| rev:text
| - I have been a patient of Arizona Family Care, with a primary care physician of Dr. Heidi Bannister, since - well, to be honest, I don't remember. Since before 2006 for sure. Dr. Bannister has always been friendly and attentive, with a caring demeanor. In fact when I changed jobs in early 2006 and found that my new insurance did not cover her, I was rather upset - and very happy when I found that my new employer's insurance (in 2007) covered her.
To put it another way: I live near the northern intersection of the I-17 and the 101. This office is Glendale, just off the 101 on Union Hills. It's easily a 15 minute drive to the office, and there are plenty of doctors nearer to where I live.
You may then question why I have given her office a two-star review.
In December I had an appointment with Dr. Bannister, as a follow-up for a head cold and eye problems that I was having. She asked that I schedule a follow-up appointment for a month out, so I stopped and scheduled one for mid-January.
I received the reminder call the Friday before the appointment, and realized that I had forgotten to ask for the time off work, so I would not be able to make the visit. Fully intending to call, I wound up with a number of critical issues dumped on me toward the end of the day, and it slipped my mind. I did not think of it again until Monday morning, when I noticed the reminder card on my desk. By that time the appointment was well-past, so I decided I would simply go ahead and wait until the next time I needed to go in for refills or whatnot.
A few days later I received a letter from the doctor's office. I figured it was a reminder that I had missed the appointment. To my surprise, I opened it to find a letter from the office, signed by the doctor, that they were dropping me as a patient. The reasoning?
Three missed appointments - one in 2007, another last year, and then the one a few days ago (Jan 2012).
Now, don't get me wrong, I understand that missed appointments can lose an office money and cause issues for other patients. However:
1. The doctor NEVER mentioned to me in any of the intervening appointments I had in 2011 and this last appointment that this was their policy, nor is it mentioned in any of their documentation (I just went to their website and double-checked).
2. In every case that I had a missed appointment, I was charged a $25 missed appointment fee - in two of the cases, $5 more than my insurance co-pay (which I understand is only partial compensation since the visit is actually far more than that) that I paid.
3. In one of those cases (the appointment in 2010) I actually DID call the office the evening before to cancel, but because of voice mail problems I was unable to leave a message. I paid the $25 missed fee anyway the next time I went in, because I liked the doctor's office and didn't want to make a fuss.
For whatever reason the impersonality of the letter bothered me. My first thought was to call the office but to be honest it's too much of a hassle; there was no diplomacy here, so if they do not want me as a customer, I do not want them.
I would suggest to the office that they include this policy on their paperwork, and to call 48 hours before an appointment instead of the day before (when they require 24-hours' notice of cancellation).
Keep this in mind the next time you visit the doctor; apparently the friendly relationship you perceive with your doctor only lasts until you've inconvenienced them a handful of times over the course of 5 years; then you're out the door.
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