Chicago Dizziness & Hearing

12 December 2015
I went to see Dr. Hain at Chicago Dizziness and Hearing several years ago. I was referred to him by the Neurology Department at John’s Hopkins Hospital and Healthcare system. I traveled to Chicago to see him from the southern United States, and had several appointments with him during a 2 year period. I have continued to follow the medical program that he recommended to me and so my health has improved dramatically.
Dr. Hain is an outstanding doctor, an excellent clinician, with great doctor patient relationship skills. Everyone at Chicago Dizziness and Hearing practice was very professional, polite and knowledgeable. If you are interested in improved health, I recommend him as a physician!

As a health care professional myself, I have to say Dr. Cherchi and his staff is professional, patient, and overall incredible!
I experienced a few episodes of very random veritgo last month that were severe enough to put me out of commission that day and the day after. I had seen both my primary care doctor and an ENT specialist whom my primary care doc referred me to, and unfortunately, although they were all very nice, I didn’t feel like they were thorough enough to help diagnose my problem. They performed some basic neurological test and an audiogram (basic hearing test) but that was it. It may or may not be their fault — because their practice was probably limited as far as what machines they have.
So I did some research of my own and came across Chicago Dizziness and Hearing, as the specialist who sees people with dizziness day in and day out!
Prior to my appointment with Dr. Cherchi, they set me up with a few tests (based off of an online health form) so that my time there at their office would be efficient. I completed the tests, then saw Dr. Cherchi. Let me say, he is incredibly kind, gentle and just reassuring with his vast knowledge in this specialty! He was very thorough, as was his staff, and I left his office feeling the peace that I was hoping for in accurate diagnosis. Granted, I’m not sure how much my bill will be… I have to wait and see, but honestly, I don’t mind paying for peace of mind from a trusted source.
THANK YOU Dr. Cherchi and Chicago Dizziness and Hearing for your knowledge and your kindness!

I have mixed feelings about this place, but overall I wouldn’t recommend it.
Pros:
–Caring staff. Doctors, nurses, and therapists all very attentive and kind. Genuinely wanted me to get better.
–Hours. Open late and on certain weekends.
Cons:
–I didn’t get «better.»
–Mixed diagnoses. First they thought it was one thing, then another, then another. Put on prescription after prescription.
–Battery of tests. Paid out of pocket for a handful of tests.
And the CON to end all CONS
–By god, the billing department. How many people have to complain about this bs? I was charged not only for my co-​pay, but for «tests» that were performed with EVERY VISIT. When I thought I was going in twice a week for vestibular therapy, I figured I’d have to pay my $ 40 co-​pay each visit, which was bad enough. But on top of that, they’re charging me for testing my vestibular activity with EVERY therapy session. Most doctors offices are like «oh hey, we do these tests with every visit that your insurance doesn’t cover… is that cool?» But not this place. I found out months later after getting an outrageous bill. I filed a grievance with my insurance company, but there was nothing they could do. They also tried to charge me a bunch of money for being late or having a long appointment or something, but I tried telling them a million times that the DOCTOR was late and I was the one who had to wait in the lobby for an hour and a half.
SERIOUSLY, don’t go to this place unless you have a ton of money to blow because they’re going to charge you enough to put their kids through college. You guys might want to make sure your billing department isn’t laundering money. Sheesh.

Horrible place… lack of professionalism in answering questions from patients. I had side effects from a very simple ear cleaning procedure. Ironically, I came out with hearing problems and dizziness. Don’t go to this place. I am regretting it immensely.

