Lenox Hill Radiology | East 77th Street — Attraction in New York

UPDATE/TLDR: I posted a review of an uncharacteristically poor experience I had at Lenox Hill Radiology. Today Chantel, who oversees customer satisfaction, called to apologize for that poor experience which is not typical of how patients are treated at Lenox Hill. Upgrading to 3 *, out of space, but they are greater than an occasional hiccup.

Giving it two stars because most of the staff who work there are amazing human beings providing outstanding services. However, after my experience today, my 20+ year relationship with them may have ended.

I had a procedure scheduled for 3:20. Arrived very early (around 2) and told them I knew I was early and could wait. They said fine, if anything opened up before then, they would call me. Imagine my joy when they called me to come back immediately!

So I go into the back, disrobe, and gown up. This is a radiology office. It's cold. I have on only a hospital gown above the waist. I wait. There's another woman of color waiting, and after 20 or 30 minutes, she's finally seen.

I'm wondering why no one is calling me, and then I see some guy come in with two females who may be patients. He's interrupting the very busy staff to ask questions like where can he put one woman's clothes, and some other question so basic it prompted a response from one of the medical staff, to which he replied, "Oh, I work here. I'm head of (I don't remember exactly and don't want to misquote) Department." He then proceeded to follow the medical staff around, advocating for the women accompanying him.

By 3:05 I was freezing, so I went to the locker to get my jacket. The normal health care providers were as awesome as they always are, offering blankets, etc. I asked about being seen. A new person looked at the records and told me "Your appointment is at 3:20." "Yes," I responded, "and they've had me back here naked and cold for an hour." She looked again, and stated that there were two people ahead of me. I asked if this meant I was still going to be seen at 3:20, and she shook her head no. So I decided to leave.

I've been a client of this practice for over 20 years and have NEVER had to spend an hour, cold and half naked, waiting for services after being brought to the back. I continued to trek down to 77th street from Upper Manhattan because before today I was a fan of the precision with which they ran the practice. Until today this, the flagship site of this practice, seemed free of the frustrating preferential treatment that can permeate and logjam the medical industry. It may be coincidence that this guy comes in trying to insert himself into how the department is run at the same time they have an inexplicable backlog. When I gathered my things to leave (his two friends were in the room where my locker was), he even butted into my business, with "you sure you want to leave? It'll only be another 10-20 minutes," which was directly contradictory to what the woman managing the schedule had just told me. And what business was it of his unless he was trying to manipulate their schedule?!?

In all fairness, this could all be coincidental, or it could be that I'm irritable because I had another surgical procedure this morning, but it LOOKED like cronyism, like an employee (sorry, "Department Head") trying to get his friends squeezed in and seen.

What I know is that in a City with so many medical practicioners, there is absolutely no reason to go somewhere where my time and my person are not respected. If LHR is a medical facility, then it needs to prioritize patient care over physician or practitioner relationships. Today, while every staff person with whom I interacted maintained their usual high levels of professionalism, today I was left with the impression that anybody who heads a department at LHR can come in and insert their friends into an already crowded schedule.

If that's what it's come to, I won't be returning. Great pity. They really do have a lot of wonderful, caring people there. Those people get five stars, but Mr. "I'm a Department Head" gets infinite...

This was my first visit to this Lenox Radiology location. While the imaging was ultimately completed, there were several areas that could be improved to enhance the experience for patients—especially those visiting for the first time.

When I arrived, I didn’t realize the downstairs office was closed. I followed the sign to the concourse level and waited but didn’t see any staff. Eventually, I returned upstairs and noticed additional signage. For first-time visitors, placing a clear sign near the elevator indicating that the downstairs office is closed and directing patients upstairs would help reduce confusion.

I arrived well within the recommended 90-minute window before my appointment and asked about being seen early, as I expected some prep might be needed. I was told someone would follow up, but after a long wait with no update, I asked again. It appeared I could have started prepping earlier, so there may have been a delay or oversight. That said, the front desk person was amazing—professional, kind, and helpful throughout the entire process, which made a positive difference in my experience.

As part of the prep, I was instructed to drink three bottles of liquid before my exam, within 20 minutes of each other. Since this was my first time, I drank them too quickly and later experienced vomiting and gastrointestinal discomfort. I would have appreciated more detailed guidance on how to pace the liquids.

During the imaging, the technician initially wasn’t wearing gloves and stated that gloves were for his protection from me. Although he eventually put them on, he tore the fingertips of two of them to feel for my vein. This felt unsanitary and made me uncomfortable.

Additionally, I wasn’t aware that an injection would be involved in the imaging. While the nurse did explain everything clearly before administering it, I feel this should be communicated in advance—not just through rushed paperwork on the day of the appointment.

While the overall experience wasn’t horrible, a few key areas stood out that could be improved:

– Clearer signage for first-time visitors – Better communication about early check-in and prep timing – Clearer instructions on how to pace drinking prep liquids – Consistent, proper glove use for hygiene and patient comfort – Advance notice of injections or any medication involved – Continued professionalism and kindness like I experienced at the front desk

I hope it helps improve the experience for others...

Fast turnaround to get appointments (same week vs. other imaging facilities were quoting me 4-8 week wait times for a breast ultrasound and mammogram).

But upon going to the facility, the imaging technician (who acted like a teenager) spewed me a bunch of conflicting information to me about how I should've scheduled the ultrasound and mammogram together because that's what the radiologists prefer (this is conflicting info to what my PCP and the Lenox Hill receptionist told me when referring and helping me to schedule the appointment). The technician also had no care / capability for customer service (e.g. no empathy as to my recent devastating 39 week stillbirth and seemingly no reaction / interest in hearing the context of my physical condition before doing the scan).

After doing the ultrasound, the technician tells me to wait in a waiting room, and 20 minutes later comes to tell me that there is a concern with my breast ultrasound, so I'd have to go back to do a mammogram and biopsy to actually diagnose whether I have breast cancer. She refused to let me call my husband so he could hear the information and asked questions, and had no patience to explain more details to me the nature of the concern until I pushed several times with probing questions. When I asked to speak to a doctor to clarify the assessments and risk levels, she mentioned that the doctors are not available to meet with patients and work remotely (not even on site). Basically my understanding is that they "read" image after image like robots (I'm not even sure who the doctors are, might as well just be AI assisted computers spitting out a digital report).

Overall, I guess it makes sense that this place is driven solely by volume of business and doesn't really pay attention to customer service. Imaging is becoming more and more transactional, and it's clear this facility doesn't pay attention to the human element of these processes that deal with people's actual lives and physical/emotional well-being. It's the sad direction that healthcare is taking unfortunately.

I'm scheduled to go to another Lenox Hill Radiology location for the follow up mammogram and biopsy in a week or so, will be curious what the...