Daniel Potter

Strengths: intelligent, high success rates, skill Weakness: lack of compassion, lack of time, consistently late (staff members had even candidly shared this with me), poor response time, flat affect. Dr. Potter has opened a Infertility Clinic in China in the past year. As a result, I believe he is spread “way too thin”. Procedures and communication, that I believe should be done and or shared by an MD is instead done by his staff. Considering the amount of money I have paid to the clinic, I had higher expectations. For example, I had questions for Dr. Potter at one point and was told I could not communicate with him because he was in China. Another example, I had very sensitive PGS testing results, and his ultrasound tech delivered the results rather than him. Another time, I paid an additional $100 for a 15 minute meeting with him (in which he was an hour late for), regarding a treatment plan for which I had already paid $20k+ for. These instances made me feel that his primary interest was money making vs me as a patient.

He is an intelligent infertility specialist. However, do not expect that he will ever be on time, you will always wait at least an hour or more with every encounter with him. Do not expect hand-holding, or compassion. He is a bookish, matter-of-fact type. Communication in my opinion is poor.

With every encounter I had with Dr. Potter, he was at least 1+ hour late (consultation, surgeries, personal meetings). During our initial encounter (consultation) he failed to make eye contact, introduce himself, and the facility. We had selected him anyway, because he discussed a treatment plan that I felt was custom to my situation, and with that I was impressed. At one point, I intentionally called him out for being late, and I did not receive an apology, rather a poor excuse. Despite my dissatisfaction, I still proceeded with care as I told myself, I didn’t care about bedside manner as long as I had results. I also felt that I didn’t have a choice but to proceed as I had already made an out of pocket cash payment in full.

I had a uterine septum Dr. Potter corrected prior to any egg retrievals or potential transfers, with good outcome. He initiated a insulin resistant/metformin protocol, even though my GTT yielded normal results. This was in response to me yielding a low number of eggs during the first retrieval. It did not improve the outcome for my second retrieval.

Natalija was my care coordinator, but not a nurse. She was an ultrasound tech. She seemed skilled and knowledgeable in her role. However, I also felt she was “spread way too thin”. Her role overlapped with that of Dr. Potter. I think a lot of what should be his responsibility fell onto her lap, just simply because he didn’t have the time for it. I actually never worked with a nurse from the clinic (only surgery center) during my whole treatment there.

Communication is adequate. Better than Dr. Potter’s response time. They are compassionate and apologetic for Dr. Potter’s consistent tardiness. They are proficient in their roles. Sometimes communication is great and sometimes it is very poor. For example, one time I had a time sensitive question, and did not get a response until the next day. I felt that it should not have been my responsibility to follow up, but had I not, I would not have gotten the information I needed.

Approx $20k for 2 retrievals, transfer, labs and US $2k for hysteroscopy/septal repair Approx $8-10k for medications

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Dr. Potter is very passionate about what he does. He's compassionate yet direct when discussing treatment and outcomes. He runs quite a bit late at times but most doctors who perform procedures usually do.

I would probably advise to prepare for a longer wait time and to not expect Dr.Potter to be the warmest. Everything "infertility" entails waiting periods. We're all there to get pregnant and if the main focus is the skill and success rates of the doctor and practice, then waiting a little extra is worth it.

The HRC practice is very busy; it's hard not to feel like a number. The process is very transactional and initially it felt as if my treatment plan was the 'cookie cutter' for all new patients. Of course that was not the case and changes were made to my cycle as it progressed. There was great communication and I felt that I was in the best hands. I will also add that making me feel like a "human" is not my top priority, getting pregnant and becoming a mother is.

The cycle began with birth control pills for 3 weeks, Lupron 10 units for 10 days then Lupron 5 units for 10 days, 10 days of Gonal and 10 days of Menopur. The cycle was monitored with ultrasounds and blood work. The dosages of Gonal and Menopur were adjusted once 4 days before the egg retrieval. I was also instructed to take 2 hCG Ovidrel (trigger) shots about 35 hours prior to the retrieval. The day before the egg retrieval, I began my 5 day dosage of Doxycycline (terrible tasting pills). After the retrieval, I began estradiol (injection), progesterone suppositories, baby aspirin and continued with prenatal vitamins. I observed the recommended 72 hours of bedrest with light activity after. After realizing my hCG numbers weren't doubling, Dr. Potter quickly ordered more blood work. My progesterone was low and had me come into the office on the same day and disbursed enough progesterone for the next few days until my rx from the pharmacy arrived. My hCG numbers doubled after that.

