Minnesota Gastroenterology, P.A. Review

Waiting in the parking lot for my partner to go through his first colonoscopy procedure alone. We were not told I would not be able to go in and took an entire day off work to be with him all just to drop off and pick up at the door. I have no idea how he's doing, if he's tolerating the anesthesia and I know like anyone is nervous and anxious and I can't be there to support him or advocate for him. The obvious lack of patient concern is grotesque. I have accompanied him (during covid) to the heart hospital and went into the room with him during a in-office procedure where he was cut open at another facility. To not allow a patient to have an advocate with them while undergoing anesthesia is unethical, unprofessional and does not allow for legal patient protection. Covid is not an excuse to take advantage of patients rights and certainly not an excuse for terrible patient customer service. Will update on how the actual procedure and care was, so far its been terrible and definitely a reason we will never come back to MNGI nor refer anyone to them.

8/24/20 I was throwing up the prep drink for my colonoscopy, so I had to go back on the 25th, I saw the humor in this photo,,

The MNGI business is very clean and the medical staff and doctors have wonderful bedside manners. I felt very cared for.

Depends on provider you see. Some are outstanding and others have bedside manner of a shark. Rude, cold and uncaring. My husband and I will only see one, Dr. Levine, at MN Gastro. for our colonoscopies. He is fantastic! Sadly, our daughter see's one for liver is actually cruel and judgemental. Polly, cnp for liver, is fabulous! Hard to weed out the bad ones, but they do have wonderful providers...if you are lucky enough to find the right one. No reputable doctor will prescribe anything for pain unless they know you and trust you will not abuse them. It is their license on the line. If pain meds needed...go to a good pain clinic. They are strict, but if truly in pain...they will be responsible.
Do your homework...check reviews and listen to them if they are reasonable. Too many people demand scripts for this or that. It isn't up to you. Stay away from pill mills. There is always someone who hurts worse than you and goes without. I am on pain meds, but will never ask a non pain specialist to treat a pain condition. Thats like asking an ear nose and throat provider to treat your foot pain. Be mature and reasonable and expect the same from your provider.

I canceled my appointment before ever actually stepping foot in the clinic because the administrative and billing was such a nightmare. I called as a new patient to set up a consultation and the person who scheduled me was very friendly but ended up incorrectly inputting my information that I needed to access the patient portal. My birth date and my email were incorrect, and somehow they had two addresses for me. Needless to say, they seem very unorganized. Then I spoke with someone in billing to find out roughly what the consult would cost; she said she'd email me the fees, which I received and within each of three categories, the billing levels between class I and class V billing range from $150 to $750. What?! When I called back with questions about the fees, she immediately became very defensive, which seemed shady. She explained that my consultation could be between $300 and $500 based on the billing class, which I don't understand- how do they decide which class you are? She also explained that without knowing what my insurance will cover, she can't give an exact number; this I completely understand, but again, why was she so hostile? Then she made the snappy comment, "This is why we send people the fees; if we don't they get very angry with us when they get their bill." Um, no kidding! She didn't even send me the fees voluntarily, which she also admitted then that patients should request them, as I had done. Everything about this place just gave me a terrible gut feeling; no pun intended (gastro clinic). The woman was so awful on the phone, and clearly she is used to people having the same reaction to her. Maybe those fees are typical for a specialty clinic, maybe the doctors are phenomenal, but I will still be taking my money elsewhere, because everything else about that place, for lack of a better term, just sucks.

Seems like they care very little about patients and finding solutions/diagnosis and more about getting your money. I was prescribed medications 3 times with little explanation for how they would help, then needed to do 3 endoscopes only to find out each of them did in fact do nothing. Then, when it came to billing, it was an absolute nightmare. They didn't process my insurance correctly for 6 months, sending me incorrect bills throughout. I, of course, have to call and try to fix it every time. When I finally received a correct bill, I made payments just a few days later. Then a few days after my payments, they sent the bills to collections. After spending an hour on the phone with them, my confidence in their record keeping ability has gone even lower. They can't seem to figure out what bills there are, how much is outstanding, whether insurance has been applied, and how much I had paid toward each. I spent at least 45min going back and forth with them about how much I had paid and toward what, all the while I am staring at my statement that shows exactly how much and to whom I paid. And of course, you can't do any of this in your own time because they will only sometimes answer the phone between 8am and 5pm, SOMETIMES, if you get lucky.

