender Dermatology and Cosmetic Center, is a highly ethical, responsive, and patient centric Medical and Cosmetic practice. We have approximately 30,000 patient visits per year and respond to more than 200 patient requests for refund. Refund requests vary in amounts from $10.00 to $4,000.00, and are issued timely, accurately and in the patients preferred refund medium – credit, check, or cash - depending on the original payment. We do not have problems, or complaints, with patient refunds. With respect to Ms. [redacted], she visited our office on December 10, 2014, as she reported in her complaint. Ms. [redacted] is a subscriber to [redacted] – as she asserted in her complaint, but her plan is an HMO Plan, a fact she conveniently omits. Her insurance requires her to a have a referral at the time of her visit. Ms. [redacted] did not have one on December 10, 2014. Our office does not back-date referrals, which is insurance fraud, so we gave Ms. [redacted] the option of rescheduling, or to self-pay. She chose the self-pay option, which has a fee of $185.00 and she made the payment of $185.00. See schedule A. Copy of Patient Financial Responsibility, which Ms. [redacted] signed on her own volition. As far as we were concerned, that was the end of the matter. Any other transactions for this visit were between Ms. [redacted] and her insurance company. Ms. [redacted] filed a claim with her insurance company – please note, she filed the claim, we did not – and they mistakenly paid us their allowable amount of $72.01 on February 13, 2015.Because the payment identified Ms. [redacted] as [redacted], and not as [redacted], which is how she was identified in our system, and because it had no unique identifying number – every patient in our system is assigned a unique patient number, the payment sat unprocessed in our database until we were contacted by Ms. [redacted] on October 14, 2015. We admit that it took longer than is normal to research and process her request because of the issues mentioned above. However, On December 9, 2015, we prepared refund check [redacted] for $72.01, payable to Ms. [redacted], as reimbursement for the erroneous payment which we received from [redacted]. Because Ms. [redacted] requested that she pick up the check, she was informed on December 10, 2015, at 5:31pm, at telephone number ###-###-####, that the check was ready for pick up. The check is still sitting at our Front desk as of 11:00am, Tuesday, December 22, 2015. We believe that we have no further obligation to Ms. [redacted] and will pursue all remedies available to us, in law, to protect our reputation. I will be pleased to provide you with any other documentation you require. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.Sincerely,Errol C[redacted] CFO.Enclosures

[redacted] Pursuant to our conversation earlier this morning, Tuesday, August 8, 2017, I am withdrawing my responses to the above referenced complaint. I have discussed the matter with the complainant and have resolved the issue. The issue arose because of miscommunication and the...

complainant is satisfied with the resolution.   Errol C[redacted]

Dear [redacted]:We are in receipt of your letter, dated May 30, 2017, requesting a response to the complaint filed by Patient [redacted].  After reading your submission, we are not sure what the patient is complaining about, or what remedies she is seeking. However, we know that her...

complaint is frivolous, without merit, is sloppy with the facts, deficient in understanding, and malicious in intent.  The patient presented to our office, as a new, first-time patient on April 18, 2017 complaining a “lump or bump” on the left side of her face, which was present for 2 months, and skin discoloration on her face, arms and toes.  [redacted] was under the impression that the skin lesion on her face would be removed on her first visit and without an evaluation. She was diagnosed by Dr. C[redacted] with an Inflamed Cyst which was not ready for surgical removal that day due to the inflammation, and the risk of further infection.  [redacted] was prescribed oral Doxycycline and given samples of a topical cortisone cream  to decrease the inflammation. These medications are commonly used to manage inflammatory skin conditions and are within the standard of care.  The patient was informed that after the Cyst was relieved of the inflammation we would perform the surgery.  The patient was then scheduled for the cyst removal on May 23, 2017.  On Saturday,  April 22, 2017 (after office hours), [redacted] called the answering service to report that she had developed an allergic reaction.  Dr. C[redacted] immediately returned her call and instructed her to discontinue the antibiotic,  and to take Benadryl every 4-6 hours until symptoms were resolved, and she would evaluate her at her next scheduled visit.  In addition, a member of the Nursing staff called her on Monday April 24, 2017 to check on her allergic reaction, and to see what actions were required. She stated that she was feeling much better and the cyst was smaller. It was then determined that there was no need to do anything at that time but to allow the healing to continue. She was told to keep her scheduled appointment on May 23, 2017.[redacted] returned to the office on May 23, 2017 and after a physical exam of the involved area of her face, by Dr. C[redacted], she was advised that the Cyst was not conducive for removal at that time. Although the area was less inflamed and less tender, the cyst margins were not palpable on physical exam and thus the cyst was not ready for complete removal due to residual inflammation of the skin. She was prescribed Zithromycin 500 BID x 5 days, told to restart her topical cortisone cream for the inflammation and to schedule a surgery appointment in 3-4 weeks. It was explained to [redacted] in detail the rational for not performing the surgery at that time due to the potential risk of a hypertrophic scar on her face or recurrence of the cyst if the surgery was performed before proper healing. Patient voiced understanding of the potential complications.After that visit, the patient wrote a review (Copy attached –Patient Review) complaining about her experience at our office. We believe that the patient has every right to complain about her experience. However, we do not believe that the patient’s right extends to falsehoods or libel. In the review the patient described us as “Crooks”. We believe that is going too far, is unwarranted, and a cause for legal action. The patient’s defense for her libelous assertion is that we requested the review and she did not publicly state her assertion. All of our reviews are public information. They are managed by an internationally known patient engagement and reputation company and are posted to our website and other public websites without our input, or influence, or without our control. So they are public information, and the patient’s understanding of these issues is sadly lacking, and is not an excuse for her actions.After reading the review, we wrote to the patient (Copy attached- C[redacted] Response to Review) informing the patient that we had read the review, and inferring, in our response, that her displeasure may have been because of her misunderstanding of what was required for a successful outcome of her condition. But, we also informed the patient that we were very displeased with her labeling us as “crooks”. We informed her that we would refer the matter to our attorneys for further action. We did not harass the patient, we did not threaten the patient, we did not call the patient. We wrote to her once. It should be acknowledged that we have the right to respond to any, every review, if we choose, and to charge patients for every office visit, and bill their insurance, unless it is a Post-Op visit.  We also have a right to pursue any legal remedies against anyone, for just cause, including this patient.After receiving our email of Friday, May 26, 2017, the patient responded (Copy attached –Patient’s Response to Review Response) with a more malignant and malicious intent. She promised to broadcast, on Social Media, and to write reviews on every Medical Review site. It is clear that the patient’s intent is to cause damage to our reputation and our practice. We therefore conclude that the patient’s complaint has no merit. However, we reserve the right to aggressively pursue legal remedies to protect our reputation and our practice. Sincerely, Errol C[redacted]CFOC[redacted] Dermatology & Cosmetic Center[redacted]