The coordinators and surgical staff are the most incredible and caring team. They are as compassionate and they are knowledgable.

Strengths: The Surgical team, PA's and coordinators. HRC Newport Beach has a fascinating state of the art embryology lab, surgical center and office all in the same building. They have a very organized process in place to coordinate treatment. Lab and ultrasound appointments were always fast. Weaknesses: They are a very busy practice and might have some extended wait for doctor visits.

My insurance does not cover IVF. The IVF cycle including ICSI, PGD, anesthesia and labs: $15,900. Medications: approx $4,500 since a few were covered by insurance. The costs of IVF has increased as of the end of last year but I don't know what they are.

Dr. Potter briefly discussed this during our initial consultation and he appeared neutral. Since my cycle resulted in 1 normal embryo, it was not discussed in depth.

Dr. Potter seems to be very inquisitive and likes to exhaust all avenues to see what could be causing infertility. Before we met him, he has my wife run some tests and that’s how he found out she’s insulin resistant, which could be a contributing factor to our infertility issues. He is running more tests before we do the retrieval and transfer to make sure we are able to have the best embryos possible and the best envinroment when we do the transfer. He definitely does not have a lot of emotions, however, that does not bother me or my wife. One frustrating issue is that he is late. He was an hour late for our first meeting.

Don’t have the expectation to have your hand held through this process. However, he is very intelligent and the me that is more important.

Dr. Potter took the time to see what issues my wife and I may have. He ultimately found out that my wife insulin resistant and that could have contributed to poor egg quality and our miscarriage. He is very straightforward and lacks a long of emotion.

We haven’t started the procedures yet. We are waiting until I do the final testing.

Allyn Ann, our nurse practitioner, was beyond helpful. She was there for my wife when she had any questions and would take the time to explain the procedure and the results. She was extremely responsive. Natalija, our coordinator, is also very good. She is very responsive and explains the steps very well.

The clinic is very clean and in a good location. Overall, everyone is very friendly and the nurses were great with the u/s and drawing blood. The one weakness is the accounting department could be improved. There were a few misunderstandings about the fees and that was Frustrating.

I believe about $23,000.

We have not gotten to that point yet with Dr. Potter.

Doctor Potter did not have the most warm bedside manner, but he was honest and frank with us. He answered my questions and gave the in depth responses I desired. However, I did not feel like he remembered us even from the time frame between retrieval and transfer (6 days). He treated my husband and I both as important people involved in the decision process. We appreciated that as so many others in the infertility world seem to act as if only the woman matters. He was very confident and practical. He did not hide anything from us. My favorite thing he did was say "now take good care of that baby girl" as we were leaving after the transfer. It was so touching and made me feel like I was a mom, it makes me cry just thinking about it. We are planning on doing another cycle with him next year in hopes of getting a sibling for are dear daughter.

He may not have the warmest bedside manner, but he is good at his job and will listen to you and give you the information you need. I trust him implicitly because of these qualities.

The first nurse/coordinator I had, Natalija, did not give me the information I requested during our cycle- she told me I didn't need to know what my AF count or estradiol levels were because "it would stress me out." She said some nurses give that information, but she doesn't. Further along she wouldn't even acknowledge my questions for clarification on things and simply tell me to look at the materials provided (which I had ALREADY looked at and did not have the information I wanted). I later switched to a different nurse/coordinator, Natalie, and she gave me the in depth information I was seeking. She continues to treat me as a valued person even though I am currently not in treatment.