There are 2 things I am not happy about with my colonoscopy and upper endoscopy a few weeks ago. One is the nurse who came to see me after I awoke from the sedative and simply told me my clothes were there and she'd stop back in a few minutes. She did not tell me I would flood the floor with water and there were no towels or anything else in the room to mop it up. I grabbed a sheet off the bed and used that. When she returned she said, oh yes, Dr... uses water for the colonoscopy. The 2nd one is that she could not complete the procedure and for me to me to get a virtual one which I did 2 weeks later. After 4 business days, I still did not hear from the Dr so I called to find out it was OK. I find this neglecting not to let a patient know what to expect after a procedure (the water on the floor) and other services like the virtual one. I hope my next experience will be a bit better.

My doctor, Dr. Feldshon has been exceptional to work with. He is patient, understanding, kind and incredibly responsive. Probably the most responsive physician I have ever met, even calling me on a Friday evening after hours. I can not recommend him enough if you need a gastro doc. His patient coordinator, Wendy is also a gem! Really empathetic, always answers the phone and all of my questions. I appreciate them both so much. Thank you

I had a great experience in MN Plymouth endoscopy center. Very professional staff.

Called to ask if there was a doctor available that week for my spouse. Phone operator said that she can't tell me that until I give her all the personal information and make a chart first. Because calendars have not been invented yet. So I make a chart. Then she says, "ok, now I need to speak with your wife to get permission to schedule her". I'm just asking for a time. "No, need to speak with spouse." There is a reason that I'm calling on her behalf, my wife can't speak on the phone. After wasting 20 minutes of my life on this, I call another clinic and had no problem.

Then a week later, this place starts calling me and sending me letters about an unfinished appointment scheduling. Right, because now that they tricked me into giving them contact information, why not spam me?

They are absolutely horrifying to deal with, the specialists don t know anything about gastroenterology ; all they do is promote getting an endoscopy, they care about making money. When you walk in the door it s all about how they can maximize their profits. You re just a money bank they make withdrawals from. We went back to give them feedback about our negative experience and tell them that they misdiagnosed my husband, no one cared. Just beware guy. Beware.

Absolutely horrible patient services. I recently had a colonoscopy and endoscopy done for them (by north memorial). I was diagnosed with crohns at which point they requested more bloodwork. They told me they would send the orders to north memorial to get it done before leaving for college. Well I called north memorial a couple days later and was told no orders were sent. I called mngi to have them send the orders at which point they said they would again. Called north memorial the next day and still no orders sent. I called mngi again to have them send the orders and I was told they would. I called north memorial again a few days later AND STILL NO ORDERS. I m honestly done with their s**t and they need to figure it out and get their act together. For a medical company they don t seem to care a lot about their patients issues, concerns, and wellbeing.

Dr. Robert Ganz was very knowledgeable and I felt well informed and taken care of, Thanks again

I saw Dr. Cinnor Birtukan who belittled my symptoms and told me that my bloating and stomach issues were not bad, "you're young, just wait until you get older and your body will look like that all the time." I did not come to MN Gastro to receive advice on aging nor have my symptoms belittled. I left in tears and will never return to a practice that does not take patients seriously. To anyone looking for a diagnosis, do not see Dr. Birtukan nor visit this location. I would barely recommend the Minneapolis location, which is why I ranked two stars. Visit the Mayo Clinic if you want top notch doctors who will help diagnose you, rather than dismiss you.

I am sharing this since I know how hard it is to find good reliable, patient doctor who will listen to your concerns. My pay it foward. MG is a great company but your experience really depends on the individual provider of course (like any clinic). I was lucky to have a great GP who referred me to Dr. Robert Ganz and Dr. Samuel Leon. I would highly recommend either of theses doctors for GI issues (especially GERD). I was diagnosed with Barretts E back in 2010 and was treated and effectively cured by a procedure called HALO (co-invented by Dr. Ganz, Barrx corp.) and now is a procedure done by thousands of GI doctors throughout the country. He also co-invented a GERD prevention implantable device called the LINX (look it up) which is quite effective. Have a friend who just had the surgery. Great option versus fundo. Both doctors are quite experienced at what they do. They are also very patient. My last consult with Dr. Leon he continually asked me if he was addressing my concerns. Anyways, hope this helps someone who is trying to find a good GI DR.