Re: ID [redacted]Dear Ms. [redacted]:We are in receipt of your letter dated Monday, December 14, 2015, requesting a response to the complaint filed by Ms. [redacted]-[redacted]. Thank you for the request and for giving us the opportunity to respond. Valerie Callender, MD, PC, formerly Callender Skin and...

Laser Center, and also known as Callender Dermatology and Cosmetic Center, is a highly ethical, responsive, and patient centric Medical and Cosmetic practice. We have approximately 30,000 patient visits per year and respond to more than 200 patient requests for refund. Refund requests vary in amounts from $10.00 to $4,000.00, and are issued timely, accurately and in the patient’s preferred refund medium – credit, check, or cash - depending on the original payment. We do not have problems, or complaints, with patient refunds. With respect to Ms. [redacted]-[redacted], she visited our office on December 10, 2014, as she reported in her complaint. Ms. [redacted]-[redacted] is a subscriber to [redacted] – as she asserted in her complaint, but her plan is an HMO Plan, a fact she conveniently omits. Her insurance requires her to a have a referral at the time of her visit. Ms. [redacted] did not have one on December 10, 2014. Our office does not back-date referrals, which is insurance fraud, so we gave Ms. [redacted]-[redacted] the option of rescheduling, or to self-pay. She chose the self-pay option, which has a fee of $185.00 and she made the payment of $185.00. See schedule A. Copy of Patient Financial Responsibility, which Ms. [redacted] signed on her own volition. As far as we were concerned, that was the end of the matter. Any other transactions for this visit were between Ms. [redacted]-[redacted] and her insurance company. Ms. [redacted] filed a claim with her insurance company – please note, she filed the claim, we did not – and they mistakenly paid us their allowable amount of $72.01 on February 13, 2015.Because the payment identified Ms. [redacted]-[redacted] as [redacted], and not as [redacted], which is how she was identified in our system, and because it had no unique identifying number – every patient in our system is assigned a unique patient number, the payment sat unprocessed in our database until we were contacted by Ms. [redacted] on October 14, 2015. We admit that it took longer than is normal to research and process her request because of the issues mentioned above. However, On December 9, 2015, we prepared refund check [redacted] for $72.01, payable to Ms. [redacted], as reimbursement for the erroneous payment which we received from [redacted]. Because Ms. [redacted] requested that she pick up the check, she was informed on December 10, 2015, at 5:31pm, at telephone number ###-###-####, that the check was ready for pick up. The check is still sitting at our Front desk as of 11:00am, Tuesday, December 22, 2015. We believe that we have no further obligation to Ms. [redacted]-[redacted] and will pursue all remedies available to us, in law, to protect our reputation. I will be pleased to provide you with any other documentation you require. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.Sincerely,Errol C[redacted] CFO.Enclosures

This is a frivolous complaint that has no merit.  The facts are straight forward.  Patient, who has a history of cancellations and missed appointment, having cancelled 10 of her last 16 appointments, that is a 63% cancellation rate,  scheduled an appointment for Monday, June 19...

 at  10:00 a.m. On Saturday, June 17, at 11:59 a.m the patient sent an email to cancel her appointment. At the time of sending the email the patient was aware that her cancellation did not meet our requirements for cancellation without attracting a fee. Our policy is very explicit on the time requirements and exclusions relating to cancelled and missed appointments. The policy was presented to the patient when it was introduced and the patient consented to the policy by signing it.I have attached a copy of the patient cancellation email and the Cancellation policy that she signed. Errol C[redacted]

[redacted]
 [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:I also placed a phone call and left a voicemail where they continue to say there is no record of it. Additionally, their website policy and a policy that I signed under a former insurance company are not aligned. 
[redacted]