Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
Dr. [redacted], of First-Care Family Physicians,
in his response to my complaint, portrays the issue as one centered on
insurance and finances. I am an employee
of a major corporation and have sufficient family health insurance and personal
funds. Payment was never an issue. The issue was being treated as an untimely
inconvenience when I walked in 45 minutes prior to the clinic's posted closing
time with my son, who had suffered a concussion.
Dr. [redacted] asserts that his practice is not
an urgent care center. Yet on First-Care’s
own website they claim to have “extended hours for odd-hour medical issues” including
“treatment of minor emergencies.” Dr.
[redacted] also acknowledges the facility accepts walk-in patients.
The account given to Dr. [redacted] by his staff
member was embellished with exaggerations and outright lies. Dr. [redacted] asserts that I called twice before
arriving at their facility. This is
simply untrue. I made no contact with
First-Care prior to our 8:15pm arrival on August 12th. The staff member also reported I walked in
yelling “Need to get in now!” In fact, we
walked in slowly, as my son was nauseous, and I explained his condition to the
lady at the front desk. To that point I
had no reason to be upset, since I had the expectation we would be welcomed and
my son would receive medical care. There
was no discourse about my insurance card, and I fully expected to provide
First-Care compensation for their services.
I did become upset when the First-Care
representative sighed, looked at the clock, and informed me they normally check
their final patient in at 8:00. Amazed
and upset, I told her (not my son, as she reports) that I would take my son to
the ER. She said nothing as we walked across
the room and out the door. After helping
my son to the car I returned (once, not twice as she reports) and demanded to
speak to a manager. The same lady I had
spoken with informed me she was the manager (In Dr. [redacted]’s response she claims
to have told me there was no manager on duty).
I then angrily stated that I would be filing a complaint and left the
premises.
My disappointment
with Dr. [redacted]’s response cannot be overstated.
My only requested remedy in response to my Revdex.com
complaint was an apology. Instead I
received a lengthy discourse containing defiance, denial, falsehoods, and
character assassination. Judging by this
experience and the discovery of many unfavorable online reviews of First-Care
Family Physicians, my son is fortunate to have received medical care elsewhere.
Regards,
[redacted]
[redacted]
Oct.7.2014
Revdex.com
Attn: Jay Pollock
Dispute Resolution and Advertising Counselor
Re: Complaint [redacted]
Dear Mr. Pollock:
in reviewing the response from Mr. [redacted] I would observe the following:
1. We are, of course, disappointed and sorry that we did not meet his expectations for medical service.
2. The assistant who interacted with him in this matter was the senior level line employee on site at the time and as such the "managerial" level of person he might have had discussion with. She may have implied to him or he may have misunderstood that this was a more responsible level of managerial authority. Our operations manager is Pam Mohr, with whom you have been, in part, corresponding.
3. Although the issue in question was perhaps in Mr, [redacted]'s eyes never about payment, it has been our experience that if we do not address payment issues and insurance coverage early on, there arise matters of great difficulty later if the patient discovers that the visit was not covered. We try to take the appropriate steps to make sure patients do not suffer such surprises, when clinical urgency does not preclude such discussions.
4. We do not have video surveillance or other measures at our disposal to investigate the claim that our staff member's accounts were "embellished with exaggerations and outright lies." I can only respond that the staff members in question have not had prior incidents to arouse suspicion concerning these claims.
5. If in fact, as related by Mr. [redacted], the provision of the information that we normally take in our last patient at 8:00, even if accompanied by a "sigh" seems like somewhat of a small trigger to cause him to leave without further conversation or explanation, return shortly "demanding" to speak with a manager and later "angrily" stating that he would file a
complaint. I don't mean to be excusing any misbehavior on the part of our staff, just observing this based on Mr. [redacted]'s own account.
6. I was unaware of our "many" unfavorable online reviews and did a quick search, finding one of three on "Yelp" which was, in fact, describing a situation quite identical to the one presented by Mr. [redacted], in such detail as to leave me with little doubt as to its source, and accusing the responding physician (myself) of "outright lies and character assassination." I re-read my prior response to you and was unable to spot therein where I had committed these offenses. Nevertheless I do regret that Mr. [redacted] feels this way, but absent a bit more evidence of his claim, would suggest he revise his review to represent an accurate presentation of my response.
Thank you for your attention to this matter and for the work you do protecting the public. If there is additional information I can supply. please do not hesitate to contact me.
Cordially,
[redacted], MD
Managing Partner
First-Care Family Physicians
?
