Dr. Rackow was excellent at getting to know me and my husband, and guiding us through the many options of fertility treatment. She always made sure we were getting care that was covered and pre-approved by our insurance...carefully explained each option...She kept us hopeful while managing our expectations of the chances of each treatment type working. I always felt like she was our biggest cheerleader. She called me directly with good and bad news and shared our disappointments and eventual triumph. I very highly recommend her.
Overall the nursing staff [at Columbia University] was fantastic. Seemed to love their jobs and were very caring and friendly with patients...Strengths - great office environment (clean, peaceful waiting room), zero wait time, friendly and competent staff, ease of doing zoom doctor calls (very nice for patients that are not close to the office), ease of billing (the billing admin person is very easy to reach and work through paperwork with) Weaknesses - location was tough for me because I'm in Brooklyn
How was your experience with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Dr. Rackow was excellent at getting to know me and my husband, and guiding us through the many options of fertility treatment. She always made sure we were getting care that was covered and pre-approved by our insurance (which we were very lucky to have), and carefully explained each option when there were decisions to make on which route to pursue next. She kept us hopeful while managing our expectations of the chances of each treatment type working. I always felt like she was our biggest cheerleader. She called me directly with good and bad news and shared our disappointments and eventual triumph. I very highly recommend her.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Ask her questions; she's great at backing up her treatment recommendations with stats and sound reasoning.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Dr. Rackow is easy to talk to. She always made me and my husband laugh and kept the conversation positive and professional at the same time. The nurses got to know me and were very kind and seemed to love their job.
Describe the protocols Beth Rackow used in your cycles at Columbia University and their degree of success.
We started with 3 rounds of IUI with chlomid which all failed, then went straight to IVF with PGS testing and ICSI which was successful on the first round.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Columbia University.
Overall the nursing staff was fantastic. Seemed to love their jobs and were very caring and friendly with patients. There was one nurse who communicated protocol who was not great at communicating. She tried to answer some tough questions that should have been directed to the doctor.
Describe your experience with Columbia University.
Strengths - great office environment (clean, peaceful waiting room), zero wait time, friendly and competent staff, ease of doing zoom doctor calls (very nice for patients that are not close to the office), ease of billing (the billing admin person is very easy to reach and work through paperwork with)
Weaknesses - location was tough for me because I'm in Brooklyn
Describe the costs associated with your care under Beth Rackow at Columbia University.
I was lucky enough to have insurance cover everything except for minor copays
Describe Beth Rackow's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Columbia University.
She was pro eSET and clearly laid out the reasons a multiples pregnancy raised heath risks for moms and babies
What specific things went wrong at Columbia University?
Canceled a cycle due to clinic error
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Columbia University.
I had an IUI cycle cancelled because the nurse thought she saw two cysts during an early scan. It turned out those cysts were eggs that were developing early. So I missed that cycle.
Dr. Rackow explained all of the testing and treatments beforehand and made every effort to do my ultrasounds and procedures if she was in the office on the days I was scheduled to come in. She personally called me on several occasions in the evenings to discuss results with me, tactfully give me good and not so good news, and help me figure out next steps based on my (our) personal goals and needs.
Weaknesses [at Columbia University]: Could be better at advising patients when to stop stimulation for egg retrievals if it isn't looking like many eggs will be retrieved. My first stimulation cycle was poor and they should have counseled me to stop it and adjusted the protocol before a 2nd try (they did adjust for the 2nd try). They informed me of what was happening, but having never undergone treatment before, I didn't understand how poorly I was responding. I really should have been counseled to stop.
How was your experience with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Dr. Rackow was very responsive throughout my treatments, she did not just stick with the status quo if something wasn't working for me (4 egg retrievals, 2 embryo transfers using my own eggs). She changed protocol when the first egg retrieval didn't yield many eggs (we added clomid which helped me immensely), and she changed the embryo transfer protocol to natural with a trigger shot when the first transfer didn't work. The natural cycle with trigger worked perfectly for me and I did not have to take those dreadful intramuscular progesterone shots, a win. She did my early pregnancy ultrasounds with this successful transfer and I was pleased that she could do them personally.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Dr. Rackow is part of an excellent, efficient team. Remember, you are entrusting your fertility care to a large, busy fertility clinic where the doctors have certain days they are in the office and are in charge of procedures. Other days they are assigned elsewhere. This means you may/may not get your main doctor for every procedure or check. If you want a 1 doctor experience, consider a small clinic.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Dr. Rackow explained all of the testing and treatments beforehand and made every effort to do my ultrasounds and procedures if she was in the office on the days I was scheduled to come in. She personally called me on several occasions in the evenings to discuss results with me, tactfully give me good and not so good news, and help me figure out next steps based on my (our) personal goals and needs.
