This is a review regarding my experiences with scheduling a consultation to see Dr. Michael Frankel. I recently tried to schedule an appointment to see Dr. Frankel about treating my intractable depression. Back in 2013, I met with Dr. Frankel once and felt relatively comfortable with him.
Now that I needed help again, I decided to contact his office last month in March 2016. I spoke with Jason, his assistant, on a Monday. He took down my insurance info and said he would get back to me by the end of the week. I did not hear back from him.
The following week, I called the office and spoke with Jason again. He acted as though we never spoke before, and that I needed to provide my insurance info "to move forward" by finding out if my insurance would cover both the consultation and subsequent treatments. I reiterated that we already went over this info the previous week. He confirmed the information was correct, and agreed to schedule me for an appointment later on in the week.
Days later, Jason called me and told me that my insurance company would not cover the hospital fees because it was "out of network." He strongly urged me to look for another doctor and hospital that was in-network. That made little sense to me. I have an excellent PPO and was willing to pay "out of network" costs.
I called my insurance company, and they said that this was a special case that required more medical information before getting approval. I called Jason back to tell him this. I told him to call the insurance company and confirm whatever medical information they required.
The next day, he called me back and insisted that since the hospital in question was "out of network," I wouldn't be able to receive treatment because there needs to be a contract in place with the hospital & the insurance company. I told him that they just needed to contact my insurance company and give more medical information. He told me that this situation with the insurance company would be "too much work for Dr. Frankel" and that "Dr. Frankel is not likely going to want to go this route." I told him I wanted to keep my appointment any way, but he advised against this, telling me it would be a waste of time if the hospital wasn't going to be covered. Jason also mentioned other irrelevant information that had nothing to do with the me, trying to convince me that Dr. Frankel would not likely want to work with me. I felt like he was giving me mixed messages. I told him I wanted to keep the appointment anyway.
As I was feeling more anxious and agitated, I realized why. I was getting the run-around by Jason because he didn't want to do the extra paperwork required to help me get my treatment. I thought I was being paranoid, so I called and asked to speak to Dr. Frankel's other assistant, Paula. When she got on the phone, she sounded sharp and condescending, telling me that the hospital was out of network and I needed to go elsewhere. I tried explaining the same thing that the insurance company told me, and she replied that I had to call the hospital directly and work this out myself. I politely told her that this was her job, not mine.
She got huffy and said she worked for Dr. Frankel, not the hospital. Getting nowhere, I requested that she put me through to Dr. Frankel's voicemail. In the voicemail, I told Dr. Frankel how disappointed I was by the way I was treated by both Paula and Jason. I also said that I hoped their behavior was not a reflection upon his true feelings about working with me. No response. I have a strong feeling that either Paula or Jason deleted the message, because I was scheduled for an appointment that evening, and never showed up. Not a single phone call asking me where I was. Not a word from the doctor.
Thanks to Paula and Jason, they not only wasted two weeks of my life but made my depression and anxiety even worse. That's what drives me crazy. It is lazy unethical people like these two who make sick people, even sicker. Nobody deserves to be treated like this. Needless to say, I have decided to seek treatment elsewhere. read more
