CFA vent!!!

[Anonymous]

Anyone have tips on how to get nurses to ever return calls to give you information like what your cycle calendar will look like or whether your meds have been called in?? Is it really expecting too much to be told what the details of my treatment plan are? And should I really need to call over and over to get my meds called in? Is that typical of other clinics?

Round 1 was a nightmare dealing with the staff, and, while this one is better, it's still very frustrating...I say only two days from my first pre-stim check up without having received the least bit of communication from the nursing staff.

I like my RE, but if this cycle is not successful I think we will have to find another office that's at least minimally responsive.

[Anonymous]

Which CFA office are you using? I am Arlington and it runs pretty smoothly.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried going to your RE directly? I email with my doctor (Sacks) at CFA, and he's quite responsive. If you call and speak to one of the nurses, they should give you email information for your RE. Or you can simply try first name initial then last name @columbiafertility.com

Also, if you call and ask for one of the nurses directly (Vanecia or Wendy), they are usually good about answering questions. First thing in the morning is tough because they're tied up with other patients' monitoring. So wait until about 10:30/11ish on any given day to call and try to seek answers. Sometimes, they are more responsive in the afternoon as well. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I had a really crappy experience with them (I was with Dr. Sacks). And that included nurses (who messed up my protocol), the assistant who trained me on injections and had no idea I already have a child, to the finance person who kept sending me wrong bills, was insensitive, and then would ask me to just ignore the bills she sent (after having caused much stress, we paid everything out of pocket). Dr. Sacks is sweet but when I was bleeding 20K for my IVF/frozen embryo he would tell me about his expensive cruises in the Mediterranean. Nothing wrong with that, I guess, but for me it was really insensitive (at best). I kept thinking this is my money you are feasting on...Anyway, I would never go back.

[Anonymous]

I left CFA for all of the same reasons. Infertility treatments are stressful enough and the crap they pull is way too much to add to it. Here are a couple of emails addresses if Abassi or Sacks happens to be your doc. I ultimately was very straight forward with Dr. Sacks and things did improve, but not enough for me to stay or trust them with an IVF cycle.

Abassi
[e-mail]

Sacks
[e-mail]

[Anonymous]

I was so frustrated with CFA's admin in Arlington I left. I had to email Abassi for really basic secretarial things. I can't imagine it's not frustrating to her, too, since it appears seh must often act as a admin instead of a doc.

They also forgot to send my husband's sperm sample in.

[Anonymous]

Just switch to Shady Grove. I can only speak for the Rockville office, but they are super organized and my nurse was very responsive and caring. I would never put up with what you describe. Lots of REs to choose from at SG.

[Anonymous]

We left CFA and Sacks for all of the reasons above. We are now at GW and very happy. The doctors are professional and thorough. The nurses are amazing. Our insurance covers part of it, and prior to our cycle, we walked out of the finance guy's office with an exact figure of what we would owe (after he called and worked with our insurance company).

We endured two years at CFA, and I wish we had left sooner. You deserve better, OP. Start shopping around for a second opinion.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks all. I'm at the DC office. I've been doing almost all of what 16:30 suggested...it's just so frustrating that I need to time my calls for when it's likely a nurse will be there. Why can't they return calls?!!

My RE is very responsive over email, but I feel silly emailing about administrative things...but I'm doing it increasingly. The only thing that's helped in the billing department is having DH be the main/only POC. They actually seem to be more responsive to him...

I really hope this round is successful...but if not I think we will look elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Hi this is 16:54. I hope this round is successful for you also. I do have several friends with babies from
Columbia! I switched to dominion and am also very happy...from the other posts it seems like you will find better care with any of the other main clinics in the area so please get the care you deserve.

[Anonymous]

Ditto to 19:23... we could have written this entry! I felt like at CFA, I was encountering antagonism or miscommunication every other time I interacted with a nurse, and it made me feel terrible, as if I was doing something wrong. It's too long to get into on a post, but several times, they bizarrely dropped the ball with both my husband's and my medical stuff. At GW, everyone from the doctor to the appointment scheduler is so competent and normal... no weird static. We were just reflecting on how I recently had an appointment w. our doctor for a month from now, I emailed him about it, and next thing I know, the office staff is calling to get me an earlier appointment. They called me multiple times until they found an appointment that worked. At CFA, that would have been such a struggle and they'd never do the legwork or follow up. It feels so good to be in better hands! I agree with 19:23 that we ALL deserve better!

[Anonymous]

CFA patient here who has good communication w/ nurses & doc!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CFA patient here who has good communication w/ nurses & doc!

Me too! But I haven't had to move to IVF yet so can't speak to what might happen then. But I did want to speak up because my nurses and doctor have all been so open to answering questions and have always returned emails or calls.

[Anonymous]

I have great communication with Nurse Crystal (love her) and Nurse Sharon in Bethesda office. I do try to avoid my actual doc (Abasi)--I know that sounds strange. She is just to "matter of fact" for me. But I love my nurses.

[Anonymous]

We like born Sharon and Dr. Abasi. There have not been any significant problems with communications. There have been a few minor bits of confusion but nothing major.