Describe the protocols Beth Rackow used in your cycles at Columbia University and their degree of success.
For all egg retrievals I did high dose injectables, and for 3 out of 4 I also used clomid, which helped me release (?) significantly more eggs. In all, I ended up with 4 PGS-tested embryos, one did not make it with the first transfer, the second successfully implanted. I have 2 frozen embryos remaining for possible future use. For the first embryo transfer, we did a traditional medicated cycle that did not result in a positive test. For the second embryo transfer, we did a natural cycle with a trigger shot. This worked great for me.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Columbia University. (Assigned nurse: Melissa Podalak)
Melissa was very responsive to my questions and always gave me results and next steps the same day. She wrote detailed emails with instructions and also called me with more complicated/new directions and preparations for procedures.
Describe your experience with Columbia University.
Strengths: Teamwork, efficiency, one stop shop for (almost) everything. Clarity on results and next steps. Weaknesses: Could be better at advising patients when to stop stimulation for egg retrievals if it isn't looking like many eggs will be retrieved. My first stimulation cycle was poor and they should have counseled me to stop it and adjusted the protocol before a 2nd try (they did adjust for the 2nd try). They informed me of what was happening, but having never undergone treatment before, I didn't understand how poorly I was responding. I really should have been counseled to stop.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Beth Rackow at Columbia University.
All but the last egg retrieval and embryo transfer were covered by my insurance.
Describe Beth Rackow's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Columbia University.
I did two retrievals with Dr. Rackow. The first did not get the result we expected and when I was ready to try again, Dr. Rackow thoroughly discussed with me what had happened clinically and what our plan was moving forward. She wanted to get another AMH level and I was hesitant because I didn't really want to know if it was rapidly declining. When my AMH was actually better than it was previously, she called me to personally share this good result. I always felt like she was actively invested in my care.
Nurses [at Columbia] were both knowledgeable and compassionate. I think a big strength in this second cycle was that the nurses switched to primarily e-mail based communication instead of phone calls. This was much more efficient and also gives the opportunity for nervous patients like myself to confirm details by referring to the e-mail later...This clinic is EFFICIENT! But does so without losing the personal experience. Seeing consistent staff is really comforting, including front desk, phlebotomists, and sonographers. All staff were consistently warm and professional. Also they are VERY on top of patient identification and labeling. I was ALWAYS asked to confirm name and DOB at every step.
How was your experience with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Dr. Rackow is very compassionate and is willing to discuss all the details of treatment with her patients. While I didn't get to see her as much during my second cycle she still communicated with me during the process. She adjusted the approach after an initially disappointing first retrieval, and we had a much better result.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Do not be hesitant to ask any and all questions initially. She was very willing to answer them.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
I did two retrievals with Dr. Rackow. The first did not get the result we expected and when I was ready to try again, Dr. Rackow thoroughly discussed with me what had happened clinically and what our plan was moving forward. She wanted to get another AMH level and I was hesitant because I didn't really want to know if it was rapidly declining. When my AMH was actually better than it was previously, she called me to personally share this good result. I always felt like she was actively invested in my care.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Columbia University.
Nurses were both knowledgeable and compassionate. I think a big strength in this second cycle was that the nurses switched to primarily e-mail based communication instead of phone calls. This was much more efficient and also gives the opportunity for nervous patients like myself to confirm details by referring to the e-mail later.
Describe your experience with Columbia University.
This clinic is EFFICIENT! But does so without losing the personal experience. Seeing consistent staff is really comforting, including front desk, phlebotomists, and sonographers. All staff were consistently warm and professional. Also they are VERY on top of patient identification and labeling. I was ALWAYS asked to confirm name and DOB at every step.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Beth Rackow at Columbia University.
