East-West Health Centers

Reviews 4

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It is with great regret that I post this negative review of East-West. I thought I had found the perfect internal medicine doctor in Dr. Russak, but the way East-West does business, it is no longer possible for me continue seeing him. First, although he is listed as an "in-network provider accepting new patients" by our insurance plan provider database, it turns out that he is only accepting patients who sign on to be "concierge patients," paying an exorbitant annual retainer PLUS a monthly fee. I am a well, healthy person on a minimal maintenance dose of T3. I do not need "concierge" level service, and in any case our insurance plan does not cover "concierge" costs. I have recently been told in an email from East-Wests billing manager that I can no longer see him because I am not a concierge patient. This makes me very sad, because I thought we had an excellent relationship and he is a great doctor. Second, East-Wests billing service is guilty of "upcoding" - a fraudulent medical billing practice that drives up patients costs (look it up). My husband and I used to go for massage therapy sessions at East-West. We were told verbally over the phone that hourly rate was $65 - fine, this is about standard for the area, and we do have a massage benefit under our plan that reimburses us for part of the fee, leaving us to cover a very small remaining balance or co-pay (think $5 or less). However, when these massage sessions were billed by East-West, they were not coded as simple, basic single massages - yes, there is a CPT code for that. There were always THREE OTHER codes used: Neuromuscular Therapy; Therapeutic Exercises (what? We were most definitely not exercising during our massage sessions); AND Therapies 1>7 Area/15 Minutes Unlis. Billing us for single massage therapy sessions under these three codes were designed to get as much as possible from our insurance company, and of course resulted in much higher co-pays for us (over $50 per session). Lastly, staff turnover is high, the new replacements are clueless, overwhelmed, and occasionally unprofessional. The attention to detail is lacking - it took me several emails and calls for the PA (now gone) to get my very simple T3 prescription called in correctly to Express Scripts. Well be informing our insurance plan of all this, plus of course forwarding all necessary documentation. Meantime - I need to look for another internal medicine doctor. Fortunately, weve found other massage therapy providers.

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Nate B

RUN DO NOT WALK AWAY! I was referred to this practice when I was seeking a different way to treat an autoimmune disease. I got an appointment quickly, met with the doctor who was amazing, and it all seemed too good to be true. IT WAS. The problems started the very next day when I took the new medication for the first time and became violently ill. Many panicked calls and e-mails to the practice were not returned, and I decided to stop the medication until I heard from them. Well, weeks went by with no word (not even the results from the blood test that should have been made available to me within days) and I ended up getting so ill that I wound up at Urgent Care. The doctor there advised me to make another appointment which I did. I saw a PA this time and he was even more wonderful than the doctor. We discussed all my problems and came up with a new treatment plan. Since then things have been well in that department aside from the fact that again, I was not sent a copy of my bloodwork. However, I was due for a re-fill on my autoimmune prescriptions two weeks ago. We called the prescription in to the pharmacist who then called the doctor. And there has been radio silence. The pharmacist has called the doctor four times already, and we have called as well, only to be ignored. I am going on a week now without these medications that I need to LIVE and will be forced to waste more money at Urgent Care today before I find a new provider ASAP. Another issue is that I had to get an EKG done for another doctor. They took it and assured me that they would send the results to the doctor IMMEDIATELY, i.e. as soon as I left. All they had to do was stick the paper with the results in the fax machine and dial the number of the other office which I had given them. This was three months ago and guess what? My other doctor still hasnt gotten a copy of these results. This is BY FAR the worst and most unprofessional practice I have ever been to, which is a shame because the people I saw there in person were so wonderful. That however does not make up for the fact that they have been toying with my health and have lost us countless money in Urgent Care trips and lost wages. STAY FAR, FAR AWAY FROM THIS PRACTICE.

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Jeanette Sander

I am generally healthy and am looking for a family doc and thought I had hit the jackpot with this clinic. They seem to have it all - PAs, MDs, specialists, chiropractors, acupuncture, lab on site and close to home. It was too good to be true. They were accommodating with fitting me into their schedule as a new patient who was also sick. There was also no wait time for my first appointment. Actually I was still filling out the family medical history form when they called my name to go back to the room (which there was already a patient in there with a doc, oops). On my first visit they did a few tests and prescribed antibiotics. A week later I still wasnt feeling any better and scheduled a follow up with another available doc on Wednesday. After asking me some questions about my family medical history (remember the forms I was still filling out at the first appt...) he had my blood drawn and wanted me to get an ultrasound. Unfortunately the tech had left for the day so he said he would call me the following day with my results and would I be available for ultra sound on that Thursday. I called the office Thursday at 3pm and left a message on his MAs voicemail (more on her later) and again on Friday morning. Friday afternoon I called again and asked for the PA or someone above the MA. I believe it was an office manager I got on the phone and I explained what was wrong with me and that I hadnt had any relief since my initial appointment a week and half earlier. I asked if my blood results were in and if I had any tests scheduled. She proceeds to give me the results of the tests from my first appointment and after some time is able to find the results from Wednesdays tests but says the doc hasnt reviewed them yet and will call me on Monday. Humpfh. On Monday I had an appointment with another practice. Fast forward two weeks, the MA called to give me my test results! (I edited the part out about her, I wasnt Christian of me). I hope the practice doctors and investors read this.

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Jeff Tappeiner

Reading these reviews has been interesting. I need to see a Dr. today and I was debating calling someone new. East/West ranks high on Google and I just now decided to read these reviews after they showed up in my search. My story is similar with regard to poor follow-through. I saw a Dr. here and had a similar experience to other reviewers on my first visit. No wait, quick response, nice people. The Dr. wasnt particularly warm, but she she dealt with my initial problem quickly and seemed very capable. Then I had my physical. It turned out to be a counseling session. I was never physically examined other than a look at my eye and inside my ears. This time she seemed warmer, but almost as if she was putting on a nice face and asking me a bunch of questions so she could complete the physical adequately. I actually left there wondering if she was bored, but enjoyed the opportunity to sit down for 40 minutes while completing the obligatory questions. She did review my blood work during the dialogue and there was a lot to discuss to be fair. My blood work showed a strong vitamin D deficiency and I was supposed to e-mail some information when I went back to my office. It took me a couple days to send the e-mail, but I did it and I never heard back. I never received the prescription for Vitamin D. I went to Whole foods and bought some over the counter which is probably fine. During the physical as it was ending, the Dr. realized she forgot to ask me about sleep. The exchange took a couple seconds and a month later someone called me for an in-home sleep study. They were extremely efficient and dropped off an oxygen monitor the day after I returned their call. A week or so later, another sleep study call to administer a more thorough in-home study. Again, they were efficient and responded quickly. I received those results after they were sent to my Dr. on May 15th and have still not heard from the Dr.

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