First Choice Medical Care, PLLC. Eastport

Reviews 8

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Chrissy Green

I went for a law school physical. In the exam room the nurse asked me to get on the scale. I explained that as a result of a ten year battle with disordered eating, I chose to only be weighed by my psychologist (who I see every 4-6 weeks). This, along with other behavior modifications, has given me my life back; I eat without restriction, I dont feel the need to exercise off every calorie I consume, I enjoy going out with friends, AND most importantly I am healthy enough to go to law school. This was explained to the nurse, who then dropped the issue, took the rest of my vitals and then had me go give a urine sample. Afterwards, Dr. Goldman confronted me about the scale. I repeated what i said to the nurse and offered to sign a release so he could coordinate with my psychologist to best manage my emotional and physical health. He then jumped into a long monologue about needing it for insurance coverage. This is not true for ANY patient, but I offered to call my insurance to verify, his response; "Next time, for now just get on the scale," disregarding my concerns and arguing with me for ten minutes. I offered a weight range (accurate within ten pounds); so it is not medically necessary for me step on the scale (how much difference is 10 pounds?) So everything came down to an arbitrary demand against my psychologist advice; who I offered to get on the phone at that moment. A primary care doctors job is to coordinate with the patient and any specialists they are seeing. He refused to talk to an important part of my health team, and instead he was condescending, rude and subjected me to nonsense about insurance companies and how important the BMI is.

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Manda Marie

The wait times can be long, but compared to Dr Seodat in Riverhead, its a piece of cake. Everyone needs to understand that the healthcare system in this country is in disarray. Im sure most would agree, but you have to understand that this means MOST Drs are now REQUIRED to fill only 15 min Dr slots with EACH PATIENT. Yes, you can wait up to an hour before your name is called and then wait 15 mins more for the assistant and/or Dr. I feel like this is common sense, but Ill say it anyway: MAKE SURE YOU MAKE AN APPT. You CAN walk-in, BUT I wouldnt suggest it if you have limited time. Irregardless, I have received nothing but excellent care from Dr. Speir. I went to Dr Schaefer and some others in the practice a few times and it felt incredibly impersonal, but Dr. Speir, shes amazing. Attention to detail, obvious genuine care for her patients. Im actually pretty upset that I only found her about 6 months ago because Im now moving out of state. She has prepared me to do so, with giving advice on my trip medically and for transferring my medical records for a smooth transition. Im diabetic and have a multitude of health issues; she addressed them all without me having to even bring them up! Dr Speir is there less these days, but she is available Mon and Wednesdays.

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sara raynor

I made an appointment a week ago to discuss medication that was elevating my Bilirubin levels. I called to let them know I was running late, sign in and sit down to see a sign that says they no longer take my health insurance. So I asked the woman at the window whats going to happen today since they dont take my health insurance and she told me I would be billed $90. I am awaiting disability, I am a pre-cancer patient with MS thats running out of medication. I have no income other than what my insurance provides. Also if Dr. Deborah Schaeffer tells you that shell work with you on a payment plan know that its bullshit because I continue to get letters from their office threatening me theyre sending me to collections or theyre going to put a fee on my bill. The bill was from October 2016 and is now December 10th (2 months)and I have been communicating with the staff, however they do not care about you.....just what is IN YOUR WALLET. DO NOT GO THERE unless youre willing to pay out-of-pocket, because they dont have the courtesy to notify you before hand. NOT EVEN AS YOU MAKE AN APPOINTMENT OR SIGN IN, And whatever the doctor Deborah Schaeffer says, doesnt coincide with billing. Merry Christmas you filthy animals.

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Santino S

Very inefficient and disorganized office. I am still dealing with an issue that was made by the medical biller here -- apparently this is the ONLY office to my knowledge that refuses to take a secondary insurance provider to cover the balance left over from a primary insurance provider after paying out? Office submitted claims to the wrong insurance and then instead of fixing the issue by submitting my claims to the proper primary insurance used for years with them had sold my account to a collections agency -- despite my attempt to contact them and resolve this issue, they continued to procrastinate and let the issue linger on. In addition - long wait times, inconsistent customer service. I was a long time customer here and was constantly warned about how many issues this office had but I would defend them in light of the friendly medical staff (and Doctor Schaefer) that would attend to me -- but the front end and billing staff has their own set of problems.

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Erik Carrigan

Terrible service, wait times are unreasonable and the billing department is the worse. Completley unhelpfull, almost never answer the phone and after every visit I end up needing to correct something they billed wrong to only be told Its up to me to do their job and correct it or its too late. Over the past four years Ive seen doctors come and go, some who seem to had just got their degree. I havnt been seen in monthes and im still recieving suprise bills. My job even uses them for work comp and the unholy amount of doctor notes written to avoid work over the smallest accidents is unbelievable. I had to argue my way out of vicodin and percocets when I requested pain killers for a minor injury. This place is all around bad and should be avoided.

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Ron Pantol

I cant say anything good about my experience here at First Choice Medical Care. The PA Kennworth Eaton II was very unprofessional. They are just a copay mill. Dr. Kennworth Eaton II is a third string jellyfish who is well suited to the strip mall he practices medicine from. Beware, choose a physician who is qualified and not one who is your nearest primary care doctor. Your privacy and your health care are your right. I wouldnt make First Choice my choice again. Poor experience yes, but on the bright side there was no wait. LOL.

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Julie Estabrooke

Love Dr. Schaefer, but the medical assistants (or whomever it is that calls your name and does the cursory check on vitals) need a serious lesson in social interaction/proper bedside manner. I have found them to be curt, bordering on rude, without the ability to make eye contact with the patient. It felt very much like assembly line medicine, with absolutely no regard for personal interaction, at least until the Dr. walked into the room.

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jay G

i used to use the first choice medical in riverhead. loved it back then it used to be half hour wait and you felt like the medical care was more personal. Now 2015, a 1-2 hour wait, even for a simple DOT contract physical. as for the medical care itself, its lost its personal touch. Former first choice i loved, now i feel like you get better care in a free clinic

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