Anyone currently at CFA?

[Anonymous]

I have some questions for current patients cycling or recently completing a cycle. We are currently patients and while I really like the doctor, the nurses leave a lot to be desired. And that is especially hard to deal with when they are tour main pints of contact. For a number of reasons CFA is the best option for us now but as we consider moving from IUI to IVF I want to know if the communication gets any better or not. I don’t even have direct access to speak with my doctor without setting up an appointment. I’ve had two messages with no response and now I am in a new cycle with no direction of what to do. It’s extremely frustrating, but I wonder if this is because I am “only” an IUI patient currently.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, I really liked my doctor at CFA but there are a lot of things that I have had issues with (billing and other problems). I did not need to make a lot of enquiries with the nurses during my IUI or my IVF cycles, though I felt that their responsiveness during the IVF cycles was better.

I recommend you share your concerns with your doctor. He/she may not even be aware that patients are displeased with the level of service provided by the nurses... IVF is extremely stressful and expensive (whether you or your insurance are paying), so you should not shy away from making sure you receive adequate support. This includes voicing legitimate concerns. Perhaps email your doctor and ask to discuss this over the phone?

[Anonymous]

PP - Thanks for your response. I am meeting with my doctor this Wednesday and will definitely be addressing this with him. Especially if we are going to be moving into an IVF cycle. I really think because we have been in IUIs that we aren't getting the level of attention that maybe the IVF patients are, but I don't know. I don't even have our doctor's e-mail address to communicate with him directly. This will all be part of our conversation. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I just started my first IUI cycle there this morning and I was so annoyed with the lack of information. I love my doctor there but it was so frustrating.

[Anonymous]

We did an IVF cycle with CFA in August and are planning on doing an FET in February. I agree that communication from nurses isn't great, but I have my doctor's email address and he's very responsive. (Preston Sacks is my doctor.) I definitely recommend that you discuss your concerns with your doc.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the feedback and good luck to you all!

[Anonymous]

Chick-Fil-A is great, just not on sundays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chick-Fil-A is great, just not on sundays.

You must kill at parties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just started my first IUI cycle there this morning and I was so annoyed with the lack of information. I love my doctor there but it was so frustrating.

I was in the middle of my first cycle at CFA but will miss it because of holiday travel. Will likely miss next cycle because of Christmas travel. Talk about frustrating. I even told them about travel at the first baseline appointment.

I think they are the only DC clinic my insurance covers so I’m stuck. I don’t love it, but we’ll see if they get the job done. It is frustrating to play phone tag, they won’t take messages so aim calling every ten minutes looking for someone while on my 30-minute lunch break. Then they stop answering at 3:30 so I can’t even call after work.

[Anonymous]

OP — we have that exact same question. I can deal with the less than stellar communication for IUI, annoying as it is, but that would be a huge problem with the higher stakes and more time-sensitiveness of IVF. We do have our provider’s direct email and she’s usually responsive, definitely more responsive than the nurses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just started my first IUI cycle there this morning and I was so annoyed with the lack of information. I love my doctor there but it was so frustrating.

I was in the middle of my first cycle at CFA but will miss it because of holiday travel. Will likely miss next cycle because of Christmas travel. Talk about frustrating. I even told them about travel at the first baseline appointment.

I think they are the only DC clinic my insurance covers so I’m stuck. I don’t love it, but we’ll see if they get the job done. It is frustrating to play phone tag, they won’t take messages so aim calling every ten minutes looking for someone while on my 30-minute lunch break. Then they stop answering at 3:30 so I can’t even call after work.

After reading so many lackluster experiences at centers all around the country, I've already come to realization that there is not much to love about this experience. But what I can't deal with is no attention to detail and lack of communication. In the end, we are actually paying for this service, and many of us completely out of pocket. Best of luck to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP — we have that exact same question. I can deal with the less than stellar communication for IUI, annoying as it is, but that would be a huge problem with the higher stakes and more time-sensitiveness of IVF. We do have our provider’s direct email and she’s usually responsive, definitely more responsive than the nurses.

This is exactly my concern with IUI vs IVF. At least you can communicate directly with your provider, which is a good!

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I've been at CFA and multiple other clinics (including ones recommended on this site) for ivf only. CFA is no worse than the others and in some cases better.

[Anonymous]

Pp...in terms of communication

[Anonymous]

I started IVF last month there which was cancelled due to low response. I did not have a good communication with the nurses or the front office. People at the front desk are nice but I when I called them to have my lab results sent through email they never did. Also, some of the nurses are kind of rude. That type of communication did not help at lot during that stressful treatment.