How was your experience with Lawrence Grunfeld at RMA of New York?
He is clearly intelligent and experienced, but he is a terrible listener and does not customize your treatment. I only met him twice, even though I had at least a dozen appointments under his care. He was not present for any of my actual treatments- they were done by other doctors. When our treatments (IUI) were unsuccessful, nothing was changed or investigated. We were pushed hard towards IVF, and he did not feel we needed to do any sort of investigation into our undiagnosed infertility.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Lawrence Grunfeld at RMA of New York?
Do your homework, interrupt HIM- don't let him talk over you. You must establish dominance or you will never be heard. He will downplay your concerns about medication side effects. He talks extremely quickly, gives you no time to process, and you'll be lucky if you even get to finish a sentence with him.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Lawrence Grunfeld at RMA of New York?
A good friend referred me to Dr. Grunfeld after she successfully became pregnant after IUI. We only met him twice for consultations- meetings were rushed, he constantly interrupted our questions and concerns, made me feel very uneasy about the process because we were not listened to. I felt as if he has a one-size-fits-all approach, and he wasn't even there for my IUIs- other doctors always performed them. There was no communication or interaction with him outside of brief consultations. His nurses were also clearly dealing with dozens of patients constantly- they had no idea who I was ever, and sometimes this lack of personal connection led them to making some well-meaning but insensitive comments during appointments. I had a much better, more personal experience at RMA Brooklyn, where I have switched to after our 3 IUIs failed. We are now with Dr. Lekovich and about to start IVF... She took her time in consult to listen and answer all of our questions and we feel much more secure in her hands. RMA Eastside has a faceless factory atmosphere, you must advocate for yourself constantly, make sure they are billing you correctly (they once gave me a bill for another patient whose name was similar) and always remember that you are a customer at the end of the day- we were initially denied when we asked to transfer to another doctor in the practice, but when I made it clear I was considering treatment elsewhere, I was immediately given what I asked for. Keep your guard up and be ready to go to battle for yourself at RMA Eastside and with Dr. Grunfeld.
Describe the protocols Lawrence Grunfeld used in your cycles at RMA of New York and their degree of success.
IUI with Letrozole, Ovidrel. Always same dosage, no success (3 tries). Felt like we were just wasting time before IVF.
Describe your experience with your nurse at RMA of New York.
At the Eastside clinic, they wouldn't have recognized me out of a crowd as a patient. They were just doing their jobs, but they remembered nothing about my past experiences (miscarriage, the fact that I was depressed about failed IUIs, etc.) and would sometimes make insensitive comments during appointments. I reached my limit when I tried to look at my partner's semen analysis pre-IUI and the nurse purposely covered it with her hand and moved it away from me for no apparent reason (perhaps because we didn't pay for a standalone SA?). I complained about this experience and RMA reached out to apologize.
Describe your experience with RMA of New York.
It is a high-traffic, impersonal clinic. I changed to the RMA Brooklyn clinic as soon as I possibly could, as it is much smaller and the nurses/employees were much more warm and actually remembered me between monitoring appointments.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Lawrence Grunfeld at RMA of New York.
Costs were covered under insurance, but at the end of the day, each IUI cycle cost about $200 out of pocket, and meds cost about $100 out of pocket after coverage.
Describe Lawrence Grunfeld's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at RMA of New York.
He is for eSET, against multiple embryo transfer.
What specific things went wrong at RMA of New York?
- Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
- Lost paperwork
- Failed to call with results
- Lost results
- Provided conflicting information
- Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at RMA of New York.
There were many oversights at this clinic. I often showed up to a pharmacy to pick up my Letrozole to find that RMA had not called it in. I only received monitoring/blood test results during one IUI cycle, the rest of the time I was just told "everything's fine" which was very unsettling. I was billed incorrectly for a visit I did not have, and I was twice given another person's bill at the clinic in person as the desk agent entered the wrong personal info for me (there is another patient with a nearly identical name apparently- I have unfortunately seen her personal info more than once and feel badly about it)- the first time this happened, they entered all of my insurance info into the other patient's profile, and when we realized the error, the agent just waved me away, saying "it's ok, sorry" and I still have no idea if they ever corrected it in the system.