This is a beautiful campus especially in the spring and summer!…read more
Taken on those merits alone, this would be a wonderful place to spend a relaxing evening.
Unfortunately, this is not guest accommodations; this is a sleep disorder clinic and if you are here then your visit is medical in nature, not for rest and relaxation.
More unfortunately, the beautiful campus is where the good ends because the sleep disorder center is lacking, at least in my experiences.
I will say that the staff, all of them, seemed to be nice. Which is nice.
However, from the very beginning, to what finally became the end, of my sleep apnea diagnosis saga here at BMC was riddled with misinformation which cost me time and caused me frustration.
The entire process and procedure of diagnosing sleep apnea, and then treating sleep apnea, was not ever quite correctly described or explained to me by one single person but, rather, pieces of information from various people combined painted the whole story.
Luckily, I had the foresight to investigate and research the process myself before beginning it so I knew the things I was hearing and being told were not quite correct and so knew what to expect.
One very basic example- after my initial consultation one of the staff, and I was not sure whether she was a nurse or a receptionist or what her role was, told me that the next step was for me to pick up my CPAP machine at a local pharmacy, use it for one month, and then return for evaluation.
If you are a CPAP patient then you know very well this isn't the normal procedure followed.
In this person's defense, she did call me later that day to correct herself and describe the actual process to me. While I appreciated that, it shouldn't have been necessary.
The techs who wired me up for both of the studies were a little, shall we say, nonstandard. Of course, part of their job is to stay up all night every night so maybe that's par for the course but they certainly were not calm, cool, collected and soothing in their bedside natures. That said they got the job done.
After beginning CPAP therapy, it's necessary to have annual "compliance reviews". I was told this was required by the insurance companies.
When I asked my health insurer about this I was told by more than one representative that they don't care, at all, whether I am "in compliance", meaning using the machine.
But I suppose it's good to be monitored by a medical professional. If a patient is found to be in compliance then the prescription is renewed for one year and sent to the medical supply provider.
After my second to last compliance appointment here at BMC, the provider I use did not receive my prescription almost one month after my appointment so I called the sleep clinic for clarification.
The receptionist informed me that she did not have, and could not provide, any information about my prescription; further, that it was a question which could only be answered by a doctor. OK.
So she made me a "telehealth" appointment. When the call came, I asked again about my prescription; the doctor answered that it should have been sent but would confirm that it had been, and then wondered aloud why the receptionist had not been able to assist me with this.... She asked if there was anything else, I replied that there was not, that I was busy, thanked her for the call and disconnected.
I was later to learn that our brief conversation had been billed as an actual office visit and, as seems to be standard practice for BMC, I was charged two co-pays, one for the provider and one for a 'facility fee', with my insurance picking up the rest of the $180 tab for what was a conversation lasting several minutes and, as it turned out, a conversation I could have and should have been able to have with the receptionist.
On the date of my next compliance check, I answered all of the requisite questions posed and then had a question of my own, whether or not the doctor realized or recognized that patients were being billed for needless appointments? I was respectful and reasonable but forthright and clear regarding my displeasure.
Clearly, that was not a conversation the doctor wished to have. The fact is doctors are now expected to bring in money; that's how medicine works in this modern world- doctors are expected to bill, bill,bill. Most of us know medicine is big business. I understand the conversation is distasteful; I don't like the process/policy, but it does seem to be in keeping with the emphasis BMC places upon revenue.
The upshot was that I gave her the option of continuing to be my physician or not. I was told to expect a call from the receptionist to schedule my next compliance visit.
That call never came. Message received.
The doctor who administers my CPAP therapy now is a wealth of information and makes himself available to patients by chat five days a week- at no charge. His emphasis is on providing good patient care.
