April 19, 2012

“Cant rate lower than a "1"”

By: Linda, a very disappointed former patien

I had a consultation visit with Dr. Guthrie for a lesion in my mouth in February, 2012. One of his office staff tried to x-ray me, but I told her that I didn't need an x-ray as I just needed the doctor to examine the lesion in my mouth. She finally stopped pushing the x-ray after I continued to decline and told her to check with the doctor about whether or not it was needed. She didn't ask him, but stopped offering it. I sat in an office chair for a not too unreasonable amount of time (maybe 15 minutes) before the doctor came into the room. I suppose his chair-side manner was not bad. He told me the lesion was not anything serious and that I should get another referral from my PCP (I have an EPO) and schedule to return so that he could remove it. The young lady who suggested that I have an x-ray was now trying to schedule me to return for a "biopsy!" I told her that I thought she was mistaken and asked (again) that she check with Dr. Guthrie about this. She took my $30 co-pay and continued to talk to me about the biopsy. Dr. Guthrie walked out to where we were talking and apologized for her mistake - clarifying that I did not need a biopsy and said that the woman was not one of his regular staff but was just "filling in" for the day. I got the referral and scheduled to return to see Dr. Guthrie to remove the lesion for a date in early April. The evening before the appointment, I received a call from someone at the office who told me that Dr. Guthrie "injured his arm and would be out of the office 'indefinitely.'" I asked how I would know when I should reschedule given that he was out "indefinitely" and was told he'd sold his practice! and was offered an appointment with the person who was taking over the practice. I declined as the location she told me he would be working at the next day was a long way (southwest side?) from the Michigan Ave. practice. I got home that same evening and received a statement in the mail from Dr. Guthrie stamped "past due." The statement billed me $150 for the x-ray which I did not have/need and $105 for the office visit. They managed to get straight the fact that I paid the $30 co-pay. What they did not do, I would find out after calling my insurance company, was to bill my insurance company. I called the Michigan Ave. office and spoke to the woman who'd called me less than half hour ago to cancel the appointment. I told her about the bill and my frustration with the fact that my insurance company had not been billed and my concern that this was going to end up on my credit report! She cut me off mid-sentence informing me that all of Dr. Guthrie's issues should be directed to Dr. Guthrie's "billing office" at 866-460-5115. She said that she thought the person in the billing department was named "Ken" but was not sure. I have left about a dozen messages for "Ken" or Dr. Guthrie or whomever at this number which goes to voicemail on the first ring. No one has returned my calls! I wrote and mailed a letter to Michael Guthrie at the address on the statement I received: "117 S. Cook St., #313; Barrington, IL. 60010." the address at the top of his statement. There was, BTW, no phone number at which to call anyone about the statement. I saw somewhere online that Dr. Guthrie is also a real estate investor and have been calling the number associated with him: 847-801-4007 which answers as "KMH Capitol Group." I also just found an article about Dr. Guthrie suing someone for not selling him a property in Barrington, Illinois because of racial discrimination. The article quotes Dr. Guthrie as saying, "I didn't do anything to be treated this way." I could not say it any better!