How was your experience with Scott Whitten at Nevada Center for Reproductive Medicine?
Dr. Whitten seemed knowledgeable, but did not ever give any indication that he was up to date on the latest research, other than drug trials they were completing in their clinic. As a patient, I was concerned looking at his experience as it seemed he had done the bare minimum education and experience necessary to become an RE, no research or publications to his name. He did not indicate that his handling of my case would be very "hands off." When I scheduled a plan of care with him, he knew very little about my case and when I voiced my concerns about how my case was mismanaged by the clinic, he defended practices I know to not be the norm for medical practices as I have been in the medical community and the majority of my family members are physicians with their own practices. He also wrote off the bad experience in that it "seemed like it was bringing up bad memories" for me of other experiences (when I had compared his clinic's mishandling of my case to when I had surgery at another major hospital the day they switched from paper charts to computer charts).
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Scott Whitten at Nevada Center for Reproductive Medicine?
I would encourage Reno residents to check out other options in the Sacramento area. It seems like a waste of time, but it is much more worth it in my opinion. However, if that is not an option for whatever reason, I would suggest making a couple of demands/requests. These were the demands I would have made had I stayed with that practice: 1. to always be on the doctor's schedule (not to be sent to the nurse practitioner for care or treatments. However, I had a friend do this due to a bad experience with the nurse practitioner at this clinic and when they checked in for their IUI, they were informed that no doctors were in the office that day, so they had to either "suck it up" and deal with her again or cancel the cycle all together. 2. ONE nurse as my primary nurse. It was ridiculous calling the nurses line and getting different nurses every time. Some had issues reading my chart correctly and NONE of them made notes of our conversations, which was an issue when I had complications each month and the doctor had no idea when reviewing my chart to make recommendations.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Scott Whitten at Nevada Center for Reproductive Medicine?
Everything felt rehearsed. Nothing felt like it was individualized to me as a patient.
Describe the protocols Scott Whitten used in your cycles at Nevada Center for Reproductive Medicine and their degree of success.
I completed 3 IUIs with Dr. Whitten's office (one with him, the rest with the nurse practitioner). Each was a clomid cycle. I cannot recall the dosage. We had been trying on our own for over a year, and my testing all came back normal, so there was no indication that we needed to do anything other than IUI. Each cycle was the same, no changes made.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Nevada Center for Reproductive Medicine.
My experience with this clinic was exponentially worse due to the nursing staff. I had an issue with luteal phase fevers. To be fair, no other doctor or clinic has been able to identify the cause or etiology of these. However, this clinic was the worst of all the clinics I saw in terms of their responsiveness. I called during my first cycle to report that I had a fever one week after the IUI. They replied that it wasn't a known issue and to take tylenol. Afterward, I realized that it was not an isolated incident and that it had been occuring every few months since we had started trying. When I reported this to the nurse practitioner at my next visit, she spent several minutes arguing with me that I didn't need to push for IVF, which I had actually not been doing and never mentioned IVF. I had only been pointing out that I felt like this was not a one-off like I thought and that I was concerned with going forward if I had a pattern of getting a fever at the exact time in which implantation should be happening. I had simply said I'd prefer to spend more money on testing on the front end rather than push through with treatments that will fail and had inquired if we had done all the testing that should be done. After several tries to get her to understand this, she had said that no, we had done all the testing (I found out later that we had not), and "if you're asking if there's a simple blood test, the answer is no." Two months and $2k later, when I presented my concerns to Dr. Whitten, he stated that it could be an issue with an antibody and "that's a simple blood test. We can pull that right here in the office." This fever issue became a sticking point and I called each month to tell them, as well as mentioning it at each office visit. It was never once noted in my chart, despite the fact that the last time I called about it, I demanded that it be noted in my chart in my message. The reply I got from that message was that we would be continuing with another cycle and that at some point, the doctor would want me to come in for an HSG. I had had one, at this clinic, and relayed this to the nurse, who replied "that's weird. Looking at your chart, it looks like you're a new patient." I canceled the cycle, which they expressed annoyance about and demanded an appointment with the doctor, who had no knowledge of the issue due to the fact they never took notes. They also drew my blood wrong at one point, billed for it on the wrong day, and tried to make me pay twice. During my second IUI, the nurse practitioner completed my calendar wrong and had me start clomid two days late.
Describe your experience with Nevada Center for Reproductive Medicine.
They may have made changes in the last few years, but I felt like it was disorganized. I had test results get lost, the woman in charge of billing was not friendly or helpful. There seemed to be a lot of turnover with the nursing staff.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Scott Whitten at Nevada Center for Reproductive Medicine.
We spent at least $1000 on testing, and at least $1000 on each IUI. None of it was covered under my insurance. I found out a year later when we went to another clinic that my insurance covered testing, just not with them. Dr. Whitten was listed on my insurance company website as being covered, but his front office denied this.
Describe Scott Whitten's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Nevada Center for Reproductive Medicine.
N/A. We only did IUI with this clinic.
What specific things went wrong at Nevada Center for Reproductive Medicine?
- Lost paperwork
- Failed to call with results
- Failed to order appropriate test
- Lost results
- Provided conflicting information
- Failed to convey critical information
- Canceled a cycle due to clinic error
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Nevada Center for Reproductive Medicine.
I believe I discussed it all in other areas of my review. They did the minimum necessary for testing, everything seemed scripted and not individualized. They lost test results and tried to charge me for ones that they drew wrong and had to send me to get drawn again (they were not authorized to draw the antibody panel and it had to be drawn at Labcorp, but they did it anyway, then charged me for the one they drew wrong after sending me to Labcorp to draw it again). I marked that I had a canceled cycle, but it was never really canceled, just pointless as I had been given the wrong calendar and told to start clomid two days late. I only had one follicle due to this error.