Don t go here unless you want to donate your kidney in order to afford their care. Over $700 for a 30 minute consultation just to confirm everything my other doctor had already confirmed. They kept trying to get me scheduled and have another appointment before I got any bills but I was smart enough to wait. My insurance even covered a good portion of it, but my actually endoscopy at Fairview cost me less than this 30 minute consultation did. I contacted their office and they told me too bad. I emailed their helpline and got no response. I basically have told them I m not paying and now I have the first and only debt collection agency calling me.

Hello. I would give ZERO stars if that was an option. Dr. Torgerson is probably one of the worst doctors (dishonest at that) that I have ever had the experience of dealing with. Cuts you off when talking and very quick. Bed side manner sucks. My husband and I went there for a consult for gasto issues. He said that on the next onset of symptoms to go ER to have an MRI done. He did this, and they couldn't do the test because my husband couldn't drink the barium due to his conditions (cyclic vomiting syndrome). Why would a doc in a specialty area order this test for this condition. Then I challenged the ER bill that we got and he said that he never said that he should go to the ER. He absolutely did. Maybe if he had taken the time to LISTEN and not cut us off, he would know how to treat the patient. Do your research people. If you go to him, document EVERYTHING. This left us holding the bill for an unneccessary ER bill. I will never step foot into this company again! Oh..by the way. If you want anything done fast - go somewhere else. Took months for a response. Literally. Reach out to me if you would like to see all my documentation. Happy to share to save anyone the hassle of what we went through. So sad that patients have to experience less than professional doctors where they should be trusted. Beware.

After a few false diagnosises, I can't believe all of the "team" gasto specialist doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with my abdominal area in 8 months so they referred me to a psychologist. So I finally got a second opinion. The problem wasn't IBS, cronic constipation, or spasmonic colon, it was my gallbladder that was causing my horrible symptoms!
The good doctor said after looking at my records that my gallbladder function was never tested when I had every other test! It was low functioning and I had it removed and finally feel better! The surgeon said my gallbladder was very inflamed! Don't just let MN gastro doctors chop your symptoms up to IBS! Thats how they keep you coming back there! Spread the word!

Hands down a fantastic clinic. The physicians and staff are diverse, kind and respectful. Every call prior from scheduling to prep questions was answered timely and thoroughly. I drove from West St Paul for a female physician (who had availability that worked with my schedule) and Dr Carin fink did my procedure. She was fantastic. I highly recommend her and her organization.

They have helped me deal with the Crohns disease. Been trying different medications and they keep trying to figure out how to get it in remission.

My colonoscopy was a complete nightmare! The first one-third of the procedure is to advance the instrument up as far as it will go and then pull it back while doing the exam. I went through the first one-third totally without any anesthesia-while howling in pain. The procedure was started without the benefit of any sedation and continued in spite of my pain. Dr. Cinnor started the procedure and continued it without checking the effects of the anesthesia.

It is very disappointing and unfortunate that anyone has to experience a lack of care and understanding when seeking health care.

First of all I can positively say that when I saw Dr. Van Handel in 2016 he was the first Physician to treat my colitis by educating me on a diet plan instead of pharmaceutical drugs. I really appreciated this and I've been pretty much symptom free for 3 years!

Today however I called the office to ask about a medication recommended to me by a local Physician and I got to experience a nurse named Bridget. I became concerned with some abdominal pain the last few days and consulted a local Physician who suggested that I may be having a flare up of my colitis. He made a recommendation but wanted me to check with my gastroenterologist first, and if symptoms didn't improve suggested I make an appointment with Gastroenterology. Today, I got Nurse Bridget when I called. I asked about the over the counter treatment recommended to me and she said "that is probably okay". Is "probably" your opinion or your expertise? I tell her my local Physician suggested I check with them before taking such medication and her response is "you haven't been seen since 2016". I'm sorry that I haven't a flare up that has warranted me a visit to you since 2016 but I am having problems now - that is why I am calling. Nurse Bridget doesn't bother to ask me what symptoms I am experiencing or anything else for that matter. She is eager to hang up the phone. This incident may sound benign but the tone of Nurse Bridget's voice in this whole conversation was a complete lack of care. Worst of all it left me feeling like how dare I call and waist her time!

