Carolina Conceptions

Pros: -the entire staff is friendly and knowledgeable -I always feel welcomed - they perform all procedures on site- egg retrieval, embryo transfer, hysteroscopy, HSG, blood work, ultrasounds, semen collection and analysis - cryopreservation is done on site-your precious eggs and embryos do not leave the building. - they do have two locations in my area and they both use the same physicians - all the doctors and the nurse practitioners are familiar with your case therefore you don’t feel like just another patient when you go to your appointments. -easy to locate facility Cons: - challenging to reach staff via phone as the utilize the patient portal and received faster response via the patient portal - they did have to stick me with a needle 4 times to get my blood work the first 3 visits. - parking is challenging if you have a morning appointment.

The clinic's strength for us was the rates of successful live births at our age range when we started. We compared with all other clinics in the North Carolina triangle and had consultations with UNC Fertility, Duke, and Carolina Conceptions ($250/per consult each, and UNC was $300). We decided to go with Carolina Conceptions.

Strengths: Appointments were easy to schedule, appointments tended to be on time (almost always was seen on time and if they were behind, it was never more than 10-15 minutes), doctors communicated quickly through email, nurses responded quickly to voicemails and emails, prices were always provided before treatments/procedures, all the doctors are knowledgeable and trustworthy. Weaknesses: Your primary doctor might not be the doctor who performs all your tests and procedures. This wasn't an issue because I think all the doctors at the clinic were amazing.

Strengths: size, volume of patients it can handle, equipment, scheduling is easy, nurse instructors are great, providers are available by email. Weaknesses: no online portal, decor, lots of pictures of babies on the walls which makes me sad, hard to get someone on the phone, due to volume of patients, there are waiting periods for classes.

Strengths: front desk staff was very helpful and knew what they were doing, nurse staff was very nice and helpful, the lab workers who draw blood are amazing (and I was terrified about getting blood drawn), the financial coordinator was very helpful and responsive at all times, the clinic itself was clean and welcoming, all the embryologists at the clinic were very knowledgeable, responsive and explained results in a way we understood, there was always a good availability of appointments Weaknesses: no emergency contact number to call after hours, hard to reach the clinic during afternoon business hours, ensuring that the information that is shared with us is accurate. Ex: We were given conflicting information about the embryo biopsy delivery for PGS testing. This caused us concern because for some time we were unsure of where our biopsies were. Eventually, we were given proper information.

Best decision we made to switch over from Duke Fertility over to Carolina Conceptions. We felt that, at Carolina Conceptions, we were taken care by the entire team - from Dr. Meyer, to the nursing team, admin staff, and billing team. True patient-centered care at its finest.

This isn't a strength or weakness necessarily but as a new patient I'd want to know that I'm not going to see just one doctor. You'll see whoever is available on that date to do your transfers, retrievals, etc. This was fine with us and everyone was great but other people may prefer to see one person. Otherwise, I'd say their strengths are the nursing staff, doctors, phlebotomists were great (I have tricky veins), and empathetic approach. Weaknesses are that sometimes there are mixed communication from finance and admin.

A strength is that they are in a good location. A friend of mine worked with Dr. Park and had a good experience. Dr. Bowling was not a good fit for me and I decided to seek treatment at a different clinic.

The clinic is clean and staff are very friendly. Sometimes it is hard to get someone on the phone when calling but the portal makes it easy to ask questions and often will get a quick response. Although I loved my primary doctor I have only met her virtually and they work with a team of doctors and will rotate and your primary doctor may not be the main one to do the egg retrieval or egg transfer but all of the doctors I have met have been nice with good bedside manner.

Carolina Conceptions is a wonderful place. The offices are nice and inviting. They keep the lighting the in the rooms dim so you don't feel so "exposed" when doing internal ultrasounds. They also have bathrooms attached to most exam rooms so it is just "right there" for you! All of the staff are super knowledgeable and helpful. Everyone is always extremely friendly!

We used the Raleigh location which for us was very convenient to get to. We were under Dr. Meyer's care but based on scheduling did see both Dr. Bowling and Dr. Parks for some of the appointments and everyone was great to work with! The monitoring appointments were easy to schedule for early morning and they were always on time which helped minimize the stress of having to get to work after. The staff was always knowledgeable and friendly making a stressful process less stressful!

With ART there are often times you'll see other doctors at a clinic and while I had warm feelings about Dr. Park, my feelings about Carolina Conceptions as a whole are not so warm. The doctor who actually performed my treatment couldn't remember whether we'd met before or not (we hadn't and I barely got her name before the procedure) and the clinic messed up my billing (which was a mess for me to clean up) despite the fact that I'd told them multiple times that my insurance had changed. Dr. Park made me feel like a human, but the rest of the clinic made me feel like a number.

I didn't want to wait until I knew the result before posting this review. Turned out, I do know. I'm trying not to shade my response based on my result but I will say I thought this was the best clinic even before. If you're fortunate enough to live close enough or have access to this clinic, I would recommend it 100%. The doctor's and the staff are the best in the nation.

Staff is very friendly and flexible, especially during Covid-19. They followed safe guidelines and were very flexible when it came to "face-time" or record ultrasounds, and even the fresh transfer since your significant other could not be in the same room.

