Colony Village Health Institute
 

BE CAREFUL.

Joined early July 2013
Leaving December 2013

Urge caution before changing/leaving your present health provider.
We found this to be a "Walmart" type medical care rather than the "Dr Welby" as originally suggested. Proceed very carefully. Ask many many questions first and then rethink your decision. Tread lightly.

I wish we COULD. They won't take our insurance.

What issues did you run into?

Not enough reasons here to base a decision on other than you are unhappy.

I go there. So far everything seems as it should be.

Have been going there for months and love it.!

Can you give 'generic'..issues.................

Many of us are thinking about it..but from my experience. I saw the doc once..from there on..the NP..and they are floaters..so you never get the same one.

Kind of sounds like another recent promise made to citizens of the country - only this time it is citizens of TV that may have been duped!

What do you mean by "Walmart" type medical care?

Both DW and I are happy with Colony. On the few occasions that our doctor was not available or booked solid, we were offered an PA or NP. Care has been excellent. When my parents arrived two weeks ago, we signed them up and they like their doc at Santa Barbara.

If you expect you doctor to be waiting 24/7 for you to roll thru the door, you need to hire a concierge doctor. Of course, you will pay 30-50K per year on top of your insurance. Also, remember that these folks have days off, vacation, meetings, etc.

Care is significantly better than at Kaiser in the DC and my doctors there was "available" with a 3 or 4 month wait.

I have seen my "regular" doctor in regularly scheduled appointments twice in the last 4 months and have had great care. Also needed to be seen quickly for an ear issue and my regular physician happened to be out of town that day. Saw a different doctor who was also excellent and had great care. Never felt rushed, was seen very close to my appointment time, and believe the care was complete and in depth. So far, I am very pleased with my experiences and the care I have received.

MY Dr. is in the Santa Barbara office. I've been there a year now. He manages my diabetes with me very well. His PA and NP are also professional in their care. It is nice to be treated with respect in addressing your concerns.

Very, very pleased with the Doc. I chose at colony. He was very caring, took the time to really review my medical records, asked me many, many questions and I left the office thinking, WOW, I couldn't remember ever spending that much time with my Doc up north, and I loved her.

If you are feeling uneasy with your choice of Docs. shop around and I'm sure you will find the right fit for you.

Who did you choose?

May I ask who you choose? Do you feel the NP is knowledgeable?
Thanks.

I'm still on the fence with the Colony Village Health Centers. First, my wife was on the phone with them for weeks trying to figure out if her insurance was accepted, they said it was, her insurance co. said it wasn't. She eventually gave up arguing with them, and went to another Doctor. I've only been for my initial visit (Doc didn't even listen to my heart or breathing, just talked about health, and past illnesses). After two months I have not seen any type of bill posted to my Insurance Co., so their billing department is going through some growing pains as well. I'll give them another six months to get settled, and if it doesn't improve, I'll move on if I'm not happy with their service. Time will tell.

I'll PM you

Care is good when you see your 'Regular "doctor, but when you are ill, you will see a PA, which is what you will see in a walk in clinic. So much for the Dr Welby knowing all about your health. Also, internal medicine physicians know a lot more about seniors than most, not all. but most family practice physicians. Also more physicians specializing in geriatrics would be helpful.

My husband and I have both received excellant care since going there. We have both been there at least 3 times and never have had to wait more than 5-10 miutes if at all. Our doctors have always been great and did not rush us through. What exactly did you need ? Coming from USF Health in Tampa we are really happy. I agree perhaps a concierge type practice might be to your liking. Good luck with prices they charge. Best wishes.

first visit
 

My understanding is the initial visit is actually two visits. The first is to collect your history. The 2nd appoinment you go to they do a physical so you are still on your first visit. So that is why you have not received a bill .

Each visit is billed separately - believe me I know 'cause I had to pay $245 for the first visit - fortunately the 2nd visit, which was the actual physical was covered by my insurance (after 7 months of calling Colony to have it billed correctly).

We are having major billing problems with the office at Colony. We went to have our annual physicals, which our insurance company will pay 100%, but many of the tests were not "coded" as being part of the physical, so we are having to pay for a lot of money out-of-pocket. After several discussions the issue still hasn't been resolved. It seems that the schedulers are at the root of the problem(?).

"We found this to be a "Walmart" type medical care rather than the "Dr Welby" as originally suggested."

But people want that "Walmart" type of pricing, as in the "zero premium" feature listed here in a previous thread/post:

2014 United Healthcare The Villages Medicare Complete HMO
Page 4
Monthly premium. $0
Primary Care Physician $0 copay
Specialist $30 Copay NO REFERRAL NEEDED

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...tml#post765070

Be careful what you wish for.....

G

Go to the office and tell them you want a complete print out of the day you had your physical. Then sit down with the office manager (her name I believe is Autumn) and ask her to have a doctor review it and tell you what part of visit was not part of your physical. When I did this it was agreed it should have been coded as a physical, but it was actually the doctor not the scheduler that coded it wrong. If it gets recoded correctly and resubmitted to your insurance company you should be fine.

It took me 7 months of calling them to get this straight. I only had luck when they replaced the office manager and Colony and she agreed to have another doctor review the information. This was needed because the doctor that had coded mine incorrectly had been let go (thank God, but that's another story). Hang in there - you pay for the benefit of a physical annually and it should not be denied because they don't know what they're doing. I wonder if they'll ever figure it out???

I'm assuming this happened at Colony.

Who do you see at Colony?

Had my initial visit at Colony this afternoon, as did Mike. His appointment was a bit before mine so I had opportunity to sit and just watch how reception, check in, went before heading in to see my doctor for our "Meet and Greet."
First of all, the place is beautiful, comfortable and much quieter than some medical establishments I've been in. Every person entering was greeted, either walked to check in or asked to head to the "living room" until their time at check in. Each doctor's medical assistant arrived very quickly for each patient and wait for each arrival was minimal. When I was called in, vitals were taken, I was then taken to exam room and did a bit more paperwork before my doc arrived.
We discussed prior history, some minor present issues, necessary shots, lab work and enjoying life. Never was I felt rushed. Setting up times for lab work and return visit took a bit of time, but again, never were we rushed. It was a great visit. Everyone was pleasant, helpful, listened, and caring.

Initially saw Dr Mabry-Height - have since chosen a new doc been haven't been to see her yet.

Thanks, GOMOHO, for the advice. Yes...it was at Colony. We did have a sit down with "Someone" (can't remember her name) and we went over each item, but she has to review all the info with "Someone Else". We'll give them a couple more days and contact them again. Although their care is good, the workings of the office really need some improvement.

I'll PM you.