Medical Clinic of Houston, LLP — Attraction in Houston

From start to finish, this was one of the worst experiences I've ever had with a medical professional. Not only did I wait over 30 minutes past my appointment time to be called in, I then waited for awhile in the room for Dr. Cohen to arrive. There was no nurse with her when she checked my IUD which made me uncomfortable, as normally there is an additional person in the room. She was also quite rough and didn't communicate to me when she was starting. It was jarring and painful.

While that and the waiting were inconvenient and unpleasant, it wasn't the worst part. I brought it to Dr. Cohen's attention that I had gained over 30 lbs in one month. I'm a 30 year old woman who eats healthy and lives an active life, so this is highly unusual. Dr. Cohen then tells me it's likely a portion issue and that I should download a weight loss app. I reiterated to her that I eat very healthy and am active, and 30lbs is near impossible to gain in a month even if I had poor eating habits. I told her, If anything I probably don't eat enough. She then tells me a long debunked theory that not eating puts your body into starvation mode and makes you gain weight. I was shocked that a doctor is reiterating incorrect medical information.

She then says, after I assured her it wasn't my lifestyle that was the issue, that I might be perimenopausal. I'm only 30 for crying out loud! Perimenopause begins around 50! She then gets back on the weight loss app idea and dismisses my concerns about it possibly being a thyroid issue because of my fatigue, brittle hair and nails, and night sweats.

The blatantly incorrect medical information aside, Dr. Cohen's bedside manner was not trauma-informed or kind. I was in tears as I was telling her about my weight gain and all she did was make it worse. She showed no compassion. She then just walked out of the room without a word, so I thought I was done. I got dressed, checked out and paid for parking, and left. I was called later and told that I hadn't checked out properly. She should have told me that the nurse would be in or that she'd be right back.

My husband and myself have multiple providers at The Medical Clinic of Houston, and we will be finding new providers elsewhere because I will never be returning.

It would behoove the clinic to ensure that their providers are up to date on the latest medical information, as well as trauma-informed and compassionate practice.

Icing on the cake, they keep reassuring us that they'll move to MyChart and finally modernize their practice, but I was told that date is pushed back yet again to March 2023. Avoid this place. It's not worth the hassle, heartache,...

This medical practice is very behind quality customer service expectations that are standard practice in the field. In summary, if you expect to have easy access to your own personal data and files, and have the ability to schedule a timely appointment with your primary doctor, or any other doctor for that matter, DO NOT become a patient here.

First, this group does not operate with digital medical files that patients can easily access, e.g., MyChart. This means that you cannot access your files yourself. It also means that if you are referred to another doctor outside of this group then it is a bureaucratic hassle to ensure the proper documents are shared with the right persons for proper care. It also seems like the doctors also have a hard time sharing patient data with other doctors at this same location. In my experience, most customer-facing communication happens via phone call and records sent via postal mail (LOL!) without the ability for secure digital messaging.

Second, in my experience, some doctors fill up their schedule weeks / months in advance for general appointments that have a normal level of urgency, which causes them not to be able to see patients who have higher priority needs. I would expect for doctors to hold a certain number of appointments per week to be able to see patients that have more urgent needs. Even if this was not the case, patients should be allowed and encouraged to schedule appointments with other primary care doctors that have better availability if their normal doctor is unavailable for 3-4 weeks because of their own fully booked schedule.

As an example, one of my family members had a health issue that emerged that was not the level of needing to go to urgent care, yet should have been able to be seen within the week. This practice was not able to accommodate this. My family member's primary doctor was unavailable for 3-4 weeks. We tried to book with another doctor within this same practice who was available in three days' time. That appointment was cancelled because that doctor was not the primary doctor. We were told there was no solution for this. It should not be difficult for resourceful individuals to schedule a doctor appointment.

If you expect high-quality, timely customer service that operates in a digital-forward manner this is not the medical practice for you. The doctors I've interacted with seem knowledgeable. However, the poor organizational practices negatively impact the patient's ability to access these...

My husband is a new patient to this clinic. Today we went for his first appointment. All the medical staff were attentive, friendly, and very professional.

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about the front desk reception and parking garage attendants. We were not made aware that everyone needs to bring the parking ticket into the building and pay for parking at the reception desk. At all other medical offices in Houston, one usually pays at the garage exit.

We were in the car at the garage exit gate and the reader could not read my ticket. I press the help button to call the attendant and a very rude man came to our car to tell me “you didn’t pay!” I reply with “Correct, I’m trying to pay…” Then he tells me I need to backup, go back into the garage, park my car, walk back into the lobby and pay. At this point there is a line of cars

behind me. The rude attendant sees the line of cars behind me and that I’m trapped. He could not care less of the predicament and walks away. I have to get the cars behind me to backup and I am forced to backup and turn around as cars are continuing to come in the garage.

I go inside the lobby to pay for parking and there is a line people at the desk. I ask the lady in line if this is where we pay for parking. The lady tells me yes and as we talk she had the exact same experience as me - got stuck at the gate and forced to come back in to pay… Then 2 other people in line express they had the SAME ISSUE! Once I finally get to the front of the line to pay, the lobby attend was HORRIBLE! While I was at her desk 3 other people paged her desk from their cars because they were stuck at the exit gate. When I expressed my frustration of the situation she snapped back in a very nasty voice “there are signs everywhere”.

We came to the doctor because my husband is very sick. He can barely walk! It takes everything he has to walk from the car to the building. He and I were only focused on keeping him upright and getting him to his appointment. I’m not READING ALL THE SIGNS. Since I am one of 7 people dealing with the same parking payment issue at that particular time, it seems the parking payment system is the problem - not the patients. I’m so grateful I drove my husband to his appointment today. It would have been horrible if he were alone and forced to walk back to the building to pay...