$6,300, not including anesthesia. Plus costs of meds.
I felt Dr Rackow took special attention to my case and would contact me personally to discuss important aspects of my treatment plan rather than her nurse in most cases...is extremely professional and has a very practical approach. She doesn’t sugar coat anything and can at times this can be viewed as a tad be rough around the edges but I actually liked it. It kept me grounded and I felt very informed about what to expect. During the time she saw me she was out of the office for personal reasons so my first two frozen transfers were done by other Drs in the office. My case was unique (as with most) but ultimately the Dr’s who handled my case identified what was the best course of treatment for a successful outcome.
Because this is affiliated with Columbia the billing dept is massive and at times very confusing if you speak to the general hospital staff. I would recommend only speaking to the fertility center billing department to avoid confusion...I really liked my nurse Tiffany. She was always responsive, sincere and communicated to me who her coverage was when she wasn’t in the office. The coordinator was not always consistent as I think they had turnover in this role quite a bit when I was there. The nurse team was better...In my scenario it was not recommended to do eSET due to my previous corrective surgeries.
How was your experience with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Dr Rackow is extremely professional and has a very practical approach. She doesn’t sugar coat anything and can at times this can be viewed as a tad be rough around the edges but I actually liked it. It kept me grounded and I felt very informed about what to expect. During the time she saw me she was out of the office for personal reasons so my first two frozen transfers were done by other Drs in the office. My case was unique (as with most) but ultimately the Dr’s who handled my case identified what was the best course of treatment for a successful outcome.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Ask tons of questions and don’t be a shamed to ask more than once.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
I felt Dr Rackow took special attention to my case and would contact me personally to discuss important aspects of my treatment plan rather than her nurse in most cases.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Columbia University. (Assigned nurse: Tiffany)
I really liked my nurse Tiffany. She was always responsive, sincere and communicated to me who her coverage was when she wasn’t in the office. The coordinator was not always consistent as I think they had turnover in this role quite a bit when I was there. The nurse team was better
Describe your experience with Columbia University.
Because this is affiliated with Columbia the billing dept is massive and at times very confusing if you speak to the general hospital staff. I would recommend only speaking to the fertility center billing department to avoid confusion.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at Columbia University.
Very easy and convenient from 7-9 am
Describe the costs associated with your care under Beth Rackow at Columbia University.
My insurance covered $20k for fertility which covered 1 egg retrieval and 1 FET. The meds alone cost $16 k. The remaining 2 cycles & related treatments I had to pay out of pocket which was an additional $20k.
Describe Beth Rackow's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Columbia University.
In my scenario it was not recommended to do eSET due to my previous corrective surgeries.
I don't know if Dr. Rackow is really familiar with many of her patients' cases/treatment progress. She was seldom available and I only managed to see her once...I feel that fertility treatment protocols are quite individualized and it is very hard for me, as a patient, to just see whomever is available that day and you can tell they just literally just flipped through your chart moments prior and are now going to decide the course of your treatment. It might be okay with some people, but since I was paying fully out of pocket I was not going to take that gamble....At my first appointment, Dr. Rackow was more than 2 hours late. She apparently had an emergency at the hospital...
When I decided to leave Columbia and get treated elsewhere. It took almost a month to get my chart transferred. It is very hard to speak with someone besides a receptionist. When you ask to speak with Billing or Records dept for example, you're transferred basically to a voicemail 99% of the time. For the records requests, the request is done via email and you do not receive any confirmation that the request was received. After numerous phone calls my records were finally sent.... but incomplete. Took another 2 phone calls to rectify. You have to insist to speak with someone, otherwise you just keep getting pushed to voicemail. Next issue is billing. Please see details below. For a clinic where I did not even stay to do treatment, I couldn't believe the issues that I had.
