AdventHealth Shawnee Mission — Local services in Merriam

Dr Earnest saw my mom in the ER. She had a massive heart attack. She was not coherent when she left our home in the ambulance. Dr Earnest told me when I got to the hospital that mom had given indication that she wanted them to do everything to save her even though she had a DNR. He then asked me if that is what I wanted. I thought it was a weird question. Of course if that is what my mom wanted that’s what I would want! Did he think I would say no? So Dr Earnest took her into the cath lab and put a stent in. She had one artery that was completely blocked. (She had seen Shawna in Dr Earnest’s office 4 days before her heart attack for her yearly check up and was told everything looked good by the way.) A couple of days later an ICU nurse told me we needed to get mom’s DNR back in place. I was confused because I figured it was still in place. Then I asked the nurse was it because of what transpired in the ER where mom gave indication that she wanted them to do everything to keep her alive? The nurse chuckled and said that’s not how that works. They said some doctors won’t take a patient into the cath lab if they have a DNR in case they die on the table. Then it goes against their record. So I wasn’t very happy about that. I filed a complaint with the Patient Advocate at Advent in Merriam. Dr Earnest came in to see my mom who was mostly incoherent. While we were talking I noticed white foam coming out of my mom’s mouth. I asked what was happening. He said it’s normal because of the fluid in her lungs. So he calls my mom’s name and lays some tissues on her hands and told her to wipe her mouth. My mom was not coherent and her hands were drawn into her chest. I said she can’t wipe her mouth! Good Lord! Was he for real? So he walks over and dabs her mouth with the tissues. The look on his face was pure disgust. I was disgusted with him! His bedside manner is the worst!! He asked if I had any questions. I said yes. What indication did my mom give to have you try everything? He said well I wasn’t the one who she gave indication to. But the night she came in he made it sound like it was him. He told me it was the ER doctor. I said that my mom had put a DNR in place when she was of sound mind & body. I asked him isn’t that how most people do that. He said yes. I asked if my mom was of sound mind and body when she came in. He looked like he ate a turd sandwich when he answered no. My deal is this. My mom was 83. She put the DNR in place because she never wanted to linger if she couldn’t live life fully. She ended up living for almost 2 weeks after she came to the ER. She choked when she swallowed and was very frightened by that. She would try to eat and drink but just couldn’t do it. She would sit and moan and was not aware of what was going on. When she did talk she made no sense. Towards the end of the second week she was completely incoherent. We made the decision to just make her comfortable. We moved her to a hospice house where she passed away within 24 hours. I wrote this long review because I want people to think hard before making Dr Earnest your cardiology. Make sure to ask lots of questions so you or your loved ones don’t have to experience what my poor mom did. Dr Wilt who is in the practice, was my mom’s actual cardiologist. Evidently he doesn’t do rounds in the hospital. Mom and I really liked him a lot. In closing I will say that I had 3 other medical professionals not be happy with Dr Earnest’s practices as well as his bedside manner. They did say he was a very capable cardiologist to be fair though. Advent health sent me a letter to say they did a thorough investigation and said they did not have a DNR on file for my mom and found no wrong doing. Maybe not now for some unknown reason, but they obviously did if you read the details of my review. Oh and they also tried to tell me mom had Covid which she did not....

Update on Review 9-15-2025: This facility according to Tricare West is NOT in network with them, I just got the full bill for an ultrasound service, and indeed they billed the whole ultrasound, and lab services to read the ultrasound, as being out of network. I called Tricare and tried to appeal it, because Advent Health told me they were in-network ahead of my appt, they even sent me an estimated bill showing $0 copay. Tricare said no, and that they determined they are out of network after the claim review. I reached back to pre-registration dept at Advent Health, talked to a rep named Melissa, who tried to help but could not. She transferred me to her supervisor, which I do not recall her name, to try and solve the issue. Supevisor/manager was rude, just letting me know that yes indeed they are in-network, and Tricare confirmed with them on the phone. When I asked her to give me the name at Tricare who confirmed this, she said she did not have it. I then asked, if you are in-network then why Tricare billed me. It should have been $0 co-pay. She proceed to rudely tell me that was not her issue and I had to take it with Tricare, which I already did by asking them to review the claim, which they re-stated it was out of network. At this point, I will just pay the amount I owe, but will never again go to Advent Health. Congrats you get your co-pay but due to your lack of care, and organization, you will lose on all the money you could had made from having me and my family as patients. Tricare West customers, be very weary when going to this location for radiology services under the new Tricare West Alliance Insurance, as of the date of this review, seems like not all their services are in-network with Tricare West, so triple make sure if you go to this facility to check with Tricare to see if they are indeed in network, and make sure with the facility, especially if having any type of radiology services, that there will not be a third party involved in the billing of the exam.

