How was your experience with Jeremy Groll at SpringCreek Fertility?
Dr. Groll himself is very knowledgeable. He is up-to-date on all of the recent studies and medical advancements in the fertility industry. It would get overwhelming when he would explain things and try to help us understand. He was always very quiet and reserved when speaking as if to "get the job done". He had sympathy, but also was very much a "let's move on" type of person. I had two chemical pregnancies, so he was quick to move us on. After my miscarriages, he knew we had to miscarry and let my body heal, but it was very much a "prices go up at the beginning of the year" or "I still think we have a chance of this working." Kind of felt rushed and pressured at some points.
The nursing staff was always helpful and nice. They would give hugs and encouraging words. I liked the touch of giving out the bracelets at each stage of IVF. A nice little touch.
Although, towards the end, after 4 rounds (1 fresh IVF cycle and 3 frozen) I felt like Dr. Groll was grasping at straws trying to get us answers and was trying to justify to himself why we couldn't stay pregnant. More, of a "this girl has been through 4 rounds and it's still not working, what am I doing wrong?" kind of feel.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Jeremy Groll at SpringCreek Fertility?
Don't be afraid to advocate for yourself. If you do not feel that the route he is suggesting is right for you, don't be afraid to speak up. Also, if he does not change a protocol or you have a side effect, etc. Contact the office and tell them. Remember...this is YOUR treatment, not theirs, you get to decide what happens.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Jeremy Groll at SpringCreek Fertility?
The office staff was always very nice and welcoming from the start. It took us a while to get the money together for IVF so they would call us every once in a while during that time to check in on us and make sure we were ok and asked if there was anything else they could do for us while we waited. They always worked with us to make sure we got the best prices and answers we could.
Describe the protocols Jeremy Groll used in your cycles at SpringCreek Fertility and their degree of success.
For my fresh IVF cycle I was on: Follistim/ Gonal F; Menopur; Ganirelix; and Ovidrel for trigger. Then right before transfer I had Progesterone-in-oil and Prometrium. As I went on to frozen cycles I had Methylfolate added, Prednisone, and Lovenox/Baby Aspirin. The Methylfolate was due to MTHFR factor; Predisone was for natural killer cell agent; and Lovenox and baby aspirin were for a blood clotting disorder. PIO and Prometrium never changed. I also had Medrol for about 4 days for each transfer.
Describe your experience with SpringCreek Fertility.
Strength: Great nursing staff. Debbie was always super sweet to us. Kris was our IVF nurse and she always answered calls and emails for me, even after hours. I also was able to contact the medical assistant, Jordan, when Dr. Groll was not available. So that was helpful. I also had good communication with the financial ladies when talking about pricing. There were times though that I felt like I was pressured to move on with a cycle. Let's say that the FET would cost $3000 they'd quote me that on July 10th and say that in order to do it in August, I had to pay it by July 20th. Ten days is not very long to get together that amount of money. At times I felt as if they just wanted the money/patients. Working with patients in which a good majority of them do not have insurance coverage, you have to be mindful of this and remember that thousands of dollars is not easy for people to just scrounge together.
Also, when we signed all the paperwork for IVF we signed a form for cryopreservation of our embryos stating it'd be $1000 for the first year then $300 each additional year. We paid the first $1000, but when the next year came around, I received a bill for $540 to be paid in 5 weeks. Not very much warning. After speaking with the financial/billing lady, she said that they switched providers and tried to alert the patients as early as they could. Problem # 1 is that I signed an agreement that it'd be $300, so that's not cool. Problem #2 is that they wanted me to get $540 together as if that's not a big deal. If they had given me a grace period and allowed a few more weeks I could have pulled from a couple paychecks to get it together all in one lump sum. They did not so I now have $45 taken out of my account every month to cover this.
Another issue is your medical records. They are charging you a ridiculous amount for your medical records. If you need them for insurance or your primary doc or whatever, be prepared to pay a ridiculous amount. It's not just a printing or mailing fee...but a legit fee. Their reasoning is that 1. all practices are going to this...which is complete BS and not true. 2. due to the amount of time it takes to compile the records, that is why we have to pay. So basically you are paying for an office personnel to do their job. Electronic records..records that are already stored in the computer so they need to either print them off or drag them to a flash drive to send to you. So be prepared for yet ANOTHER bill from them if you ever want your records. OR fight them like I did and tell them how ridiculous this policy is and that they've already taken nearly $20,000 of my money...what do they need $75 more for??
Describe the costs associated with your care under Jeremy Groll at SpringCreek Fertility.
IVF was roughly $8000 + another $2000 for meds so around $10,000 total. Each FET ranged from $3000-$3500 + meds. I'd say grand total with procedures, meds, bloodwork, etc, we're looking at roughly $20,000.
Describe Jeremy Groll's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at SpringCreek Fertility.
He let us decide each time if we wanted to transfer one or two embryos. He would tell us the pros and cons of each but ultimately left it up to us. We had a twin miscarriage so after that, he advised us to just do one, however, he was not against us doing two. We elected to do one that round.
What specific things went wrong at SpringCreek Fertility?
- Provided conflicting information
- Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at SpringCreek Fertility.
Just the medical records policy is complete crap, so watch out for that.
If you call the office be prepared to talk to a nurse, which is fine, but if you want to ask the doctor specifically, ask for him.
Read the fine print on all paperwork so you don't have any hidden fees (i.e. cryo fees and medical records release fees).