Ivonne Smith, MD

I have no gripes with Dr. Smith as a doctor, but her practice is AWFUL.
First of all the wait time is ridiculous, last time I waited 90 minutes to see her.
But after today, I’m definitely changing providers.
I got a call from Walgreens saying my birth control was ready, I get there and they tell me that Dr. Ivonne’s office called them to cancel my prescription saying that I needed to make a check-​up.
I was shocked that they had anyone at that office capable of making a phone call — they certainly never call ME back when I have a question.
They NEVER sent me an email reminder or called me to tell me that I needed to make an appointment. And knowing their booking times, it will be 3 months before I can even get in the door.
This is beyond unprofessional. Never again.

I’m surprised at the «negative» reviews. I moved to Houston about a year and a half ago. I had some issues and was referred to Dr Smith. I have seen her approximately 5 times. I think she is great; talented, but humanistic and realistic. She did an unexpected surgical procedure (at the Women’s Hospital)
and it could not have gone better. I’d rather wait ½ hr to visit a DR I think is «real» and in whom I have confidence than settle for anything less.

I started going to Dr. Smith in 2006 when I first moved to Houston. At first I was very pleased with her and her staff, but over the years I have become more disappointed. Perhaps it’s also because I used to only go to her once a year for my annual checkup, but now that I’ve gone through a pregnancy and had my baby delivered by Dr. Smith, I really have a feel for this doctor and the practice. I have to say I am very disappointed and have since found another doctor and practice to go to. Over the past two years or so, the wait time to see Dr. Smith has increased tremendously. It’s obvious she has taken on way too many patients. During my pregnancy appointments, I always felt rushed when I would see Dr. Smith. Also, she always had a student with her in the room. I understand students have to learn somewhere, but it gets annoying to have them there at every appointment. I feel like the doctor should focus more on the patient instead of teaching the students.
Let me tell you about my childbirth and postpartum experience with Dr. Smith. I started going into labor around midnight and got to the hospital around 1:30 AM. I knew Dr. Smith was going to be on call that day, so I opted to wait for her to get there until I actually had the baby. They gave me an epidural to keep me comfortable until she got there that morning. She was supposed to get there around 9:30 AM, but didn’t show up in my room until around 10:30 AM. She broke my water and said we need to give it a little bit of time so I can dilate some more. A couple hours later the delivery nurse came in (who was fabulous by the way) and got me started pushing. After several more minutes, Dr. Smith never showed up. The nurse had to tell me to hold on until the doctor got there. Finally after a while, Dr. Smith showed up and I pushed maybe twice and the baby came out. Come to find out, Dr. Smith was downstairs eating lunch taking her sweet time. I know this because my parents had gone downstairs to the café and saw her there. That was just before I delivered. You would think if you have a patient in labor, you would check up on them more and not take a lunch break… especially since she had just gotten to the hospital! Luckily my delivery went very smooth and my baby was healthy. I really wasn’t too upset with Dr. Smith at this point, more so just annoyed. It was my 6 week postpartum checkup that made me angry and was the deciding factor of me finding another doctor. I waited to see the doctor for an hour, and when she came into the room without even looking at me, she started babbling something about scheduling an induction date. I thought she was just joking so I just smiled. Then she looks at my chart and says «how far dilated were you last time?» I looked at her and said, «I’ve already had my baby…» Finally she looked at me and said «Oh you did…» then she looks at the chart again and says…“and I delivered her…” She had absolutely no memory of delivering my baby. She had her student with her and I could tell she was embarrassed, as she should be. Then she starts talking to me about birth control and writes a prescription, clears me for having sex, and that’s really it. She didn’t even do an exam! She didn’t even examine my stitches to see if they were healing properly. I was so taken off guard by this visit, it took me a while to realize what just happened. The next day I called and left a message specifically asking for Dr. Smith – not the nurse, to call me back because I had some questions. The next day the nurse called me back – not Dr. Smith. I explained to her what happened at my appointment and asked if it was normal for the doctor to not examine me at the postpartum visit. She proceeded to tell me that Dr. Smith was very busy and things were kind of hectic for Dr. Smith right now. She said she would talk to Dr. Smith and double check. After two days of not hearing from her, I called back and talked to the nurse again. She said Dr. Smith remembered exactly what happened, but that she does not do an exam unless I had something wrong down there. Excuse me, how am I supposed to know if everything looks okay down there. She is my doctor and the one that is supposed to be examining me and making sure everything looks okay. What the heck am I (or my insurance) paying her for?
Also, the billing department at this office has made several mistakes that I have had to spend time dealing with on numerous occasions. They billed me for a thyroid test twice, when I only had one done. It took four different times of calling to finally get it taken care of. They also messed up my OB deposit by giving me a quote based on my old insurance. I overpaid by $ 500! I had to call and get that sorted out too. Needless to say, I have since found a different doctor and practice to go to.

Dr. Smith is excellent physician, I’ve been a patient for 5 years. She is knowledgable, thorough, efficient and personable.
My biggest gripes with the practice are:
–Parking: $ 8 avg, can take up to 15 minutes to find a space, elevators are slow, sometimes out of order.
–Check in process: there are usually several people waiting, the line usually extends past the elevators. Reps are poorly trained, they aren’t personable, no one smiles or seems concerned with your inconvenience.
–Late Appts: my appointment has NEVER started on time. Ever. I usually wait 30 minutes before I have to ask when I’m going to be seen.
My advice… see Dr. Smith at her Sugar Land office or take half day off work. You’ll need it.

Allow me a disclaimer: I cannot truthfully review Dr. Smith’s competence as a doctor, as I have never seen her. The reason why I have not seen her is because her phone is answered by Cranky McBitchface. I was attempting to find a new OBGYN close to home, so I started going down the list of providers supplied to me by my health plan. Some were not taking new patients, some didn’t have an available appointment until July. So when Ms. McBitchface informed me in her hurried, disgusted-​at-​humanity voice that nothing would be available until July, I said «fine». After all, this was the seventh doctor’s office I had called in between the calls I was taking for work, and it was already 4:30 in the afternoon; I was tired and dejected. Then Ms. McBitchface asked if I had my medical records. I stated I did not, and she sighed rather audibly and snapped, «well, you’ll have to get them before I can even schedule anything for you». Okay, so you want me to get my medical records, then call you back once I have them, and then and only then will you put me on the schedule? By that time, your next available will probably be in August! I didn’t say this, though, because I try to be as nice as possible to people on the phone. McBitchface does not follow this credo: «That’s office policy». *sigh* Remembering that most doctors charge at least $ 25 for a copy of one’s medical records, I asked if it were possible for my old doc’s office to fax the records to their office so I wouldn’t have to pay for them. McBitchface harshly replied «I guess so but you’ll still have to go over there and sign a release so they can do that». I took that to mean «you’ll still spend your money on gas, you cheap-​ass, so why don’t you be a good girl and hang up so I do not have to be bothered with you?» Now I don’t always advocate reading between the lines, because some people really say exactly what they mean. McBitchface would probably be fired if she did that, but her tone and incessant sighing were enough to tell me that I probably should hang up and find another doctor. So after politely thanking her for her precious, precious time, that’s exactly what I did.