Scripps Clinic Torrey Pines — Local services in San Diego

All staff was professional, approachable and caring. I do want to note that when the Scripps Nurse Help Line refers me to go to the Acute Care Clinic due to a 2 day trending of high blood pressure (the highest being 200/115) and my informing the Help Line nurse that I would be traveling out of town by Air soon, the MD in the clinic shouldn't be discounting and discouraging. The Acute Care Clinic MD I saw indicated that I should not have come in. My BP reading at the clinic at check in was not critical as it had been but was high and I gave the triage nurse the readings I had been tracking for 2 days after noticing my face was flush. The MD not only did not acknowledge the recent hx of readings but was dismissive and said that if I didn't have other symptoms, she didn't understand why I was referred to the clinic. I told her I just recently have had escalating BP after enjoying a long life of low BP, and that in August I had 2 lg blood clots in my leg after flying post recent COVID infection and was concern that this coming week I was flying out of town. She did not acknowledge any of my input and continued with discouragement for coming to the clinic in the future. She said that if I didn't have any other symptoms (without describing what symptoms for me to be aware of) I didn't need to come in. I then noted to the MD that the nurse on the health line said the Clinic probably run an EKG and run blood tests. She said I can do that if you'd like. I said yes and they also ran a Urinalysis because I had also mentioned I have only 1 kidney and stage 2 kidney disease. I did end up having a UTI. She did not offer this but did say yes after I asked her if that would have been the cause of my BP rising so high in the last 2 days. It would have been nice to get that input acknowledging to me that there was a reason BP was elevated. I might not have been astute enough to ask. In the verbal discharge instructions, the MD advised me not to take my BP anymore than 1 time a day and to take it when I get up for the day before any activity or food and drink. It would have been nice if she at least added "unless you have x,y,z symptoms" (will have to look up the symptoms but even a paper handout would have been good since I am just new at high BP management. I believe this was a risky way of treating a patient who needs to sort through how to manage a change in my BP (I am not on medication for BP) and it was a serious mistake for the MD to convey that I should not have come to the come to Acute Care Clinic even after telling her I had consulted with her own medical system"s (Scripps) health care help line and being...

This review is not about my primary care provider, who is one of the most excellent doctors I ever have, but with Scripps as a medical organization that puts profit before patients, fosters organizational incompetence over efficiency, customer care, and feedback. Scripps's employees in scheduling department, insurance submission, and billing departments were atrocious and lacks customer care. Scripps lacks a feedback process or survey after patient interaction so they can address issues and/or provide training.

I changed insurance in June this year. Every time I call to schedule to see a doctor or have lab work completed, I always make it a point to bring up that I have changed insurance, to make sure any approval or billing is sent to my current insurance. Apparently, at Scripps, it can take months for their employees to figure that out even after a patient brings it up over and over, multiple times.

Even worse, Scripps will request approval of procedure with my old insurance, schedule me for it, and when I ask who approved it -- it wasn't my new insurance company! I had to cancel vacation for a procedure only to reschedule/cancel last minute because Scripps did not ask my new insurance company's approval. For a medical care facility, this is not acceptable.

Until September this year, my billing details on Scripps website show that Scripps was submitting bills to both previous and current insurance provider. Why?

Another thing that I found out, if I stay with my new insurance provider's network of imaging and labs, I will not have to pay excessive amount on what Scripps has been billing me and my insurance. This means, Scripps's lab work is padded excessively with high costs than most Imaging centers or labs. When I asked Scripps Billing Department why I have to pay more with Scripps lab than other labs, she simply said you have to go where your insurance recommends. To me, that is a true sign that Scripps put profits before patient care, without an organizational intent of lowering costs to benefit patients and make them competitive in healthcare market.

I asked a friend, a registered nurse who reviews and process billings of medical facilities, hospitals and clinics if this is a common practice -- that Scripps bills higher than other facilities -- and he empathically said yes. Hence, he refers patients to go to other centers, imaging, or lab.

Ever wonder why healthcare is expensive? Three words: Profits...

I recently had my hearing test done by Jennifer retana and the experience was horrible ! The way she talked to me was as if I was a a burden. She never looked me in the eyes once when she talked to me. She had no compassion. Was it because I have tattoos on my arms? Or maybe because I was Asian? While I was sitting in the waiting room I saw her treat a Caucasian person with the utmost respect, I actually thought I was going to get the same treatment. But I was wrong. When it was my turn to be called back she took one look at me and gave me a dirty look. I tried to explain to her that I have trouble hearing because I was in the military and I was around the flight deck. I also told her that I am losing hearing in both my ears and I hear ringing and explained to her that my last hearing test was back in 2012 when I got out of the military. The doctor back then told me I was losing some hearing. The actual hearing test was horrible with dr.retana. She instructed me to me multiple times that to push the button when I hear ringing. Well for someone that experiences from tinnitus, some times hear ringing so I was trying to distinguish the ringing she was creating vs the ringing in my head. And she was getting frustrated that’s I wasn’t pushing the button. There was a test that was done to repeat the words that was being produced by the headphones. I could barely understand or hear the words that were being produced and she was getting frustrated at this too! After 30 min of making me look stupid. She yanked the headphones from my head and told me I had perfect hearing and that I was dismissed. I felt defeated and embarrassed. She was so rude and condescending. I just recently received me audiology examination and she wrote down “beware of malingering “ as if she is trying to warn whoever reads her note that I’m faking it. What kind of doctor writes that in a patients examination?? Maybe if I was Caucasian she wouldve treated me with more respect. Please do not go see her as a patient or you too will experience the same office visit. I will be contacting patient relations for how she treated me and also what she wrote down on her...