The Heart Group of Lancaster General Health — Local services in Lancaster

i have now had several unpleasant experiences with the heart group. it’s difficult to get ahold of anyone. they are slow to respond to portal messages if they even do at all. i was told if i had any questions to feel free to ask, and when i did ask via the portal they were not answered and instead i was discouraged from using the portal to communicate and told to call the office. that would be great if anyone would actually answer the phone. more than once i have spent upwards of half an hour on hold trying to get through to someone at the office ultimately to hang up after no answer. i needed an echocardiogram scheduled, and i inquired about this at least 4 times, yet it was never scheduled and i was never contacted about why. the first time i was told it was ordered and i should hear from scheduling within 2 weeks. 2 weeks went by and nobody contacted me. i called back and the person i spoke with on the phone had an unpleasant attitude with me about it until she realized that no one had ordered the echo to begin with and then quickly changed her tone and told me that she would have the order put in and scheduling should reach out to me in another two weeks. i never heard back from scheduling and never got the echocardiogram despite asking about it multiple other times. i was also disappointed with the provider i was seeing, so i was given a new referral for a different provider within the heart group. but the scheduling department is unhelpful, disorganized, and frustrating. today i received a call that they were reaching out to get me scheduled with the new provider, i also received a letter immediately after the call (via the portal) stating that they would be “very happy to help in scheduling this important appointment” and that they care about me and keeping me well. so i call back about an hour later to schedule said appointment and after a back and forth being told there is an available appointment— wait no there isn’t— wait yes there is— actually no there isn’t. i am finally told that there are no available appointments but i can try calling back sometime in july to see if their new schedule has been posted or not. i clarified that no one would be calling me to notify me when a new schedule had been posted despite the fact that they were the ones who called me first about scheduling today and i was just returning that call, and they confirmed that’s correct, i would be expected to call myself sometime in july to find out whether or not a new schedule had been posted yet. mind you this wouldn’t even be for an appointment in july, it would be for september at the earliest.

when i complained about my frustration with the heart group the first time with all the echo back and forth and expressed that i feel my care is not taken seriously i was sent multiple messages assuring me they take my care very seriously, and yet i still do not feel...

I will attempt to keep this short and simple. Dr. Weinstein is amazing. She hears her patients out and fully listen to their concerns. Extremely compassionate and knowledgeable. She, and the in-person nursing staff that I met, are the only reason I have given a one star.

Everything else about the LGH Heart Group is abhorrent.

Need an appointment? Good luck! You will be cancelled at least twice and shoved back at the end of the 2-4 week long wait for the next available appointment. They do nothing to remediate the cancellations beside weak consolation of "I know it's frustrating". Absolutely unprofessional and disrespectful of their patients time. Need a prior authorization for a medication? HAH. You won't get it unless you call daily, get tossed around from the nursing, prior auth, and pharmacy department only to leave a voicemail for a call back that you have a 50/50 chance of receiving. It will be a full business week before they even send out the prior authorization to insurance. And the process will be repeated if your insurance denies it, thus making you waits potentially weeks to even try the medication. Do not even consider sending a portal message. The nurses are disorganized and uncommunicative. Your best bet will be to call the nursing line because they will never get back to you on the portal. I had a medication approval, not even the prior authorization, waiting in limbo for days because the nurses simply did not move it forwards to the pharmacy until I had called. My doctor had left notes on my chart with information to relay to me, and I was not told anything until I had called. Most of the nurses I have been in contact with over the phone are rude, curt, and have a sour attitude. I've only asked simple questions, such as drug interactions, and instead was given a 3 minute lecture about not reporting a medication I got prescribed AFTER my appointment with Dr. Weinstein. Some will infantilize you and treat you as if you're beneath them.

Overall, the in-person experience with the heart group is wonderful and everyone is down to earth. But once I step foot outside of the office and need to contact them, it is impossible to request anything. If I could, I would go anywhere else beside the LGH Heart Group because of this experience. I have seen 8 different specialist at this point and have NEVER had this horrific of an experience in communication and medication approval. This place needs some form of reformation because it is simply not okay to treat patients like this. Let alone patients who are enduring life-threatening...

Terrible customer service: the office cancelled my appointment and noted the patient cancelled, incorrectly documented my current medications which were told directly to the nurse and again to Dr Castle and still, they had it incorrect. Dealing with the practice has been horrible. In addition, they did not bill the correct insurance company and no one from management will return my call. My heart rate has been about 150 beats per minute with no treatment for close to 3 months. I received better and prompt service through the emergency room physician and my primary care physician. I would not recommend this facility to anyone. I had questions without answers. I did not trust Dr. Castle or would recommend her. I am pregnant and the Dr documented incorrectly, the number of weeks I am. That is a concern since I was told that treatment is different depending on what trimester you are in. My blood pressure has been documented and is extremely low. 80/40, no exaggeration. Dr Castle wanted to put me on a beta blocker which is primarily used to treat high blood pressure. I sought a second opinion from Well Span cardiology, Ephrata, and received a completely different diagnosis. Everything about my condition was explained to me. There, I did not even need to ask any questions.

In conclusion, this part of my story is 13 months after the birth if my child. Looking back, low blood pressure with an increased heart rate was absolutely reason for concern. I ended up with post partum preeclampsia which is extremely rare and was treated 7 days post delivery with a magnesium drip, 2 different beta blockers, and an anti seizure medication. Every woman I have made contact with who experienced pre eclampsia said there blood pressure was very low during pregnancy until all the sudden your blood pressure spikes dangerously high. When you are pregnant and develop a heart condition, the OB passes you off to a cardiologist and the cardiologist passes you off to the OB. My best advice is be your own advocate. After I left a negative review about my personal experience with Dr. Castle and the practice I received a letter in the mail stating the practice would no longer see me unless I was having a medical emergency. I cant say I was suprised but I had already taken the step to find another cardiologist before receiving the letter from the heart group. I stand by my post. I would never EVER reccomend the heart group to anyone. Keep in mind I have had well over 13 months to reflect on my experience there. Tachycardia is nothing to ignore and it is not a condition...