Stephen Somkuti

The location was a pain, but that's only because there are not many options in Harrisburg, PA other than Shady Grove, and we were very unhappy with Shady Grove. We ended up doing remote ultrasounds and blood work -- I think we were a bit of an anomaly in that respect. That said, Dr. Somkuti and his team were wonderful to work with. At one point, Dr. Somkuti even called during a remote ultrasound so that he could have the ultrasound tech walk through what she was seeing.

Lots of facilities to choose from in the Philadelphia area so you won't have to travel far. Some of the doctors and nurses are easier to deal with than others. Dr. Barmat, Dr. Lee, and Dr. Sobel are very nice to deal with and you don't feel so rushed. The Ft. Washington facility is very nice and new, with easy parking. Didn't feel like everything was explained to me very clearly like the costs of medicine or what is or isn't covered with insurance. Sincera is owned by Axia and they handle a lot of that but are incredibly hard to get ahold of and would take a ton of time to return calls, if at all. There were times we had to call different people to just get someone to answer us.

I could go on and on about the strengths of this clinic. Being a school teacher, my schedule is very limited. This practice works around my schedule by offering 7am appointments. I see the people at this clinic more than my own parents! They treat you like you matter, and that is very important.

I had a terrible experience with the billing department at this practice. I met with a financial consultant during my first appointment and was told that monitoring procedures would be covered with a referral. During my testing cycle, I noticed that Explanation of Benefits (EOB) on my insurance page were showing large bills for ultrasounds (usually $180 or more). I called the billing department right away and was told that it was just an EOB and the final bill should reflect that I'm covered. With this assurance, I continued with my ultrasounds (probably 8 total). A few weeks later, I received bills for the ultrasound and two procedures, totaling over $2000. I called multiple people within the practice about this concern and was told that it was part of my deductible. I consulted with a colleague with identical insurance who was undergoing fertility treatments at another practice and she was only billed the copay ($40) for identical services. The practice was completely unwilling to review their billing procedures. I visited two additional practices in the area for consultations and was billed only the copay for ultrasounds. I am still trying to resolve this issue.

Their primary strength would have to be the number of locations they now have. I had to drive into Abington every day but now they have satellite offices in many cities. That is huge to someone from out of town and who has to work. The only downside would be then that all retrievals must be done at the main office.