Dr. Smirnoff - The Way The Office Is Run
 

I have a friend who is a patient of Dr. Smirnoff. They have expressed frustration with the way the office operates. You cannot be more than 5 minutes late or you won't be seen. Also, instead of charging what the insurance doesn't pay they make you pay an amount and you end overpaying. They have been trying to get a credit balance refunded for some time. It is a small amount and won't make or break them, but it is the principal. Told to come in and get the refund. When they went there, they said they were too busy and they would mail the check. They said they mail checks all the time. Never got the check in the mail. Called again. Said they would have to come in and that they do not mail checks. Went again to the office and they were not open. My friends aren't up that way alot and they aren't going to make a special trip. There are other discrepancies and problems they have had with this office. Then they were told the office would mail a check out, but would have to deduct for mailing it out. How cheap is that office? How about they pay for my friend's gas for driving there to get the check and them being too busy to mess with it?

Stopped going to him because he was always late.

Quick to prescribe dozen of medicines. Wait time in office can be hours. Very sarcastic. Always carries a small black bag - made a joke about it, and was told to mind my own business. Look for another doctor please.

Contact Seniors Vs Crime to deal with the doctors office. They have been successful in past cases of this nature. They are located at the Sumter County Sheriff's Office at Morse and 466 or call them at 352-689-4600, Ext. 4606.

His wife runs the office and him as well. I stopped going to him 2 years ago.

This is interesting, as I think this is the same Dr. Smirnoff associated with a Compass research study. Wonder if he is spreading himself and the office too thin.

I don't know the first thing about this doctor or his office staff.. I just wonder why we didn't hear from the patients themselves.

Umm, I believe that three of the comments on this thread were from ex-patients...

It's possible that none of his patients, except the few who responded, are members of this forum.

My point was the OP was not his patient. I question the purpose of someone publicizing potentionally harmful information about a person or business, all the while having no first hand evidence of anything that the doctor or his staff does, or doesn't do.

The OP is not a patient of the doctor.

I don't know this doctor or how his office is run. However, in my experience, a physician's office run by the doctors wife is never a good thing. Dr. Smirnoff might very well hate how his own office is run, but it's not like he can fire his wife. But I agree with bagboy----the comments by a third party have nothing to do with the doctor, only about the office management, but gives a negative connotation to him as well. It may be deserved, but maybe it's not.

Former Smirnoff Patients
 

My husband and I were also patients of Dr. Smirnoff and left his practice because of shoddy and illegal billing practices. After declaring our insurance carrier (Bankers Medigap) the worst insurance they had ever worked with, they required payment of office visits and then billed the insurance company and were promptly paid by Bankers. They had never submitted any prior claims to Bankers on our behalf despite our repeated requests to do so.

Once we paid the balance Smirnoff's office said we "had" to pay, we submitted our claim to our insurance company and they informed us that Smirnoff had already submitted a claim and had been paid.

I tried repeatedly to have Smirnoff's office refund our money but they said "prove that we have received the insurance company claim check." I did that (provided a copy of Bankers cancelled check with Smirnoff's office endorsement on the back and they still refused to make the refund of over $300 to us. I finally called the Florida Insurance Commission and they advised me to file a complaint and they provided me with a complaint number to use.

I decided to give Smirnoff one last chance and informed them that I had started a claim with the bureau in charge of physician fraud and gave them ten days to refund our money. The refund was sent to us within a few days. This process took over one year!

The office is managed by his wife and his daughter is the bookkeeper. There is no way to speak with the bookkeeper and I was informed that she "never makes a mistake" and "your insurance company are liars."

The entire process was disgraceful. Unfortunately, our experience is not unique as I had sat in their office and watched other elderly patients in tears because of billing/insurance issues.

I take no pride or comfort in this post but have decided to share my experience in the hope that it will help other patients deal with or stay away from this practice.

They made us wait for 2 months for an appointment,and when we arrived, they had forgotten about it. Then we rescheduled, and that time they made us wait for over an hour before we saw the doctor, and all he and his nurse had to say was how unreasonable I was to complain about the office staff and that the doctor would not take our son on as a patient.

This guy sounds like a real tool. Nepotism is never a good thing for a family and most definitely not for the customers.

But how is the doctor himself??? Is he an internist or family practitioner? Is he board certified? Is he reasonably knowledgeable and thorough? Does he address all your problems at a visit? Are you meeting treatment goals?

The billing aspect is a nightmare. As presented, it sounds like possible fraud. But billing and regulation is so incredibly complicated that they may simply have no idea of what they are doing, especially untrained family members. I had an office manager, a billing manager, and an assistant billing manager, all professionals, and I doubt we were 100% right all the time.
While their billing practice may be "shoddy", you should be hesitant to term it "illegal", unless you are a lawyer thoroughly familiar with this aspect of the law

Good point.....

Is he related to Dr. McGillicuddy?

