InVia Fertility

I have to start by saying, if I could give Dr. Karande a negative star review, I would. The nurses at the Hoffman Estates office are wonderful, but they can’t counteract the pompous arrogant attitude of Dr. Karande. I’ll spare all the details of my situation but if you, as the patient, need to lose a few pounds, he calls you out on it and refuses treatment unless you purchase and participate in his diet program. His diet program is unhealthy and unsafe, period. The basic premise of the diet can be achieved on your own with dedication and effort. I suggest staying as far away from this practice as possible!

I’ve been to two fertility clinics including this one and honestly they both worked the same in terms of billing, scheduling etc. It’s a group practice and like most group practices you are one of many patients they see a day. So if you’re looking more for a warm, cozy type place where everyone remembers your name then you might want to seek out a smaller clinic.
What I liked about this place is they do everything online. You can schedule appointments, ask the nurses and doctor questions, and see all of your test results. No more waiting for callbacks and no more waiting on hold to do these things. Perfect for a busy schedule. They also have hours as early as 7 am until the evening. My last place was strictly 8 – 4 which doesn’t work if you work.
I was at my last clinic for over 2 years with no success (and they were a clinic that claimed they had the best results in IL). Finally I switched to Dr. Karrande and within 2 months I am finally pregnant with twins! Dr. Karrande is a no BS type doctor. He isn’t warm and fuzzy but he’s smart and is good at what he does (which in my opinion is all that matters). He has options if you have a failed cycle and is open to new ideas. I was having issues with ectopic pregnancies even with IVF and he knew exactly what to do and it worked!
My biggest advice to IVF’ers is to switch doctors if it doesn’t work after 3xs and to seek out the German acupuncture before your transfer! Good luck!

Not the greatest care in the world. They seem to care very little about the patients. My husband has gone in for analysis a few times and we’ve had to fight with them each time to get results back in a timely manner. I would recommend that you go somewhere else for your fertility needs.

This review is specifically regarding Dr Karande, who my general ob/​gyn referred me to.
To summarize — Dr. K has probably the worst bed side manner from a Dr I’ve ever met. First time I met him, his secretary was rushing me along bc «he had some cancellations» and wanted to leave early. Then the first words out of his mouth were that I needed to lose 20 lbs (I totally agreed, it was just how he said it so matter of factly). Then when I expressed concern about the cost of a diet program he recommended, he said that «it probably doesn’t matter bc most women fail at it». As the journey went on (unsuccessfully I might add), he never once reached out to talk to me about other options. By the third time I was told I couldn’t proceed with a cycle because I had a cyst producing estrogen — it was ME who emailed him to say we needed to look at other options– and alas! He recommended and performed a cyst aspiration.
The nurses are very sweet, though admittedly, some of them do not know how to draw blood. I’ve had several veins blown (I am a hard draw though)…and at my very first blood draw, they drew for the wrong test and had to perform it again.
8 months in, my husband and I decided to stop treatment and let nature takes it course. I sent an email (BTW the ONLY way to really communicate with this clinic is via their «Portal» — which conveniently sends back messages around 3:30pm when they close at 4pm forcing you to resolve issues the next day) — can you believe (well, I can now) that when I emailed Dr. K to explain that we’ve decided to stop treatment, I didn’t receive a single message back or phone call?
So yeah, you’ll be a number not a person, just be prepared for that! Good luck to all of you!

InVia took care of my during my surrogate journey. Meaning they did my monitoring (blood work and lining checks) for another clinic out of state. The nurses and front desk staff were all very sweet but every week I would have to call and remind them to please send my results over to the other clinic… this went on for many weeks which got annoying. On some weeks they would forget even after my reminder call and I would have to want an extra day for my results. Also even with an appointment, I would have to wait a long time to be seen…