How was your experience with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
I don't know if Dr. Rackow is really familiar with many of her patients' cases/treatment progress. She was seldom available and I only managed to see her once. Again, I feel that fertility treatment protocols are quite individualized and it is very hard for me, as a patient, to just see whomever is available that day and you can tell they just literally just flipped through your chart moments prior and are now going to decide the course of your treatment. It might be okay with some people, but since I was paying fully out of pocket I was not going to take that gamble.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
At my first appointment, Dr. Rackow was more than 2 hours late. She apparently had an emergency at the hospital. I understand OB emergencies happen and as a health care provider myself, I know it happens. What I don't understand is the front desk staff, they knew she was running late when I checked in but never said anything. It was only when I overheard the front desk telling other patients to either wait or reschedule that I went up to the front desk myself to inquire, since I had waited nearly an hour by now. At this point they told me that I actually hadn't been waiting that long because they allow 45 minutes of the new patient appointment for us to fill out paperwork. I'd never heard of this and I've never needed 45 minutes to fill out new patient paperwork. They then basically said I could come back another day or reschedule. Dr. Rackow's schedule is not very frequent and I had already canceled my patients for the day to see her so I opted to wait, I got lunch at Whole Foods and then came back to the appointment. The entire time the front desk seemed to not care and never bothered to inform me that she was going to be in late.
I stayed to Columbia against my better judgement (I also trained there so I guess I felt some sense of loyalty), but after the cattle-call morning monitoring visits where I without fail would have to wait nearly an hour and a last minute appointment cancellation by Dr. Rackow, I left the clinic after finishing the infertility/RPL workup. I could not even get a follow up to discuss the results because Dr. Rackow is just never there. I had it with Dr. Nataki Douglas. I made the appointment for first thing in the morning to minimize wait time. At 20 minutes past my appointment time, I saw Dr. Douglas and some staff roll in the office with coffee and doughnuts, apparently they had gone out to get coffee and no one seemed to care that there were patients on the schedule.
That really solidified it for me. Since I was paying fully out of pocket, I felt I couldn't do treatment at Columbia because it just seemed like no one cared at the office. To me, fertility treatment is quite individualized and when I finally saw Dr. Douglas, I could tell she just read my chart right before the appointment and offered standard treatment options without taking my medical history into consideration.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Beth Rackow at Columbia University.
My insurance only covered up through diagnostic testing. I left after the diagnostic testing. Did not start treatment at Columbia. Little did I know I would be haunted by billing issues for another 9 months.
PLEASE CHECK YOUR BILLING STATEMENTS!! I will highlight 2 issues:
1.) On my first visit with Dr. Rackow, as you see from above, was delayed greatly, and Dr. Rackow spent approximately 30 minutes with me going over my medical history and then suggested some lab tests. I was then shuttled off to speak with a nurse who went over when I was supposed to come in for baseline bloodwork, since I was an IVF newbie. Imagine my surprise when I then got a bill from Columbia for $404 for a 60-minute office visit with Dr. Rackow. They billed under code 99205, look it up if you're curious but I guarantee you the criteria under which the clinic was allowed to bill under that code did NOT happen at my visit. Obviously I did not "clock in" or "clock out" the visit but honestly the least amount of time I spent at that office was the actual appointment with Dr. Rackow. When I called the office to inquire, the billing department said they would speak with her and get back to me. They actually did call me back, only to tell me that Dr. Rackow said she had spent a significant amount of time that I was definitely there for an hour. I'm not even sure if Dr. Rackow remembered me as a patient and I thought it was pretty impressive that she remembered how long she spent with me. The ironic thing is when I had another new patient consult with my current RE at another clinic, I was bracing myself for another $400 visit. My new RE saw me on time, ACTUALLY spent over an hour for the visit, and the office only billed my for a 45 minute visit, which was only $118 out of pocket for me.
2.) I was double billed by Columbia for lab tests. Columbia did the blood collection but the analysis gets sent to another lab, typically Enzo Labs. There was a lag by Enzo labs for some genetic tests since they had to verify some things with my insurance so I got the lab bill from Enzo almost 9 months (yea....) after the date of service. I cross referenced it with the bill from Columbia for the same date of service, which came shortly after the office visit to draw blood (sending out bills is one thing they are not slow about), and noticed that Columbia had billed for the blood collection, as well as for the analysis of 3 hormones, under the same code as Enzo Labs, who actually did the analysis. I could not believe I had to call Columbia... again. I thought I was done with them. Spoke with Sara in billing, who told me that she would call me back in a couple of days to let me know what the credit owed to me was. I never got a call back, and when I called after a week Sara no longer worked there! They then transferred to me Sofia Papaderos, the financial services manager, who actually was pretty good about emailing me back at first. However, I found it strange that the manager could not give me a timeline of when or how the credit would be processed (apparently the credit needs several approval signatures prior to issuance of a refund check, again, something you would expect the manager to know about). She then proceeded to tell me that an amended claim needed to be filed with the insurance prior to me getting the refund, but Columbia never sent this amended claim, and again, her exact words were "Not sure on the time frame unfortunately". Then I stopped hearing back from her all together! After over a month of back and forth, I finally somehow just received a refund check in the mail, without needing this so-called amended claim.
