Joan H. Tisch Center For Women'S Health, New York NY

I had my first appointment with my newish rheumatologist this past Friday since her 5-month maternity leave - UNPAID - because she is new to her employment there. It was her first day back. We both bemoaned the US's deplorable for-profit healthcare/insurance system. I spent about 2 hours there with appointment, lab work and X-rays, and we scheduled a follow-up appointment.

Five days later, this past Wednesday, I get a call from her office stating that she no longer accepts my insurance so I'll have to pay out of pocket for my next appointment. Why no one bothered to tell me this during my 2-hours there Friday, I have no idea. Completely out of the blue. AND the billing office says I may get a bill for Friday's appointment. I am so upset about this. I have completely lost faith in our healthcare system.

I highly recommend doctor Taraneh Shirazian/OBGYN. She is absolutely amazing with great manners!

(5th floor - Dr. Peggy Yih)

I called ahead of time to let them know I’d be arriving roughly 10 minutes after my scheduled time (1: 50) but that I was on my way. The receptionist said absolutely, no problem, we’ll see you soon. I arrived at 2: 02, started my check-in at the kiosk, but finished the in-person “verification” process at roughly 2: 08. After doing all of this, (took a little longer than expected, insurance verification issues), I was told that I could not be seen, as I had “passed the 15 minute grace period” for this particular provider. I calmly explained the situation, re-informed them I had called ahead of time, and that I had physically arrived and started the checkin before the 15 minutes. Considering I rushed to get here and informed them over the phone that I was on my way, this was a big disappointment and surprise, as I had not been informed *at all* about any grace period and was instead told verbatim that there was no problem.

Additionally, I then had to wait 30 more minutes for them to finally confirm from the provider themselves that they would not see me. Considering that my visit was simply for a quick, annual physical examination (and that my actual arrival time was not outside the grace period, nor was it egregiously late like arriving 1 hour later), I was very upset they did not try to better accommodate my appointment time - and could only find ~any~ appointment for ~any~ internal medicine / primary care physician, NP, PA or DO at their large practice more than 2 weeks later.

I have been with NYU Langone for years now, and all my interactions with providers and all staff have been nothing but overwhelmingly positive. For a hospital system like NYU Langone, I expect much better communication and efforts from the front office desk staff to accommodate patients whose situations aren’t out of the ordinary - nor the patient’s attitude disrespectful or rude. The minimum they could have done was inform me of the grace period previously of the phone so I could have taken a quicker transportation method otherwise or gone back to work.

Dr Pechman is a wonderful doctor. The office is beautiful and everyone was really kind. NYU langone is the best