This Dr. is an expert in the field of self-promotion and mediocre at best at running a business and treating patients. Like many I imagine I became aware of with him via reviews on various message boards many of which he actively participates. Because I was seeking a Dr. which specialized in male HRT I decided to drive from Ohio to his practice. My first warning should have been when I was able to get an appointment in less than one week. For a supposed world renowned HRT Dr. he apparently is not very busy. After a 5 hour drive I arrived on time for my appointment. Then I waited 45 minutes for him to see me. I was the only patient in the office, another bad sign. While I waited patiently I watched him eat his lunch in his office. Even though he walked by several times while I waited, he never once acknowledged my presence. A polite hello seems reasonable to me. His office is absolutely filthy; dark, dingy with stains all over the carpet which I can only assume are from the dog he had running around in his suite. The dog clearly needed to be let out to do its chores but it was ignored just like me. When the Dr. finally decided to see me he was unprepared and obviously had not reviewed the blood work drawn from another Dr. several weeks before which I had sent in prior to my appointment.
My appointment lasted about 30 minutes of which half of the time he spent entering my stats on his laptop. He barely discussed my symptoms and gave me a 5 minute physical which incidentally requires the patient to walk into an entirely different part of the building as he doesn’t have an exam room within his suite. This room was also dirty and cluttered and basically amounted to a glorified broom closet, not a medical exam room.
My initial visit was $495. For that I got 30 minutes and a prescript for testosterone which I had to order on his ATM website using the pharmacy he recommends. If you want to use your pharmacy you get to pay an extra $15 because they fax in the order and that takes extra effort according to them. Actually I suspect this $15 amounts to the kickback he doesn’t receive when you don’t use his pharmacy; more about that later.
At my appointment, I was told I would receive an email in 4 weeks with a blood work order at my area LabCorp. After 6 weeks I still had not received my blood work request so I inquired as to its status and was informed by his office assistance Renee that the request was sent in and she couldn’t help it if I didn’t get an email notice to that fact. They are so busy don’t you know “treating people from all over the world.” Very unprofessional but just the beginning of what his troglodyte office manager is all about.
After the blood work was completed I scheduled my first virtual office visit, VOV. I assumed I might need more than the standard 15 minutes allowed for the Level one consult so I added another 15 minutes and paid the extra fee. Of course I had no idea what we would talk about because I wasn’t permitted access to my blood work prior to the VOV. You can only get your blood work after you have your VOV not before and of course you must pay a $5.00 fax fee to have them sent. Apparently I am capable of doing all of the administrative duties for Dr. including placing my order for prescriptions, scheduling VOV’s etc. but I am not capable of relaying to the Dr. how I am feeling without the contaminating effect of knowing what my labs are. That is complete BS and indicative of this Dr.’s massive ego.
The Dr. was 50 minutes late for our scheduled VOV. When he finally called we had a terrible connection so I asked him to call back to see if it would improve. 20 Minutes later he called back. Apparently he considered those 20 minutes to be part of my paid time because he spent less than 10 minutes total with me on the phone. Of course I was at a complete loss to ask questions because I had no knowledge of my blood work. I did know that I did not feel good and was told that my Total T was around 220. I was at 640 with my prior Dr. so something clearing was wrong. I asked about my thyroid levels and was told those labs were not ordered. Hmm..why not? That seems like basic HRT blood work 101. According to Crisler the problem was with the pharmacy compounder. Remember this was their recommended compounder. Even more remarkable was the fact that he wanted ME to call the compounder to complain as he was supposedly having trouble with them and was in the process of changing to a new pharmacy. So at this point I was 8 weeks in and doing worse than when I started with him. His solution; call the pharmacy and complain and order your next T prescript from their new pharmacy. Like an idiot I chose to use his newly recommended compounder. However after several weeks of not receiving my new prescript I had to inquire again as to its status. After several days of waiting for a response, ever pleasant Renee again flatly replied via email… “the compounder is not set up yet.” There was no information as to when it would be done or an offer to source it from somewhere else; just a, rude, ambiguous response. In addition to the T prescription which was not fulfilled I had a second prescription which they did not source through one of their pharmacies so I had to have them fax a prescription to my local Wal-Mart, again for $15.00 After several days I contacted the pharmacy and they told me they never received the order. Several emails and calls later over the course of more than a week I still didn’t have my prescription filled. Eventually, Renee told me that she was done with trying to get the problem resolved which I don’t think amounted to anything more than her continuing to fax in the request which was obviously not getting through. Apparently picking up the phone and communicating with the pharmacy was too much of a burden for her. She rudely informed me that she was too busy to mess with it anymore and if I wanted the prescription filled I would have to submit a new request on ATM for an additional $15.00 fee to a different pharmacy. Now that’s what I call service.