What specific things went wrong at Columbia University?
Lost paperwork
Failed to send your chart to another clinic
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Columbia University.
When I decided to leave Columbia and get treated elsewhere. It took almost a month to get my chart transferred. It is very hard to speak with someone besides a receptionist. When you ask to speak with Billing or Records dept for example, you're transferred basically to a voicemail 99% of the time. For the records requests, the request is done via email and you do not receive any confirmation that the request was received. After numerous phone calls my records were finally sent.... but incomplete. Took another 2 phone calls to rectify. You have to insist to speak with someone, otherwise you just keep getting pushed to voicemail.
Next issue is billing. Please see details below. For a clinic where I did not even stay to do treatment, I couldn't believe the issues that I had.
I think I spend more time reviewing Dr. Racow than she spend on my case. When I had a follow up appointment she was searching through her computer data for the information about my case as she was unprepared. Most of the visit she was staring at the computer instead of giving us advises or talking about our case. After unsuccessful treatments she wanted us to continue with the same treatment without adjusting anything. Getting questions answered while in a cycle was challenging. There was no email or phone for Dr. Rackow. I left only one message but it was not returned. It felt like you have no one to turn with your questions.
The wait time, very often, is excruciating. 4 hours for iui in not unusual. You are treated like a number. Noone will tell you why or how, they just draw your blood, or take you for a sonogram, however they will not explain what they see (on a sonogram screen). The billing department will NOT response to your calls. I paid the balance every time I was there and somehow they still managed to send some bills to "collection" even though I never got a bill for it. A year later there are some amounts disputed: after calling multiple time for an explanation or bills it is still unresolved. You cannot just talk to the billing department. You may only leave a message.
How was your experience with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
I think I spend more time reviewing Dr. Racow than she spend on my case. When I had a follow up appointment she was searching through her computer data for the information about my case as she was unprepared.
Most of the visit she was staring at the computer instead of giving us advises or talking about our case. After unsuccessful treatments she wanted us to continue with the same treatment without adjusting anything.
Getting questions answered while in a cycle was challenging. There was no email or phone for Dr. Rackow. I left only one message but it was not returned. It felt like you have no one to turn with your questions.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Have as many questions ready as possible. Write them down and go through them. Don't get rushed answers as satisfactory.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
The visits were very rushed. Any questions I had Dr. Rackow explained fully, however she did not volunteer to give me any information by herself. I learned more about my procedures from the internet than from my own doctor.
It takes a month to schedule an appointment (which doesn't last more than 10 minutes) because she is in the office only once a week for half the day.
You cannot contact your doctor with questions. Instead, you need to call the office and talk to the nurse. If you have a question for the doctor then the nurse takes the question and it is supposed to be answered in 24 to 48 hours. However when I left a message with the nurse - my call was never returned. If you need immediate response then I think there is a fee for that.
Doctor never followed up on the results. Dr. Rackow"prescribed" 3 cycles and then asked me to return for "follow up" visit which also took less than 10 minutes where she suggested I do another 3 cycles without changing the protocol.
Describe the protocols Beth Rackow used in your cycles at Columbia University and their degree of success.
Treatment strategies: 50mm clomid, iui, check for pregnancy.
result: negative
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Columbia University.
Nurses and staff do what they are supposed to but without explaining why.
Waiting time on average was 2 to 3 hours. But sometimes 4 hours.
For one nurse it took 10 minutes to draw blood. She was not schooled at assembling the equipment so she wasted 6 needles before she got it right. I don't believe she had a proper schooling. Other nurses were just ok.
Describe your experience with Columbia University.
The wait time, very often, is excruciating. 4 hours for iui in not unusual.
You are treated like a number. Noone will tell you why or how, they just draw your blood, or take you for a sonogram, however they will not explain what they see (on a sonogram screen).