This just should not have happened. When you employ these kind of people as the front line for your Physicians, you lose. I will not be coming back. I will seek new Gastroenterology care with a facility that cares about their patients from the first phone call.

My 1st colonoscopy was done today and I was very nervous but Doctor Caryn Fine and all of the staff members were very nice and friendly!
Thank you and keep up the good work! : )

Just had my second colonoscopy and it could not have gone better! Great staff, very professional, in and out in no time. Top notch!!

Up until about 10 minutes ago, my entire family were patients of this practice. We absolutely loved our doctor, however, due to the unconscionable billing practices of this group, we have made the decision to take our health and business elsewhere.

A claim for a stool sample was denied by insurance, indicating that we needed prior approval. Billing office tells us that it is our responsibility to know all prior approvals under our insurance. They said we should not have taken the test without knowing if it was covered. OK - "doctor, please wait a minute while I call my insurance company". A stool test in a GI office is what I would think routine? It was done along with lab work.

The claims staff is arrogant, rude and completely unprofessional. Such a shame because we truly loved the medical care we received.

If I could leave negative stars I would. Administration, patient advocate, billing, lab, scheduling, patient portal all a nightmare. Dr. Calls in sick to Eagan office and they don't call the patient after waiting 3 months for an opening with specific doctor. We finally get in with a different doctor and Dr. calls my son to tell him he needs to see a blood specialist ASAP as his test results shows very critical issues. (possible blood cancer). I schedule with an Oncologist while they get him ASAP to re-draw 7 tubes of blood to find out a day later all a false alarm due to faulty equipment. Then they bill me for the re-draw! I call and complain and they said someone would from patient care will review and call me back. They never did. My mother had a terrible experience with them a few years ago as well. The doctors seem to be fine but everything else is terrible.

I love Dr. Vega. He literally saved my life. He is about the only one in this area that does the endoscopic Halo procedure. I come from North Dakota - about a 7 1/2 hr. drive. This procedure is to treat my Barrett s esophaguse. If it weren t for Dr. Vega I probably would not be here.

#1 They are hypocrites! The company will not be prescribing medical marajuana for Chrones patients!
#2 Company will also not prescribe medications if you smoke, but will also not provide smoking cessation prescriptions or help.
#3 They abuse me for my insurance money. They do constant medical procedures, request appointments, and have tests done. I am still paying off a collection attorney from procedures done in 2002!
#4 Some medical assistants are just rude.
#5 I can never get an appointment when I'm starting to have a Chrones flair. I end up having to go to my general Dr.
I will be leaving this company as soon as I find a new clinic that dosnt act like they are God's gift to the digestive system.

Would not recommend this facility. My mom and I have both gone here and had the same experience. Not upfront or informative about services and everything that goes along with it; i.e. astronomical costs and insurance coverage per patient. Billing department was not helpful.

Just had my second colonoscopy and it could not have gone better! Great staff, very professional, in and out in no time.

I rarely ever leave reviews for anything on google but I had to give my positive feedback after my personal experience at MNGI plymouth last week for my colonoscopy with Dr Ketover.

I was very nervous about the procedure and had looked up the reviews the day before to see what others have experienced here. The multiple negative reviews on Google made me even more nervous. I had quite the opposite experience.

From the moment that I stepped into their offices, the front desk staff could not have been more friendly. In fact, all of the staff at the Plymouth location were extremely friendly, compassionate, and reassuring. Yes, it is a very busy place but I was not made to feel as though I was just one of dozens of other patients that they were seeing that morning. The care I received from all of the staff was top notch. I especially appreciated how each and everyone of them made sure that all of my questions were answered and explained each step of the procedure prior to my being put under anesthesia.

There was some reviewer who stated that they use water or something like that during colonoscopies I don t know what the heck that was all about. They use air during the procedure. Her review freaked me out the most. Ya ll can disregard that one. You won t be leaking anything but gas after a colonoscopy.

At any rate, I was relieved to be done afterwards and would highly recommended all of you to have your required colonoscopy procedures done at this location. Everything went as smoothly as it possibly could have. Thank you to all the staff that made my experience so positive!