Ultimately I contested charges on my credit card for services which were never rendered. I never got the T prescription from his new pharmacy and of course I never got the prescription filled at Wal-Mart. When Crisler became aware of my decline to pay for service he sent me an email telling me I was dismissed from his practice. Apparently I violated the Dr./patitent relationship. He even had the gall to accuse me of fraud for contesting his charges. He also regretted to inform me that he couldn’t recommend another Dr. for my care. Oh BOO HOO…what a tool. He did however offer to forward my medical records for an additional fee. [
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Buyer beware with this Dr.
My appointment lasted about 30 minutes of which half of the time he spent entering my stats on his laptop. He barely discussed my symptoms and gave me a 5 minute physical which incidentally requires the patient to walk into an entirely different part of the building as he doesn’t have an exam room within his suite. This room was also dirty and cluttered and basically amounted to a glorified broom closet, not a medical exam room.
My initial visit was $495. For that I got 30 minutes and a prescript for testosterone which I had to order on his ATM website using the pharmacy he recommends. If you want to use your pharmacy you get to pay an extra $15 because they fax in the order and that takes extra effort according to them. Actually I suspect this $15 amounts to the kickback he doesn’t receive when you don’t use his pharmacy; more about that later.
At my appointment, I was told I would receive an email in 4 weeks with a blood work order at my area LabCorp. After 6 weeks I still had not received my blood work request so I inquired as to its status and was informed by his office assistance Renee that the request was sent in and she couldn’t help it if I didn’t get an email notice to that fact. They are so busy don’t you know “treating people from all over the world.” Very unprofessional but just the beginning of what his troglodyte office manager is all about.
After the blood work was completed I scheduled my first virtual office visit, VOV. I assumed I might need more than the standard 15 minutes allowed for the Level one consult so I added another 15 minutes and paid the extra fee. Of course I had no idea what we would talk about because I wasn’t permitted access to my blood work prior to the VOV. You can only get your blood work after you have your VOV not before and of course you must pay a $5.00 fax fee to have them sent. Apparently I am capable of doing all of the administrative duties for Dr. including placing my order for prescriptions, scheduling VOV’s etc. but I am not capable of relaying to the Dr. how I am feeling without the contaminating effect of knowing what my labs are. That is complete BS and indicative of this Dr.’s massive ego.
The Dr. was 50 minutes late for our scheduled VOV. When he finally called we had a terrible connection so I asked him to call back to see if it would improve. 20 Minutes later he called back. Apparently he considered those 20 minutes to be part of my paid time because he spent less than 10 minutes total with me on the phone. Of course I was at a complete loss to ask questions because I had no knowledge of my blood work. I did know that I did not feel good and was told that my Total T was around 220. I was at 640 with my prior Dr. so something clearing was wrong. I asked about my thyroid levels and was told those labs were not ordered. Hmm..why not? That seems like basic HRT blood work 101. According to Crisler the problem was with the pharmacy compounder. Remember this was their recommended compounder. Even more remarkable was the fact that he wanted ME to call the compounder to complain as he was supposedly having trouble with them and was in the process of changing to a new pharmacy. So at this point I was 8 weeks in and doing worse than when I started with him. His solution; call the pharmacy and complain and order your next T prescript from their new pharmacy. Like an idiot I chose to use his newly recommended compounder. However after several weeks of not receiving my new prescript I had to inquire again as to its status. After several days of waiting for a response, ever pleasant Renee again flatly replied via email… “the compounder is not set up yet.” There was no information as to when it would be done or an offer to source it from somewhere else; just a, rude, ambiguous response. In addition to the T prescription which was not fulfilled I had a second prescription which they did not source through one of their pharmacies so I had to have them fax a prescription to my local Wal-Mart, again for $15.00 After several days I contacted the pharmacy and they told me they never received the order. Several emails and calls later over the course of more than a week I still didn’t have my prescription filled. Eventually, Renee told me that she was done with trying to get the problem resolved which I don’t think amounted to anything more than her continuing to fax in the request which was obviously not getting through. Apparently picking up the phone and communicating with the pharmacy was too much of a burden for her. She rudely informed me that she was too busy to mess with it anymore and if I wanted the prescription filled I would have to submit a new request on ATM for an additional $15.00 fee to a different pharmacy. Now that’s what I call service.
Ultimately I contested charges on my credit card for services which were never rendered. I never got the T prescription from his new pharmacy and of course I never got the prescription filled at Wal-Mart. When Crisler became aware of my decline to pay for service he sent me an email telling me I was dismissed from his practice. Apparently I violated the Dr./patitent relationship. He even had the gall to accuse me of fraud for contesting his charges. He also regretted to inform me that he couldn’t recommend another Dr. for my care. Oh BOO HOO…what a tool. He did however offer to forward my medical records for an additional fee. [
)]Buyer beware with this Dr.
