University Health Service, University of Michigan — Local services in Ann Arbor

My experience with UHS has been incredibly frustrating. Communicating with my physician through PatientPortal (website used to communicate with your physician) has made it extremely difficult to get medicine, and it shows the lack of transparency between physician and patient.

In December 2017, I came in hoping to be put on Accutane, a medicine used to help with acne, as I have severe acne that has resulted in scars on my face. Doctor evaluated me and deemed me eligible for Accutane. Doctor told me I needed to take a series of pregnancy tests to prove that I was not pregnant (people who get pregnant while on Accutane can give birth to babies that have severe birth defects!) before I could be registered for iPledge. I would take a pregnancy test every month before doctor could register me for the Accutane program called iPledge. So doctor told me I’d be taking one in December (that same day), January, and February.

Did the three pregnancy tests. Doctor registers me! Great. At this point, doctor has to send in a request for the medicine to my insurance company to see if they’ll cover it. In other words, my role at this point is to wait and see what the decision is.

I get a message from my doctor through PatientPortal a while after my last pregnancy test that they think there was a “lost communication” and now needs me to redo 2 more pregnancy tests so I can be re-registered for iPledge (the program for Accutane that attempts to reduce pregnancy).

Snippet from PatientPortal: "I registered you for I pledge a while ago - I think there was a lost communication."

At this point, I am frustrated because there was not a lost communication. There can't be a lost communication when we have PatientPortal to link physician and patient. But I want to be positive even though I am very pissed off, because 2 more pregnancy tests means 2 more months of wait time.

I go in for the first of the 2 pregnancy tests and I message doctor via PatientPortal so that we will not have a “lost communication” again. Doctor says: "Hi - I just checked - it does not look like the lab is doing the pregnancy test. Did you leave them a urine sample?"

I tell doctor I went to the lab and told the people I needed a pregnancy test done for Accutane, and the lab technicians took my blood.

Doctor says: "Can not go forward to re-register you in I-pledge until you go to UHS lab and get the pregnancy test done."

I am extremely frustrated at this point because as a patient, what more can I do? I listen to my physician and do as I am told. If I need to go in for 2 more pregnancy tests due to some lost communication, I am angry but I will do it. But now the lab people gave me the wrong test, and I am expected to just accept this as fact and go in again for my 5th pregnancy test. What I hear as a patient is: "Your time is not valuable enough for us to do our job right the first time or apologize when something has gone astray on our end." It has been over 4 months, and I doubt I am going to get the medicine at all now.

At the very least an apology to the patient. It angers me that I am taking my time to do my part as patient, and when the health care providers' fail to do theirs, they speak to me in a very dry, matter of fact manner. Worst of all, I have no idea what happened between my physician telling me I needed 2 pregnancy tests done and going to the lab to take the wrong test. What happened to that communication? As patients, we are often left in the dark.

edit: edited review for UHS staff anonymity

edit: reached out by UHS Patient Relations Coordinator, got a nice little phone call from my doctor explaining situation.

edit: doc knows I need a prior authorization (urgent so I can get meds by May 2) but DID NOT DO IT!!! doctor had 2 days to do prior auth (last pregnancy test taken Thursday). doc told me to pick up meds ASAP but didn't even fill out prior auth. Now it is Sat and I don't know if I can get meds within I-pledge time frame! :(

tl;dr: Tried to get accutane. Dr seems to be purposefully delaying medicine at this point. Beware...

My physician told me that only two out of the three lab tests were going to be covered by my insurance. I go down to billing to determine which one was not covered and it was the Basic Metabolic Panel. This same day, I go upstairs to the labs and walk into the clinic. There was no communication from the medical staff because patients had to sign in on a clipboard. They called a patient's name that sounded similar to my name and I stood up, thinking my name was called and went up to the medical professional saying, “Hi, I do not want to do the basic metabolic panel because it is not covered by my insurance.” She directed me to another person at the front desk realizing that I was different from her patient. So I walked up to the counter and told the woman repeating my request, and she told me, “Oh I am not taking care of you today he is” pointing at her colleague who was three feet away. He takes me back to the room where he will be taking my blood. At this time my mom calls me, talking about the test that isn't covered and I just tell her I won't be taking the Basic Metabolic Panel today. This medical assistant was in the room with me during this conversation and he was also in the room when I told the other two medical professionals. Once again, I tell him, “FYI, I do not want to take the basic metabolic panel today because it is not covered by my insurance.” He immediately got annoyed with me and had an attitude asking, “You're not taking it?” I said no. He then leaves the room to reprint the stickers for the order or something and starts the process of drawing my blood. He was very short with me and rushed through the entire procedure. His instructions like “straighten your arm” or “keep still” etc. were so rude and disrespectful. He made me feel like I was just a task he had to check off his to do list. After the procedure he said, “You're good to go. You can take the metabolic panel another day but in the future just let one of us know if you don't want to take a test.” I replied, “I did.” I tried to inform them multiple times but I was ignored by three different people. Prior to going to the lab, I received bad news about my health and I was overwhelmed and feeling pretty down. Then going to the lab and being treated like I was a mannequin or a box to check was very upsetting. Horrible service from UHS Lab Services and I would never want to treat anyone like the way he treated me. I refuse to be treated by that incompetent medical professional again. He had no compassion or care for his patients and this behavior needs to...

Deciding to write a review because I am shocked by all the negative ones on here. I have been going to UHS for the past four years and I have nothing but great things to say about the place. I see Dr. Corrigan and he's one of the most kind, empathetic, and understanding doctors out there. At times when he was unavailable and I really needed to be seen, he referred me to colleagues at the UHS who were also equally as phenomenal as him. The doctors at UHS really excel in making themselves accessible to their patients by being responsive to portal/phone messages as well. The administrative staff/nurses/PAs are always friendly and so thoughtful. I will never forget the time I walked up to the front desk in one of the specialty clinics in the UHS and told a male receptionist I had been referred here by my doctor to make an appointment. He responded by saying I was technically at the wrong place but he could schedule me one anyway. He pulled up my record and asked, "do you need to be seen for" and paused. He looked around, noticing there was people behind me, and pulled out a sticky note and wrote down my health condition and slid it to me from across the table. Now he probably could have whispered it or mouthed it, but he did not want to risk it.. this experience is pretty exemplary of how considerate and diligent the UHS faculty/administration is in their job of protecting patient privacy and making them feel comfortable. All around I would recommend this...