RMA Long Island IVF

Monisha George

☆☆☆☆☆1.0· 2 months ago

Verified

I am really cautious about writing negative reviews, but felt it was more important so I can help other women who are navigating what is already a big decision to make regarding egg retrieval/freezing. My gyn had discussed with me the idea of getting my eggs frozen, as I have a health condition that could affect fertility. She recommended RMA in Melville. Had an amazing consultation with Dr. Dicken. Felt very informed and felt confident about moving forward with the procedure. Because of several other health factors I have, my doctor wanted me to obtain medical clearance and the staff gave me clear instructions on how to proceed forward, or so I thought. I took the necessary steps I needed, including making an appointment with my PCP, to seek approval. I did not hear from RMA after my initial consult, despite telling me that the team would immediately get started on requesting approval from my insurance to get coverage for the procedure. I called the office 3 times and left voicemails/ message with the front desk and no one got back to me. It wasn’t until almost 3 months later that I was able to get connected with someone through email. In short, the administrative staff did not do what they were supposed to and failed to follow-up with me, which was stressful because a lot of the paperwork and testing I needed for the procedure was time-sensitive. The staff lacked accountability, and tried to make unnecessary and unreasonable requests from me which would further delay the process- I think much of this was to offset the fact that they were delayed. There was so much unprofessional back and forth communication through email, only to be told the following week that insurance wouldn’t cover my procedure. My condition is something that is not unique and is very often a reason why people decide to freeze eggs. I wasn’t surprised that insurance initially denied because that is the unfortunate nature of our health care system. But for RMA not to even suggest offering to do a peer to peer and jumping straight into asking me if I wanted to pay out of pocket, gave me the idea that they are not willing to advocate for me. My whole experience with them was emotionally overwhelming and stressful, and I would not recommend other people to them

Justine E

☆☆☆☆☆1.0· 5 months ago

Verified

I took some time to fully digest my experience of donating eggs at this location before writing a review. I want to warn other donors to be cautious before making this decision. During the approval process I encountered a minor situation where blood samples were lost and they had to redraw my blood. I was told this was a mistake and it doesn’t usually happen. I continued with the process thinking this was just a fluke. Once approved, I was chosen pretty quickly for a fresh egg donation. They expect you to be pretty independent when learning to inject yourself which was fine. The needle sticks were surprisingly the least of my concerns (I thought this would be the worst of it). I tried to be diligent and ask questions before signing the paperwork. They reassured me that the procedure has little to no down time and there would be a nurse on call at all times. I was told over the counter pain medication would be more than enough, but if the pain continues they can provide something else. I requested my medical records and in multiple instances, they sent me someone else’s charts along with mine by mistake. My medical waste container they provided also had someone else’s name on it. This is a privacy concern that should be addressed. During the injections I experienced some side effects including tenderness and soreness. The egg donor contact blew off these symptoms and told me they’re unrelated to the fertility drugs. I insisted that they started after the injections and she reluctantly set up an appointment for me to see a nurse. The nurse told me this was normal with fertility drugs (contradicting what the egg donor program told me). She told me this is what I signed up for and if I stop now I won’t get to help a family or get paid. Overall, it just seems like the egg donor program gets annoyed when you raise concerns and tries to gaslight you. Now, the actual donation. You essentially feel like you’re in an assembly line. The doctor and anesthesiologist were very nice, but the nurses seemed to be trained to be quite dismissive to keep the surgery line moving. They had me call my husband to pick me up the literal second I opened my eyes from anesthesia. I woke up from my surgery in extreme pain. I communicated this to the on staff nurses multiple times and amongst many rude comments the nurse said “Stand up and get dressed. I’m not going to pick you up”. My contract stated I would stay in recovery until I could eat and urinate. I could do neither and they essentially escorted me out of the recovery room before I could even speak full sentences from the pain I was in. On top of all this, the surgeries are scheduled for the weekend. There is no staff in the main office on the weekend (only the on-call nurse). I took over the counter medication as advised and had absolutely no relief. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t even speak at times. I called the “on call” nurse number and no one answered the phone or gave me a call back. When the staff arrived to the office the following week they refused to believe my level of pain and told me my symptoms are not typical. After research online my symptoms were very typical of hyper stimulation which they refused to recognize and treat due to the medications they put me on so they can get the most eggs possible. I told them my weight changed by over 10 lbs within one week of the surgery and after they read my chart and weighed me again they just scuffed and documented in my chart that I complained of weight gain instead of listing it as a finding they confirmed. My weight still hasn’t decreased from this procedure. Finally, I asked to speak to my doctor because my contract states I can and should seek medical treatment at a RMA facility if side effects arise. They did not put me in contact with the doctor who performed my surgery but rather an offsite doctor that’s in another location and his secretary kept rescheduling the appointment to which I eventually said forget it. I am at a loss of words about this experience and just hope no one else goes through this.

Jacklin Makabi

☆☆☆☆☆1.0· 7 months ago

Verified

I had the most horrible experience with the Dr there don’t go here and wast your money. I had a fibro they were not able to diagnosed it I only had one day 6 embryo the dr the day of transfer was not able to transfer or they heard me a lot I asked him to stop he didn’t. He said he can’t. Also he know my age and he now’s I was over weight from day one after I asked him why did I fail my transfer he said us weight and age Please don’t go here I had a horrible experience from the billing, nurses and Dr.

Christina Finnen

☆☆☆☆☆2.0· 7 months ago

Verified

Honestly, their IVF coordinators are really not educated in how this works or the rules/regulations that should be discussed. I’m an RN and my partner is a PA and we still had plenty of unanswered medical questions. We were given poorly written email instructions for medication admin. We were given the WRONG information on which partner’s name to purchase sperm under.. despite calling two weeks prior and asking this exact question. My partner needed to go in for an HSG procedure and we were not given the right directions on arrival time or to take ibuprofen before the procedure. It has been messy and not professionally coordinated. Our doctor has been great but otherwise I’m not loving it. I understand all medical businesses are busy especially on Long Island, but some more transparency and communication with this intimate process would be ideal. My advice: Proceed with caution & stay on top of your procedures because they might not.

Kelly Ugenti

☆☆☆☆☆2.0· 8 months ago

Verified

I went to RMA Melville for about 2.5 years starting in 2021. My doctor and all the staff were very kind. I ultimately switched after 4 failed rounds of IVF because of a misdiagnosis. I was told I had endometriosis and after testing saying I didn’t they still insisted. I got frustrated and got a second opinion. Turned out I had a blocked tube that may have been causing my miscarriages/preventing pregnancy. The test for the blocked tube (an HSG X-ray) for whatever reason wasn’t part of the conversation at RMA even though it wasn’t a rare of difficult test to get. Regardless of this one clinic if you’re having issues during your transfer cycle or are even trying naturally and keep miscarrying - I highly recommend looking into getting the HSG X-ray. I’ve heard it’s common that doctors at RMA just don’t look into it.