I went to this facility to have an ultrasound done, and they did confirm with me ahead of time that they are in-network, and even sent me an online estimate showing the co-payment for it was going to be $0. Radiology services fall under Tricare's ancillary services, which have $0 copays, after you reach your annual family cost-share maximum contribution, which we had already reached back in February this year.

About two weeks after my ultrasound, I received an email from Alliance Radiology letting me know I have a balance due. I called Advent Health to find out what that bill was, since they told me they were in-network, and I was let know ahead of time my co-payment was going to be $0. I came to find out that radiology services (well at least the one I had), the ultrasound was read and interpreted by a third party company called Alliance Radiology, and they bill their services separate from Advent Health Hospital. Advent Health completely failed to let me know ahead of my exam that my radiology exam was going to be read by Alliance Radiology, and the fact that they were out of network. I called Alliance Radiology to get more info about this, and they confirmed with me that they were indeed out of network, I have a balance due, and they have no plans to be in-network with Tricare West.

If you have Tricare West and are thinking about going to Advent Health Shawnee Mission for services make super sure ahead of time, whether the whole service, especially the reading of the exam results, is going to be done by them or a third party like Alliance Radiology, and whether they are in-network or not. As you might be stuck paying a 25% co-payment for some of the services they bill Tricare for. Which for an MRI, CAT scan, or any other high cost radiology service, can be a good chunk of money out of...

Worst experience I’ve ever had. Never saw a doctor and was told they were just going to do enough to send me home. Went in for a serious stomach issue where I couldn’t even keep water down, basically they just charged me for rehydration and told me to go see a doctor when I got out. Never going there by choice again.

Edit: I figured I’d include some more information since I’m finally doing better. Turns out I had a bacterial ulcer, which at the time of my visit I was waiting to get into a GI specialist to see what was going on (it was a 3 month waiting list) when it got too severe to wait. Thankfully I’m fine now, but leaving things like that can be deadly or even increase your risk of stomach cancer significantly. As a former home health worker, I can’t stress enough how egregious their treatment and handling of their patients is. I did get a CT scan while I was there but I had to fight like hell for it. I wanted to at least get some imaging done to be sure I was actually safe to leave. They only give you very uncomfortable recliners in the emergency triage that don’t even fully recline and which you can’t get comfortable in and there’s two in a room so you’d almost be within touching distance of whoever they have you share a room with and nothing but a curtain to separate you when you both are probably at your worst. Not to mention if someone has anything contagious you’d likely be getting it too. There was one nurse who I could tell really cared and tried to advocate for me and get some decent pain relief since my entire GI tract was in pain. I don’t even remember his name because I was so miserable but he was the only one that even seemed to care. The nurse practitioner was the only person I got to see, not an actual doctor, and he was condescending, rude, and completely unhelpful. He made it clear I wouldn’t be seeing an actual doctor and that their goal was just to send me home. Maybe they didn’t like my insurance much but that’s not an excuse. I would never treat my clients that way. They don’t care about their patients and they just wanted to charge me 2K for an IV and some meds I mostly could have gotten at home and the ones I couldn’t, didn’t even help, and a scan that they didn’t even want to give me. I gave them samples that sat in the counter the entire time I was there and they didn’t even take to test. Please, for your own health and safety do not go here. After I was able to meet with my doctor, she referred me to KU and all I needed were some antibiotics. This should not be happening at a hospital of this caliber. What’s sad is before their takeover, my dad went here when he had cancer and they were amazing. I had thought I’d be fine there but it’s clear they are cutting cost at every turn and they don’t want to give you quality care, they care more about your money (which many hospitals do but they at least can give you good care for what they charge). Thankfully my doctor agreed when I told her about my experience here and said she wouldn’t be referring anyone here unless absolutely necessary. If this is your only option I hope you have better treatment than me but if you have any choice at all then I’d highly suggest going elsewhere. You deserve...