Elizabeth Ferenczi

Review of GW Medical Faculty Associates

Healthcare needs to be human, but the process of r...

Healthcare needs to be human, but the process of reaching a person at this institution is impossible. My family has only seen good doctors at GWFaculty Associates. HOWEVER the process of trying to call to speak with a doctor or her/his staff, make change or cancel an appointment is unspeakably awful. NO ONE in this institution answers a telephone.This includes the team at "Patient Experience". The promise given by all is "Someone will get back to you within 48 hours).

The hospital seems to have a call center- or telephone tree- through which calls are routed, but you end up on a multi-patient queue that can take more than half an hour before reaching a human being. There is no way to contact a specific doctor staff member or department.

Today I physically wrote a letter explaining my father's caregiving needs and hand carried it to the correct office ( those phone people provided the incorrect address btw, but a receptionist onsite was able to redirect me to the right building several blocks away).

It is a shame that such excellent doctors have an administrative/communication system that is so terrible. The GWFaculty Associates should have departmental numbers posted online and sufficient staff to answer phone calls. Departmental e mail addresses would help as well. The current system is unusable enough to encourage us to look for healthcare elsewhere.