Verified
This patient has provided documentation of treatment at this clinic.
2021, Unsuccessful
Doctor [Dr. McLaughlin] was very nice and friendly, great bedside manner but we only saw her twice over the last ten months in treatment. Each doctor has many patients and you definitely just feel like a number. Everything gets filtered through the nurses and the doctor seems like this unapproachable person that you're not allowed to talk to. Nothing personal to the doctor it's just how this clinic is set up and how they are able to be so high volume...
It felt like a lot of basic things weren't explained to me...this clinic [Coastal Fertility Specialists] made it seem like a huge feat to sort it all out. They send you paper estimates that are very basic with things highlighted that apply to you and then an amount you would pay out of a pocket including insurance coverage. Nothing is really itemized it's all very glossed over. Their IVF prices seem to have a lot of random fees that insurance doesn't cover which is the ultimate reason we will look at other clinics future treatments
How was your experience with Jessica McLaughlin at Coastal Fertility Specialists?
Doctor was very nice and friendly, great bedside manner but we only saw her twice over the last ten months in treatment. Each doctor has many patients and you definitely just feel like a number. Everything gets filtered through the nurses and the doctor seems like this unapproachable person that you're not allowed to talk to. Nothing personal to the doctor it's just how this clinic is set up and how they are able to be so high volume.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Jessica McLaughlin at Coastal Fertility Specialists?
Do all your research ahead of time. Insurance, what potential IUI treatments might look like or what IVF options you have. It seems like only the very basic outline was explained to us initially and during our consult we didn't know what questions to ask because we just didn't know enough. Always ask why - why did you get that diagnosis, why is your doctor choosing that specific protocol, what are his or her hopes for your cycle by going with that protocol, etc.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Jessica McLaughlin at Coastal Fertility Specialists?
The doctor herself was very sweet and easy to talk to. But, we only saw her in person once and once for a video consult. Interactions with her with nothing but pleasant but I didn't expect to be doing something so big and never see the doctor. My very first IUI procedure itself was performed by a male doctor who I have never met before and was not warned ahead of time that my doctor was gone and another doctor would be doing the procedure. It made me feel very uneasy.
Describe the protocols Jessica McLaughlin used in your cycles at Coastal Fertility Specialists and their degree of success.
IUI #1 -- 2.5mg letrozole CD4-8. 37.5mg Gonal F starting CD 8 for 7 days with ovidril trigger. IUI 36hrs later Resulted in 1 dominant follicle triggered at 17mm.
IUI#2-- 2.5mg letrozole CD3-7. 37.5mg Gonal F starting CD5 for 7 days with ovidril trigger. IUI 12 hours later. Result in 2 follicles? Size at last ultrasound was 18mm and 14mm
IUI #3 -- gonal F only 50mg starting CD4 for 4 days then increased to 75mg for 4 days due to slow response. Ovidril trigger IUI 36hrs later. Last ultrasound follicle measured 16mm. This cycle was weird they had I guess measured the follicle wrong. I was told 13mm but they called later and said it was closer to 16mm surprise trigger tomorrow.
200mg Progesterone suppositories for 14 days 2 days post IUI each cycle just for funsies I guess. I was never told my progesterone was low.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Coastal Fertility Specialists. (Assigned nurse: Keshala Newton)
She was very nice so I hate to critque but it definitely seemed like maybe she was new. The nurse I was assigned to for my very first new patient appointment went on leave and my next appointments like three months later we're with this new nurse so maybe there was some disconnect there. It felt like a lot of basic things weren't explained to me. Like I didn't know I had the option to choose a pharmacy. I didn't know anything about insurance prior authorizations. I didn't know I could use the same gonal F pen if I had left over because the instructions say it's only good for 28 days. So I purchased a.new one every month because I was never told I could use the leftover. The nurses need to assume that we all *know nothing*. It might seem like common sense to them but it's not to us.
At one point before the Savannah office got in house labs they sent me to LabCorp with a requisition that had someone else's name and patient information on it.
So my nurse was very nice and pleasant to work with but maybe a little unorganized or overwhelmed with the work load or just not coming from a fertility clinic background maybe led me to feel not as confident in my care
Describe your experience with Coastal Fertility Specialists.
The clinic doesn't require a physicians referral so that was nice. And I appreciated the satellite offices so that I didn't have to drive 2.5hrs to Charleston all the time. The ability to run in house labs at the Savannah office was really a game changer. I'm also liked being able to do a lot of contact with my nurse via email because for much of my treatment journey I was working night shift I couldn't do phone calls.
I also appreciate that our doctor didn't try to sell us on any IVF extras that we didn't necessarily need like icsi or pgt
Weaknesses include pretty much everything with billing. It was never explained that Savannah visits are billed and Charleston visits are paid upfront. There were lots of issues with our insurance saying something was covered but us being billed something way different.
There absolutely should have been a required meeting with the financial coordinator before we began any treatment. We are lucky enough to have great fertility coverage but this clinic made it seem like a huge feat to sort it all out. They send you paper estimates that are very basic with things highlighted that apply to you and then an amount you would pay out of a pocket including insurance coverage. Nothing is really itemized it's all very glossed over. Their IVF prices seem to have a lot of random fees that insurance doesn't cover which is the ultimate reason we will look at other clinics future treatments.
Other weaknesses include feeling like "just a number" at the mount pleasant office, rushed and unemotional during main office IUIs and ultrasounds.
Results - they have an online portal for your lab results and things but it wasn't update past my baseline bloodwork. There was no record online of my follicle counts each cycle, my husbands sperm analysis records, etc. I wouldn't know any of those numbers if I didn't ask and write them down that day.
Finally, under no circumstances should a random male doctor I've never seen before introduce himself to me as I'm naked from the waste down on a table with my legs spread. If a different doctor or nurse, especially male when I've only seen females is going to perform a treatment I should have been notified ahead of time as a courtesy. That's a very sensitive and intimate procedure to be ambushed by someone new. I don't have a history of sexual assault but imagine the same scenario for someone who does. Really not ok. .
I'm very easy to please and actually not a Karen but this clinic just had so many red flags for me.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Jessica McLaughlin at Coastal Fertility Specialists.
For our IUIs - medications about $450 per cycle. $170 per ultrasound, I usually needed 2. Bloodwork about $200ish per cycle. Monitoring visits $170 each usually needed 2. IUI procedure itself $200 for the insemination, $200 for sperm prep, $300 for "management of ovulation". So about $2000 per cycle. Out of pocket until hit our deductible after number 2
Describe Jessica McLaughlin's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Coastal Fertility Specialists.
Coastals general policy seems to be one embryo at a time. But they have twin successes so I would assume it depends on age.
What specific things went wrong at Coastal Fertility Specialists?
- Failed to order appropriate test
- Failed to inform you of changes in protocol
- Provided conflicting information
- Failed to convey critical information