Based on 66 of Smirnoff's patients responses, he received a rating of 2.1 out of 5 on the very popular Healthgrades. Healthgrades bases its ratings on hospitals and doctors on patient responses. Here is the link for Dr. Smirnoff:

Patient Surveys for Dr. Alexander J. Smirnoff, MD - Neurology - Lady Lake, FL

Good for you for following through! And congratulations on your success! I worked in medical offices for many years and this Dr's office sounds like a disaster.

When an office treats you like this, it makes no difference how good the Dr is or is not. If you are treated poorly in the outer office, no one wants to see a Dr associated with the craziness.
Thanks for posting your experience.

If he's a neurologist, that explains everything. Those in the medical field now understand.

Yup.

golfing eagles, Hey, how about those of us who are not in the medical field? What does being a neurologist have to do with it?

For some reason, neurologists tend to have a personality disorder. They , and God only knows why, tend to be abrasive, curt, rude and dry. Maybe they teach it in neurology residency. Before I get any normal neurologists (if there are any) mad for lumping them all together, I admit it is a generalization, but often true. And since the office staff takes their clues from their leader, well, you see.

So, which personality disorder do they have ? The symptoms you list aren't within a disorder spectrum. Just sayin...

I used the term loosely, but it would fall between borderline personality and narcissistic

Can't agree more! His tech ran a 13 nerve EMG or nerve conduction study. Dr. Smirnoff came for the last 10 minutes of the study to quickly review her pictures and numerical computations. his comments suggested he thought she was incompetent ... with the patient (me) sitting there! He then ran more tests between my neck and my clavicle. He kept asking the tech to get him things, but was rudely chastising her for being slow! "Hurry up. I am wasting my valuable time here." All in all, he acted like a jerk, treating his staff like dirt.

Went back to him for review of DX and MRI that he referred me to after the EMG. Pretty much treated me to the same level of disdain he had showed his tech! He recommended 22 minutes three times/week on his "Hydraulic" decompression machine ... at $75/22-minutes, CASH ... for an unknown number of sessions. When I hesitated to sign on, he said: "You don't sound like you are willing to be patient and follow my advice. Anyone who isn't patient isn't one of my patients. Goodbye!"

No, I won't be back except to have the office FAX the EMG results to the Neurology department at Shands or equivalent!!!!

It's a shame they couldn't take up Radiology or Pathology; neither requires personal contact with actual patients!

I understand your point Bagboy, and I somewhat agree. However in this internet age, posters relate experiences of a "friend" in order to solicit more information on a topic, promote discussion or prevent others from making a mistake. It may not be kosher, but it happens frequently on Forums. :024:

Luckily I have been to two neurologists before moving here.... both were excellent. Neither had a personality disorder. My first neurologist referred me to his "teacher" and I was with him for over 30 years! ! ! All I can say is both were excellent, couldn't ask for better physicians.
This reference to neurologists having a personality disorder is first I am hearing about this.

Actually many radiologists have a lot of contact with patients. Now pathologists, that's another story.

I concur. My wife currently has a fabulous neurologist in Orlando. She has had excellent (and personable) neurologists everywhere we've lived.

As Paul Harvey used to say: "And now for the rest of the story!"

Prior to making appointment with Dr. Smirnoff I verified 1) his practice accepted United HealthCare Medicare Advantage, 2) UHC covered an EMG/Nerve-Conduction-Study, and 3) My co-pay (per UHC) would be $40.00.

When I came for my Study appointment the receptionist insisted on a CASH PAYMENT OF $360.00 or they would not perform the study! I had her call UHC; they confirmed coverage and that my co-pay was to be $40.00. "Sorry, unless we (Smirnoff's office) receive the $360.00 CASH from you (me), up front we will not perform the study!" I paid, obtaining a cash receipt for the $360.00, and had the study.

Simply performing the EMG was not sufficient for his practice to consider me to be a patient! I had to make another appointment, a $40 co-pay, and now qualified for him to order an MRI and Digital X-rays of my neck to determine the cause of my nerve issues. About a month later I re-visited him (another $40 co-pay) to inquire what treatment plan he would recommend. The same receptionist who demanded the initial $360 casually mentioned that UHC had sent them a check and I was now owed "something" from the practice.

After waiting more than 60 days to receive that "something", on June 15 I received an envelope from Dr. Smirnoff's practice. I was more than surprised to find a BOGUS invoice for $40 supposedly covering my co-pay for the last visit, instead of a reimbursement check. BOGUS invoice, since I had the cash receipt for my co-pay due at that visit!

I composed a reply dated June 15 asking for $320 (initial $360 cash less the initial $40 co-pay for the study), adding the following sentences. "It is unclear to me whether your office practice is violating its contract with UHC, or with Medicare. However, it is clear to me that you owe me $320 and I owe you nothing." Amazing, THREE DAYS LATER I received a check from the practice for the full $320.

Next step is contacting UHC and the FL Department of Health, documenting everything and asking them to investigate Smirnoff Neurology's practices further.