- New Clinic (aka Innie Clinic as they are In Network as opposed to yesterday which for IVF purposes is mostly Outtie) is about the same distance away than the other office, so there's no real difference there. [0 points]
- They had a lovely fish acquarium with the exact same fish from Finding N.emo! (ha, ha...I know this one is not very important for narrowing down your RE clinics...but I can't help it!) [5 points!]
- Music in the waiting room [2 points!]
- The technition they had who took my blood pressure, weight, other stats was nice but drove me bananas when she took down my allergies. "How do you spell Tetracycline?" "Sulfa is s-u-l-p-h-a right?" No! Then I had to spell everything else! Cipro, C-i-p-r-o. Codeine, C-o-d-e-i-n-e. Darvocet, D-a-r-v... V NOT B! I should have just wrote them down myself. The only one she got right was penicillin. [Negative -2 points!!!!]
- New RE (aka Dr. Blue Eyes) is kinda a young guy, but very nice. I'm sure Dr. Diet Coke probably has a good 16-18 years experience in the field on him. And totally I respect her, but one of the things that drives me crazy is that partway through my questions she thinks she knows what I'm about to ask so she finishes my supposed thought and then answers. I find myself saying, "Yes, I completely understand - but that's not my question." Since this doctor hasn't endured 18 years of the exact same questions over and over again...he still has the patience to listen to my question fully before answering. He was also very thourough in his explainations. [50 points]
- The office adiminstration staff so far has not impressed me. First, it started the day before when I called them to confirm my appointment and give them a heads up that I was faxing over my paperwork...
Dingy Desk clerk: Oh, well you don't have to do that
Me: Yes, but it says right here to send my paperwork in advance. Besides, I think the doctor is going to need my records and test results from the other clinic for our consultation.
Dingy Desk clerk: No, just bring it tomorrow. We can do it when you come in.
Me: Won't you have to verify my insurance?
Dingy Desk clerk: Yes, we did that already...Oh, here it is - you will pay 80% after you meet your $3000 deductible.
Me: Could you call my insurance again? That information is not correct.
Dingy Desk clerk: No, that is correct - I called them myself.
Me: Well, that doesn't make sense - my insurance is either 70% out of network after a $6000 deductible OR 90% in network after a $3000 deductible. So, I have no idea where 80% is coming from. Oh, and by the way I've already met the $3000 deductible.
Dingy Desk clerk: No, it's 80%.
Me: Can you have someone call again?
Dingy Desk clerk: No, but you can call them and ask, but they told me 80% after you meet your $3000 deductible.
Me: But, I've already met my deductible.
Dingy Desk clerk: Okay, well just 80% then!
five minutes later...
Me: Hi, this is Liv. I was speaking to someone a little while ago about my insurance coverage but I didn't catch their name?
Dingy Desk clerk: Yes, that was me.
Me: Okay, I just got off the phone with my insurance and they told me it was 90%. Please update your records.
Dingy Desk clerk: But, they told me 80%.
Me: Yes, I understand. Regardless, they have record of your clinic's tax id calling in today, and they have it recorded that they told you 90%. Not sure what happened there, but if you could just call again if you're uncertain it should be 90% that would be great. Thanks! [-10 points]
The next day (today). I requested to speak to the insurance coordinator to verify some things and ask some additional questions after we completed the consultation. I expected to be taken to someone's desk who would then hand me their business card when he/she was done. Nope! I was taken to...Dingy Desk clerk in vivo!
(Dr. Blue Eyes handed her my folder said, "Could you go over insurance coverage with-")
Dingy Desk clerk in Vivo: (cuts the doctor off) Okay. Sure.
Me: Can you confirm with me my insurance coverage?
Dingy Desk clerk in Vivo: Yes. Well, your insurance doesn't cover any infertility testing or treatments. So, I just need to tell you that you are going to be completely responsible to pay all of the costs.
Me: (who has been shaking my head from the words doesn't cover any and scoffed at "pay all of the costs"...) No, that is not correct.
Dingy Desk clerk in Vivo: (who should have used this opportunity check the FOLDER!) Yes, well BS insurance provider doesn't covery anything.
Me: Who's record are you looking at? Because it's not me. My name is Liv, and I don't have BS insurance provider
Dingy Desk clerk in vivo: Oh, right....Your covered 90% so you will simply pay 10% of the total cost.