The billing department will NOT response to your calls. I paid the balance every time I was there and somehow they still managed to send some bills to "collection" even though I never got a bill for it. A year later there are some amounts disputed: after calling multiple time for an explanation or bills it is still unresolved.
You cannot just talk to the billing department. You may only leave a message.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Beth Rackow at Columbia University.
$4,600 per IUI cycle
Describe Beth Rackow's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Columbia University.
N/A
What specific things went wrong at Columbia University?
Failed to call with results
Failed to send your chart to another clinic
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Columbia University.
It took the clinic couple of weeks to send my husband's results to our new clinic. Sever emails about that were unanswered. Only after threatening to file a complaint with the NYS the clinic send it the same day.
Not once did she [Dr Rackow] know the history of our records. The last consult was the last straw for us. She had absolutely no idea about our history and spent the entire time searching for her records on her computer in fits and starts, and ended up spending hardly any time discussing our case history or customizing a plan for us....Avoid CWRC at all costs. The only reason you go there, and i repeat, the only reason you go to CWRC is if your financial situation requires it (they are not as expensive and accept more insurance plans). If you do have to go to CWRC, avoid Dr. Rackow at all costs. She also btw, only visits CWRC in mid-town once a week for half a day - which means getting time with her for a consult is next to impossible.
[Columbia's] Strengths - they are not as expensive, accept more insurances (this wasnt an issue for us but we have heard this from others) Weaknesses - they are a research institution with zero incentives or motivation to get high success rates with SART. And this will show in every aspect of their operation - from the doctor's knowledge of personal history, to the way billing works to the time it takes for them to return a phone call even for pressing issues (BTW, they dont know the concept of email based communication).
How was your experience with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Another cog in the CWRC machine with zero personal knowledge of our case or any real motivation to pull off a successful pregnancy.
To give an idea for how bad it was - here is our last visit's description (at which time we decided we are never setting foot again in CWRC)
- we had completed 6 IUI cycles by then, with no adjustments made to our medication or plan (we constantly got only one follicle with each clomid cycle)
- We setup time with her to figure out if we should move on to IUI.
- She spent a good 15 minutes telling us curtly that we should have caught a billing/insurance screw-up that had happened with a blood test earlier in the day (nurse made a mistake with some code, we didn't catch it).
- She then proceeded to spend another 10 minutes searching cluelessly through our records and complaining that someone had not organized the records properly.
- when we asked for her opinion on whether we should do ICSI and whether we should do PGS with our IVF cycle and she point blank refused to answer, saying it was a decision we should make (we only asked for her expert opinion)
- the consult ended at that and we didnt step foot in CWRC after.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Avoid CWRC at all costs. The only reason you go there, and i repeat, the only reason you go to CWRC is if your financial situation requires it (they are not as expensive and accept more insurance plans).
If you do have to go to CWRC, avoid Dr. Rackow at all costs. She also btw, only visits CWRC in mid-town once a week for half a day - which means getting time with her for a consult is next to impossible.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Not once did she know the history of our records. The last consult was the last straw for us. She had absolutely no idea about our history and spent the entire time searching for her records on her computer in fits and starts, and ended up spending hardly any time discussing our case history or customizing a plan for us.
Describe the protocols Beth Rackow used in your cycles at Columbia University and their degree of success.
Did 6 IUI cycles with Dr. Rackow and was on clomid (though they switched to a different one for a few cycles because of vision side effects).
Always got only one mature follicle - never more than one - but she made no changes to the plan.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Columbia University.
Its a faceless factory, so there isnt a concept of a specific nurse you work with.
Describe your experience with Columbia University.
Strengths - they are not as expensive, accept more insurances (this wasnt an issue for us but we have heard this from others)
Weaknesses - they are a research institution with zero incentives or motivation to get high success rates with SART. And this will show in every aspect of their operation - from the doctor's knowledge of personal history, to the way billing works to the time it takes for them to return a phone call even for pressing issues (BTW, they dont know the concept of email based communication).
Describe the costs associated with your care under Beth Rackow at Columbia University.
We didnt have any problems with billing
What specific things went wrong at Columbia University?
Failed to call with results
Provided conflicting information
Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Columbia University.
