Whole Child Pediatrics — Attraction in Bristol Township

My first clue about this office should’ve been 2 years ago upon walking into the office and seeing a huge bright colored paper sign that said “we will not tolerate rude patients, they will be removed from the practice” I even giggled as I read it and asked the front desk if that really happens in a pediatric office. She replied “oh you have no idea.” Anyway, let’s fast forward to the present. The billing department is what will ultimately take this practice in a direction that keeps leading people to leave bad reviews. I had a well visit turn into a sick visit- so when I was leaving I made another well visit appointment. Several weeks go by and I never get a text reminder about my appointment so I call to see when it is or if I missed it. When I called, the front desk person says they can’t access my account because it is suspended. She said she doesn’t know why, but will connect me to billing. I leave a message and I get a call back. The women states that a bill is due on the 15th (it was only the 4th) and claims she had been sending me statements. I paid a bill in August in full- so I was confused as to why my account was suspended if the bill isn’t due until the 15th. She goes on to tell me she spoke with my husband back in July and he paid a bill and refused to leave a credit card on file. I ask my husband and he says he never spoke with her- we also checked our credit card statements and no bill was ever paid- so again I’m confused and now thinking there is a mistake with families. I tell the women that I guess I just have to wait for the statement then so I can pay it (even tho according to her it’s not late yet). So it’s now the 13th and still no bill- I call her again to tell her that I still have not received a bill- I also give her my address again to make sure she has it correct. She says she does- but no statement yet. So because I don’t want to be late, I hop online to pay this bill, but not only do I need the exact amount in order to pay, but I also need the patient number- so I call back again to ask for this info. She leaves me a voicemail with the info and repeats now I need to pay it in full and leave a credit card on file in order to take my child off “suspended status.” I pay the bill. I decide that I would like to speak with Dr Natalie to inform her of the confusion- I also By this point have had 3 other things happen in this practice that I know she’s not aware of- like 2 no call backs after leaving a message about my kids being sick and needing to speak with someone- also it taking them 2 weeks and several emails to get a school physical form filled out. I really like doctor Natalie and wanted her to know what was happening - so I call the office to speak with her. The front desk person says to email the general email and it will get to her. The day after I send an email, a letter was sent out saying my child has been “discharged from the practice.” I was so shocked! I actually was unaware a letter was sent out until I tried to reach her again and get an email back from the same women in billing telling me that Dr Natalie will not be having any discussions with me and that I should have gotten the letter discharging me. I emailed her back asking, why??- never got a response- on top of that- they BLOCKED my phone number from being able to even call the practice!! It is so unprofessional- I attempted 1 last time to reach out to let dr Natalie know by speaking with someone else in her office named Melissa (I called from a different phone number after hours)- she said she would speak to dr Natalie and get back to me- it’s almost a week later and no call. I guess they have so many patients that I don’t matter. I was really upset because I did nothing to deserve being discharged- all I did was ask to speak with the doctor. So poorly run and so sad how people are treated here....

Its unfortunate to have to write this review as this practice is just not what we had hoped. After multiple issues and concerns we have decided to leave that practice due to major incidents.

Reading others reviews it definitely brings to light that our concerns are valid and not isolated. Their customer service and billing is terrible and instead of taking responsibility they put blame on the parents for only trying to advocate for their children.

As first time parents to premature twins we were wanting an office and doctor that would look out for our best interest instead I feel like their policies show that they could care less and made to feel like you are not able to ask questions or concerns on behalf of our children.

A first incident occurred post partum 6 months with twins and one being sick, simply being 13 mins late and them not answering a phone call to let them know a child had gotten sick getting packed in the car resulted in a denied appointment and told to come back the following morning. A new mom with infant twins felt defeated and made to feel like I should be more organized, and time conscious.

Second incident occurred when our concerns were brought up for a request for a second opinion for one of our daughters. Our concerns were brushed to the side as not valid concerns and we had nothing to worry about. After a few more months we pressed the concern and finally received the referral which resulted in additional care being highly recommended. With the delay this caused additional stress on not only my daughter for additional length of care being needed but us as parents as well as we felt like we had failed her. But it was simply that the doctor had failed to help us help her.

The final and most recent incident they refused to allow us to ask the doctor a follow up question from an appointment on Monday with a call on Tuesday because they stated that the appointment was closed for insurance purposes, again a question could not be asked! Another appointment had to be made a few days later, which we did, another half day off of work, $15 copay per child. Only to come into the appointment, 5 mins of their time and be told that a referral would not be made because a questionnaire deemed it not necessary, not an in-depth evaluation a simple questionnaire and a 10 mins appointment the previous apt. As a parent I did not feel this to be accurate, so taking extra measures and received an outside evaluation (2.5 hours in our own home and their everyday environment) and to come to the conclusion that additional services would be necessary and very much helpful given their detailed evaluation not simply a questionnaire. Again, not showing the best interest for my twins or my mama heart. This really got me fuming as these were again services that I requested a referral for and was DENIED!! This was not the first or second incident but the third I was DONE!

Be cautious when doing your research, look at reviews, talk to other moms. I tried to speak to the practice about my concerns only to be turned on me being the issue for being a caring parent by their rude staff! It looks like this practice has been struggling lately reading their reviews and I am so glad to have found another caring practice for my girls where so far the experience has been night and day from...

This will be a long review...long story short, if you value the health of your children and your sanity in trying to deal with doctor's offices I would advise staying FAR away from this practice. We have been part of Whole Child Pediatrics for nearly 10 years, since before my first child was born and back when Dr. Natalie would answer the phone herself when patients were in need. The practice has fallen a long long way since that time. Their saying, we "provide personalized care," and are a "medical home away from home," could not be further from the truth. They are in business to make money and that is it. If you think you are going to a small town practice to receive such "personalized care" think again. Like other reviews, we have stayed because of the providers and nurses. However, over the last 2 years they have lost both of their nurse practitioners and most tenured nurses. There is a reason for that! The policies the office holds are ridiculous and they will often blame it on being a small stand alone practice without the backing of a conglomerate. When in actuality, they just don't have a team in place who cares. My children have complex needs and 1 was due to start therapy. We had an appointment scheduled with Dr. Natalie on a Monday and received a call from Donna (the office manager) the preceding Thursday letting us know that the insurance panel was closed and not accepting new patients. In her message she instructed me to, "fill out form 17 for a medical release" and that she "would be cancelling our appointment for monday." Oh, and by the way, "I'm out of the office tomorrow returning Monday," which left us no choices in getting my daughter seen so that she had a script in time to start therapy that she needs. We called to confirm with our medical insurance provider that Whole Child is in fact in network but Whole Child has chosen to not take any "new" patients from this particular plan. WE AREN'T NEW PATIENTS. Yes, we have new insurance, however the insurance provider has confirmed that Whole Child is in network and the decision to not accept the insurance. In fact, I called the insurers provider line and it states my children are covered as of this month. They are unwilling to bend on this fact and we are now kicked out of the practice. The cherry on top is that in order to receive my children's medical records they want me to pay a $75 fee to release them which I am refusing to do. This is their decision and I will not line their pockets. There is much better holistic and well rounded care available. I can't suggest strongly enough that all other avenues be explored before considering...