Waterford Lakes EyeCare

I have been coming to Dr Q since I moved to Orlando in 2019. My son is now 16 and my daughter 9. I like that she is very thorough and asks the "difficult" questions without being shy. Sets expectations with the kids and explains the why about things. My kids are receptive to her comments and concerns.

Scam alert!! Do not bring your kids here is my advice!! Warning to other parents!! If I didn’t know how things work I would have thought it was standard practice but it is not! They tried to trick me into giving them Money that I didn’t owe & was covered by insurance. Would leave 0 stars if possible. My experience Aug 18, 2022. Dr is unethical & only cares about money. They just wanted to nickel & dime me & my insurance for everything. They wanted me to come back for 3 different concerns so they could bill the insurance. There are some great pediatricians out there but they are not one! Some Yelp reviews I found say the same thing. My son was 3 & behind on speech. His previous pediatrician said at his next wellness appointment she would write a referral for my son for speech therapy if he was still behind. He use to go to the amazing dr hala at tots and teens Pediatrics and the only reason we came to dr q is because we moved to Orlando from St. Cloud & they said they no longer took our insurance. So I made an appointment for my son’s annual appointment. When I signed up online they wanted the $20 co pay right away. But I found the fine print button to pay at office. I then called the office to relay that this was for his annual and was being charged a co pay by mistake and should be covered by insurance. They said that was fine & I didn’t owe a co pay. Then when I got there they said they can not put it as an annual because his last annual was on Dec 30th, 8 months ago & he had to wait exactly 365 days to get another annual done. I said that was not true & never heard of that before that would mean i would have 2 days every year to get him a physical what if those days fell on days I worked or fell on a weekend that made no sense. But the dr insisted and claimed she had been doing this over 25 years & they send back a bill for parents every time & I would have to pay $20 co pay that day. So I called my insurance right there & they confirmed the annual appointment doesn’t have to be 365 days apart & my son could have gotten his annual Jan 1 for this year if I wanted to. They confirmed I should not be charged a co pay for visit. I went to give the phone to the lady at the front desk & she asked I take it off speaker which I thought was weird and like she wanted to talk with them without me hearing. But did so. Also was surprised that she wanted to hold my phone to her face when they have a strict mask policy and charged $2 fee if you don’t wear a mask. After 2 hours & getting that straightened out. I then asked the front desk about referrals that I will need they said i would need to make another appointment for that but could check with dr. When dr came in I had told her I would need a referral for a specialist as my son was now 3 and still very behind on speech. She said she would need to charge insurance/me for a regular visit and not the annual then or i would have to make another appointment. The point of an annual visit especially for a toddler is to evaluate over all health and development & if a developmental delay is found during annual visit/exam then the dr is supposed to write a referral. Not say oh I found this issue during evaluation & you need to come back so I can write a referral My son had some other issues & concerns that I didn’t even get to bring up to the dr. I don’t have time to make 3 appointments 3 days in a row or the money to make 3 different co pays. I had made this appointment 3 weeks in advance which means that i would have to wait another 3 weeks for my son to get a referral & help he needs. So I politely walked out of appointment & said I would go somewhere else for his annual. He ended up being diagnosed with autism and needing therapy right away. With this Dr my son would not have gotten the care he needed for a few months more. Early intervention is key with autism. Thank goodness it wasn’t something life threatening who knows what would have happened. Protect your children by not taking them here. Sorry for not posting sooner.

Review response Google won’t let me respond to your response. so I’m responding with my other google account. As you noted in your response I do have two google accounts with different names. And can make more. One I prefer to leave reviews with. I don’t know why that matters though. Whether you remember it or not. It happened. I also didn’t give my sons name and we walked out politely without receiving services so it makes sense why you would have no record of it. But adding a picture of the appointment saved in my calendar with your contact details. My son was upset and waiting in his diaper for an extensive amount of time to be seen. While I called the insurance to verify to you no co pays were required. I know my insurance and how it works, I’ve had it for years. I called before hand to let you know how it works. I don’t have to wait 365 days (never heard of an insurance that does) and annuals are free. I was told on the phone i wouldn’t have to pay. But then when I arrived I was told I was wrong & would have to pay. Not that I would be reimbursed later. I had to call my insurance right there for you to talk to prove it to you. Something that office staff is supposed to. That’s the purpose of providing insurance information before you arrive. For general guidance and educational resource for you: A child that is not talking by 3 years old is not normal. That is usually a sign something is wrong & needs a referral to see a specialist/neurologist. You don’t need transfer paperwork or lab work to see that he wasn’t talking and needed a referral. That’s just an excuse to try to justify terrible unethical behavior & policy in my opinion. Also I always transfer all my paperwork to new offices. But for arguments sake let’s say I did forget your office never said I needed that for a the referral. I was told I would need to make another appointment & pay a co pay to get the referral. It was like you were determined for me to pay a $20 co pay one way or another. Maybe it was a prejudice thing against kids with special needs. I see another review where you were not inclusive to another kid with special needs. These are unethical policies as confirmed by at least 3 other amazing pediatricians in the area that I called to at the time who confirmed that. My appointment was at 3:30, that’s what worked with my schedule. So because of our schedules combined I would have had to waited 3 week’s for my son to get a referral that was unnecessary to wait even till the next day for. Also I was told I would have to come back for each thing that only one concern could be handled at a time. Maybe there was some misunderstanding there. But it’s not a lie that is what I recall being told. I’m giving my honest feedback. I did not have to go through this at other pediatrician offices. Which is proof that intentional or not you don’t have ethical practices that help your patients in the most efficient & affective way. Lastly I hope you do investigate your policy. Because it did feel like a shake down & scam attempt. You even were charging people $2 if they didn’t want to wear a mask. This was 2 years after Covid & I get being cautious as a Dr office. But then your staff had no problem holding my phone to their face to talk to the insurance. They specifically asked I take it off speaker. Which made it seem like it was less of a concern about health & safety & more of another way to charge people. I don’t want anything from you I just want to warn other parents of your unethical practices & policies & hope you change them. So parents avoid making a mistake that could hurt their children by their children not getting the help they need as quickly as possible. Because I do care about others. I’m just really sorry I didn’t leave the review sooner. I hope this also helps you to realize your policies intentionally or not make you seem only concerned about money & delay helping children. Just own that your policies need to be updated. I hope because of my feedback you look at your policy & procedures & change them to be better for your patients.

Dr. Q has been our pediatrician since the day my son was born - his first visit to the office was at just 7 hours old. For over 18 years now she has been our partner for everything related to his health and has done an exemplary job. She has always been a great listening ear and has provided excellent care - even before he was born when we were meeting with docs, she was one of the only pediatricians willing to do a "meet and greet" with us, which was needed as first time parents. As we transition to an adult doc now that my son is college bound, we will greatly miss Dr. Q and her entire staff. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a doctor for their child!

One of things I love about Doctor Q pediatrics is that appointments are always on time. There is never an hour wait or even a 15 minute wait. The staff is polite and helpful. Doctors Q always take the time to talk with the patients. You aren’t just a number and it shows.