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
To Whom it may concern:
The following is a description of our operation and facility which will inform review of the below
events as reported to me by our staff concerning the...
above complaint. We operate a Family
Practice of Medicine with extended hours at the above location. We bill as a private family
practice, not as an urgent care center and are not contracted with any insurance company as an "Urgent Care". We do not hold ourselves out as an appropriate facility for more serious emergent conditions which might jeopardize life or bodily function. We are privately owned and do not have a financing source for care of individuals without appropriate payment. We are open until 9 p.m. on weekdays and 6 p.m. on weekend days. We recommend appointments but accept walk-in patients for care within the probabilities of being able to render appropriate services within our operating hours. We participate with many but not all insurance programs. It is a necessary part of our operations and appropriate service to our client patients that we determine their insurance coverage so as to advise as to the appropriateness of our facility for their needs. My staff reports the following concerning the events of 8/12/2014. The "Dad" called at 8:00 p.m. stating he needed to "get in" to an Urgent Care facility. Assistant Till explained to him we bill as a Family Practice, not an Urgent Care facility and he should check to be sure his insurance covers services here. At 8:10 p.m. the individual called again informing that he had "googled" First-Care and determined we were an "urgent care". He then hung up. At 8:20 this individual came into the office with his son yelling "Need to get in now!" [redacted] explained that we had taken our 8:00 p.m. appointment patient back for that visit and that the doctor should be available soon. She asked for the appropriate insurance card. Reportedly the patient said to his son: "Come on, we'll go to the ER!" and left the waiting room. Then shortly he came back in complaining of a lack of compassion since his insurance card had been requested. He was told that we could see his son but that we needed his insurance card or information as to how he intended to pay. He left again, then came back in and stated he wanted to "see the manager" and was "filing a complaint." He as informed there was no manager on the premises at that time and left again. Reportedly the physician on duty heard the end of the conversation while exiting the exam room and asked about it, then stated "He'll wait a longer time at the ER!" (The physician on duty is not compensated based on patient volume and is essentially a disinterested party.)
The above constitutes the information I have available to me on this situation from our staff. I
read the complaint as presented from the patient's father and the only additional noted element is the question he was asked as to whether they routinely use our facility. This has obvious
importance relating to an existing record on his son and would be an appropriate question
regardless. Assistant [redacted] has been in our service for many years and is a stable, mature and calm woman who would be highly unlikely to be rude or uncaring toward our patients. Assistant
[redacted] who was also present is relatively new to our service`and tends to be a relatively non-
aggressive individual, usually the "quiet type". The situation of a concussion in an awake and
functioning individual is not a medical problem requiring staff to "drop everything and rush" to
assist. Based on the staff present and the information reported my suspicion is that this is an
entirely patient-generated difficulty with significant exaggeration features. I have no other
explanation to offer. I have received a complaint notification from the [redacted]
as well as the Revdex.com and will not be surprised if we hear further of his
dissatisfaction.
Sincerely,
[redacted], MD, FAAFP
Managing Partner
First-Care Family Physicians
Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because:
Dr. [redacted], of First-Care Family Physicians,
in his response to my complaint, portrays the issue as one centered on
insurance and finances. I am an employee
of a major corporation and have sufficient family health insurance and personal
funds. Payment was never an issue. The issue was being treated as an untimely
inconvenience when I walked in 45 minutes prior to the clinic's posted closing
time with my son, who had suffered a concussion.
Dr. [redacted] asserts that his practice is not
an urgent care center. Yet on First-Care’s
own website they claim to have “extended hours for odd-hour medical issues” including
“treatment of minor emergencies.” Dr.
[redacted] also acknowledges the facility accepts walk-in patients.
The account given to Dr. [redacted] by his staff
member was embellished with exaggerations and outright lies. Dr. [redacted] asserts that I called twice before
arriving at their facility. This is
simply untrue. I made no contact with
First-Care prior to our 8:15pm arrival on August 12th. The staff member also reported I walked in
yelling “Need to get in now!” In fact, we
walked in slowly, as my son was nauseous, and I explained his condition to the
lady at the front desk. To that point I
had no reason to be upset, since I had the expectation we would be welcomed and
my son would receive medical care. There
was no discourse about my insurance card, and I fully expected to provide
First-Care compensation for their services.
I did become upset when the First-Care
representative sighed, looked at the clock, and informed me they normally check
their final patient in at 8:00. Amazed
and upset, I told her (not my son, as she reports) that I would take my son to
the ER. She said nothing as we walked across
the room and out the door. After helping
my son to the car I returned (once, not twice as she reports) and demanded to
speak to a manager. The same lady I had
spoken with informed me she was the manager (In Dr. [redacted]’s response she claims
to have told me there was no manager on duty).
I then angrily stated that I would be filing a complaint and left the
premises.
My disappointment
with Dr. [redacted]’s response cannot be overstated.
My only requested remedy in response to my Revdex.com
complaint was an apology. Instead I
received a lengthy discourse containing defiance, denial, falsehoods, and
character assassination. Judging by this
experience and the discovery of many unfavorable online reviews of First-Care
Family Physicians, my son is fortunate to have received medical care elsewhere.
Regards,
[redacted]
[redacted]
Oct.7.2014
Revdex.com
Attn: Jay Pollock
Dispute Resolution and Advertising Counselor
Re: Complaint [redacted]
Dear Mr. Pollock:
in reviewing the response from Mr. [redacted] I would observe the following:
1. We are, of course, disappointed and sorry that we did not meet his expectations for medical service.
2. The assistant who interacted with him in this matter was the senior level line employee on site at the time and as such the "managerial" level of person he might have had discussion with. She may have implied to him or he may have misunderstood that this was a more responsible level of managerial authority. Our operations manager is Pam Mohr, with whom you have been, in part, corresponding.
