Providence Immediate Care - Bridgeport

Apr 7th, 2024

Mar 6th, 2024

Amazing and caring doctors!
Mar 4th, 2024

Professional and kind staff with timely medical care
Jan 26th, 2024

When I checked in at this Urgent Care, the receptionist began referencing my being on Medicaid. I informed her I was not on Medicaid, that I had Providence insurance. She was very rude and kept loudly insisting I was on Medicaid. After repeatedly arguing with me about Medicaid, she finally asked for my insurance card. It showed I was not on Medicaid. She then told me I had a $15.00 dollar co-pay. By the time I was called back to the exam room, my (normally low) blood pressure was so elevated (due to the stress caused by the receptionist) that when the nurse took my blood pressure she did not want to document the number. She said she would have to wait to retake my BP. When she did retake it, it was the highest blood pressure I am aware I ever had. The doctor came in. She was okay, but did not seem to be listening to me. She told me she would give me a prescription and have someone come in with some referrals. The doctor left and a man knocked on the door and came into the exam room. He introduced himself by his first name and informed me he was the "Office Manager." He walked in, closed the door behind him and sat down (uninvited) in the chair the doctor would normally sit on. He then launched into a lecture about the situation in the lobby with the receptionist and the Medicaid. It was bizarre. He began by informing me that (according to him) the receptionist had done everything right and that Medicaid had come up in the computer when she checked me in. I told this unwelcome stranger the exact same thing I had told the receptionist. I did not know anything about Medicaid. And, when I got home I would call the Insurance Broker that I had used to sign up for the plan and ask him about the situation. I thought that upon hearing this, the office manager would say "okay" and leave THE EXAM ROOM. He did not leave. To my dismay, he continued to go on and on about the Medicaid. I felt very uncomfortable and trapped in that tiny exam room with this strange man that would not stop (basically) badgering me about Medicaid. The doctor came back in the exam room. The doctor and the office manager nodded at each other. The doctor then walked over to me, handed me my prescription and then, to my complete shock and disbelief, referenced (in front of this stranger) some confidential medical information about a referral. This was such a blatant breach of patient confidentiality I was stunned. I immediately thought it was HIPAA violation. The doctor then referenced again someone else coming in to give me some referrals and left the room. As I sat there, the office manager started in AGAIN about the Medicaid. I began feeling pressure in my chest from stress. I was sure my blood pressure was elevated again. At that moment, I looked at the office manager's face and I suddenly realized he was not wearing a mask. I was wearing a mask, the nurse, the doctor, even the receptionists were all wearing masks. But this stranger had come uninvited into a sick patient's exam room (for his own agenda) without the basic protection (for my heath) of a mask. I immediately stood up and interrupted his Medicaid monologue to say I was there because I was sick and I was going home. (I was not waiting any longer for the referrals or the discharge summary.) I then looked directly at him and said "By the way, I do not think you should be going into any patients exam room without wearing a mask." The entire situation was so stressful I feel sick even thinking about it. When I got home, I called Providence to confirm my coverage. They confirmed I was on a Providence individual plan, not on Medicaid. They also wondered why the staff at Urgent Care had not called them (as I had done) to check my coverage. If Urgent Care had called to check my coverage, they could have avoided this entire situation. I called Providence and complained to several different individuals about this experience, which did not seem to be an example of Providence putting "compassion and humanity at the heart of every interaction" with me. No one ever called me back.
Feb 23rd, 2024