Shady Grove Fertility Richmond

Trust your gut. We felt like we weren't getting the best care, but there weren't any other fertility facilities in the area, and it would be expensive to travel somewhere else and start over. However we wasted more time and money staying at a place where we thought we were being looked after and receiving the best treatment available. We should have gone with our initial gut reaction and switched to a new clinic, particularly after viewing this clinic's IVF schedule. You have to sync your cycle to other women's cycles, which only happens 3-4 times per year, and be seen on the same days. Other clinics work with your body individually, and see you on days you need to be seen. Not shuffling you through the process like cattle.

I started out with this clinic when they were newer. They had just moved into their building and were still adjusting staff and physicians. I think the clinic is warm and welcoming. Our issues with the clinic revolved around insurance and billing. Things that had been covered before were no longer being covered. We were paying double the amount out of pocket vs. when we were with the previous dr/clinic at Carilion.

Very accessible. Worked well with my schedule and offered as much flexibility as can be in this process. They communicate well and have an easy to find location. Celia greets everyone with a smile, which makes such a difference.

I think the clinic was great overall. Very welcoming and friendly. Very easy to find. Front desk was very friendly upon coming to the office. I feel welcome at the office when I am seen. Easy to make an appointment with the front desk. Copay is due at the time of visit. The copay can not be billed.

Patient flow was good. We hardly had to wait once we arrived, even though we were a bit early. Staff explained what we would be doing every step of the way and were happy to answer questions that we had. They were responsive to our questions outside of the office as well, including helping to get lab work coordinated.

Due Dr. Evans-Hoeker being the only doctor at the time of my treatments I initially had to wait 3 months before I could be seen for a consultation. All of the initial testing had to be handled at 2 other facilities which was annoying to coordinate.

They treat each patient with care and it’s an individualized approach. Just call in advance if you going to be late because I do out of respect. Arrive on time and all the doctors can see you with the same approach. Personally I wish this can be my primary care hospital but I can’t because I am a veteran and already have a primary care at the VA hospital

The clinic is well equipped and clean. The rooms are comfortable and inviting. The building is easily accessible and situated in a nice part of the city. The parking lot has a lot of room. There is no MRI or tube test equipment in the building.

The clinic is amazing. Very welcoming every time I visit. It is a hard appointment to attend, but this clinic always make it so relaxing. The clinic has a very clean and warm look about it. They are very quick to call or email back!

This clinic was very welcoming and willing to help me through my infertility which was one of the hardest things I have dealt with emotionally and physically. This allowed me to have the chance to have a family. They are compassionate and were excited at my positive results.

Professional. Prompt. Organized. Wonderful success with Evans-Hoeker. 4 years of zero progression with Dr. Slackman. Clinic has improved tremendously. Give them another try with the new chief since Slackmans retirement.

Strengths: they’re a large practice with lots of resources. They’re able to do many different tests/procedures in house. They’re appointment availability is good and they have multiple locations. Weaknesses: because they’re so big at times you do feel like “just a number” unless you really advocate for yourself you get lost in the shuffle a little bit. Their office hours are odd sometimes requiring you to call an after hours or emergency number. Sometimes the answering service then makes you feel silly for calling when your issue “isn’t really an emergency”

It is a little slow and hard to get someone on the phone. However they do a great job managing all aspects of the process. I personally think their business office is amazing as they do all that they can to try and help you figure out the best way to pay for everything.

The facilities are very nice, the portal generally works fine, I really like the nurses and the front desk staff. They have all been doing a good job through COVID. I had some very bad experiences with the financial department but I think there have been some staffing changes that might have helped. They sent me an invoice to my email, it ended up in a non-priority folder, and then I was getting portal messages right before my IUI saying I couldn't have my IUI until I'd paid my invoice. One time I overpaid my balance because the desk staff couldn't figure out how much I owed (???) and then the financial folks refused to refund me, they said it would stay on my account for future treatments. But if they are owed money it's an emergency, even though they know where I live. I don't like loaning my money to large companies for care I haven't received yet. Overall, I find Shady Grove's approach to outsourcing information on clinical treatment to webinars, the volume of consents and acknowledgements I have to sign, the financial clearance to get treatment, the automated invoices, and the use of new portal and patient management systems to be cumbersome and it makes me feel like I'm just a cog in a wheel. It's annoying to have to respond to multiple electronic check ins before an appointment. I have felt like there's all of this homework that gets put on my plate to do and learn, and the focus of it generally is to limit their liability. There are reams of consents and online forms I have to fill out, and the purpose of it is usually to make sure I know there are no guarantees. Overall, the way I feel as a Shady Grove patient is that they are outsourcing as much of the patient information process as they can, their financial and legal systems have had a lot of work put into them to make sure they protect and advantage the company, but there has been very little effort to understand what the patient user experience is and to improve it.

I'm not sure if they grew too quickly, but the service became horrible when Shady Grove took over Virginia Fertility Associates. I no longer saw Dr. Shah at every appointment, and was disappointed when he was unable to do my egg retrieval. The doctors seemed to be overbooked at multiple locations, and not everyone has the same bedside manner. The office double charged us on several occasions, and our insurance didn't cover anything, so that left us stressed out and having to comb through every bill to make sure we weren't being overcharged. It just caused a lot of anxiety during an already stressful event. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of positive comments for the clinic, I just really liked Dr. Shah.

The clinic environment is pleasant and clean. They have a Keurig in the waiting room, and an encouragement board where you can write notes to others on the same journey. The lab is located on the floor below so it is easy to schedule the semen analysis. The only weakness is the hours of operation. There are no extended hours, and most of the procedure appointments are available before noon only. Scheduling was hard. It was difficult for us to navigate our work schedules to complete these appointments. It would have been so much easier even if they had some availability until 5 PM or 6.

The Virginia Fertility Associates merged with Shady Grove Fertility in Jan 2019. We have notices a huge change for the worst since the change. My phone calls I have been put on hold much more often and much longer. I waited over an hour and a half to be seen for an appointment that I had had scheduled for over a week. Thankfully I did not have to return to work afterwards or I would have had to leave and wait another cycle to return for this specific appointment. It has also taken 3-4 weeks to get a copy of our receipts to submit to FSA which prior to 2019 we could get in a week or two. With Shady Grove taking over, I now feel like a number and not a human in regards to the clinic. If we didn't have the rapport with Dr Steingold we would switch to VCU's fertility clinic.

The office is clean and welcoming and the number of locations are convenient. They decorate for the seasons and love to celebrate every milestone. There are many doctors in the office so you'll have no problem being assigned someone.