Quick summary: more than 1 hour wait first thing in the morning. Because I had to go and was upset, the doc tells his me "I don't like your attitude. I won't reschedule or see you."
I really wanted to like this guy. I scheduled more than 1 month in advance for my appointment at Washington Hospital Center and asked specifically when I scheduled for the first or second appointment of the day. I got the second appointment. I asked how long it would take and I was told a half hour at max and I could be out of there.
I gave myself enough leeway to still get to see MY patients at my health care practice even if this appointment took 70 minutes.
I paid my copay ahead of time, finished my paperwork before the scheduled start. The nurse took me back promptly, the resident was with me promptly, asked plenty of caring questions, and numbed me up. Then thirty minutes passed as I sat in a tiny basement room, finally I anxiously asked where Dr. Reilly was. "He's with a patient, he'll be with you in a minute". Ten minutes later he comes in, I explain to him that I have a patient in less than a half hour and I really don't have more than a handful of minutes.
HE suggests it would be better if we had a few minutes to talk, so together we go back to his assistant to reschedule my appointment (My throat this whole time is numbed from the resident's prep earlier).
I point out that I would rather not wait another month and a half for a new appointment and that I don't want to re-pay my co-pay.
At first Dr. Reilly tells his assistant she can double book his schedule in order to fit me in in two weeks. Then they tell me I won't have to pay the copay today. I say I've already paid it. They tell me that the front desk can reimburse my credit card. I'm staring at my watch like, really seriously I have to friggin go. I have a patient who will be waiting for me.
Out of the BLUE, Dr Reilly changed his tune and told me "I don't like your attitude. We're not going to get along, so [assistant] schedule her with another doctor, not me. I won't be treating you."
WTFFFF!!!!!!!!!!! I BLOCKED TWO PATIENT APPOINTMENTS To see him AND ARRIVED EARLY FOR THIS ONE AND HE SAW PATIENTS IN THE WRONG ORDER OR SHOWED UP LATE AND NOW IS BLAMING ME because I'm upset that I specifically asked if this would happen, was told that it wouldn't, and want to get to my job to see MY PATIENTS ON TIME!!!! This is unacceptable, unprofessional, and has been reported to Medstar.
I understand autonomous practice, and the need to sometimes refuse to treat patients. I do this, too, if someone is clearly lying, abusing the system, or has missed multiple appointments without cause (usually all three have to happen at once). I do not refuse to treat someone when my clinic has made a huge mistake and/or I am at fault. I do not refuse to treat someone because I don't like their personality or their skepticism on visit one. It has to be major.
I am very deeply offended by Dr. Reilly's power trip, lack of reasonable human understanding, and his repeated claims that "it was not my fault". I was never blaming him for the apparent screw-up (someone probably shuffled him to the wrong patient or forgot about me back in that room, though maybe he also just went to the wrong room first), but what practitioner does not have a printed schedule for their day? And who does the front desk/nursing staff answer to if not the primary doctor?
Meanwhile, I still have not had the care that I need, or that I waited for for over a month. Talk about barriers to access to care. I had a long wait to get the appointment, a longer than promised wait at the appointment then the doc refused to actually treat me. This is ridiculous.
Because I don't know the guy, and because I know what it's like to be judged without cause, I'll gladly take down this review, IF, Dr. Reilly, you hand write me an apology. With meaning. Describe what went through your head. Describe the errors your office experienced this morning, and please describe how you will fix those errors.
P.S. I was three minutes late to see my first patient of the day, and I called my front desk staff beforehand to let them know that might happen, then apologized to my patient for not starting on time. Because I respect other peoples' time. read more