The South Bend Clinic - Dermatology

"I have been a patient at the South Bend Clinic Dermatology for about 2 years now. Dr. Garcia is an amazing doctor and has cleared my acne up tremendously, but I haven’t seen him for over 4 months due to the front desk staff needing to reschedule twice, then canceling and not notifying me until the time of my appointment at the front desk, and most recently, the front desk didn’t properly check me in so I sat in the waiting room for over 30 minutes only to be told I can’t be seen because he was “too booked out” when I saw his nurse take back his second appointment of the day when I was supposed to be his first. This can’t keep happening. Now I’m going longer without treatment. My doctor is absolutely amazing and works miracles, but I’m going to have to find a new dermatologist because of the front desk staff. I’m not one to leave bad reviews or even reviews at all, but this needed to be brought to light because it never used to be like this."

"Four years ago I had a consultation there about my acne scars. I had cystic acne as a teen and was very self conscious about them. I was told by the doctor that c02 laser treatment would dramatically help my scars. I was so excited and grateful for the news, I rushed to get on the schedule. I paid around 2500.00 and scheduled a week off of work because of the down time. The week of, they called and said they needed to reschedule. I understood , stuff happens so I rescheduled with my boss which wasn’t easy since I worked at a casino. The week I rescheduled for, they called me again and said they are so sorry , but needed to reschedule again. I was livid. I lost my vacation time and had to go to work looking ridiculous. They had someone from Chicago come in and do my laser. He did it so fast and I was in tons of pain, which I was fine with because I was just happy to hear someone could help my scars. Fast forward a year later, my face was still red as a tomato and I had new scars on the one side of my face where I had none before the surgery. I still have the track marks on my chin from the laser and my acne scars look worse. I also have white and dark pigmentation. It was just an overall awful experience and I pray no one gets laser there because they took a hefty amount from me and also left me with more scars."

"If I where you I'd go elsewhere,I am. Dr. Holly Harris has changed so much in her practice it's not worth going to see her. It seems she just wants to see as many patients as she can. She used to do the suturing after mole removal. Not anymore. She does quality work is one of the best, however her assistants now do it. They are not as good and I have the scars to prove it. It takes a long time to get ahold of the front office to make an appointment. When you do get one pray she does not become out of the office and cancel so you have to wait even longer. She uses NP's instead of MD/DO to assist her practice. If you need something done more serious you then have to make another appointment to see her. The icing on the cake for me leaving is due to me having an appointment made.They canceled it telling me to reschedule, then tell me that they changed the policy, I have to pay well over 1000 dollars up front, then I get the itemization of bill to go after and wait to get money back from the insurance. That's why you have coders and billers. Long story short In my opinion all Dr. Holly Harris wants to do is maximize her profits and it is leading to worse and poor care."

"Our experience with the South Bend Clinic Dermatology Dept. was very negative. We used the Eddy Street location. Here is a timeline. May 24, 2021- Appt with a nurse practitioner & was prescribed 2 medications May 26, 2021 - Called the SB Clinic Dermatology Dept and informed them that the Rxs need prior authorization for the insurance. Am told this takes ~3 business days. June 3, 2021- Call the clinic asking for an update, they promise a call back. No one called back. June 4, 2021 - Call the clinic in the morning. Receive a call back in the afternoon w/apologies for the authorization taking so long. I ask what treatment could be used in the meantime until we can get the Rx. I’m told they will ask the nurse practitioner to call us with that information. No one called back. June 8, 2021 - Called and asked for an update, I am told I will receive a call back. No one called back. June 11, 2021 - Receive a call from the nurse stating that the clinic had been trying to get a hold of us and had no idea how to reach us. Note: my number hasn’t changed. She needed our insurance number in order to process the prior authorization. Note: the clinic had billed our insurance for our appt. I, again, ask for treatment options in the absence of an Rx since the condition is worsening. I’m promised a call back with that info. No one called back. June 15, 2021 - I call begging for treatment options in the absence of any medication. I'm told someone will call me back. At 3pm, the nurse calls me and apologizes for the prior authorization taking so long. I explain AGAIN that right now we need some treatment options and she says she will talk with the nurse practitioner and call us back. No one called back. June 16, 2021 - Call the clinic when they opened, asked again for treatment options as the condition has worsened. It’s been 23 days with no medication. I finally spoke to a secretary who seemed to recognize my humanity and said she would keep me on hold until I got an answer. She managed to get the nurse practitioner to give us a different Rx. June 25, 2021 - The nurse called with a message saying that the prior authorization has been approved. She provided some details with how the medications should be taken. June 28, 2021 - I called the clinic because neither of our pharmacies have received word of the prior authorization being approved. Later that afternoon, an individual called me to ask which pharmacy I use and they assured me that the Rx would be called in. June 29, 2021 - We leave for a one week vacation. July 5, 2021 - Our pharmacy does not have the Rxs. I called the clinic and explain the issue. They say they will call me back. No one called back. July 6, 2021 - After digging around on their website, I find the emails for the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Compliance Officer. I emailed this timeline to them and had an answer that same day. You can draw your own conclusion, but here is mine. SB Clinic Derm Dept provides assembly line care, you are a number not a person. If your case fits the usual parameters, you will likely get decent care. However, if anything happens that needs special attention, you will be allowed to fall through the cracks and no one will ensure that your needs are met. If you must go there because of insurance, get the name and email of the compliance officer at your very first visit and do not lose it. Contact them immediately at the first problem, do not wait as long as I did to get your needs met."

"Had an appointment and my daughter got sick the same day. We had appointments in the same building. I walked down to tell them I would have to reschedule because obviously my child is more important! They told me since I didn't give proper notice I could not be seen again as a patient! To say I was upset and disgusted is an understatement. And prior to this I went in to have my skin looked at and asked if they could also look at a mole I had concerns about. Was told they could not because I didn't mention it when booking my appointment. Theu want the copay the specialist get"