Walking around in a recurring state of dizziness sucks. There is no upside. Doing so for months on end is excruciating. Welcome to how I spent a good chunk of 2011. Yeah, the adage is to never let ‘em see you sweat but O.M.G., how I was sweating. Not knowing what was going on in my head and why I felt like this, I went to my doctor. She diagnosed me with BPPV, told me of some home therapies to try but, MOST IMPORTANTLY, she referred me to the one and only Dr. Timothy Hain at Chicago Dizziness and Hearing. The wait time to see him was four months.
Four months.
I contemplated going to see someone else, but when it comes to your health, when you can, wait for the best. That’s what I did and I completely understand why there’s such a long wait to see the good doctor. He’s awesome. Seriously. Wicked smart, patient, listens, kind, has a dry sense of humor (much appreciated), and an excellent bedside manner. After waiting in the nicely modeled waiting room (I appreciate medical waiting rooms that have a modicum of personality and eschew feelings of impending doom), I had my vitals checked and then I saw the doc.
After taking my history and chatting me up about my schooling, travels and job (humanizing the patient as a person and not a problem; I like), he ran a battery of tests on me – both physical and with cool gadgets. He attempted to recreate the situation in which my BPPV was triggered but before doing so, he strapped on those cool night-​visionlike shade on me to record my eye movement. After putting me in positions that triggered the nausea, he told me the upside was that I had a classic case of BPPV. When I looked at him crazy for thinking that’s a good thing, he retorted that I wouldn’t want him to say «I’ve never seen this before.» Good call, doctor. Touché. See? Personality. After figuring out what was wrong with me and how long I was suffering, he managed to coerce the physical therapist (more in a second) to squeeze me in for an appointment that day. I didn’t need to go anywhere. Her office was just down the hall. He also scheduled a follow up appoint to test my progress and for me to undergo some conclusive exams to ensure I didn’t have something wrong going on in my noggin (since 50% of the folks who experience BPPV have had traumatic brain injury or are very old).
PHYSICAL THERAPIST NICOLE STEINBERG is a dream! Again, patient, kind, caring, and crazy good at what she does. Even though she was slammed with patients, she fit me into her schedule, put me through my paces, checked out what was going on with me (using the night vision thing) and worked it out. I left her office cured. She gave me strict rules to follow (no head movement for 24 hours) and sent me on my way. For the first time in MONTHS, I didn’t feel like I was swimming or that I was going to vomit at any one time. Words fail. Truly.
I returned for my follow up, underwent a battery of machine tests and saw Nicole again. The tests lasted for exactly as long as I was told and were conducted by a very kind technician. Nicole checked me out to make sure all was well. When she saw that my movements were reticent, given my months of distress, she made me man up and move around. She sought to shake the fear from me and encourage me to get back to my life. She’d make an awesome personal trainer in addition to physical therapy. She’s totally awesome. In a few weeks, I got my test results. All is well and (knock on wood), I am back to normal.
The only problem (and I can see this being a big one for some folks) is the billing. While I didn’t experience quite the same frustrations as the previous reviewer, I did go ’round and ’round with the billing department and overpaid a nominal amount. After what I went through, though (and thank God for good insurance), it was a small price to pay but I can see how the money issue would/​could be problematic for some. For top-​notch care, though, I can’t recommend Dr. Hain and Ms. Steinberg more. They gave me my life back.

I have suffered from vertigo for almost a decade, and the billing practices at this place leave me dizzier than I have ever felt before.
The level of care I got was sufficient. The doctor appeared to be listening, but I felt like he already had his mind made up before my tests were finished. In the end his diagnosis was the same as my physician’s. Testing and treatment aside, it was their billing that could induce vertigo in anyone.
I was informed that there was one test, costing $ 150, that my insurance company wouldn’t pay for. I was cool with that and signed something saying I would pay for it out of pocket. My first bill arrived in mid-​March, and on it were the amounts for each exam followed by the amount not covered by my insurance. Nowhere on the invoice did it indicate what my insurance was covering. I waited for an updated invoice.
One week after getting the first invoice I began to receive collection calls for this bill. I explained to them that I had first gotten the invoice one week prior and that I was waiting to see an updated bill reflecting insurance payments. They didn’t care and continued to call.
Meanwhile I received an Explanation of Benefits from my insurance company that indicated CD&H had only billed the insurance company for 3 of the 7 exams they performed. Following that arrived another invoice from CD&H that reflected the insurance payments, but instead of assigning them under the «Paid By Ins» column, they had it under the «You Owe» column. A week later I received a red invoice in the mail stating it had been 60 days since I received treatment and they wanted their money … the amount on the red invoice was half the amount than that on the previous two invoices.
Unfortunately, I had already written a check for almost $ 1000.00 and mailed it two weeks prior. I have heard nothing from them or their billing department to explain the discrepancies … or maybe give me back the amount that I overpaid.

Dr. Hains! MIRACLE WORKER!!! Ok. After my first bought with Vertigo. I go to Rush hospital to get a Huge Hearing test $ 3000.00 I’m told nothing is wrong with me. 2 yrs later. Get Vertigo AGAIN and this time it last. for about 3 Weeks! I get into this clinic and low and behold. who would’ve thought that my vertigo was from Migraines? Dr Haines Quickly put me through a series of Test and even performed my first set of treatments. after being on Migraine Meds. having to modify Diet (eliminating MSG) I am vertigo FREE! I went to 1 more Appt with the Therapist who had to modify the excercise (to get the crystals back to where they nicely belong). I don’t have to return. I do have refills for meds for a few more weeks. but I’m Healed and for the first time I know where my vertigo is coming from. This clinic is FANTAstIC!. They have $ 5 Parking which is GREAT when you’re right off of the MAG Mile … So maybe you can get a little shopping done after your appt. I wish there were more stars to be given.