VCU Medical Center Ambulatory Care Center

"I have received my care from VCU health before, and they have one of the worst billing and coding system I have ever encountered. When I had my annual exam in May 2023, it became my worst nightmare in health care so far. Starting off with the NP that I saw, Elias D'ALessio, he was the most unprofessional, incompetent, and argumentative healthcare provider I have ever met. This led to many issues that I'm trying to figure out. For example, when my visit was supposed to be an annual exam, it was coded and billed as an obesity visit which had nothing to do with why I saw him. I called the billing department multiple times for a solution but nothing is getting done. They are almost scripted AI customer service agents and nothing happens. Adding more to my frustration, I mad a partial payment with the agent I spoke to, but the new bill still didn't reflect the new balance. And when I called back, the agent didn't locate the payment and asked me to provide a proof of payment. Overall, this is a very BAD healthcare system that is dysfunctional and adding more stress to the patients when they should be providing care. I hate writing a bad review, but this experience has been awful to not to share it with the public. I will never come back to this system and will fight them until I get my rights back."

"I don't typically write reviews, but my experience has been so incredibly frustrating that I want people to be aware before they interact with VCU. I had surgery in October. To preface, I agreed to surgery at this time because I was in a lot of pain and was under the impression my health insurance was going to still be active through the surgery date (I had just left a job and was waiting to hear about another one). The check-in process was smooth; my partner was escorted to the waiting room, and I was brought back to a patient room to change and wait for prep. I'm not sure what her name was, but an employee came after I was changed to inquire about my demographics. She made a comment about me paying out-of-pocket, to which I corrected her and told her I had insurance. She stated she could see my card in the system but did not inform me my insurance had lapsed. Instead, she left, and I proceeded to have surgery. The surgery went well, and I'm happy to say my pain has been significantly reduced. That said, I had this funny feeling and double-checked my insurance - at which point I discovered it had lapsed. I contacted the billing department to get it straightened out, and they told me I would need to wait until my bill had been adjusted and posted. This process took weeks of adjusting, re-adjusting. I told them I wasn't able to afford the surgery (again, in-between jobs), so they offered up a payment plan with ClearBalance. I was fine with this; however, this is where the problems set it. VCU kept submitting to ClearBalance despite the balances not being finalized. I have received 3-4 different letters from ClearBalance, including a phone call, about payment due despite the final balance not being posted. I received a letter (and again, phone call) from ClearBalance mid-December telling me I owed 2 months of payments due to being late last month, which isn't correct because I was trying to get information from VCU. Well, after multiple weeks of waiting, VCU finally messaged me back this morning to say that an initial balance was sent off (for surgery) and is correct and needs to be paid and that a second finalized balance (for the anesthesiologist) had just been finalized and was sent off which will result in a higher monthly payment than previously agreed upon. I don't care about the total, although maybe I should at this point. What I care about is timeliness and competency. When you take out a loan for a vehicle for a set amount, that amount does not just suddenly change because the dealer "made a mistake." It stays at the set amount. This should be no different. In addition, you would expect information to be sent in a timely manner WITH competent staff. I am incredibly frustrated and disappointed after this encounter and will not be going to VCU for anything beyond seeing my physician for office visits."

"I wish I had read ALL the reviews before going to my appointment. Everyone on the surface was kind and respectful, but after being checked in and placed in a room, I waited for the doctor for 68 minutes (this does not include the early arrival time). After stepping out of the room to speak with the nurse, I was informed that the doctor was on his way. I actually saw the doctor in the hallway and asked if he was Dr. Walker and he responded with, "yes" and kept walking. He was unapologetic and unaffected by my frustration. At that point, I did not think, it would benefit me to stay, so I left without being evaluated. It does not matter how good a doctor you are, if you have NO concern or respect for a person's time and effort it takes to make and get to these appointments. It is unprofessional and unacceptable to keep patients waiting for over an hour and to have a doctor act like that's the expectation, is just plain rude."

"If you want good quality care this is not the place. They do not care about the health and well being of the indigent care patients. I've had to beg to be sent to specialists because they don't want to put any effort towards figuring out what's wrong with you. I'll end up dead if I can't get insurance so I can go somewhere else that will provide good care. These doctors should be ashamed for putting profit before human lives."

"I can’t say a cross word about this place. It’s a long drive and parking can be difficult but they have the valet service and it’s been so worth every trip. Dr. Mounasamy and his crew have taken such amazing care of my 6 year old son who broke his arm last month. They have made him feel like a rock star every week and have been so informative and patient with us both. I hope we never need them again but if we ever do, we will always come back here!!"