I am posting this as a way of sharing experiences my husband or I have encountered in the Villages, in the hopes that others may benefit:
To avoid having to do a bunch of re-typing, I will start off by pasting the text of a letter I wrote in early January to the director of Premier Medical Associates (Santa Barbara location):
January January 8, 2015
Director; Premier Medical
Dear Dr. Khanna,
I was seen at your Santa Barbara urgent care facility by (XXXXX) on 12/19/2014, presenting with lower left abdominal pain and cramping, with a low grade fever. I told the doctor that I felt I was having a diverticulitis attack, as I had experienced it one time before and recognized the symptoms. The extent of my physical exam by Dr. (XXXXX) was to have me stand up and point to the locus of the pain. He then poked the spot and asked me if it was tender. He never had me lie down to look for masses, did not listen to my heart or lungs, or perform any other kind of exam. I was diagnosed with “LLL abdominal pain”, and prescribed a 7 day course of Ciprofloxin.
I requested a copy of my exam notes (none had been offered me) upon discharge. The note I received was “boilerplate”, spelling out an exam which was never performed (i.e., “RESPIRATORY; normal rate and pattern, normal breath sounds with no rales, rhonchi….CARDIOVASCULAR: no murmurs, carotids: 2+ amplitude…”, etc.
Further, the discharge note stated that I had been given a handout on abdominal pain. I was given no handouts.
As my symptoms did not resolve properly, I was subsequently seen by my gastroenterologist. She was surprised to hear that no C-T scan had been ordered, and yet, I was prescribed antibiotics. Further, if diverticulitis had been suspected, I was placed on only 7 days of one antibiotic, when the standard for treatment is two antibiotics for 14 days. As a result, I have had to start all over again with antibiotics!
In summary, I was not properly examined, a falsified report was given, and I was not properly treated. Regarding the falsified discharge report, I believe that this submission is in violation of Medicare standards at a minimum, and certainly, very poor medical practice.
I will not report this incident to Medicare at this point, but I would like a written response from you regarding the practices I encountered at your facility, as well as a plan to correct them for your subsequent patients.
I look forward to hearing from you.
I want now share that I NEVER HEARD ONE WORD back in response to this letter. That slight speaks volumes to me. Please, fellow Villagers, exercise caution when choosing a facility.
Now, to go to a positive note: Our experiences with the Villages Health Care System (Santa Barbara) has been nothing short of amazing. Our doctor and PA are tops, the organizational system at the facility is flawless, calls are always returned, and our primary care doctor even calls us back to check on our progress when we are ill. We had to kiss a few frogs before finding this place, but or search for excellence in primary care is over.
Please folks, if you've head very positive or very negative experiences in TV, consider sharing them with others. Its a very good thing to do.
