Safa Rifka
Columbia Fertility Associates
Available Lines of Communication
Nurse email
Not available by direct line
Not available by personal cell phone
Medical SchoolAmerican U. Of Beirut
ResidencyAmerican U. Hospital
FellowshipNational Inst of Health
Washington DC
2440 M Street NW
Washington, DC 20037
(202) 293-6567
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1 assessment
0
0
Age
37 - 38
Treated
2019 - 2020
Success with this Doc
No
Treatment
1 IVF
Diagnosis
—
0
0
[Dr. Safa Rifka] Dragged feet and wanted us to pay for IUI when IVF would have had higher indication of success considering both parents’ age. I had a complication after egg retrieval: no one checked in with me so I had to seek urgent care, and no one asked about how I was tolerating ovarian stimulation meds...I wish I had picked another doctor who could deign to be more informative and less paternalistic...One of the biggest failures was not assigning a triage schedule for handoffs because intervention is so time sensitive.
I had a complication after egg retrieval [at Columbia Fertility Associates]: no one checked in with me so I had to seek urgent care, and no one asked about how I was tolerating ovarian stimulation meds. I had a singular positive experience with one nurse who only works occasionally and offered assistance with triggering...The “lead nurse” was rude and uninformative. I had 2 positive interactions with nurses face to face in a year of having to deal with this office...Be prepared to demand confirmation of everything the billing and scheduling department does as there is little to no accountability. If you have the means to go somewhere else and can find another decent option in the metro area, then do so. Be sure to check CDC information for success rates.
Age
37 - 38
Treated
2019 - 2020
Success with this Doc
No
Race
European, Ashkenazi Jewish, Black or African-American
Income
$200K - $499K
Occupation
—
Order & Number of Docs Seen
1 Doc Seen
Treatment
1 IVF
Diagnosis
—
0
0
How was your experience with Safa Rifka at Columbia Fertility Associates?
I wish I had picked another doctor who could deign to be more informative and less paternalistic. DC has a dearth of providers so I picked this clinic based on CDC live birth stats. One of the biggest failures was not assigning a triage schedule for handoffs because intervention is so time sensitive.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Safa Rifka at Columbia Fertility Associates?
Go to another practice if you have to cross state lines, or pick another physician—but you will still have to deal with the negligent office practices.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Safa Rifka at Columbia Fertility Associates?
The office staff is grossly incompetent and cannot even muster pretending to care, while the physicians seem to engage in willful blindness. The process is stressful enough, but the office sent billing to the wrong insurer multiple times compromising our PHI and delaying intervention, had my name wrong on a chart, forgot to order tests for my husband so he had to miss more work to come back, and had overall poor communication, excepting the phlebotomist. The dearth of information and transparency was astounding.
Describe the protocols Safa Rifka used in your cycles at Columbia Fertility Associates and their degree of success.
Dragged feet and wanted us to pay for IUI when IVF would have had higher indication of success considering both parents’ age. I had a complication after egg retrieval: no one checked in with me so I had to seek urgent care, and no one asked about how I was tolerating ovarian stimulation meds. I had a singular positive experience with one nurse who only works occasionally and offered assistance with triggering.
Describe your experience with your nurse at Columbia Fertility Associates. (Assigned nurse: Wendy)
The “lead nurse” was rude and uninformative. I had 2 positive interactions with nurses face to face in a year of having to deal with this office.
Describe your experience with Columbia Fertility Associates.
This office is disorganized to the point of negligence and fraud. Be prepared to demand confirmation of everything the billing and scheduling department does as there is little to no accountability. If you have the means to go somewhere else and can find another decent option in the metro area, then do so. Be sure to check CDC information for success rates.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Safa Rifka at Columbia Fertility Associates.
Copays of about 3.5-4K
What specific things went wrong at Columbia Fertility Associates?
- Lost paperwork
- Failed to order appropriate test
- Provided conflicting information
- Failed to convey critical information
- Failed to consider drug intolerance
- Canceled a cycle due to clinic error
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Columbia Fertility Associates.
As I stated before, the office forgot to order a screening test for my husband on a panel—which requires checking a box. When all regular employees were out of the office they had no one accountable to reach a physician, delaying care. They continue to submit our PHI to the wrong insurance.
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Verified
This patient has provided documentation of treatment at this clinic.