MFM at VHC

[Anonymous]

Question for those who have used the Maternal-Fetal Medicine group at Virginia Hospital Center.

I have had three interactions with the office now and each one has been a disaster. The non-medical staff does not seem to be able to get it together - appointments canceled for bad reasons that are their fault, missing data, bad attitude, etc. Have I just had three random experiences or is this as good as it gets?

[Anonymous]

No No, they are totally hopeless. We abandoned them after they booked in for a saturday appointment. Of course we show up and they are closed and when I call the after hours number I am told, no saturday appointments are made. Well in my early pregnant and highly emotional state I burst into tears (it was the 12 week scan and we had been looking forward to it). Anyway, long story short despite me calling first thing Monday morning, they would not fit me in that week and wanted me to wait another few weeks.

I gave up and went to Greater Washington Maternal and Fetal Medicine up in Silver Spring. It was a trek but they were so good it was worth it. Appointment on time every time, plenty of time spent with you and no problems booking in.

I had a late ultrasound at maternal fetal medicine at VHC as by that point I couldnt be bothered doing the drive to silver spring and while they were ok, it really wasn't worth having to deal wiht the staff about it.

hope that helps!

[Anonymous]

Doctor's are great. The office staff is HORRIBLE. I made an appointment for an amnio. They did NOT tell me I needed to show up 30 min early. When a got there on time for my appointment, the woman behind the glass had a bad attitude and said I was late. She insisted she told me to show up 30 min early which she did not. Anyway I ended up having to wait hours in the waiting room before they could finally perform the procedure. But for me it was worth it to see Dr. McLaren (who has since left the practice and started his own).

[Anonymous]

I waited for over an hour for my nuchal scan - finally got up and asked if there was an end in sight. Magically, I suddenly became the next patient to be called. I think they forgot about me. The doctors apologized - the craptastic staff, did not.

[Anonymous]

I cannot believe they scheduled you for Saturday. Unbelievable.

[Anonymous]

20:26 here, I just realized that might sound like I don't actually believe you. I DO believe you!

[Anonymous]

Saturday poster here. I know. it was crazy. At the time, I think had I had my wits about me I would have questioned it, but given I was in a total vague oh ok state I just accepted it. My husband kept saying, are you sure, to which I replied, well of course they wouldn't schedule if they didn't do appointments....... yep, you can imagine the conversation that morning when we arrived to find the office closed! At least my pregnancy hormones were in overdrive so I spent the whole time sobbing so he had to comfort me rather than say I told you so!

[Anonymous]

10:21 poster- I could have been you... only they put me in the room and left me to wait for an hour.

[Anonymous]

I have never really had any problems with them, but I do tend to schedule my appointments first thing in the morning. Dr. MacLaren is great - he left the practice? He performed my 20-week U/S only 3.5 weeks ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never really had any problems with them, but I do tend to schedule my appointments first thing in the morning. Dr. MacLaren is great - he left the practice? He performed my 20-week U/S only 3.5 weeks ago.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/56397.page#412003

[Anonymous]

I have had 3 appointments with them...seeing Dr. McLaren each time. The 1st 2 times were fine, staff was fine, doc was good and no long wait. The 3rd time my OB sent me in for an emergency/possible preterm labor appointment. I waited for over 2 hours in the waiting room, scared to death, in tears at least half of the wait.

I asked the receptionist many times how much longer it would be and said why I was there and that I was concerned time could be an issue. She was nice, but ultimately did nothing. I went back to the restroom several times to try and gather myself and not one of the nursing or doc staff bothered to ask me if I was ok. It was awful and I ended up being admitted to the hospital directly after my visit. In hindsight I should have been more forceful instead of simply asking how much longer, but I didn't know what to do...

[Anonymous]

Oh yikes, they sound very similar to the always delightful and charming front staff at GW.

[Anonymous]

I recently arrived for an appointment at X time with Y doctor. I see on the sign in sheet that the person in front of me has written that her appointment is also at X time and also with Y doctor. The front desk person confirmed that this was not a mistake but didn't explain why they would do that.

I ended up waiting and then seeing another doctor. As people have said, the doctor was great but the staff barely makes it worth the hassle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh yikes, they sound very similar to the always delightful and charming front staff at GW.

Exactly what I was thinking as I read this!

[Anonymous]

Thank you to 15:27 for posting the new info for Dr. McLaren. Par for the course with everyone's complaints I've been calling to try to pay a bill for two weeks and MFM keeps telling me they have no forwarding info for him. Today I was like, "Nothing. You have absolutely no idea where he went," and I could practically hear the indifferent shrug from the other end of the phone.