Northwest Ohio & Sports Medicine, Inc.

NWO told me I needed to come in to have my foot looked at and that it was urgent. I had a bruised toe nail that was a week or so old from the injury. Went in and they did absolutely nothing. They said there was nothing they could do, which is why I asked why I needed to be seen in the first place. Then they charged me 160 dollars to see me for two minutes and tell me what I already knew. I will never go back there again. They just want people’s money.

I have been going to Dr. Heather Heck for about a year now for chiropractic adjustments and she has always been wonderful, so kind and understanding. Today I went for a postpartum adjustment and was having my 4 year adjusted as well so I had my preschooler, toddler and newborn with me for my office visit. I knew that I needed to fill out some paperwork and arrived early to get it started but as is the nature of small children I had to stop halfway through to attend to them. After a half hour wait a room was opened up and I was expecting to be shown in which would give me a chance to finish up the paperwork while waiting for the doctor to come in. Instead the receptionist asked me if I had finished the paperwork and then rudely told me I would need to reschedule my appointments because I couldn’t even be shown into a room without the paperwork complete. I was flabbergasted and embarrassed. Was I supposed to let my hungry newborn wail and my toddler to run down the halls unattended in order to finish the paperwork? I declined the offer to reschedule and will not be going back. Doctor Heather Heck is amazing but I have never met such an unfriendly and unprofessional receptionist.

This is only my second visit, but all service has been terrific and the staff are friendly.

I will do my best to lay out the facts of my story.
I injured my ankle, and I wanted to get an X-​ray to see how much damage I had done. I was working in Findlay, so I decided to see a doctor in the area. I called a few places, checking prices and insurance, and settled on Northwest Ohio Orthopedics. They gave me a reasonable quote, and I was able to schedule an appointment for the next day.
The initial appointment went well: everyone was courteous, and I got my X-​ray on time. Afterward, someone had to read the X-​ray. I spent an hour and a half (starting at 8:30 am even) in single-​patient room waiting. This, I suppose, is not that unusual for doctors. I received a diagnosis: torn ligament.
Here’s where things started to get a bit unusual. The doctor said I needed to see a physical therapist for treatment. He didn’t really tell me much more about how to help my ankle heal. That was it for that appointment, and I was sent to billing. While I was going through the checkout process, the finance advisor said the notes on my file indicated that I should schedule an appointment with their physical therapy wing. As it happened, they had an opening available now.
So, I went to see the physical therapist. He examined my ankle in exactly the same way the original doctor did, then printed out a set of exercises and got an ankle brace from the back. He explained the exercises briefly (I’ve hurt my ankle before and have the same exercise sheets at home) and made sure the brace fitted. Then I was out. The whole process took about 10 minutes.
Weeks later, the bill arrives.
I was charged the quoted rate for the X-​rays. Good.
I was charged more for the doctor reading the x-​ray.
Then I was charged for the physical therapists «assessment» and charged separately (twice) for a round of physical therapy. I was also charged $ 120 for the ankle brace they gave me.
I called to complain with the following complaints
1. The doctor and the therapist performed exactly the same analysis, yet I was charged more than $ 100 for each exam.
2. The therapists «treatment» involved 5 minutes of explaining an exercise sheet that I already knew how to use, and I was double-​charged.
3. The «ankle orthosis» they gave me was available at drugstores and online for $ 30. This was not covered by insurance, and they were just marking it up 400%.
They removed the accidental double charge, but refused to work with me on anything else. I failed to realize at the time the ethical implications of the way the practice is set up – a doctor’s office should not be providing referrals to a physical therapy practice that’s on the same payroll! They did a bunch of needless work, and charged me high rates for each piece of it.
I know medical rates are high, but there’s no reason to take advantage of patients with a 400% markup on equipment freely available on the open market. The way the appointment and multiple exams were handled also seem suspect to me. However, I tried to lay out events fairly as they happened, so you can form your own opinion.