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Cambridge Health Alliance Eye Center
- Good for Kids:
- No
- By Appointment Only:
- Yes
4 reviews for Cambridge Health Alliance Eye Center
I've had to go here every week or every other week for about two months now, for checkups for an eye inflammation -- I have had to wait over an hour to be seen pretty much EVERY time, no matter what time of day my appointment, or how many other people were there.
I understand that doctor's offices often run behind, but to have such an immensely long wait (for what's literally a two minute appointment) *every single time* is unbelievably infuriating, ESPECIALLY since they (or the doctor I was seeing, Steven Patalano) don't offer early morning or late afternoon appointments, so this has meant being out of work for about three hours in the middle of the day for every appointment. I'm normally a patient person, but having this happen so consistently has me super pissed off. And the only time I was ever late (because of another dr's appointment), the doctor had left for the day, even though it was the middle of the day.
Also I had a lot of trouble getting them to refill an eyedrop prescription they hadn't refilled in time (despite multiple calls from me), and then they were snippy and refused to rush it, even though it was their mistake and I was out of medicine.
Anyway! Argh!
EDITED TO ADD: at the beginning of December they charged my credit card for a visit at the beginning of September and one in early October. Great bookkeeping, guys.
I had been going to these guys for 3 years with a few appointments each year. I kick myself for staying so long. Each appointment took a minimum of just under 2 hours and up it went from there. The time you actually spend with Dr. Patalano right at the end of the time slot is about 15 minutes if you're lucky. He seems to know his business but the clinic is run as a money maker as far as I can see. There always was an excuse why the wait was so long but seems to me the practice operates as a factory. Looked like over booked appointments to me.
I have seen parents with kids languishing in the waiting room for hours. There is little to entertain the kids, books, toys, etc. There are quite a lot of non English speakers, often older folk who come with an English interpreter. The final straw for me was watching an elderly Haitian woman wait the same length of time as me. It was passing the two hour mark. She sat there looking frail and tired. She turned to her interpreter and said something in French and then they both got up to leave. About 2 minutes later, they called her name so I ran to get her. I imagined it would be such an effort for her to have to go through all that another time.
There are a lot of more disadvantaged folk going to this clinic. I guess they may think they don't have political clout and I imagine that's understood by the clinic. Middle class Cambridge wouldn't stand for it.
It's time to make another appointment. It won't be with this eye center. As an aside, I thought the receptionists were fine.
I had been looking forward to getting my problem fixed and now all I have is dilated eyes and a really bad taste in my mouth.
Dr. Patalano was absolutely rude to the 4 people in line in front of me who didn't speak english as a 1st language. He actually came out and said "oh great another one who doesn't speak english" right in front of the patient. Then they did the exam and when I described what my symptoms were they told me "the numbers say that's not happening". So they believe that their little machine knows what I'm feeling better than I do.
Then after approximately 2 minutes of speaking to the doctor he tells me that the reason I my eyes hurt and I have headaches at the end of the day is that I have dry eyes and don't blink enough when I look at the computer screen. Doesn't matter that I told him I have trouble focusing on the letters on the screen and that a optomitrist I see told me I have trouble with focusing.
Pretty much going here was not only a waste of time but pretty painful because they dropped my eyes three times.
First of all, the receptionist was cold/unhelpful @ best (didn't take any insurance info or co-pay @ all), the place was horribly crowded (& somewhat of a dump).
It took about 2&1/2 hours for me to get my eyes examined (ROUTINE EXAM!!!) by these guys. I think they doubled up on my pupil dialator (I was f'ed up for about 10 hours after).
Finally, Dr. V gave me a script which I didn't even need/want (antibiotic ointment) after talking to me for 4 seconds - which I thought was nice - but then when I got my bill, it meant the script he took 2 seconds to write - he was able to charge my insurance another $300. (I'm not sure if it's a coincidence, but it this was not pre-approved by my PCP - so you do the math!). Very disappointing experience & I do not plan on returning here.
