Vanderbilt Rheumatology

"I just found out I have some sort of autoimmune disorder and I was able to get an appointment pretty quick. I came down with the flu and tried to do a telehealth but they wouldn’t do it. They canceled my appointment and when they tried to reschedule it they said August was the earliest they could get me in. This not not acceptable at all!"

"The medical staff was ableist and unprofessional towards me. The 1 Star belongs entirely to the people answering the phones and working the desks! They were so kind and responsive, and doing their best with what the nurse was giving them. At my first visit, I was upfront that I have intermittent FMLA that I've had for years and that it would need to be renewed in the future as my previous doctor was moving. I was led to believe it wouldn't be an issue. I was terribly mistaken. In the several weeks leading up to my renewal date, I began contacting the office asking what I needed to do to prepare (if sending paperwork was sufficient or if they required a visit, etc.). I didn't received a call from a nurse or Dr., and had to contact the desk several times where messages were left for me. I couldn't even get messages sent to my patient portal. And I had to try giving the receptionists enough information to send back to the nurse each time. I waited all day for a phone call once only to receive it after business hours. Tried to get a callback and never did. I was also told several false and insensitive things by the nurse (via the receptionists), such as I didn't qualify and would need to get my psychologist to fill the forms out. I don't have a psychologist, and psychologists don't treat fibromyalgia so that was infuriating. Also, having had it for years, obviously I did qualify. I felt very dismissed by the nurse/dr, and many of the messages left for me at reception were ableist and insensitive. Luckily, I found a new doctor that would help a week before my renewal date, but it almost didn't happen and would've inevitably led to me being jobless. I will never return."

"I feel bad they don't want to see me on Fridays just because the doctor who saw me the first time doesn't work on Fridays and they don't want to change me with any other doctor it's not fair I tried to explain why I can't the other days Monday to Thursday I can't stop working even for a day I have 3 small children to support I don't want my resources to drop for any reason everything is expensive these days. I am available every Friday because I only work 4 days a week. 2 weeks ago I called to schedule the appointment for 11/18 and I was so happy that finally someone gave me an appointment on Friday I couldn't believe it, but a moment ago I called the floor number because I didn't remember and they told me I didn't have no appointment scheduled and I told the operator that I had 11/18 and she replied that it was canceled and I told her that I had not canceled the appointment. They canceled it themselves if my consent was not called for the cancellation. The doctor assigned to me does not come on Fridays. My God, why can't they understand me?"

"Dr. Springer and his nurse gave me exceptional care today. Dr. Springer was thorough and kind and addressed all my questions and concerns, and his nurse was courteous and efficient!"

"I went to the Hendersonville location and was seen by Dr. Benvenutti. I came in for my appt. At 9 a.m., was checked in, registered, and given a wrist band by a women at the front desk. After, she told me I could sit in the waiting room. I waited for an hour then was told that my appt. Was actually at 2. I waited in Hendersonville given I live about 40 min away. I get back at 2, get checked in, sit in the waiting room for 20 min. I finally get up to the exam room and sit in there for an additional 40 minutes. The doctor comes in the room and the whole time I feel very overlooked and dismissed by her. Every time I said something she responded in a way that made me feel that I was wasting her time. She seemed very aloof. I'm paying for a service and the least she could have done was to hear me out, even if she thought she wasn't the right person for me to be seeing. Especially considering she wasted my time by making me sit in the exam room for 40 minutes waiting on her. I have been struggling with medical issues for years. I am so beyond frustrated I could scream and sob. I have been pushed around by so many doctors and this visit was no different, not to mention the fact that my time was wasted when I ended up having to take the day off from work. Time and money that I cannot afford to lose. I walked into that office yesterday after months of waiting for an appointment with a sense of comfort and relief that maybe I would get some answers. Instead I walked away, crying in my car, with a major sense of disappointment in the way I was treated. I would have been comforted if she couldn't help me had she actually taken the time to hear me out and treated me with empathy, compassion and understanding. Instead she acted like I was wasting her time."