If you care about how you're treated , go somewhere else . Not only do they stop answering phones by 4:45 but they don't return calls . When you call back to find out about test results no one can talk to you . When you do get someone they have a terrible attitude, and scold you because they aren't" a clinic" and the have other patients , as if you are not important once they get your money .There are PLENTY of caring professionals that you can choose from , In my opinion this is not one working here though read more

Yelp has a slew of bad reviews a out a year ago. Apparently, you can't add a review on any of her 'new sites'. Dr. Lisa Smith put me on 3mg of Colonipin daily. Granted it was in 2010 before we know tge dangers of this medication. I was severely addict to this until for 20 years. I have been ckean fir 8 years, now. With absolutely ZERO help from this doctor. read more

Upon moving to the area, I selected Dr Lisa Smith as my PCP. I had 2 annual physicals, which I would describe as competent. I have been accustomed to receiving a call from my prior practice to go over the lab results, but with this practice I simply received a report via mail. That's ok, I can read. Competent, but not impressive service. The problems arose in November 2022 when I finally got Covid, even with boosted vaccines. I home tested, yep, positive. Being over 60, I called the office at 8:30 in the morning to see about getting the antiviral Rx. 24 hours later, no return call. Called again. 4 hours later, and now a day and a half after the first call, finally a call back and a phoned in Rx. Fast forward to January 23, another illness. Felt worse than Covid. Called first thing in the morning. By mid day, I gave up and went to an Urgent Care facility, quick diagnosis and an Rx. The next day, I finally got a call back from Dr Smith's office. Told them I no longer needed them. BTW, 3 days after my Urgent Care appointment, the UC office called me to check on me. With my Covid case in November, I never got a follow up from Dr Smith's office. If you are looking for an office for routine check ups, this office is competent. If you need medical attention, they are worthless. read more

HIPAA VIOLATION Update: An Athens Internal Medicine employee engaged in a HIPAA violation. I wrote a letter to the doctor and to St. Mary's. I got a letter apologizing for the employee's behavior, but was told they "did not believe" her behavior was a HIPAA violation. I filed a complaint with HIPAA. Turns out IT WAS A HIPAA VIOLATION. I never heard anything further from the doctors office. No acknowledgment. No apology. Based on the office manager's previous reaction, I doubt they'd want to hear about how they can improve as a practice. It's really sad. It wouldn't be hard to do a better job. read more

If you value your health and well-being, why would you ever call this place? I called on October 1st to set up an appointment with a Dr. Elizabeth Smith. I explained I needed a regular internist in Athens, having just moved from NYC, and I needed 1. To have a referral for an overdue mammogram 2. Thyroid medication refilled and 3. I had developed a rash on my scalp that needed to be looked at. I was asked very personal information about my medical history, which I freely gave as I imagined I was setting up an appointment with a new practitiontioner. I also gave my insurance information. Lo and behold, I learned I had volunteered my sensitive medical history only to be used as a screening tool to learn if the internist would "accept" me as her patient! I was told I would be called to learn if I was accepted maybe Friday, possibly Monday or Tuesday. I found this quite odd and off-putting but thought perhaps things are different in Athens, GA so agreed. Needless to say, no one ever called me back. After nearly one full week, I called the practice and got a different receptionist. At that time, she informed I was "not accepted" by the doctor, in other words while Dr Elizabeth Smith had openings she rejected me. Way to go for making me feel like a second-class citizen! Nevertheless, my scalp irritation was making me miserable so I asked if another doctor might perhaps approve me. I was told they could ask Dr. Elizabeth Smith and get back to me Friday. I wondered why it would take so much time for a "yes" or "no" but said okay. (Luckily I also called another Athens internist at a different practice and rather easily secured an appointment). So Friday came and I knew the office closed at 1 pm and surprise! No one had called me back. At 2 pm I called the answering service and asked that at their convenience, the office manager call me up during normal business hours to discuss a complaint. Meanwhile on Monday I went to another doctor who informed me I had an infection of my entire scalp and why had I waited three weeks to see a doctor as I now needed two prescription meds for it. I said I tried to seek medical help ten days earlier but Athens Internal Medicine Associates thwarted me from doing so! In any case I called Tuesday October 13th to talk to an office manager and relate my story and she said she never received a message from the answering service to call me, so it seems their answering service is also incompetent! I told her this infection was on my head and could have spread to my eyes! I thought this practice of being approved based on your medical history and/or insurance was discriminatory and in fact even called representative Jody Hice's office to complain about this. In any case, if I were you I would find another practice if you are seeking medical help of any kind. read more