Natalija was nice and sympathetic, however, she did not want to give me details or detailed answers to my questions. Several email exchanges will show she didn't even always read what my questions were before answering. The 4th time that my interaction with her had me in tears and feeling incredibly angry I called and spoke to her supervisor and requested another nurse/coordinator. At that point they gave me Natalie. Natalie is amazing! She gave me all the information I desired, shows empathy and compassion. She even helped me transfer to a regular OB/GYN early because I could not afford all the ultrasounds as we have Kaiser HMO so nothing at HRC was covered. I still email her from time to time. Earlier this week I emailed her to ask about starting another cycle for a second baby and she answered it in minutes with the perfect amount of detail and did not mind my following up with questions to clarify. I'm keeping her forever!

Love that they have their own lab so they can do fresh transfers with PGS!!!

We spent at total of $17,000 including medications for ICSI, IVF, ultrasounds, PGS, and first 2 betas. ICSI was about $1200, anesthesia was $400, Meds we $3,400.

We did not have a conversation regarding this as two of our three embryos that made it were found to have chromosomal abnormalities leaving us with only one option.

When my husband and I first met with Dr. Potter we knew right then we wanted him to be the one to help us on our journey to starting a family which was going to involve IVF. We had read many great reviews on him and his accomplishments in the fertility world. He was proactive in coming up with a plan in the way injections and all that was needed for a successful embryo transfer. We started the process a month or so after meeting with him. When we were to meet with him a long wait time was usually involved. But he is a popular guy and we understand we were not the only ones in need of his care. My egg retrieval resulted in 5 mature eggs and only one developed into an embryo which we had transferred at 3 days. We were not able to do any genetic testing on the embryo as planned since there was just the one and there was a concern with it surviving the extra couple of days outside of me. The transfer resulted in a positive pregnancy test. We were elated! At the 6 week ultrasound when we were told we would hear the heartbeat there was no heartbeat to hear. At week 7 we saw the heartbeat but did not hear it. At week 8 we had an Ultrasound with Dr. Potter and the pregnancy was confirmed a loss at that time. The pregnancy had stopped growing for whatever reason. I had a D & C shortly there after. We were devastated but we believe Dr. Potter did everything he could in an effort for us to have a healthy viable pregnancy. It did not work out that way but we would go back to him to try again in the future.

Be patient and plan on a long wait time at visits.

Dr. Potter is great at what he does which is why so many people want to be under his treatment which can lead to him being very busy. So there were visits which led to long wait times and once you get your turn to meet with him it seemed rushed at times.

Dr. Potter was agressive in the way of medication and dosage instructed. I have few and not so great eggs so it was important to be able to get as many as possible during the egg retrieval.

Our care coordinator was amazing. She was there to answer any questions or concerns along the way and explained the treatment and process in a way we could understand. The nursing staff was helpful and showed concern and compassion.

The strength of this clinic would be they are orgnanized and work like a well oiled machine in the way of being efficent with communication and your care but a weakness would be the long wait times we endured just to see the doctor.

Back in 2014 the IVF procedure itself was just under $9000, medication around $6500 (keep in mind we stopped medication at 8 weeks so it would have been more) and there are other costs such as the testing. ultrasounds, egg retrieval, etc. We also had the D & C procedure. Our total out of pocket expense for the one IVF cycle was just under $19,000.

I only had one embryo to transfer so I am not certain what would have happened had there been 2 or more.

We would definitely use Dr. Potter again. He gets very good results. We felt like he understood what we wanted, and answered our questions. The one downside is that he is busy, and not good at staying prompt with his schedule. We would routinely wait an hour or more to see him.

He's very good, but have your questions prepared in advance of your appointment, and be prepared to wait to see him.

The entire staff at HRC Newport are very good and keep you informed. We really loved our coordinator and the nurses. Dr. Potter has a great attitude, and we felt like he cared about us, but you don't see him nearly as much as the other staff, who are the ones keeping in touch with you day to day.

We started with medicated IUIs, two with Clomid. The first cycle we did 2 IUIs, and the second we asked to do 1 to save on the donor vials. After those didn't work, we asked to change the medication, and used Gonal-f. This worked too well, and we ended up being given the option to cancel or to move to IVF. We did the IVF and retrieved 21, with 13 making it to day 5. Because of these good results, we were counseled to do PGS testing, and we ended with 9 normal embryos.

We really liked lots of the staff. Stephanie was our coordinator, and she really kept us sane. For the most part, emails and calls were answered promptly, and we didn't feel like we weren't cared about. They really made it feel like they were excited for us.