3. Although the issue in question was perhaps in Mr, [redacted]'s eyes never about payment, it has been our experience that if we do not address payment issues and insurance coverage early on, there arise matters of great difficulty later if the patient discovers that the visit was not covered. We try to take the appropriate steps to make sure patients do not suffer such surprises, when clinical urgency does not preclude such discussions.
4. We do not have video surveillance or other measures at our disposal to investigate the claim that our staff member's accounts were "embellished with exaggerations and outright lies." I can only respond that the staff members in question have not had prior incidents to arouse suspicion concerning these claims.
5. If in fact, as related by Mr. [redacted], the provision of the information that we normally take in our last patient at 8:00, even if accompanied by a "sigh" seems like somewhat of a small trigger to cause him to leave without further conversation or explanation, return shortly "demanding" to speak with a manager and later "angrily" stating that he would file a
complaint. I don't mean to be excusing any misbehavior on the part of our staff, just observing this based on Mr. [redacted]'s own account.
6. I was unaware of our "many" unfavorable online reviews and did a quick search, finding one of three on "Yelp" which was, in fact, describing a situation quite identical to the one presented by Mr. [redacted], in such detail as to leave me with little doubt as to its source, and accusing the responding physician (myself) of "outright lies and character assassination." I re-read my prior response to you and was unable to spot therein where I had committed these offenses. Nevertheless I do regret that Mr. [redacted] feels this way, but absent a bit more evidence of his claim, would suggest he revise his review to represent an accurate presentation of my response.
Thank you for your attention to this matter and for the work you do protecting the public. If there is additional information I can supply. please do not hesitate to contact me.
Cordially,
[redacted], MD
Managing Partner
First-Care Family Physicians
?
[redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]
To Whom it may concern:
The following is a description of our operation and facility which will inform review of the below
events as reported to me by our staff concerning the...
above complaint. We operate a Family
Practice of Medicine with extended hours at the above location. We bill as a private family
practice, not as an urgent care center and are not contracted with any insurance company as an "Urgent Care". We do not hold ourselves out as an appropriate facility for more serious emergent conditions which might jeopardize life or bodily function. We are privately owned and do not have a financing source for care of individuals without appropriate payment. We are open until 9 p.m. on weekdays and 6 p.m. on weekend days. We recommend appointments but accept walk-in patients for care within the probabilities of being able to render appropriate services within our operating hours. We participate with many but not all insurance programs. It is a necessary part of our operations and appropriate service to our client patients that we determine their insurance coverage so as to advise as to the appropriateness of our facility for their needs. My staff reports the following concerning the events of 8/12/2014. The "Dad" called at 8:00 p.m. stating he needed to "get in" to an Urgent Care facility. Assistant Till explained to him we bill as a Family Practice, not an Urgent Care facility and he should check to be sure his insurance covers services here. At 8:10 p.m. the individual called again informing that he had "googled" First-Care and determined we were an "urgent care". He then hung up. At 8:20 this individual came into the office with his son yelling "Need to get in now!" [redacted] explained that we had taken our 8:00 p.m. appointment patient back for that visit and that the doctor should be available soon. She asked for the appropriate insurance card. Reportedly the patient said to his son: "Come on, we'll go to the ER!" and left the waiting room. Then shortly he came back in complaining of a lack of compassion since his insurance card had been requested. He was told that we could see his son but that we needed his insurance card or information as to how he intended to pay. He left again, then came back in and stated he wanted to "see the manager" and was "filing a complaint." He as informed there was no manager on the premises at that time and left again. Reportedly the physician on duty heard the end of the conversation while exiting the exam room and asked about it, then stated "He'll wait a longer time at the ER!" (The physician on duty is not compensated based on patient volume and is essentially a disinterested party.)
The above constitutes the information I have available to me on this situation from our staff. I
read the complaint as presented from the patient's father and the only additional noted element is the question he was asked as to whether they routinely use our facility. This has obvious
importance relating to an existing record on his son and would be an appropriate question
regardless. Assistant [redacted] has been in our service for many years and is a stable, mature and calm woman who would be highly unlikely to be rude or uncaring toward our patients. Assistant
[redacted] who was also present is relatively new to our service`and tends to be a relatively non-
aggressive individual, usually the "quiet type". The situation of a concussion in an awake and
functioning individual is not a medical problem requiring staff to "drop everything and rush" to
assist. Based on the staff present and the information reported my suspicion is that this is an
entirely patient-generated difficulty with significant exaggeration features. I have no other
explanation to offer. I have received a complaint notification from the [redacted]
as well as the Revdex.com and will not be surprised if we hear further of his
dissatisfaction.
Sincerely,
[redacted], MD, FAAFP
Managing Partner
First-Care Family Physicians