I had been a patient of Dr. Milani's for just over 1.5 yrsnow and had generally tolerated her and her staff. But as of last week I am no longer going to see her after the absolutely ridiculous treatment from her office manager Cheryl over a 'missed appointment fee." Here's the deal. I had an appt that apparently I had missed in early November because a few days after missing it I got a bill in the mail for a missed appt in the amount of $30. So that night after returning from work, I called the office after hours to leave a message to discuss this fee. I explained how I thought I had an appt coming up in the near future but couldn't recall exactly when? I also explained how I must've missed it while I was out of town but that I didn't receive a courtesy call as a reminder as Milani's staff usually did for upcoming appts. I apologized for this and wanted to see if the fee could be waived due to my oversight. Normally Cheryl the office manager/admin. or the other staff member who's name I don't recall would provide a courtesy call for an upcoming appt. as a helpful reminder. But as mentioned again, this time I never received one and assumed I didn't have the appt. coming up.
The next day to my surprise I got a voicemail back from Cheryl basically saying that in no way would the fee be waived because I have cancelled appts "last minute" often. Huh? So what's that supposed to mean? Anytime I've ever canceled an appt I've been courteous and called to do so. I'm sorry if things come up last minute sometimes and have had to do so but then who the hell hasn't ever had to cancel an appt last minute, hours prior, days prior or missed one completely due to oversight? Please people. In addition, I was made to feel like an idiot because as Cheryl said, they provide a call as a "courtesy" and its my responsibility. She also mentioned "how busy" they are and have all these supposed patients awaiting appts and by me missing mine had affected someone else from potentially coming in. Well gee I understand that its a courtesy and my responsibility but missing the appt wasn't on purpose because I have a potentially serious eye issue that needs to be monitored. She also said someone from the office had a note next to my name on the date of the appt that I was called but it never said when and by whom. So is this a mystery then or flat out lie? There's exactly (3) people in that office and to my knowledge that small group consists of Dr. Milani, Cheryl and the one girl mentioned previously who's name I don't recall. Can Cheryl not ask this girl if she called me as Id be assuming but I'm sure its not Dr. Milani calling to remind me. Where was this call supposedly made to? Was it my home, office or mobile called? How hard is it to find out in a small office of (3) with an appt that was just missed apparently a few days prior to a missed appt bill arriving? I received nothing in terms of a reminder call, from anyone is all I know. And again everyone reading this I understand its my responsibility but it would be nice to actually confirm when and if anyone really called. I have other Drs that I go to that offer courtesy calls to remind me of an appt upcoming and they usually call me at BOTH my work and mobile to remind me. I'm not special, that's just the way they do it. Maybe those Drs. actually care more about me as a patient than Dr. Milani's staff? I'm not saying Dr. Milani's office has to call every number but this just seems very dismissive by Cheryl to just blow things off on a note stating I was called. People in general are busy today and I'm no exception but things occur that cant be altered sometimes unfortunately or you forget about an appt or appreciate the reminder call to confirm it. I'm sorry I'm human.
So at this point it basically proved my theory that Dr. Milani only cares about $. Evidently Dr. Milani, Cheryl or anyone else associated w/her office whether its current patients, previous patients or whomever never misses an appt and has things come up during the normal course of a day in their lives. Obviously by inadvertently missing my appt, some other patient w/a co-pay couldn't come in to fill Dr. Milani's pockets. I feel so "bad" but what could I do? I don't like laboring the point but in all honesty if you want to see Dr. Milani don't you dare NOT call at least 24-48 hrs prior to your appt to cancel or Cheryl will send you out a nice fat bill w/a late fee of $30. Life just doesn't "happen" according to their office and stuff simply cannot come up last second. or worse miss an appt due to oversight. Gasp! Zero flexibility, zero understanding and zero common courtesy to a patient. Just pathetic. If you care about your Dr./patient relationship and want quality care w/o an obvious agenda for $, go elsewhere if you can and see anyone but Dr. Milani. All she cares about is $ and has no understanding or compassion or at least Cheryl her office manager doesnt. read more