I met this doctor and we discussed my treatment plan and he scheduled surgery for total joint replacement, bilaterally. AFter the initial consultation, I was given the surgery date and they proceeded to clear with insurance, they scheduled the hospital etc. The short of it, could not get the doctor to return a phone call to answer some serious questions I had, each time I called him and got the office staff, one of the office staff called back, but not the doctor.
When it was getting time to pre-ops; called them to make sure all was ok and even though they had in black and white that the surgery and treatment plan was proven necessary from his submitted documentation, they wanted to know exact amounts of what the insurance would pay(before the bills were even submitted or the surgery even performed!) so that I could pay any balance up front and then they would reimburse me for over payment.
The insurance could not give that amount until they had received bills - doctor not satisfied, I had to cancel the surgery as I did not have thousands of dollars to pay up front, when insurance would pay but could not satisfy the doctor. He still refuses to this date to respond to me.
I sent him a letter and just recently an email as when I received my EOB from the office call - the charges are exorbitant and I need an itemization of which I still have not received. According to the EOB - I also paid in the office and it looks like I over paid and a refund is due to me, but that has not been acted upon either.
I trusted this doctor and his staff. He gave me hope. I booked airline and hotel reservations for myself and my family for this surgery. I lost the airfare in the amount of over $600 and the hotel very generously refunded their portion after I informed them of the circumstances. This doctor is trying to claim that I am the one that booked the surgey, with insurance approval pending !!! Wish I had that power. I did not, could not book it and he should have been happy with all of it anyway when he received the approval to perform the surgery.
I have had 9 surgeries to date and am not an 'easy fix', I think once he realized how complicated I was, he just was not professional enough to refer me elsewhere. I asked him to reimbuse my airfare since I had to cancel this surgery due to his ineptness and satisfaction with the insurance, I have written and emailed him to receive no response. I just want it known out there that he is not a very professional person and does not truly care about patients or the consequences of his actions or inactions.
