Norterra Family Medicine

Reviews 4

CR

Crystal D

I decided to make an appointment with this office based on a referral. I guess I should have known better when the person referring informed me they had only gone once and never returned. That should have been a big RED flag. Walking into the building I was very underwhelmed. I struggled for a place to sit as nearly every chair in their lobby was soiled. In addition, the front office proceeded to give me a sheet of paper stating that my wellness exam was limited to basically knee tapping and that if I had any questions pertaining to my overall health, that would require an additional visit because asking questions may not be covered by my insurance. My first reaction was, Are you kidding me. My care is determined by what you think my insurance may or may not cover? ( let me mention, they had my insurance information for more than a week and had every opportunity to be proactive in reviewing the coverage). Just a little background, I have a Healthcare Management background of 20 years. Never in my experience have I ever made any patient feel that their care was unimportant nor base any level of care on insurance. In my practices, the insurance never dictated how we care for our patients. Actually partnering with patients to ensure their expectations are met and their bills are paid is the responsibility of the healthcare team, not the patient and certainly not the insurance company. Never was I asked my expectation. Obviously, I I know that there are limitations to any insurance benefit, granted I do have a PPO, meaning it covers more than most. My point of being, I there for a wellness/annual exam appropriate for my General Health. They failed in that aspect. I mean really. I reluctantly made a second appointment, which is just to review my lab results, but Im really struggling whether or not to keep that appointment. It was so disappointed with my first visit, I dont know that I want to return. Secondly, my PA was not that caring. I really didnt feel a connection to her. She was very cold and and not very personable. At the end of my visit with her, she didnt even have the courtesy to walk me to the front. Which left me asking the assistants in the hallway for the location of the exit. In my book that is completely unacceptable. Lets not get it started on the deficiencies at the front desk. In making my next appointment and after confirming my tearing PAs name, somehow I have an appointment card for someone completely different. That was less than mediocre. After writing this review, I think I just might call tomorrow and cancel all future appointments. This is very upsetting.

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JA

Jamburritos Cajun Grillle Express

BEWARE! From a family medical facility you would expect fair practices and somewhat personalized service. My daughter made an appointment for a well women visit which was fully covered by our insurance but when asked how she was feeling she told them she was having stomach pains. Without informing her that they would be treating her for the stomach pains and not providing the well women visit she scheduled they proceeded to code the office visit as a non well women visit which ended up costing her $95 out of pocket. Needless to say the well women visit never took place. When confronted with this issue they said that we had to take it up with the scheduler. I made at least 5 phone calls to this office and got voicemail each time. No one picked up the phone. You might this twice about using this office if you like the personal touch. I choose to send this message to their website prior to posting this review and spoke to Crystal a billing manager and found her defending her offices practice. So I sent them the letter below. I hope this helps someone. Hello Crystal, After speaking with you and listening to the voicemail that you left on my daughters phone I have concluded that your office did not handle my daughters visit in a way congruent with good patient care. Or at least the kind of care we expect. You were more interested in defending what your staff did, how it affected your operation, and how busy you were rather than how my daughter was treated. Your own staff member was quoted using the term "coded," when attempting to inform Jasmine of a change to her visit. When my wife spoke with the doctor the doctor said she had no idea Jasmine was in for a well women visit. Crystal, you have convinced me that when it comes to discrepacies in your office with patients you will side with your staff and for this reason I have decided to post my review. Doctors offices have to realize that it is already intimating to go to the doctors and now with the multiple insurance changes we need your cooperation in navigating the cost of healthcare. Jasmine came in for her free womens well visit and she should have been told specifically that it would cost her $95 to attend to the other symptoms she was asked about and that her well women visit would be still available for her to reschedule.

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TO

Tonjah

Ive been going here for a few years. Ive read all of the other reviews and some of them are spot on. The service is hit and miss, but Ive had MORE good experiences than bad. The location is very convenient. Would I recommend them to friends and family? Yes, I would based on my experience. My first issue is that, I cant understand why they dont review your file or bring your file history in the room with them to discuss with you. Every time I feel like I have to repeat myself of my past medical history. Sometimes it feel as if the PA is rushed to move to the next patient. I understand the whole wellness exam process. What I dont understand is the PAs lack of treatment based on medical codes. I guess treating you for anything other than a wellness exam will cause issues with the free exam. However, theres no code for being a good medical care provider. Recently, I had some lab work done and the results were sent to the attending PA. I received a call from the assistant indicating all of my levels were normal, per the PA. This was not true and overall I had some concerns. The fact that the PA had her call me to say all of my blood work was normal was disturbing to me. Fortunate for me, Im an involved patient when it comes to my health and blood work. I had already reviewed my blood work results and saw that I had 4 to 5 areas that were abnormal and showing in red. When I questioned the assistant she had to go back to the PA. I received a second call that only addressed the issue I had mentioned. I made an appointment to discuss all of my lab results. This is important to me, so Ill pay the $30 co-pay to ensure the correct preventative measures are being taken with the concerned lab results. I really like the location, because its in my neighborhood. Maybe the PA was just having an off day.

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MA

mark mclaughlin

I went to Norterra Family Medicine, because I had a temperature of 101.5, full body rash, headaches and night sweats. I saw a Physician’s Assistant, which made me feel like I had a common cold. She listened to my lungs and said I don’t have pneumonia, and told me to put Clearasil on my rash like they where pimples. Later, I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia by chest X-ray and called by a different PA and prescribed "z-tap" a 5 day antibiotic program. NO follow up by original PA at all! After 4 days, and not feeling any better, I called to check in and I get redirected to the Medical Assistant, telling me don’t call us, we’ll call you. Still with no real answers, or a course of recovery, they made me feel I’m making this up! I’m also told I can go in for another assessment, by the MA; pay more money. I just wanted to be treated with respect and compassion which they missed on all accounts.

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