The reception & nursing staff here is atrocious. They frequently get your appointment date and times wrong, they tell you the Dr. is out of the when she is in fact there, and they do not return your calls until days later. My physician's nurse is often very rude, hateful, and treats you like she's doing you a favor by speaking to you. That being said Dr. Lisa Smith is wonderful. She has been my primary care physician for the last 14 years, and is only doctor I've ever seen since leaving my pediatrician when I was 14. She comes from a long line of doctors in her family who have instilled great values in her. She is kind, caring, and really takes the time to listen to her patients. I continue going to this practice and putting up with her horrible staff simply because Dr. Smith is a great doctor. read more

I saw Dr. Edwards today with about a 20 minute wait--not too bad. She seemed very rushed with me and asked me the same questions I had already filled out on 2 forms and in the computer with the nurse. I guess they need to be extra thorough so they ask you 7 times? She also made an odd remark when she asked if I was pregnant. I said "No,", and she replied, "How do you know?" I told her I use birth control and condoms and have not missed a period. She replied she would rather hear that I didn't have sex until marriage, which is not a doctor's place to comment if she wants to keep new patients. It was also noted in my paperwork that I have a penicillin allergy, to which she replied "Most people aren't really allergic to penicillin." She still prescribed a antibiotic in the same family, which increases the chances of allergic reaction. read more

This is, by far and away, the worst medical practice I have ever experienced. My 85 year old mother and I were patients here for almost 3 years. Though I had issues over the years we never complained. Finally I decided to let someone know what problems we had encountered and tell our doctor how we felt. Our doctor, Jane Fleagle, was, more often than not, what I call a checkbox doctor. She entered the examining room on every visit with her laptop in tow. She always sat, turned it on and began to go through whatever checklist appeared on the screen. Same questions, same info requests every time. She rarely looks at her patients and spends most of her time entering info into the computer. She never seems to know anything much about the patient (except what she reads on the screen) and spends a great deal of time apologizing for taking the time to input to the software and read the results as opposed to actually engaging with her patients. "I'm sorry", "excuse me" and "let's see what this says" are her 3 most often repeated expressions. As for the practice itself - it is NOT patient friendly. There are signs posted touting a "patient portal", but there is very little info actually entered into the portal itself. When I asked why there had been no entries since 2015, I was told that "nothing gets entered" unless a patient specifically requests it, they don't have time to enter "everything". When we needed new or updated prescriptions we were always assured they would be "called in" right away. Frequently though, when we went to pick them up, they had not been called in or had been submitted to the wrong pharmacy. Our pharmacy told us on several occasions that they had contacted the office for updates and never got return calls from the practice. Personally I was upset with the inaccessibility of the staff/office. The office is closed every day for "lunch" (often before or after the times noted in the recording) which then requires patients to call 2 or 3 times just to get through to voice mail - NEVER have I ever called this office and gotten a human being on the phone. The recording says calls will be returned (NOT before close of business today but rather) tomorrow. If "tomorrow" falls on a Friday (and you don't get a call back before noon) then you will have to wait until Monday since the office closes and no one is there until then. Often I have called on a Wednesday, left a message, got no return call on Thursday, tried to call again on Friday and got no response until Monday - if at all. Even when the calls indicated a situation where either my mother or I was in intense pain or immediate crisis (such as once when I was unable to breathe due to asthma or in severe pain from a shoulder muscle strain). Even requesting a referral to another doctor took almost a week to get a response. When I made a simple request for prescriptions to be written for a 90 day supply with 3 refills so we could set them up with a mail order service (to save money), Dr Fleagle said she "didn't write them for more than 6 months" so patients would be "forced to come back in to get new ones." I thought that letting someone know the problems we had encountered would make a difference but when I told Dr Fleagle that I had "some issues with the practice" her response was "well maybe you should find yourself a new doctor." The office manager told me that they had no intentions of changing anything, no staff changes and no communications improvements. She too suggested we just find another doctor since "this practice is happy with everything as is". As I said, this practice and this doctor are the worst I have ever encountered. read more