HRC is a pretty big operation, we went to the Newport office and liked it better than the Fullerton office where we first went. It's a new facility with the embryology lab in the same building, so there's no transfer or shipping, and they can do the PGS testing immediately so they can do fresh transfers.

Our insurance covered only 50% of certain tests, and no actual treatments. Our IUI cycles, with donor vials, were around $3,000 each, of which the vials were the largest cost. Our final IUI that was converted to IVF was around $9000, and then the PGS screening was $4,600. Then there was an $700 or $800 freeze/storage charge for the remaining embryos. After we were pregnant, then our insurance covered the post IVF ultrasounds. We did have a moderate case of OHSS, and they did a draining procedure, but this was also covered by insurance since it was a 'pregnancy complication.'

We had our initial consult with Dr. Potter and he suggested we do further testing. He found out that I’m insulin resistant and that could have been a contributing factor to my miscarriage. I really liked his thoughts that we will exhaust all tests before we do a transfer. He’s a little quirky but very intelligent and that’s all that matters to me.

He’s quirky but he is very thorough and intelligent.

We have only met Dr. Potter once for our initial consult and he was very to the point. I didn’t necessarily feel like a number or a human with him.

We haven’t started the specific treatment yet - we are getting ready to start soon.

Allyn Ann, my nurse practitioner with both doctors, is absolutely incredible. She was so helpful and compassionate through this very difficult process. I would recommend any of my friends to work with her. Natalija, my coordinator, is really good too. She is very responsive and compassionate.

The employees at the Newport Beach clinic are very nice and the facility is very clean. The Laguna Hills Office is a satellite office and is more quaint. The NEWPORT Beach Office is usually behind schedule and Dr. Potter runs really behind. Overall, the clinic is run very well.

We have not been told of the costs for Dr. Potter but I believe it’s the same as the previous doctor we were with - $20,000

We are not at that point yet.

Dr Potter is an amazing RE! He’s extremely intelligent and experienced. You may have to wait to see him (let’s be honest, you wait a lot), but he’s worth it. I’ve recommended several women to him all of which had successful ivf cycles.

Be patient. He’s late, a lot. But he’s worth it.

I always got answers to my questions. I got hugs when I needed and sympathy when I needed it.

We were MFI; no issues on the female side. We did a long Lupron protocol and 23 eggs were retrieved. 13 made it to day 5. We did PGS testing (I highly recommend it) and 5 came back normal.

My coordinator, Stephanie, is wonderful! She always answered my questions and was there when needed.

Up to date and gorgeous clinic. Highly trained and educated staff. Everyone is extremely kind and invested in you and the process. The sono rooms are nice as are the waiting rooms. Coffee is available. The surgery center is very high tech and up to date. You can also watch the embryologists woel begins the glass.

Our first cycle was covered by insurance so it was less than 10k. For our FET we were given a military/veteran discount of 50% off.

He will allow you to transfer up to two PGS or non PGS embryos.

He is really smart but it was just tough to see decifer if he was selling us or if he was telling us the truth about our situation. Again, the wait times were enormous which made us feel like just another patient.

Be prepared to wait!

The wait times were longer than any other doctor I had ever seen in my life. He was a bit all over the place when I saw him and it was tough to know when he was being truthful of my situation or just trying to sell me more treatments.

He put us on clomid, which resulted in a singleton birth. We found out later how we won the lottery with our healthy baby due to genetic issues.

Stephanie was responsive and very helpful.

The wait times were ridiculous with Potter and it was sad that they kept on finding excuses for him. I wish they would have been more honest about the wait times. There was one girl who was really poor at drawing blood; everytime I would get my blood drawn by her I would have some of the worst black and blue marks for days.

We paid our sessions with him, some blood work and the clomid. I don't remember exactly prices.

We didn't get this far with Potter.

Dr Potter was very aggressive with his treatment. He was very knowledgable. The only downside is that he is always always always late. Very late. 3 or more hours late.

Be prepared to wait.

I felt like a number because they were so busy and often messed up my information

Dr Potter always uses the maximum stims, for a short stim cycle. He does the most aggressive approach.

She did not return emails or phone calls