Dr. Patricia L. Clarke, MD

Sep 18th, 2022

I wouldn't recommend going to Dr. Clarke. I left what could've been a very simple visit feeling judged and attacked, while not even accomplishing what I went in for. I wish that I had taken the 1 star review online seriously, but I initially only needed to go in for a referral (dermatologist, mole check). I was assigned Dr. Clarke by my insurance and I just thought 'eh, how bad could it really be?' This is how bad... I began attempting to schedule an appointment on January 2nd. New Year, New Me! To get an appointment, one cannot simply call her office. No. You have to go to her website, transfer to another website to register as a patient, fill out info, submit that, wait for them to approve you (a few days at least), go back to the website, find an appointment (three weeks out), and finally, fill out a ton of new patient info and questions about why you need to see a doctor. As the weeks go by, I actually get sick. Maybe flu, maybe just a long lasting virus. Either way, I now have a legitimate reason to need a doctor. Despite some gnarly symptoms at times, I continue to wait for my appointment. Surely Dr. Clarke will be able to figure out what's going on! Finally! The day has arrived. I show up about 15 minutes early for my appointment, just in case the extensive online paperwork isn't all that's required for a new patient. Good thing - there's more paperwork to fill out! Pages and pages. From the mundane, to the specific. Like, names and places and dates and locations and fax numbers of every appointment I've had in the past three years. I complete all the information I can, hoping that she'll be understanding that I don't remember the name of every group practice or fax number. Once that paperwork was complete, I thought - finally - I get to see a doctor. Wrong. More paperwork, but this time on the computer. A ten minute series of questions, mostly redundant. I mean, what more could you possibly need to know that wasn't on the first two versions of paperwork?! I complete everything quickly, much to the surprise of the office manager. She informs me that it takes some patients up to an hour and a half to complete everything!! Maybe you need to simplify this. The office manager (nurse?), takes me to a room, takes my vitals and sends me back into the waiting room. I then have to sit back at that computer and fill out my own credit card information for the appointment (plus $1 for using a card). Be sure to bring cash or there's a 20% upcharge on your copay ;) Finally, I'm escorted to an office. I overhear Dr. Clarke talking harshly to the office manger about how patients can't just come in for 'referrals.' I start to get nervous, because at this point I'm not just in for a referral, I also need actual medical advice. She comes into the room, and immediately launches into a 5 minute lecture about how insurance works and that I need to be a patient of hers before she can give me referrals. Now I'm stressing. Isn't that why I'm sitting in her office right now?! To become a patient of hers?! We begin to go over my paperwork. This is now the 4th time I'm reviewing my medical history. Exciting. Each answer I've put down is attacked or heavily questioned. I don't explain a major surgery from 9 years ago. Attacked. Questioned. I explain a very personal reason for going to see a gyno in May. I feel like she threatens to take away my gyno (forgetting that I don't a referral). I keep trying to bring up my symptoms I've had for the past month. These include fatigue, fever, and a few days of a really tense neck (which after a ton of googling I knew wasn't meningitis so I wasn't toooo worried). All she would say was that she'll never know because I didn't go to the ER while this was going on. And fear mongering that I could've died, but I'm just lucky that I didn't. Thanks. That's what everyone needs to hear. Go to the ER at the first sign of illness. The appointment ended with her scheduling for a new patient exam in another week. No referral to a dermatologist, and no actual exam. I'll never go back.
Feb 23rd, 2018