Allergy Care

This practice has at least one Dr that I really like (Getner) however, the practice as a whole is disappointing. The billing department makes an error about 50% of the time, and the office staff has no idea how to answer billing issues, as there seems to be a long delay in communication between the off-​site billing department and the on-​site office staff. There are several locations across the city, but only the Goss Ave office offers reasonable shot hours (Springhurst closes for shots at 4:00… the same time elementary schools release, and is closed on Saturday.)
The practice uses a different serum formula than all the other allergists in the city too, which means when you get annoyed with all the above and try to leave, you have to get re-​tested and have a new formula created at your new allergy doc. OR you have to continue paying them for the serum, and then pay another practice to adminsiter the shots. All in all, having to drive 40 minutes to Goss Ave every Saturday is less than convenient, but I’m not going to put my daughter through the painful experience of re-​testing just for convenience. It would be awesome if they applied the common sense to offer shots outside of school and work hours, at least one day a week, considering they’re typically needed at least once a week.
One other thing. I’m required to bring my daughter in for an $ 80 «checkup» every year. If we don’t bring her in, they refuse shots until it’s been done. It is literally «how are you doing on your shots?» and then «ok, let’s just continue the way things are then…» … if somethign were horribly wrong or we had some sort of adverse reaction, i’d call… i wouldnt wait a year to let you know… but thanks for taking my $ 80. Also, i waited an hour and a half past the time of my last annual appointment before seeing a dr. An hour and a half. Eighty dollars.
I do want to mention one more time though, that I really like Dr. Getner.

I recently visited this clinic for an allergy test and to get some medication for my seasonal allergies.
After the allergy test, the allergist asked me if I wanted to begin allergy shots. I said that I was potentially interested but I didn’t want to start anything until I knew more about it, including the costs. She said that she understood and handed me a form that explained the dangers associated with getting the shot, which she presented as a way to answer some of my questions. The form was pretty long (I had already been there for about an hour) and the doctor was standing over me, so I skimmed the parts I needed, I signed it (per her request) and continued with my appointment.
A couple of weeks later I got a bill from this clinic showing that I had been charged over $ 200 for the medicine to start allergy shots. When I called the billing office, they said that there was nothing that they could do because I had signed the allergy shot form. Sure enough, buried in the middle of one of the last paragraphs that discusses the dangers of the shot, is one single sentence that states that by signing that form you agree to start the shot immediately.
In other words, the doctor knew that I wasn’t interested in starting the shot but handed me a misleading form to start it anyway. This clinic will do anything to take your money so be very careful that you read everything twice and ask lots of questions!
Or, better yet, do what I should have done — take your business elsewhere!