Stephanie B.
Experienced retired MD gives FAILING MARK to this Centerwell
As a retired neurosurgeon with almost 40 years experience I recognised I needed a new MD when my new medical issues weren't being addressed. I was hugely disappointedly by the timid & insecure young female foreign MD, supposedly an internal medicine specialist, whom I met at my intial Centerwell appointment. She failed to make eye contact with me at all or even introduce herself upon entering the exam room, which are common courtesies. She strode immediately to her computer monitor & never looked away again, while firing a barrage of questions at me, not able to attend to what I said because she was too busy typing something on her keyboard. As I started to tell her about the more than 2 years of new symptoms I'd experienced which my prior MD hadn't adresssd, she interrupted me at once, telling me she couldn't put my mixed up symptoms in the right box! I told her that's why I was there. No one had listened to me for two years & figured out what was going on with me. I had been sent to a variety of specialists to investigate individual symptoms but no one had seen me as a single whole unit. At this point I stood up to show her the BP chart I'd been keeping since I had discovered the records from my ex-MD were incomplete & largely incorrect. Unfortunately this new MD kept referring to her copies of these old records as if they were the absolute truth. She asked me over & over what BP meds my former doctor had me on, when I'd already told her several times I was not on any regular scheduled meds. My former doctor had prescribed them but I adjusted the meds since she wasn't monitoring me, hadn't investigated my worsening symptoms (although I reported them) & had given me no input; it's why I needed a new physician. But this woman was not listening. It's beyond me why she believed old incomplete incorrect medical records when a brain surgeon with 3 board certifications & decades of medical experience, who was the patient herself, told her in person what was going on. Sadly this insecure, inexperienced physician could not recognise that I had more baseline medical knowledge than the usual person she saw, who is a layperson. Clearly I had no credibility with her. She expressed doubt that my recent 8.9 lb. weight gain over 3 days, accompanied by swollen ankles & shortness of breath, reversed by diuretics & documented weight loss, represented signs of fluid overload & a need for cardiac investigations, although I had detailed records of my weight changes, drugs taken, BP & diuresis. She told me a diastolic BP of 90 represented adequate control, but 90 is the old standard; current American Heart Association guidelines use 80. Again, she was shocked & annoyed that I questioned her opinion. I finally stated I would not have her manage my BP if she thought 90 represented control. This was by far the worst encounter I have ever had with the most poorly trained physician I've met in recent memory, and I've had considerable experience training medical students and residents from different specialties in the past. I pity any patient under her care. I'm surprised she found employment. I will be writing the senior physician in this organization, whom I know because he was the hospitalist who cared for my inpatients when I was still practicing in Lexington KY. This particular Centerwell branch on Lowry Road / Regency Center is new & perhaps it's experiencing growing pains. While Humana has a glossy new Centerwell website promoting all the feel-good aspects of its product, carefully calibrated to appeal to the senior market, the simple fact remains that people (AKA patients) access the health care system primarily for good medical care, which means their provider needs to listen to them. It's a relationship that begins with mutual respect based on courtesy & the assumption of competence. If it doesn't begin that way, it won't continue. And while patients assume the provider is competent, sometimes other factors get in the way. Whatever is happening at this Centerwell and with this provider, there's an issue. Detached, unpleasant, scared, insecure providers who disrespect patients, interrupt them, dismiss what they say & issue commands are not going to be successful. They need to be knowledgeable or they'll never be trusted & patient compliance declines. The providers will make mistakes, people will suffer & there will likely be lawsuits. Giant corporations like Humana will take these losses in stride as the cost of doing business, but individual providers and patients will suffer. This is a review of the Centerwell Senior Primary Care at Recency Center/Lowry Road, Lexington, KY and a "Dr. Sandy". I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS DOCTOR AT THIS CENTERWELL. I ADVISE CAUTION IF USING THIS CENTERWELL AT ALL.