September 17, 2009 12:09 PM
To Dr. Daghigh at Loudoun Allergy, Asthma & Sinus Center
Dear Dr. Daghigh -
I am writing this open letter to you because your staff would not allow me to talk to you when I was in your office Tuesday morning.
As a mother of 12, including four kids with special needs (3 adopted), I have met hundreds of medical professionals and their gatekeepers. But in 40 years of doctor appointments, I have never, ever met anyone as rude as the two women who work for you in your Lansdowne office.
As my husband and I were once business owners who cared about our public reputation, we were always grateful for customers who let us know when there was a problem. In that spirit, I need to let you know that you have a very big problem in your office.
Here is the complaint I have filed with the Commonwealth of Virginia:
On September 15, I arrived at 10:15 with my daughter Madeleine for a 10:30 appointment with Dr. Daghigh. I gave his receptionist my insurance card and advised her that we were in the process of switching to a COBRA plan (where we have taken over payments for the same plan my husband's employer had been paying for.) She called Anthem and informed me that my daughter could not be seen that day because we were not insured.I told her that the paperwork was in process and that our son had been a patient of Dr. Daghigh's for two years. My daughter had prepared for this visit as instructed by being off her allergy medication for a week. I was told these things did not matter, that without insurance she could not be seen. I asked to appeal to the person in charge of making these decisions.
Another woman came out, even ruder and more hostile than the first. She refused to allow my daughter treatment. I offered to pay and she said it would cost $250. As I do not have a credit card, I prepared to write a check, but she said they would not accept a check, that I had to get cash. When I pointed out that my bank was 30 minutes from their office, she said they would wait an hour. Since Maddy needed to be back at school at 12:15, that was impossible. Not to mention demeaning.
I asked to speak to Dr. Daghigh and they refused.
When I shared what had happened with my COBRA plan representative the next day, she was shocked. I also will note that the next day I had to take a son to the eye doctor and the personnel there were very understanding.
I am filing a complaint against Dr. Daghigh because he is responsible for the for the people he hires and the authority he has given them to turn patients away or to make requirements like cash for visits when they are in transition with COBRA. Both employees seemed to enjoy wielding their power and humiliating me in front of my daughter.
Their hostile attitude was also noted by my COBRA worker Nancy Tripodi, who called them the next day and was told it was none of her business and they didn't care what she thought. She said she had never encountered such rude behavior from a doctor's office in her professional experience.
Dr. Daghigh, perhaps you are unaware that patients are being mistreated by your employees and that their attitude is haughty and demeaning to those seeking your help with allergy problems. My daughter is a professional singer and was really looking forward to beginning a treatment plan. It was difficult for her to go a week without her medication to prepare for this visit. And it was even more difficult to be turned away by two very hostile and angry women.
Posted in Complaint Department | Permalink
Comments
I'm sorry, I couldn't tell, was Maddy seen by the doctor?
We have gone there before, but only once and I wasn't thrilled when the doctor commented that my 7 year old (at the time)son was acting like a baby because he was crying.
Crying after getting his back scratched raw...
I'm sorry this happened to you. I think the women might discover they picked on the wrong person.
[No, she wasn't seen because she had to be back at school by 12:15. And I had had enough of these two hostile women. ]
Posted by: Sandra | September 17, 2009 11:59 AM
WOW, Sandra. Said your 7 year old was acting like a baby for crying while in pain? That's ridiculous.
Barbara, I'm sorry you had such a hard time. I find it especially bothering when your Cobra rep called and they told her it was "none of her business." I've had the experience of having someone trying to advocate for me (while I was hospitalized and heavily sedated) and being told my care was none of his business. I think it's a cop out for people who want to be able to do whatever they want without being questioned.
Posted by: Michelle Potter | September 17, 2009 12:48 PM
What terrible behavior of that dr. office.Good for you for holding them accountable!
Posted by: Joslyn | September 17, 2009 12:51 PM
Dear Ms. Curtis:
I was most distressed to see your posted open letter on this website because, to my knowledge, this is the first time the behavior of my staff has been subject to such criticism.