The strengths of this clinic are competent staff/providers, short wait times, flexible appointments, and clear financial expectations. Weaknesses include organization/prompt response to phone messages (not including email to providers). Once I needed an appointment urgently but there was no availability, the front office staff said they would "flag my chart" and call me if something opened up. After a few days I called back to ask about it and they had an opening but said they couldn't call me back because the sticky note fell off of my chart. When you're dealing with tight scheduling related to your menstrual cycle and don't want to be delayed a whole month for one appointment, this can come as a big disappointment. There were a couple of times that I would leave voicemails either for the front office or the billing department and not receive a call back within 48 hrs and would have to call back. When I first found out I was pregnant, I wanted to come in first thing in the morning to get my labs drawn to confirm the pregnancy but couldn't get through on the phone until 15 minutes after opening time because they hadn't cut the phones on yet. The last major stressful instance I had was when trying to get prior authorization through insurance for a medication I needed. The billing department said they submitted it, then I noticed it was declined. When I followed up I found out it was because they left a portion off of the initial authorization request and that they would refile it. I waited a few days and still it had not been filed. Then I called the billing department to inquire and when I finally got through they said it had been denied, when really it hadn't been filed again (because I checked with my insurance company). I sent a strong-worded email and the form was submitted that day. I recall this being very stressful and was frustrated that the billing department did not hold to complete tasks they said they would complete and I felt pressured into going through their "self-pay pharmacy" rather than pursue treatment through my insurance.

They are conveniently located and available by phone, but it can be hard to follow the phone tree and locate the specific person needed. The clinic participates in clinical trials, which is valuable to furthering the science of assisted reproduction. All of the doctors are highly trained, and many of the nurses are excellent.

If you want to feel like a human and not a number or statistic, than this is a great clinic. The front desk staff learned who you were very quickly even though there weren't many appointments. They do not monitor as closely as my other clinic which was nerve-wracking but it worked out in the end. I was used to daily monitoring and this was only every few days. Dr. Meyer and Dr. Park are fantastic. I don't have experience with the other doctors. They're phone system is very frustrating at times but you get used to it eventually.

Carolina Conceptions' primary strength is the diligent team at the front desk. Ashley and Keesha made it such a positive experience to check in, check out, make appointments, and even just wait in the lobby. There were numerous occasions where we had specialized billing, appointment, or records needs, and they always went above and beyond to meet those needs. I have never been treated so kindly by any other "front" person at any other medical clinic (and I have been to a LOT of medical clinics). I have just a few criticisms of Carolina Conceptions: 1) The embryology lab is the one who calls with your PGS results, and they could have delivered our devastating news with more sensitivity and information. We were blindsided by our results, and they did not prepare us, contextualize it, preview next steps, or even say, "I'm sorry." 2) The billing breakdown could be clearer. On a few occasions I felt like there were significant errors of omission in the information we received that caused us to be surprised with charges, and these errors could have been easily avoided with clearer information online and during the financial conversations. 3) Unlike other fertility clinics I have been to, Carolina Conceptions allows children in the lobby. I often would be on the brink of tears watching children with their parents as I waited, thinking, "That will never be me."

Carolina Conceptions has been great to work with. We have found the people in each area (front desk, finance, lab, etc.) to be helpful and kind. They have good communication. I have always had quick responses to phone calls and emails. When I come in for appointments I don’t have to wait long, which is drastically different from my obgyn’s office. Everyone in the office has been cheerful and kind. I would not want to go anywhere else when dealing with infertility.

Clinic setting is perfect, informational text to review while you wait, staff is welcoming and personal! Made sure that we had everything that we need, met with the financial care counselor who went over our insurance coverage, what insurance covered and what we would be responsible for. I can honestly say i did not see or witness any weakness within the office or staff. I would defiantly refer anyone here and strongly considering their office for our treatment!!

They are a great clinic. Well oiled machine. They took the time to make sure I knew what was going on. They communicated well and made sure all my questions were answered. The office staff was personable and always met my needs.

I suspect that if I were younger and married, my experience would've been quite different. So for most people this clinic is probably okay. If you are don't fit the perfect scenario as far as your age, marital status etc.... you won't be treated favorably.

I think Carolina Conceptions is great for a number of reasons- they are convenient, extremely efficient (I was always in and out in a timely manner), very easy to schedule with, have great pregnancy rates, and are staffed by compassionate people. It was genuinely a bittersweet moment to move on from the clinic to a regular OBGYN, as I felt that everyone was invested in their patients.

They do not take cash. Everyone was very friendly from the time of setting up the appointments until check out. Not a negative thing to say about this clinic. It is in a very convenient location if you live in the Raleigh area. If not, it is an easy drive. I live 2.5 hours from the clinic and it was a straight shot. They have mini clinics at other treatment centers for initial consultations to make things easier for people who do come from awhile away.

They were timely with appointments and you were in and out for ultrasound or lab tests in no time. We were miscarrying on the weekend and they got us in on a Sunday morning to do an ultrasound to verify what we thought we knew. They also brought us back the next day to do another ultrasound and lab work. They were compassionate and understanding of what we were going through.