Me: Well, I'm only $588 from my total out of pocket maximum, so it will only be 10% up to a total cost of $588 and then 100% right?
Dingy Desk clerk in vivo: Yes.
[So, I'm going to deduct 5 points for not reading my folder and telling me I had 0 coverage...But, I will grant 5 points back for getting it right in the end. Then 100 points for being IN-Network.]
Did you guys catch that? As long as I stay in network, $588 dollars is all I will pay for the rest of the year! That's for up to 3 IUI's, 3 IVF's including ICSI. Who else wants to do a HAPPY DANCE!!! Hot Diggity.
- Their live birth success rates are higher than my beloved Outtie clinic. (Which I don't think is a knock against Outtie, but is favorable for Innie clinic) [10 points]
- Dr. Blue Eyes is less experienced, does have pretty good credentials and is partnered with a highly experienced tenured RE. [Net 0 points]
- I have no way (unless anybody has any other ideas) of evaluating the BIGGEST part of their IVF services - THE LAB. Well, besides the CDC stats. As Nishkanu expertly pointed out it might not be worth the cost and not to mention emotional savings bank if the RE is good but the Lab not being so great. Anything else I can use to evaulate besides the CDC stats?
Okay, so I'll leave you guys with that information for now. I'll come back and give you my final verdict. For now I must go to bed!
In my unexpert opinion, you can largely tell the quality of the lab from the CDC success rates (since it is the lab that makes most of that happen). The actual RE you are using at the clinic is usually less relevant, so I think there you are fine with Dr. Young and Eager, especially with Dr. Experienced doing the backup.
ReplyDeleteThe desk clerk situation reminds me of a certain very famous clinic in NYC. You always have to be after them about every detail (we are still embroiled in a battle with them about them continuing to charge us for sperm storage a year and a half after we left the clinic - actual excerpt from a phone call we had with them recently:
Me: My husband has written to you 5 times to cancel sperm storage but you are still charging us.
Clerk: We got those letters but we ignored them because they weren't on the right form.
Me: You just ignored them? Why didn't you send us the correct form?
Clerk: How were we to know the letter was really from you?).
Anyway, they gave us good cycles but you have to just make a mental note that you have to double-check and double-fax everything and take it as part of the cost of doing business with them.
But man, the (monetary) price you have at clinic # 2 can't be beat!
Wow...as long as the labs CDC stats are ok, that clinic would be a winner in my book. The monetary savings alone is fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI must say you are a much more patient women then I. I might have slapped that poor girl silly after all of that crap!! Sounds like you have some decisions to make. Did Marvy go with you? What does he think? Glad to see you are on the road to some succesful reproduction.
ReplyDeleteLIV -
ReplyDeleteTHis is the BEST news!!!! What are you thinking you are going to do? I think I would go with the one above just on the basis of the financials and the Doc. To be honest, the other staff like the one that answers the phones (stinks at my place to) but the team is amazing - go with your gut! Whats your gut telling you? Whats DH saying?
What great news that you have a good clinic within your network. Extra kudos to you for your patience and thorough researching.
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog and wanted to say hello! I hope it all goes well in choosing a clinic. It's so hard sometimes. I started out with one clinic and changed because I was SO not impressed. I couldn't be happier with my change so far!!!
ReplyDeleteDon't ya hate when you know more than they do! I'd be like..no bitch, I have coverage, whose chart are you looking at.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad appt #2 went well
The lab is pretty dang important, but it's also important that the RE get the protocol right. Sometimes, I think they have the protocols on a dart board and choose them by throwing darts at them. The fact is, they will not know how a protocol will work for you until you try it, hence the pin-the-tail-on-the-protocol theory.
ReplyDeleteIf Innie clinic has better stats AND your insurance covers your cycles, that to me says it's a no-brainer for Innie clinic. I know it's hard to switch doctors when you get to know one, but you're talking about a lot of money and better stats!! If the CDC stats were close and both clinics took your insurance, I would think it would be a harder choice. I trust the CDC stats, but it's also good to know exactly who was included in those stats, like cycles canceled, etc.
Those are some amazing stats! The $ savings is huge...I know for us, that was one of the hardest parts of the process.
ReplyDeleteCant wait to hear what you decide--and the research really will pay off!