[Most people don't speak up.]
I am keenly aware and I make my staff keenly aware that, although we are working in a medical practice, we are a service business and providing excellent service to patients should be our first concern. Your letter has prompted me to reinforce that idea with my staff.
Unfortunately, we experienced so many bounced checks from uninsured patients that we had to adopt a policy that requires payments by credit card. We offered you a discounted fee and said that you could return later the same day and that we would fit your daughter into our schedule. You elected to reschedule the appointment.
{I did not elect to reschedule. I had to return my daughter to school by 12:15. I elected to leave and never return.]
Although my staff denies being rude to you, perception is reality.
[Talk to my daughter. Talk to the COBRA representative who called them the next day and was SHOCKED by their rudeness.]
If you perceived improper behavior by my staff, you have my sincere apology. However, I am unfortunately not in a position to apologize for the payment policy that was the initial cause of your unhappiness.
[You certainly have a different attitude toward protecting employees rather than trusting patients and using their feedback to help your employees reach their potential. You certainly must not care whether other patients have received the same treatment by two extremely arrogant women.
Your website says "we pride ourselves on providing personal and friendly care," which led me to believe that you might be interested in this problem. Your lack of interest in living up to this speaks for itself,
My daughter was turned away without treatment, This after you'd had a lucrative two years relationship with another of my children. Money is the bottom line. You are not the kind of doctor I can recommend to anyone, then.]
With my best wishes,
Sincerely yours,
Behnam Daghigh, M.D.
[I have no way of knowing if this is really from Dr. Daghigh or one of the employees - who have now proven to be liars as well as downright rude women - as the email address is just "administration" @ ------]
Posted by: Behnam Daghigh M.D. | September 18, 2009 12:47 PM
Nice "yeah....but" letter from the alleged doc. Wow. While I can understand a monetary policy, it should be clearly stated somewhere however that doesn't give the two workers up front an excuse to wield power they don't really have. And to embarrass the doc and his practice like that should render them jobless.
Posted by: dirtdartwife | September 18, 2009 1:18 PM
Barbara, I am so glad that you confronted this. As someone who has a difficult to diagnose autoimmune disorder, I have LOTS of bad doctor stories, in addition to the other occasional bad doctor stories that folks can acquire.
We have confronted and worked around, sometimes at greater expense, bad doctors for years. In the process, we learned to become more knowledgeable and to take charge of our own health. I encourage folks quite often to be good consumers when it comes to health care. If we walked into a department store to shop for a specific item within a specific budget, if the store didn't have what we wanted, of the quality that we wanted, and at the price we were willing to pay, well, we would leave and shop somewhere else. The same should be true of health care. Sadly, most, but not all, of the bad doctor stories seem to occur in small towns where the selection of another doctor is limited, if at all.
All doctors would be wise to continually encourage their staff how to conduct themselves and the doctors would be even wiser to ask for patient feed back.
Time and money is too short to waste it on arrogant people!
Additionally, I verbally paraphrased this post and shared it with my husband (who reads you, too). He just started laughing and said, "These people don't know who they're messing with." We laughed a bit and then he said, "I should look up this guy's number and call to ask him if he knows what he's done. His practice is dirt."
Now I know that you are not out to destroy someone's practice, but word of mouth advertising is worth a lot and if I lived in your area, I would definitely want to know about your experience before selecting an allergist. I've become quite aggressive in posting on e-mail groups to ask people who they like and who they don't like for health care needs. Thankfully, we currently have a few excellent healthcare professionals that we can rely on.
Shame on this doctor!
So glad you're bold!
Posted by: von | September 18, 2009 9:19 PM
After encountering less than enthusiastic front desk rececptionists at my last pediatric office, I vowed never to go to a doctor's office like that again. Since I plan to have more children and there are plenty of practices in my town, I found one where I really like the receptionists and the doctor. There is no need to be rude or just plain unfriendly to parents who are bringing in sick children or well children for that matter. Since I am paying you for the care of my children, I hope that I can at least receive a smile and hello.
Posted by: Miriam | September 19, 2009 6:34 PM
