I have been dealing with this location for over 20 years. Currently it's Optum and I am throughly disgusted with the current manner in which referrals are being treated. Yesterday a Gastro specialist called me requesting I do something to force the Bayway site to send him the referral document so I could come in 12/9 for a scheduled colonoscopy. I immediately (9:50am) drove to the office and made the request and was told it would be handled and I would be called after it was done. 4 hours later(1:30) I had received no call so I went back to the office to find out what was going on. Reception staff checked and told me it was flagged to be handled immediately but hadn't been done. They said it would get it handled. Now understand I have to start a medication routine to get ready for the colonoscopy and I needed to know it was going to happen. So I left the office thinking (stupidly it seems) that after the specialist requesting it, and I visiting and requesting it twice, that the referral documentation would be sent to the Gastro specialist so he could get his staff ready to perform on 12/9.
Well, at about 2:20 12/8 I get the call from the Gastro specialist telling me he has cancelled my procedure due to not receiving the referral documentation. I drove to the Optum Bayway office for the third time. There I confronted the staff demanding to know why they were so incompetent. I received a lame excuse from the office manager about system problems which it seems had been miraculously solved as she was able to hand me a copy of the form saying it had been sent just minutes ago. I informed her that was nice but it was after the scheduling deadline and I now have to wait for a reschedule. The office manager assured me then that the referral document was good for 3 months (like that makes it okay for them to be incompetent). Now this is a serious screwup on the part of the office staff, but understand My Doctor there is great, as are the nurses and technicians. But this is the third time I have had to go to the office to request the office staff to do their damn job. It was absolutely the worst experience so it seems they are getting worse and not better. From this point on when I get a referral I will have to demand it be given to me the same day. I would suggest others do the same. I don't think this is just something that happens to me. read more