How was your experience with Jennifer Kulp Makarov at New Hope Fertility Center?
I trust Makarov's intellect and experience, but felt in the dark quite often about why things were being done the way they were. I liked knowing what was happening and would have to bother the nurses to explain everything.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Jennifer Kulp Makarov at New Hope Fertility Center?
Keep notes of questions you want answered at the visits. After monitoring she has to run elsewhere, and doesn't have time to discuss side effects, make predictions etc. On one hand, it's nice not to have a "performer" giving false assurances, on the other, it would be nice to hear some positive thoughts on the process.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Jennifer Kulp Makarov at New Hope Fertility Center?
She's on the 3rd floor, not the 4th which feels like a mall during busy times. People remembered me, and answered my emails.
Describe the protocols Jennifer Kulp Makarov used in your cycles at New Hope Fertility Center and their degree of success.
We did mini ivf both times. The second time around we used more GonalF per dose, so that we could get more follicles and more chances for successful embryos. The first 2 that made it to blastocysts were complex abnormal and not recommended for transfer.
Describe your experience with your nurse at New Hope Fertility Center. (Assigned nurse: So many people were wonderful)
Oksana was the main person I met with, but quite often emails would come from whoever was on staff, even if I never met them before. They would try to be detailed and when they would send emails missing information, I would have to ask for clarification, and they would send it. This part was frustrating, just send an email with everything a patient would want to know.
Describe your experience with New Hope Fertility Center.
Clean, beautiful, conveniently located, organized and modern. On-site lab. Cookies or banana bread with coffee and infused water for people waiting. I disliked how hard it was to consistently take my blood - multiple people fumbled this.Frequently caused pain that would last the rest of the day and into the next for the next draw. Only 2 people could consistently successfully find my veins. The 4th floor had an inexplicable air freshener that was so strong, it filled the elevators. It stung my eyes the first time I visited. The billing "cashier" is off putting and has a very disinterested and bored attitude, and is in the same room as the rest of the people waiting their turn to make their dreams come true. They need to change that. The wake up after egg retrieval was so harsh - the chair kept falling backwards and I was jolted awake from the anesthetic. Not cozy or warm and the person dealing with me seemed to hate her job and made me sign something when barely cognizant. No doctor or nurse to talk to you afterwards to help you feel any dignity. I left with blood on my hand left from the anesthesiologist and just feeling incised. Instead of heading home to relax and recuperate, I asked for a meeting with the client care coordinator and submitted my complaints. The good is that they do care about their client experience and want to grow and expand. So they seemed interested in how they could do better.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at New Hope Fertility Center.
The 3rd floor monitoring experience was nice. There was a screen for the 4th floor appointments with people's names coming up that were not in the room. Not sure why that was there. There was coffee, tea, water and snack. It was quiet and intimate and not as perfumed as the 4th floor. The upstairs monitoring is sometimes standing room only and a well oiled machine. But still can mean a wait for over an hour some days.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Jennifer Kulp Makarov at New Hope Fertility Center.
For the first egg retrieval we were covered by insurance. The second time, our plan had changed and it was out of network. 2750 for egg retrieval and fertilization (ICSI). 550 for anesthetic. 750 for NICS PGS testing (which includes free ICSI) and 1200 for freezing...some additional costs as well.
Describe Jennifer Kulp Makarov's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at New Hope Fertility Center.
We didn't get to that phase.
What specific things went wrong at New Hope Fertility Center?
- Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at New Hope Fertility Center.
I would have liked if the clinic provided more than one sit down consultation with the doctor. Before starting a second IVF, I would have liked that they met with me, discussed what they think went wrong, and how they were going to address it for the next one. They should have told me, after the first egg retrieval, that I should prepare immediately for another, and the reasons why. Instead I was presented papers to sign I could barely understand, while waking up from sedation, by a disgruntled employee who didn't want to deal with me, or my collapsing recovery chair, being told that I was to have another egg retrieval for the first time. I'd also would have liked to have had an opportunity to speak to my doctor with my pants on, at her desk, and not in the exam room, about my case, with her halfway out the door. They booked her solid and ultimately I stopped seeing her and didn't care. Next, the billing cashier ran my partners credit card for a charge without notifying us first. She also didn't allow me to get on the wait list for the final blood draw before the egg retrieval until I paid. I waited a half hour thinking I was soon to be called up. The charges were all explained and she told me what the charges would be. Then gave me the receipt, and told me she'd email the receipt too (never did). Then my partner gets a cc notification that another 550 was charged, without an email notifying us that this was happening or a receipt to our emails. Overall, the cashier is the most demoralizing of the experience. I have no problem paying for services rendered but to make me line up like I'm buying tacos at a food truck is just not respectful of our time or money in a room that's supposed to be about "hope". Also, being 42 I don't think the doctor advised me accurately from the start at how slim the chances were of having good enough eggs and embryos without abnormalities. She is skilled and intelligent, and great at her job, but could have let us know how small the chances were before we got into it. We could have opted for a more aggressive treatment cycle.