Potomac Valley Sports Medicine

Review: I came to this office as a new patient with a knee complaint following a skiing accident that had occured 5 days prior. I came in seeking a detailed diagnosis and a treatment plan recommendation. I received a referral from my primary care doctor who saw me the day before and ordered a set of x-rays to be taken before deciding to refer me to a specialist. These x-rays were given to me on a CD-ROM disk with clearly stated stepwise instructions on how to view the contents. When I arrived at Potomac Valley Orthopaedic Associates office, I was escorted into an exam room and asked to wait while the assistant tried to open the X-ray disk and make it available for the doctor (Dr [redacted]). Despite trying for quite a while, the assistant was unable to follow the instructions and open the disk. Following this appointment, I took the same disk and opened it on my home computer on the first try by simply following the instructions given. At the time of the appointment, however, I was compelled to take the word of the assistant that the disk was somehow unusable and that this was a common occurrence from his experience. Unfortunately, since the disk was in fact proven usable less than 1 hour later and in light of what had followed, it appears that the common occurrence is the inability to follow simple 4-step instructions, general incompetence of Potomac Valley Orthopaedic Associates staff, and questionable ethical practices. I was told to wait for the doctor, but notified that the doctor had surgery to perform in less than 1 hour and that he is extremely busy preparing for it. When the doctor did arrive, he was unfortunately unable to render any usable advice. First, he required the X-rays, which his staff was unable to make available for him. Second, he wasn't concentrated enough to remember that my accident had occured 5 days before, not 1 day before, and approached the injury as if it had happened in the past 24 hours. Third, despite my repeated assertions that there was very little pain both at the time of the accident and in the time since, he had prescribed a strong pain medicine with significant side-effects. Fourth, he had recommended the x-rays to be re-taken at his office and remonstrated with me for taking X-rays outside. I had to remind the professinoal that it was highly unlikely that insurance would authorize or cover a second set of x-rays on the same joint for the same injury taken within 1 day of the first.

Finally, the doctor recommended a brace and drew the appointment to a close.

I was unable to receive a diagnosis or a qualified opinion and due to the doctor being obviously unable to give me his undivided attention, I had second thoughts about following any of the advice given. I decided against getting the pain medicine and saved myself some money (since the medicine was useless to me as there was no pain to treat) and possibly some trouble associated with the side effects. I asked the assistant what would the brace cost. His answer was: the cost is $50, payable immediately, but that the office would submit a claim to my insurance company on my behalf and whatever the insurance company would cover would be refunded to me. This put a CAP on the price of the brace at $50. I accepted this price and purchased the brace. 2 weeks later I received a bill for $400 balance on the brace (it turned out that the brace actually cost $450, and the $50 were only a deposit) and a $335 charge for the consultation, from which $175.47 was subtracted due to an agreement between the office and my insurance company regarding billable rates for services. I was unable to get a real consultation - the purpose of my visit - and the only outcome of this visit was the purchase of the brace, which ended up costing me a total $609.53. Had I known this at the time of the decision, I would have declined to buy it. Unfortunately, the same assistant who had trouble following 4-step instructions and thereby wasted the consultation had also misrepresented the cost of the product I ended up buying and the office has a policy of not accepting returns on medical products it sells in this highly unscrupulous fashion. So once I paid the stated price of $50, I was on the hook for the full cost of the brace with no way back once the true price was revealed to me. As for the consultation - I have no idea how this office can charge me for a consultation where the doctor is unable to provide a qualified opinion due to 1) elementary incompetence of his staff in handling routine items / procedures, and 2) his own absentmindedness resulting from scheduling my appointment during his prep-time for a surgery and going ahead with it. I can only hope that the surgery went well, because otherwise the surgery patient is ALSO a victim of this practice.

Once I received the bill for the remaining $559.53 balance, I called the office at the number given and was routed to the voice mail of the person handling patients whose last name starts with the letter L (as mine does). I left a detailed message and requested a call-back. I repeated the same routine 3-4 times over the next several weeks with no response at all. I then walked into the office, brought the bills and the brace along and asked the front desk what could be done to resolve the issue. The front desk person called the billing department and was able to get another person to answer the phone for me (not the same person who handles patients whose last name starts with the letter L, unfortunately). I explained the issue and was told that it could not be resolved over the phone, but that she took detailed notes and would present it to the doctor and/or her superiors for resolution, which could not be expected to take a minimum of 2 weeks during which time I was told I could disregard any new bills or requests for payment. She also said that the brace could not be returned at this time, so I took it back. This was more than 1 month after my appointment and more than 1 month prior to today. In the time that followed this conversation, I had received another bill with the same amount now past due and this week I received a letter from the billing staffer I had been trying to reach by phone asking for payment. A phone number was again provided for contact and again, upon calling the number I had been compelled to leave another voice message. As I had already left at least 5 messages, I am not holding out much hope in getting the matter resolved this way or of even getting a call-back.

I ask Revdex.com assistance in resolving this matter, before proceeding to notify my insurance company and the state officials responsible for licensing and overseeing operations of medical offices of the business and medical practices of the Potomac Valley Orthopaedic Associates Chtd.Desired Settlement: Remove inappropriate charges for the product that came with a mis-stated price (honor the price given at the time of purchase) and remove service charges for services that weren't properly provided due to staff incompetence and defective scheduling. Take note of the ethical questions regarding a doctor seeing a new patient while unable to give the patient even a modicum of attention.