Ohsu Medical Group

Five visits to this place and I’ll not set foot in it again. OHSU Internal Medicine department is, simply put, the worst medical department I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Basically it is paternalistic medicine circa 1969 at its very worst. Patients are there to serve the doctor’s practice and research interests and not to be served by medical professionals or cared for as patients. Their attitude from front desk to discharge is one of extreme annoyance that a sick person has showed up to interfere with their day, whatever that is.
Special note for Doctors Mary O’hearn and Joseph Hardman, two of the most incredibly poor physicians I’ve ever experienced. They do not listen to the patient, give our orders with no explanations, and expect you to follow them as if you’re the new Private in their army and they are the blustering Lieutenants who are not to be questioned under any circumstances. O’hearn actually yells at sick patient for asking questions about what she expects them to do without question. Her bedside manner can only be compared to someone in the military that tortures people for a living.
The place is a throwback to old-​style, destructive doctor-​is-​god and not to be questioned medicine. Their hubris, lack of compassion, and blistering arrogance should deny them a license to practice medicine. But if you like taking orders and don’t ask questions (even when the treatments are very questionable and not backed by evidence-​based medicine) then it might be the place for you. But if you care about your health and want kind doctor that will listen to you instead of telling you what to do then this near-​medieval group of backwards, arrogant people might be for you.
Pluses: Reasonably comfortable facility, clean exam rooms, support staff trying to do their jobs despite the doctors. (High turnover among staff.)
Minuses: In addition to the above, abysmal parking situation, elevators constantly out of order and under-​capacity for the facility, most staff and doctors not able to deal with the electronic records system & spend much time hunting and pecking on the keyboards instead of addressing the patient, not reviewing patient records before making changes to care, and a near complete lack of basic human empathy for sick people.

Their billing department is a train wreck, although a train wreck actually follows the laws of physics so it is slightly unfair to train wrecks. Regardless, OHSU cannot even get their anesthesiologists to work with their billing department. While this is a bad review, I know we (the patients) have literally no choice so OHSU can do as they please with impunity but if you have an alternative I would choose that.

This review is for the 5^th floor, internal medicine, with Dr. Evans being one of the resident doctors.
Review on Dr. Evans himself: warm, friendly, relatively thorough, and informed. Overall two thumbs up on him.
The actual practice on the other hand and OHSU’s billing department: TERRIBLE.
As I learned through my insurance company, OHSU charges premium prices for the work it does on its patients. I got some lab work done that cost an astronomical cost when the bill came in. Part of the reason why it was so high was that my insurance is so-​so. But the other part is that they charge FAR above the smaller practices in the city.
Then after learning of the ridiculous cost of the lab work, I put myself on a payment plan and was told that the first charge was going to kick in mid-​June, basically about a month from now. Guess what? 3 days later I see the first charge on my bank account. I called their billing department who told me there was nothing they could do. That they couldn’t refund the money, even though we explicitly came to the agreement of not having the first bill until a month after I had called in. Ridiculous.
I told the agent I spoke to to adjust the plan so I was no longer on automatic billing and I would simply call in or pay per month online. I had to get going and asked her to please call me back and confirm the changes would be done. She said she would do it. Guess what? NO PHONE CALL BACK.
Terrible, absolutely terrible. I am currently in the process of finding a new doctor. NEVER AGAIN will I see anyone from OHSU unless I have absolutely no other option.

I went to OHSU for treatment of a spine injury and was told that I needed facet joint ablations (done by students, one of whom had CLEARLY not done their homework and messed it up– this after the doctor chewed me out for asking that she do the procedure instead of students, «because this IS a teaching hospital») and «pain psychology». After their idiotic approach only made things worse and I was losing my ability to walk/​move/​get to the bathroom, I ended up flying to Southern California– the surgeons there were horrified to find that one of my discs had literally exploded, and found that pieces of disc material were crushing the nerve roots in my spine. OHSU missed this completely– they were certain, absolutely SURE that I was faking it and that I just needed a psychologist. The university in California promptly scheduled me for surgery with the head of their orthopedic spine program. Post surgery, 80% of my pain was immediately gone and I regained my ability to walk. OHSU was perfectly content to tell me I was crazy and keep me in unbearable pain.
I would rather go with no medical care whatsoever than ever return to OHSU. Sepsis would be less painful that dealing with those absolute morons.

RUN!!! They may be great for pediatrics but run away from their family practices and ENT department. They will do unnecessary things to you and have they «residents» see you instead of a certified MD. They will then charge you and not even listen to your concern. RUNNNNN!!!

Internal Medicine. I have never been to a clinic that is so full of hubris as OHSU’s Internal Medicine clinic.

Review is for the Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation office in the 4^th floor of the Physicians Pavilion.
I was surprised to see that there were at least 6 broken chairs in the waiting room. The check in for this clinic is not where the sign for Ortho is, but rather across the hall in the Imaging desk (you also check out there and make follow-​up appointments). A bit confusing.
It is incredible how different this is from the Spine Center in the Waterfront office. .
Although the office infrastructure is not the best, Dr. Punsalan was very nice and thorough, he also answered all my questions.

This review is not just based upon 1 visit. Being new to Portland picked them for regular doctor, Ortho practice and physical therapy due to a bike accident I had a while back. After several visits, I have a good feel for the quality of service and care.
1. Consistently always had to wait way past the appt time. If I was this late to meetings at work, I would be reprimanded or fired. If you are going to keep me waiting, then the service and care better be top notch. Comparing their standard of care to places I have been to in Boston, Miami, Orlando, or Charlotte. I would easily put them dead last. Really not angry, but disappointed.
2. They bill you for everything, at what seems are ridiculous rates. For example, when I have had PT in the past, hard stretching was part of the standard of care to help with range of motion. I get the bill (with insurance) and the billed rate was $ 90 for 15 minutes. I have never seen that before! I felt like this was an ala carte restaurant. I am not sure if they are billing me high cause I had good insurance or if they are like that with everyone. Could you imagine someone who has a harder time making ends meet, gets hurt, and then they git billed at this rate?
3. Value. Given the cost, I just never thought the care was best in class. The 2 therapists I had back in Charlotte that took care of me after the accident, earned their money. My PT here was nice and thoughtful, but never felt I had any breakthru’s. Generally came out with the advice of «keep up what you are doing», but this is what I am getting billed for? Really? I don’t mind paying for good/​great service, but I just do not see the value here.