Terrible experience, extremely unprofessional: please be careful if you go here!
I went for an eye exam at the Media location and gave my eye insurance information. I saw optometrist Dr Noyes and explained that a medication I’m on made me want to get an exam. All of a sudden he is alarmed as he says he finds “narrow angles” in my eyes and it can be “dangerous to dilate” so he won’t do it. He explains if these angles close, you can lose vision and it’s an emergency situation so you’ll need to get to an ER within hours. He keeps asking if I ever feel nauseous or get over-the-eye headaches. Obviously, I’m really concerned by this, and ask to see an ophthalmologist as he suggests. He says that Dr Witherell is in the office, but wasn’t here because his cell phone was stolen and he was out getting another one, so now he’s backed up on patient visits (!).
The office scheduled me for the Glen Mills office the following day and I’m worried.
At the Glen Mills office, during the exam, Dr Witherell barely says a word to me (though his assistants were kind). He looks at my paperwork, mentions the narrow angles, seems to shake his head, then uses a tool to check these angles. Dr Witherell shakes his head again, scowling, and says he doesn’t see anything concerning. I ask him, “are they narrow, will they cause problems? I’ve been worried about this because Dr Noyes said this can make me lose my vision.” He says, “If they even did cause issues, it wouldn’t be for another 30 years at least. They’re fine.”
He continued the exam, and wasn’t even going to dilate me until I asked! He dilated, waited maybe 5 minutes, came in to check and says nothing, again. I ask about the medication I’m on and he mumbles a few words that he’s not concerned.
I was stunned by his demeanor; but more stunned by the fact that Dr Noyes seemed to have fabricated a serious issue that sent me to the ophthalmologist, who expressed zero concern about said issue. Is that because Dr Noyes didn’t know what he was looking at and made an incorrect diagnosis? Or they’re trying to make more money by sending people for additional visits? His framing of this issue as serious caused me undue mental distress and anguish.
Then I got the bill. Even though the first optometry exam was fully covered under my eye insurance plan, they billed my health insurance. In retrospect, interesting that they took my health insurance info before it was even determined I’d need to see an ophthalmologist, isn’t it? Hmmm.
I called the office and got Jessica and explained this, and she said, “yeah, I see what you mean, I see your eye insurance on file. I don’t know why they didn’t put it through that, that’s wrong. I can understand why you’re upset” and that their billing person Isabel is only there on Fridays (?) but I can expect her call.
They call my husband’s phone instead of mine for some reason on Friday morning and I call back. Isabel says that it was billed this way because of what she sees from Dr Noyes. Angry at the experience I’ve described AND now being incorrectly billed for an exam, I explained that this needs to be voided immediately and put through my eye insurance. This is a scam. She had the audacity to say it “wasn’t a big deal,” even though she has no understanding of what occurred during these exams and is charging me erroneously. She said I came in for an issue, not an exam: this is blatantly false, and manipulative. I scheduled an eye exam and the bill itself reflects this. I mentioned a concern during the exam, as all patients do. If I go to my family doctor for a physical and mention a concern I have about my health, are they not going to bill it as a physical? This is the definition of a totally deceptive medical practice and gaslighting.
I’m waiting on a response from the doctor and a correction and voiding of the false health insurance claim.
I saw a lot of elderly patients in the Media office. If you are an elderly patient or a caregiver, please be aware and cautious; or go to a different practice altogether.
