Lana Lipkin

I was at New Hope for 2 months before switching doctors (from Lipkin to Dr Olcha…did a review for him too). I had a consultation with her and she seemed cold, robotic, very factual which is fine, answering questions with a smirk (ego type of laugh)…I felt like I was just one more for her. It was our 1st meeting & not even 5 minutes in she said “You know….you don’t have to take so many notes…we are the experts, you need to trust”. I explained that I do that anywhere for future reference in case I forget. When asking about retrieval & if she would do all my procedures she laughed and said “no there is a group of doctors here & depends who is assigned for it that day. But don’t worry (insert laugh)…’it’s a very easy procedure – anyone can do it” (thought it was very unprofessional & didn’t like fact she thought this was a joke. For someone who’s never done this, it’s a pretty big deal specially the 1st time. She did not give me that comfort security feeling at all. On our 2nd meeting (which I scheduled since after 2 months I hadn’t seen her yet since our original consultation), I had a list of questions. I felt rushed & was trying to get as much in since I could feel her being annoyed. One of my questions was “why where we doing “mini ivf vs. regular ivf?”. Her response was “because we cant create something out of nothing”…after this I froze, felt shocked & realized no point in asking more questions. I felt like crying. I realized then that she did not care for me. She did not believe she could get me pregnant. I was just one more…one more body. I asked what was my ovarian reserve & she said it should be 4-5 follicles per ovary so yours is low even for your age”. I asked my new doctor the same question a month later & he said it was consistent with my age (2-3 total). Our 2nd meeting was also when I found out by a nurse I was pregnant but when talking to Dr Lipkin 5 mins later as she explained “well you are ..except you are not”…she had no compassion when telling me, just told me I had a chemical pregnancy and happens to a lot of women. I left the clinic and had to google what a chemical pregnancy was since still wasn’t very clear. I had a trigger shot & came next day to confirm retrieval. It turned out I had ovulated so missed the chance. The doctor that came in to explain is the one who became my new doctor (Dr Olcha – did review for him here too). She never called me or emailed me. After 2-3 weeks post that event & not hearing from her plus all reasons above, I decided to switch to Dr Olcha & Im soooooo glad I did. The experience has been night & day. Anytime I talked to friends who had gone thru this process they would ask me questions & I could not answer. I had lists of questions for my doctor yet felt like I was just one more, going for blood work & sonogram but no real doctor connection, a doc looking out for me & really watching/customizing my case. The clinic is super efficient but her bedside manners are not the best. A friend of mine who had her wife pregnant there said the same thing…bedside manners are lacking. Dr Lipkin – THUMBS DOWN big time. Big disappointment, big waste of time. Dr Olcha (separate review) – THE BEST! So happy I made the switch. They are night & day & he is pure LIGHT

She has no bedside manners, not compassionate. if you care to have someone who has your best interests, actually cares, is compassionate - I would NOT go with her. Advice - schedule consultations once a month or whenever you need them since she wont....she relies on nurses to send email with recommendations but not much personal touch/interaction from her side.

Like a # with her. I had a consultation with her and she seemed cold, robotic, very factual which is fine, answering questions with a smirk (ego type of laugh)…I felt like I was just one more for her. She is not tactful, her answers are short & she wont tell you anything unless you ask. She gives you the minimum (information wise). I When asking about retrieval & if she would do all my procedures she laughed and said “no there is a group of doctors here & depends who is assigned for it that day. But don’t worry (insert laugh)…’it’s a very easy procedure – anyone can do it really” (thought it was very unprofessional & didn’t like fact she thought this was a joke. For someone who’s never done this, it’s a pretty big deal specially the 1st time. She did not give me that comfort security feeling at all. On my consultations with her - I felt rushed & was trying to get as much in since I could feel her being annoyed. It was very clear to me every time I was just a body to her...didnt get the feeling a)she was doing her best for me or b)even believed I could get pregnant.

Nursing staff doesnt have the best bedside manners. Emails are detailed and easy to follow (its a clinic thing not linked to the doctors per se) but did notice Dr Olcha has a separate nurse support group (smaller group so more hands on vs all the nurses for the full clinic)

Strength - very organized, efficient, great billing department, great front desk staff, great hours/opened weekends, Weakness - nurses bedside manners are lacking. Advice - do your research on the doctors & maybe have a consultation with a few to figure out best match for you. I stayed too long with Dr Lipkin. I've understood more & been taken care of more by Dr Olcha than I did with Lipkin.

trigger shot $100 never got to retrieval since I ovulated. before my next cycle/retrieval I switched to Dr Olcha thank God!

Dr. Lipkin is no nonsense. She’s not the most “touchy feely” but is compassionate nonetheless. I feel like I’m in very competent hands with her. She is patient and answers all my questions. She has also been good about not pushing us to do a retrieval during cycles that didn’t have many follicles. She doesn’t seem stuck on the clinic’s numbers but instead is focused on helping us get the outcome we want.

You need to advocate for yourself at New Hope in general. If you have questions or want to meet with Dr. Lipkin, ask. It was not offered as often as I would prefer but whenever I requested to meet, I was able to do so fairly quickly.

Dr. Lipkin is personable and takes the time to answer all my questions clearly and thoroughly each time I meet with her.

My first cycle and my current cycle have both been with a mini-IVF (low dose) protocol. This cycle, in response to issues from the last, Dr. Lipkin made several changes including lowering the dose of the injection and (planning to) leave a full 36 hours between trigger and retrieval instead of the 34 hours that was done last time.

The nurses have been great about walking me through the IVF process and helping answer everything from the “is this normal?” vein of questions to helping me schedule travel around upcoming IVF steps. While it can be difficult to get hold of nurses on the phone at times, they are great with email response and also in person. We have had several nurses really go above and beyond to help explain things and take time with us during this process

New Hope has very experienced, smart doctors and their mini-IVF protocol, which I believe they pioneered there, is a great fit for our needs. It can sometimes feel like a bit of an infertility factory (ie impersonal, crowded waiting room, conveyor belt feeling when you go in for monitoring). That said, they are a well oiled machine and pretty much everyone there has been friendly with us, and occasionally gone above and beyond to bring the human touch to our experience. We are generally pleased so far with our experience there.

Generally, monitoring is smooth and runs like a well oiled machine. Occasionally, it will take a bit longer on busy mornings. I have noticed a range of thoroughness among the ultrasound technicians. Several times the people didn’t seem to look very carefully or thoroughly for follicles, but others are more methodical.

We are currently under insurance (2 cycles) so it has just been co-pays plus about $500 for mini IVF medications.

I have not made it to transfer yet, but New Hope in general and Dr. Lipkin specifically are highly supportive of a single embryo transfer as the default as far as I can tell.

She was very compassionate. I trusted that she was able to review past treatment files and understood why I might have changed facilities. I trusted the facility as it was referred to me by a friend but I also appreciated that they worked with woman over forty.

Be completely open and honest about what you want and what her expectation for you are based on how you present.

She explained each step in laymen terms. She was able to repeat things so that i completely understood them and was very empathetic to my feelings.

She wanted to go about with a mini IVF cycle- she told me that she preferred to get less eggs upon retrieval but with a better chance to get healthier eggs.

I had a very hard time finding my veins. they were excellent and patient.

The clinic is very large- lots of available times and you would never need to wait longer then 10-15 minutes. I really don't have any weaknesses other than they were not able to retrieve a healthy embryo as of yet :(

They accepted my insurance