Shady Grove is a pain in my a** - anyone else experience this?

[Anonymous]

I had my first consult at Shady Grove a few months ago, and while I find the individual people to be nice, the entire organization seems extremely unorganized.

For example, I was set up for my HSG, went in that day, and the doctor on hand refused to do it because of an allergy - which they had all been informed of, and I was taking medication for. It was scheduled so late in that cycle that I had to wait another month. The nurse gave me an order to go to Shady Grove Radiology. Well, they don't do HSGs anymore. blah blah blah...

Another example, I just found out that my insurance pre-authorization request has been sitting unfinished for a few weeks. They originally told us MONTHS ago that we didn't need to do a separate semen analysis for our IUI. Turns out we do for the pre-authorization. No one thought to tell me this until I called to find out the status of the pre-authorization. Then it took another week to even get the analysis on their schedule.

Those are but two examples, but there are more, including prescriptions not being called in my by nurse, phone calls not being returned in time to make decisions for tests, etc.

I mentioned my concerns to the doctor, but he didn't really seem to care and denied my request to switch nurses. Now, I consider myself a pretty reasonable person, but I feel like I'm working with the DMV. The red tape, lack of communication, lack of personalization, and general lack of being on top of things is driving me nuts.

....Deep breath..... ok. I feel better now that I've gotten that off my chest. But seriously, am I experiencing some kind of rarity here? Or have others had similar experiences? I'd totally go elsewhere if I wasn't afraid of having to start all over again.

[Anonymous]

You need to change nurses. Insist that you change nurses.

[Anonymous]

OP, good luck. I agree, the docs are good but the nurses are hit or miss. Mine just up and left so now I need to start all over with someone entirely new. Do you feel comfortable sharing the name of your bad nurse?

[Anonymous]

My SG doc let me change nurses because mine wasn't communicating with me about processing stuff. Yours is being an as* - change REs if he won't agree to this. And when I had enough of my office's financial person not doing his job, I found someone in the financial office in Rockville to complain to and get things done. From then on, I only dealt with them on financial issues.

[Anonymous]

I have had a minor issue here and there over the 2.5 years I have been a patient at SG, but not of the magnitude you mention. That being said, I have an awesome nurse who is generally on top of things. I have occasionally had to follow-up with her, but not as a general rule.

For a large clinic, I have overall had a great experience. Don't know if that's because of how I approach things or because of the folks in the office I go to or both. Which office is your RE in? Some offices seem to do a better job of staying on top of things than others.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I'm in the Rockville office. I'd prefer not to name my nurse as she is really nice, and I've given alot of detail. But I'm definitely going to insist on someone new. Not sure why the doc was so resistent. He only works with 2 nurses. Hopefully the other one is a better fit for me.

[Anonymous]

I agree that you should try to change nurses. They play such a huge part in your treatment and they have GOT to be on top of everything. I had an awesome nurse so that made my SGF experience much better than what you are describing. I did, however, have big problems with the financial coordinator in my office (not returning calls, not being able to answer questions, almost screwing up my insurance pre-auth for IVF cycles, etc.). I ended up calling the financial people in Rockville directly and they were better.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the PP's that it is all about your nurse! I've been a pt there for years and have learned that no matter where I am you have to be your own advocate and check, then double check everything! My current nurse if GREAT and what a difference it makes.

[Anonymous]

I also go around the financial advisor in my office and call the Rockville folks - huge difference as they are much more on the ball.

[Anonymous]

OP, I had a similar experience with the Rockville office and the nurse and the RE didn't seem to care, I think because we weren't doing IVF. We ended up moving to another clinic which was inconvenient travel wise but we got our questions answered. There are lots of options in the dc area.

[Anonymous]

My first nurse was horrible in 2007. I asked for a new nurse and my Doc gave me a new one, which I love! I have also had trouble with the financial coordinator in DC and bypass him and go directly through Rockville. So much better.

[Anonymous]

I switched clinics after a few weeks of not being able to get me a basic answer in less than a week. I was working with a sperm donor. They kept bouncing me from person to person to get all the details sorted out. Each person took a week to get back to me. I just couldn't take it anymore.

[Anonymous]

Agree that it sounds like the nurse. I had a great nurse when I went there. The finance dept did mess up my insurance authorization though. I asked them about it as soon as we decided to proceed with IVF, and they told me that they had submitted the request for coverage to my insurer. A little over a month before my cycle, I called to ask the status, and was told that it was approved and that everything was all set to go. A week before my cycle, I again spoke with someone in finance to confirm that everything was taken care of, and I was once again assured that it was. The DAY BEFORE I was to start stims, I got a call from SG telling me that they had never submitted the request to the insurer. I was shocked. I could never understand how they could confirm to me twice that I had approval if they had not even submitted the request?!!

Apart from that, I did love my RE and nurse, and they got me pg.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry OP - hopefully everything will go well and you'll be out of there in no time!

I have to say that I've been surprised at the organization at SG. I mean that in a good way. My experience has just been different I guess. All of my authorizations were submitted on time, I got easy answers to questions, nurses called me back right away with any messages I left, etc. My primary nurse was a little bit flaky - one of the prescriptions called in was wrong, but I caught it. Anyway, I found them to be very on top of things, with the occasional exception of my nurse.

That being said, if you can't trust your nurse, I'd really demand to switch. You depend on your nurse for a lot there.