She's very nice. However 1.) every failure resulted in being presented statistical charts, not problem solving 2.) after being shown said charts, we were asked what we wanted to do next. We expected expertise and assertive care.
They screwed up constantly, particularly when it came to prescriptions and drug ordering. They cost us several thousand dollars out of pocket unnecessarily.
How was your experience with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
We did 2 IVFs and several IUIs with Dr. Rackow. One IVF was a complete failure, the other resulted in two frozen embryos that are still at CWRC. Shortly after leaving Dr. Rackow and CWRC, we successfully conceived. The issue with CWRC is that they don't test for everything, and don't communicate what they don't test for. In fact, the issues that were inhibiting our fertility were easily solvable, but during our time with Dr. Rackow and the CWRC, every failure was addressed with statistical charts (eg. You are at "X" age, therefore your IVF success % is "Y"). We were told they had tested for everything. They hadn't. We wasted three years and tens of thousands of dollars at this practice. Ultimately, CWRC are proceduralists.. They are not diagnosticians. When we returned to CWRC after having our child, we recapped the ultimate diagnosis of our fertility challenge and the response we got (from a different doctor there) was simply "We don't test for that". Well, thanks for telling us you had tested for everything.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
If you get a diagnosis, great. If you get a shoulder shrug and are reminded of the statistical charts, leave. Also... Look at the fertility success statistics at Cornell and NYU (neither of which we went to for our success). They are superior.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
She's very nice. However 1.) every failure resulted in being presented statistical charts, not problem solving 2.) after being shown said charts, we were asked what we wanted to do next. We expected expertise and assertive care.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Columbia University.
They screwed up constantly, particularly when it came to prescriptions and drug ordering. They cost us several thousand dollars out of pocket unnecessarily.
What specific things went wrong at Columbia University?
Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
Lost paperwork
Failed to send your chart to another clinic
Provided conflicting information
Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Columbia University.
She [Dr. Rackow] was very upfront about what might and might not work best. She recognized that I was laser focused about this whole process and was okay with that.
I felt that most doctors [at Columbia] involved treated me like a person and not like a number, despite the fact they saw many, many patients a day. They [the nurses] were kind and kept things upbeat, which was good since they were taking my blood seemingly every other minute.
How was your experience with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Dr. Rackow is thorough, honest, focused, empathic, matter of fact and to the point but considerate. She listened to all of my concerns, didn't dismiss me, explained things very well to my husband and I, and allowed us to start the process with the least invasive procedure. (Which, knowing what I know now, would skip if I had to do it over.) She was responsive to my needs and was encouraging. She was very upfront about what might and might not work best. She recognized that I was laser focused about this whole process and was okay with that. I grew to love her so much that I was sad to have to leave her for a regular OB when I became pregnant after IVF. But I was ecstatic that I was pregnant!
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
She is not warm and fuzzy but is kind and considerate in her own way.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
I felt that most doctors involved treated me like a person and not like a number, despite the fact they saw many, many patients a day. That said, I am not someone who needs coddling or a warm fuzzy person holding my hand through everything. I'm all business.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Columbia University.
They were kind and kept things upbeat, which was good since they were taking my blood seemingly every other minute.
Dr. Rackow was a great listener, she explained things very clearly...In the end didn't need to go through with IVF as her recommendations for supplements worked.
...The other [Columbia] doctors were very kind and willing to work with me to make sure I was comfortable. Some had warmer bedside manners than others but all were great.
How was your experience with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
She was fantastic. Super smart, compassionate. Was only person who mentioned that part of my fertility problem may be related to a genetic defect - and recommended testing. She was right! Knowledgable about acupuncture and efficacy of supplements. In the end didn't need to go through with IVF as her recommendations for supplements worked. Highly recommend.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
Trust that she's very smart and do not be afraid to ask lots of questions. No question is too small or insignificant.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Beth Rackow at Columbia University?
She definitely got to know us well, and she and the other doctors were very kind and willing to work with me to make sure I was comfortable. Some had warmer bedside manners than others but all were great. Beth was a great listener, she explained things very clearly and seemed to judge pretty well how much detail we wanted. We found her easy to talk to and nonjudgmental.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at Columbia University.
This clinic had a clear plan they followed for making sure you had instructions and understood your next steps.