After being told that Dr. Elizabeth Smith was not accepting new patients, the receptionist asked me if I would like to try Dr. Alice Edwards. I said sure, because I only needed an annual physical for my job and didn't care that much who conducted the exam. During the exam I told Dr. Edwards that I had recently found a lump in my breast. So, she scheduled a mammogram. During the scheduling process, she asked which hospital I wanted and what location. I requested the St. Mary's location on 316. When I got the mammogram order in the mail, it was scheduled at the location on Baxter St. Not a big deal. After half an hour wait at St. Mary's, I was brought to the Women's Imaging Center, where I had to fill out paperwork and wait longer. Once I was finally called back and the nurse was trying to find out more information about where I felt my lump. I explained to her that I felt a lump in my left breast, but the doctor did not feel one there, but had felt one in my right breast. The nurse then called my doctor's office to find out exactly where the doctor had found the lump (because diagnostic mammograms are very specific and they wanted to zero in on the lump.) After talking to 3 different people, none of which was the doctor herself. the nurse got three different answers. The woman asked that I go back to the doctor for a breast exam and gave me a sheet with both breasts broken into quadrants, and asked that the doctor indicate where she felt a lump. I called the doctor's office that afternoon and asked to schedule another appointment, the receptionist told me that I didn't need another appointment and told me to talk to the nurse. Well, she didn't answer the phone so I left a voicemail. The nurse never returned my call. A few weeks later, I had a doctor's visit because of an ear infection. I explained to Dr. Edwards what happened with the mammogram and she said, "yeah, sometimes they are picky at the hospital." She apologized about no one ever returning my call, so I decided to give the office another chance. told her that I would schedule an appt. for a breast exam in January. Well, I tried to schedule an appointment and her nurse told me that I didn't need an appt., that they just needed to write a new order. So I asked to have the doctor call me. The nurse calls me back that afternoon, and said that the doctor never found a lump in my breast. However, if I keep finding lumps in my breast, then I should make an appointment. Seriously, the doctor told me that she felt a lump in my right breast during the exam,but she could not feel the lump I found in my left breast. This is the worst experience that I have ever had with a doctor's office, and will not go back. ~~UPDATE~~~ As a requirement for my health insurance, I had to have the doctor fill out some information that needed to be faxed in. I went by the office and dropped off my papers. The nurse called back 2 days later, and said they were ready for pick up. I told her that I would be there in 10 minutes or less and asked if that was okay. She said it was fine and that she would be waiting. When I get to the office, the door was locked. This woman came to the door and asked what I needed. I explained that the nurse, Krista, had some papers for me to pick-up. Well guess what, she was nowhere to be found. The woman looked for my papers and could not find them. After about a 10 minute search, she finally located my papers. UGH!!! WORST EXPERIENCE!!! read more

My dr at this practice is Dr. Elizabeth Smith, and I can't recommend her highly enough. In addition to my regularly scheduled visits, she has seen me twice now with last minute problems, and has never seemed rushed. She is very good at listening and then recommending a common sense treatment; I appreciate the fact the she refrains from conducting unnecessary tests. Her staff is good, too; recently they were very patient and thorough in an ongoing medical situation I had, and always followed up with me. read more

Run, don't walk, from this practice. I was a patient of Dr. Elizabeth Smith's for over 10 years. While traveling for a week, I forgot my medicine for high blood pressure (kind of important to be taken daily!). Called the office to see if they could call me in ONE WEEK's worth of medicine as I was in NYC on a family vacation. They did not return my call. I called back again the next day (after now having missed 2 doses) and was told that they denied my request because it had been too long since my last appt. They suggested I try to find an urgent care in New York City and schedule an appt with a dr to be seen. For a week's worth of a medicine that I've been on for over a decade! They are concerned about the almighty dollar... not your health. Had it not been so, they would have scheduled me an appt at the time they called in the 7 days worth of medicine and let me know that they cared about my health and I needed to come in when I returned from my travels. If you choose this practice, be prepared to encounter difficulty after difficulty. They are hard to reach, don't return calls, don't care about patients, and don't want to be helpful. BTW... one quick call to my ob/gyn and I got my blood pressure medicine. And Lord knows, I needed it at that point after my dealings with Athens Internal Medicine! Shame on them. read more

Kathy is great. Very professional and always helpful with a good sense of humor. I've seen Dr. Mark Firth for years and think he's a great doctor. He doesn't over react to things and gives good advice. He's been supportive of my move to vegetarianism with the recommendation that I eat some fish. He knows internal medicine thoroughly, and is careful to give only safe drugs, often those that have been on the market a long time. I know many people who use him, and most seem to really appreciate his work. read more

I recently started visiting this office and can say that I haven't had a single positive thing happen. They are extremely rude and unhelpful over the phone. They will tell you your insurance is accepted by the doctor, only to send you a bill stating that you are not within their network. Whatever you do, double or triple check your insurance with them. I don't know if they genuinely know what they're doing. I also don't believe the patient is the first thing on their mind, because they seem more worried about when their lunchbreak is... read more

I made an appointment with Dr. Edwards as the receptionist told me she would be eaiser to get in with. Now I know why...I am a new patient and as I am in the exam room waiting Dr. Edwards walks in never looking up from her laptop and she says "My name is Dr. Edwards why r u here today"? Never looking up from her laptop she sits down and I explain that I have Hypothyroidism and my Vit D is low also wanted to change my PCP. She looks up and say "Why do you talk funny"? I said b/c I was born with a Cleft Lip/Palate she then says "Oh I got it" as she begins asking me questions about my family I felt so embarassed and so upset that I said to her " I did not like what u said to me, I do not talk funny" I got my pocketbook and walked out of her office.... I will NEVER return to that practice and I will send a letter to Dr. Edwards and a copy to ST. Mary's Administrator. As St. Mary's owns the Practice................... read more