Northeast Georgia Physicians Group Urogynecology — Local services in Gainesville

I have been going to Heritage Ob/Gyn for about 20 years. I like and trust my doctor, and liked the practice staff. In short, they are the best doctors I have ever been to in my life.

They became part of Northeast Georgia Physicians Group a few years ago, and moved to a new office with a new staff. My doctor now seems rushed during appointments. I talked to him about a medication and he said he would prescribe it but his staff never made that happen. The office does not want you to call them about prescriptions, but want you to call your pharmacy and have them call the office, which is inefficient nonsense. They claim to pass messages to your doctor about problems you are having, but I strongly suspect they don't. When you call, you wait a long time for a real person to answer. If you want to speak to or leave a voice mail for a medical person, you get the "triage" line, which is staffed by someone who claims to be a nurse, but who cannot actually talk to you about any medical condition, even to ask intelligent questions to get information to pass to the doctor. I strongly suspect this person is just a receptionist who wears scrubs, not an actual nurse with medical education and training.

A few days ago, I called for a problem and was told by "triage" that I would need to see someone. She made that appointment with another doctor in my group so I could be seen quickly. When I arrived (early), the receptionist told me I didn't have an appointment that day. I guess she just expected me to leave. I told her about talking to "triage" and making the appointment, told her I am sick, and asked if they could at least squeeze me in or get a nurse or something. She asked me what I was seeing them for after I had told her I was sick, so I had to explain my medical issue at the front desk, in front of other people. The receptionist was not nice, and not respectful of my privacy, which are basic qualifications for a medical receptionist. She finally told me that she would see what she could do. After 10 minutes or so, she called me back over, said no one could see me because they were all busy and that no other doctor besides mine could see me anyway. She immediately said I could call her supervisor, because she had followed policy, and had already talked to her. It made me wonder if she had actually spoken to any medical professionals about seeing me, or had just been using the time to try to pre-emptively cover her backside with her boss.

Before I left, I called her supervisor, who wasn't there, and then called "triage" again. The "nurse" just said there was nothing she could do, and that really it was my fault because they called to confirm the appointment, and I cancelled it. This is a lie, because they never called me after I made the appointment. I think they know they did wrong and are all just scrambling to cover themselves, at my expense.

The supervisor called back and left a message while I was on the phone with my primary doctor to see what he could do to help me, but all she said was to call her back the next day, which I did, but didn't get her. She knows the story and what she needs to do, but has not gotten anyone to see me, and I don't see the point of playing phone tag or hearing her excuses or worse yet, hear again how I supposedly cancelled the appointment that they actually just didn't schedule correctly.

I complained on the NGPG website, and the Quality and Risk department responded saying they would escalate this to upper management and that they hoped I felt better. I called back and left a voice mail telling them I just need to see a nurse or doctor, or have them tell my doctor, who probably hasn't been told about any of this, that I need help. No response.

So, still sick, with a layer of useless, low-IQ office workers separating me from seeing my doctor of 20 years. Thank God I am not pregnant so there isn't a baby to be jeopardized by this ineptitude, not that a single staff member bothered to even ask.

I want other women to know so they don't find themselves in this situation. It is...

Every experience I have had here (@ NGPG OBGYN Gainesville) has been amazing. I am pregnant with my third child. I am from Birmingham and moved to North Ga a few years ago. I was nervous to find a new OBGYN group because I had an amazing one back in Birmingham. It was a big group like this one. It was NOT unusual to wait an hour or more some times two to see a doctor. I understand that is because Ob’s get called out to deliver babies. If it was me having my baby that day I would want my Dr there. So I am surprised at the negative comments here of people who seem to not understand that. Two weeks ago I came in for my appointment and the waiting room was packed FULL. I thought, oh boy it’s going to be a “long one”. I waited, had an ultrasound, and saw the doctor all within an hour and a half. I was so pleasantly surprised at how quickly we were in and out. Dr Martin even spent a few minutes talking with my husband and I and we didn’t feel rushed. My experience has been exceptional in that I haven’t waited more than 30 min or so to see the Dr or midwife here. The front desk staff are very professional and courteous. They are very busy but are doing a great job. The ultra sound technicians have been amazing. I have seen three different ones and each was over the top friendly, accommodating and patient. The ultra sound pictures are very clear. I even had a great experience in the lab. Sweet nurse, did a great job (most nurses have a very hard time finding my vein, not her!). Each midwife has been professional and kind. I met Dr Martin for the first time and was very impressed. I can’t say enough nice things about the Dr, midwifes and nurses. I have found that if you are NOT pregnant and you don’t like to wait then finding a GYN that is not an OB is best. I was seeing one in the NGPG before I became pregnant. Overall this group is doing an amazing job and I appreciate all their hard work to make this experience a great one. I’m glad I didn’t make my decision on the...

At first I enjoyed it here. I had Dr. Bailey, he made me feel much better about what was wrong with me and helped me understand and was very kind. I scheduled my surgery for about a month later and had done all the preperations for it. Had my on call pre-op with the hospital where I was told I would need a payment of $375 and she told me everything I would be having done for my surgery, and one of the things she told me was that I was having something removed that I was not even talked to about. They said something about having my appendix removed and I hadn't even talked to my doctor about anything to do with my appendix and had no pain even in that area. Well I call the office and they tell me that it was something I would have to talk to the doctor about and I didn't make a big deal of it cause I had an appointment 4 days later and I would talk to him then. So then I go to that appointment and I was told that I had a copay of $495, I then asked if it was the same money I was told about on the phone and she said no the money due to the hospital is separate from money to the office. So I asked why I wasn't told about this sooner and she said I was supposed to have recieved a call, which I never recieved. So I was supposed to have $900 that day all together and I wasn't even informed. Well then to make matters worse, I was then told without that money I was not allowed to have my pre-op or the surgery. So they told me I couldn't talk to Dr. Bailey that day without the money and I would have to reschedule. I have been on a whirlwind of confusion with this doctors office, told I was having something done I didn't know about, couldn't talk to my dr without money, and wasn't told about money I was supposed to have beforehand. Definitely will not be calling back, and am honestly disappointed with the lack of care for patients knowing important information. Would not...