Worth switching from Columbia to Shady grove?

[Anonymous]

Like other posters, I’m frustrated with the office staff at CFA. I’m only doing IUI for MFI. Is it worth switching to SG? Will they want to redo all the initial screenings or can I just pick up on the next cycle if I send them my files?

[Anonymous]

I think you will find people that both love and hate CFA and Shady Grove. So the worth of switching is going to be descent on your priorities. I was at CCRM briefly and was so irritated with a number of things including the provider, I left. I am at CFA and am also experiencing issues with the admin and nursing staff but I love my doctor and so far I am doing well, so that is what matters to me at this point.

I have friends in other parts of the state and in other states that all have the same complaints about billing, nurses and administrative staff at their clinics. It seems to be a universal thing for some reason.

When I switched from CCRM to CFA I did have to redo certain tests but only because there was about a six months gap.

[Anonymous]

PP here, sorry for the typos! Typing on the metro!

[Anonymous]

I have been at both of them and other centers as well. The billing and admin departments are all terrible. Pick the one with the best care. Then just grit your teeth when you deal with them.

[Anonymous]

No

[Anonymous]

FWIW we actually did switch from Columbia to Shady Grove and are much happier. We really liked our doctor at CFA (Dr. Sacks), but dealing with the staff was constantly frustrating. Shady Grove has been much more organized and easy to work with.

We did not do IVF at CFA though. We did the fertility testing regimen and several IUIs, but switched to SGF before IVF.

[Anonymous]

We actually switched from CCRM to Columbia. We did all the initial testing at CCRM, and they proceeded to bill all of the diagnostic bloodwork, sonograms, and HSG as if we were already in an IVF cycle. This would have drastically reduced our available insurance coverage from our maximum. They DID file an appeal on our behalf (after I caught the mistake and demanded that they do so) and got it reversed. But after that, I was done. CFA can be really annoying too, but our billing situation has been MAGNITUDES better than it was at CCRM. (Though...it is an admittedly low bar.)

[Anonymous]

I know a lot of people complain about the office staff at SGF, but I personally never had an issue with them. Scheduling appointments at my local office was always extremely easy. As for billing, the department is disaster just like all the other clinics from the sounds of it. My tip if you go there is to ignore any bill you get in the mail and only talk to your financial councilor. My bills never showed the money I had already paid and they never returned calls. But my financial councilor always quickly returned calls and had the correct balance.

[Anonymous]

We consulted with CCRM (overpriced) then did our testing at SGF bc we have Kaiser then switched to Dominion. We really like Dr Waud, and the staff at Dominion has been really good, no billing issues.

[Anonymous]

I also considered making this switch but decided to stay at CFA. I really like Dr. Sacks and after 1 IUI and 3 IVFs at CFA I just decided to stay on since I know the process now and I truly feel that they are all pulling for me. My frustration with billing, while not nonexistent, has been minimal. And I've found the nurses to be nice and to *almost* always get back to me. I did feel that some parts of the process were not explained as well as I would have liked. Wishing you all the best as you work through what is best for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also considered making this switch but decided to stay at CFA. I really like Dr. Sacks and after 1 IUI and 3 IVFs at CFA I just decided to stay on since I know the process now and I truly feel that they are all pulling for me. My frustration with billing, while not nonexistent, has been minimal. And I've found the nurses to be nice and to *almost* always get back to me. I did feel that some parts of the process were not explained as well as I would have liked. Wishing you all the best as you work through what is best for you.

I’m the OP and so far haven’t had any problems with billing. It’s all about them not returning calls repeatedly to the point where I’m missing cycles. Then have an attitude about why I didn’t call sooner, why I didn’t leave a message for the nurse. I set up an appointment with SGF so we’ll see if I switch for the next cycle. At the very least we’ll have a second opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know a lot of people complain about the office staff at SGF, but I personally never had an issue with them. Scheduling appointments at my local office was always extremely easy. As for billing, the department is disaster just like all the other clinics from the sounds of it. My tip if you go there is to ignore any bill you get in the mail and only talk to your financial councilor. My bills never showed the money I had already paid and they never returned calls. But my financial councilor always quickly returned calls and had the correct balance.

+1 to all of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also considered making this switch but decided to stay at CFA. I really like Dr. Sacks and after 1 IUI and 3 IVFs at CFA I just decided to stay on since I know the process now and I truly feel that they are all pulling for me. My frustration with billing, while not nonexistent, has been minimal. And I've found the nurses to be nice and to *almost* always get back to me. I did feel that some parts of the process were not explained as well as I would have liked. Wishing you all the best as you work through what is best for you.

I’m the OP and so far haven’t had any problems with billing. It’s all about them not returning calls repeatedly to the point where I’m missing cycles. Then have an attitude about why I didn’t call sooner, why I didn’t leave a message for the nurse. I set up an appointment with SGF so we’ll see if I switch for the next cycle. At the very least we’ll have a second opinion.

If they are not calling you back and you are missing cycles that's really awful. FWIW, the couple of times I didn't hear back from the nurse at CFA, I emailed my doctor and he always wrote back within 24 hours. I considered switching for different reasons - simply because the first few cycles we tried were not successful. But now that we're a couple years in, we are just staying since we don't have a specific reason to leave and start over. Again, wishing you all the best as your work through this decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW we actually did switch from Columbia to Shady Grove and are much happier. We really liked our doctor at CFA (Dr. Sacks), but dealing with the staff was constantly frustrating. Shady Grove has been much more organized and easy to work with.

We did not do IVF at CFA though. We did the fertility testing regimen and several IUIs, but switched to SGF before IVF.

We also went to Dr. Sacks and liked him but his office was messy and the staff were not friendly or organized. We also did 7 IUIs which seems ridiculous in retrospect. It was a very smooth transition (test-wise) to SGF and Dr. Chang. He came across as much more serious but became friendlier as our treatment progressed. I appreciated that he didn't sugarcoat things the way Dr. Sacks did for our situation. We have a child and plan to do an FET soon. Also worth noting that Dr. Chang was very into evidence-based protocols and answered my questions without being condescending or dismissive. I also think SGF in Rockville is much more pleasant and clean than the CFA office in the DC/Georgetown area (forget the exact location now). SGF has a policy of adults only in the waiting rooms. We also really appreciated being able to bring our sample to SGF where my husband had to use the super cheesy (he showed me pictures of the murals..LOL/gag) masturbation rooms at CFA.

The one downside of SGF was the financial side. I think the CFA woman was much more transparent and organized and we had to be on top of/lots of follow-up with SGF. That being said, we were mis-quoted by a new financials staff and Dr. Chang actually refunded our money! I want to say it was $1,000 so it was a really big deal. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

OP, did you end up switching? Was is worth it?

I am going to switch. They forgot to call me with my time-sensitive results and I had to call 4 times over two days before anyone picked up the phone. Not even an apology when I finally got someone on the line. Terrible!