1 /5 Abigail Rice: I wanted to establish primary care so I scheduled an intake appointment with a primary care physician at 9:20am on Feb 6. I was told I would be able to establish primary care and have the opportunity to ask questions. The nurse took me back to an exam room shortly after 9:20am. She told me the doctor (someone named Martha) would be in shortly. I resumed working on my laptop while waiting for the doctor. At 9:46am the doctor entered the room (I know this time precisely because I sent a work email just as she walked in, right before I closed my laptop.). She told me she would like to get my medical history down, and discuss the 3 questions I had come in with, related to an old knee injury, preventative cancer screenings and a recurring abdominal issue. She did not take down any of my medical history but instead started asking me questions about my knee injury and cancer screenings. During our discussion her smart watch kept ringing. She silenced it several times, apologized and refocused. At 10:03am she informed me we were out of time and I would have to schedule a second appointment to complete my intake appointment and communicate my medical history. I was taken aback by this statement. We hadnt actually discussed any of my medical history or any other issues. I told her I was confused why were out of time after 17 minutes, since I had made it clear that I had made the appointment to establish primary care. I told her I didnt understand why 17 minutes was all that CVCH had allotted for me to establish primary care as a new patient. She apologized and said, "I understand your frustration, thats just how they do things here," as she was literally backing out of the room trying to leave as fast as she could. At 10:06am I was in my car driving out of the parking lot. I am a single mom who works full-time. It is not easy to carve time out of my work day to attend non-urgent medical appointments. Since Ill have to schedule a second appointment to establish car with CVCH, Im sure CVCH will charge my insurance twice for what should be one appointment. I have never received worse customer service from a medical provider. Is this just a fluke? Was Dr. Martha just pulled away by a personal obligation? Is that why her smart watch was going off incessantly during our appointment and she had to leave suddenly? Or does CVCH really just have so little regard for my time, health and well being that by scheduling their appointments 15 minutes or so at a time, they can cash in on every poor sucker who walks through their doors at least twice? Am I just a cash cow for them to milk? CVCHs profits certainly take priority over my quality of care. Im not sure if my terrible experience was just a fluke with Dr. Marshas personal schedule or if CVCHs patient care programs are really just THAT bad. If it is the latter, it is very unfortunate that CVCH values profits and efficiency over patient wellness and quality of care. I have received several text messages asking me to pay my bill. Pay my bill for what? I still havent established primary care, which was why I scheduled and attended this appointment in the first place. What bill could I possibly have? I have never experienced a medical provider show so little respect for my health wellness and time. Patient/consumer BEWARE.