I am NOT surprised to see so many bad reviews. They’re just a fertility clinic, and by nature, shi**y service and fu*k ups seem to be the norm, not the exception. So focus on one statistic: success rate (which is hard to come by per clinic, so go by probability over time for your demographic). We rated them three stars because we had no nightmares like many other reviewers for In Via or like other reviewers of other clinics (check out the crappy reviews for The Fertility Clinic of Chicago. YIKES).
Fyi, I am the hubby, but I speak for both. And we’re not pregnant yet after having completed a harrowing unsuccessful IUI with In Via. We’re debating on where to go for further fertility treatment. And just so you should know, fertility «clinics» and doctors are in the BUSINESS of fertility. Point fu*ken blank. That’s harsh I know. But it’s the truth. Medicine and healthcare is a business and no where is that more apparent than in fertility treatment and elective plastic surgery treatment. So I am not going to write our «boo hoo» effen sob story here. Ours is not that bad. But not great either. But I will tell you the plus points B4 the negatives since there seem to be so few people who highlight the positives among their own negative experiences and since the successful couples don’t always write as many positive reviews as the negative reviewers.
Here’s my take: Dr. Klipstein is fine. We hardly spoke to her, via the portal, phone, or in person (thrice) for our diagnostics, blood tests, and the one IUI cycle we did. When we did she was forthcoming but she can’t cram all information in just one or two meetings. So you’re at the mercy of the process, your own research and your own learning curve. More about that later. But this process could most probably be done by just nurses rather than doctors being involved.
Portal communication is good. You write to them, and they write back. Test results are posted and so are other things. Nurses are good and not the least bit rude. They’re just busy and efficient.
There’s not an inordinate amount of waiting time in the waiting room and your questions are answered if you ask them, either in person or on the phone, or, thru the patient online portal.
Scheduling is fairly easy and you can even meet them in the early morning before 7:30 am. One positive reviewer mentioned scheduling an appointment at 6:30 am. I do not doubt that.
Those are all the positives.
Negatives:
Yes, they suck on billing. They make you prepay the $ 2,000 upfront for the IUI fertility treatment (insurance companies frown upon this). They hit you up for a new bill almost upon every visit without explanation. I had to do a conference call with the Hoffman billing office of In Via and my insurance company to figure it all out. Lots of hours later, with a full detailed spreadsheet I worked up, I learned MOST of their charges were accurate except one where they coded a claim incorrectly and submitted to the insurance company quite late. Just an fyi: know which fertility drugs are covered in your insurance. Ours didn’t cover them. Rude awakening. But bottom line, it takes a lot of digging with their billing «department» to figure out what all the upfront charges were for, what went towards our deductible, what went to patient responsibility for «out of pocket charges,» and what was not covered. Diagnostics and bloodwork are NOT to be coded as fertility, just fyi. Ours was coded accordingly. Another reviewer’s was not. Watch out.
Another reviewer posted negative reviews bout Dr. Karande. We didn’t have any interactions with him… but hey. It’s a business. Can’t expect that he’s going to be any different than any other fertility doctor.
Other than that, they’re biggest negative is they don’t fu**en care about you. You are a number. It’s McDonald’s, as one reviewer mentioned about the Fertility Clinic of Chicago. In Via is not any different. So… Get in line. YOU need to stay on top of them and educate yourself and then ask questions thru the portal and/​or request a phone call from your doctor.
If you don’t, something in your fertility treatment will get missed or messed up. YOU need to know your schedule, your wife’s menstrual cycle, with and without medication. YOU need to know the necessary diagnostic bloodwork requirements and YOU need to learn to ask questions about their results and what they mean. YOU need to follow up and be proactive about the next step and the next appointment.
Do your homework. This clinic, NOR any clinic is going to spoon feed you and make you feel «oh so special» for wanting to have a baby. Once you’re pregnant, they won’t be seeing you again, unless you want another baby thru IVF/​IUI again. So, Learn about IVF and IUI well enough, the drugs involved, what your insurance will and will not cover, what diagnostics and immunizations you need to do before an IVF or IUI cycle, know the possible complications, know your body, and know everything.

My story is long and I’ll spare you.
COMMUNICATION I’d give negative star. Communication between admin and billing is awful and use the flipping portal for billing. People checking us in should be there to support us and NOT ask us for money other then our co pays. Portal is a great idea if it worked all the time, but after procedure pick up the damn phone and check on your patients.
FEE’s over charges they are definitely on the high end of fee’s it wouldn’t be an issue for me if they were an outstanding place but they are FAR from it (I heard this numerous time while waiting in the lobby from several couples, hearing then complain that certain fee’s were not made clear, and then it happened to me)
Way over ordering on medication maybe thinking you’ll donate back (convenient)
ADMIN STAFF AND BILLING staff have NO CLUE on how to treat people going through IVF they cause more stress then is ever needed.

Run away! — Claim to have a «patient-​centered focus.» Nothing further from the truth! From lack of communication of expectations, to a just try it once & if it doesn’t work we’ll use donor eggs & sperm donors attitude, to staff & a «high tech» communication portal that does nothing but keep you away from the doctor & staff at most critical moments, to billing department that just told me we still had semen stored & were charging us another $ 600 even though we thought we had transferred ALL of my semen to another clinic a year ago, this place is a complete & total disaster. If couples have had success here, I give credit for putting up with the unprofessional attitude of staff, complete lack of attention to detail, & worst client/​patient relationship management I have ever seen at any business, let alone a fertility clinic where couples are filled with anxiety. My wife, 38 & I, 50, later went to another clinic where, after 1 cycle, we welcomed a beautiful healthy daughter into our lives, but not before having lived through the nightmare of being patients at Invia Fertility. /​Of course, won’t make such strong comments about any facility without the facts to back them up. We went to Invia because I had undergone a vasectomy. We considered reversal, but given her age, we decided to not delay & go forward with sperm aspiration & IVF. Other than her being 38, there were no indications we might have any issues & since I had a vasectomy after having 4 kids in previous marriage. We met Dr. Klipstein who went through the requisite stats & ordered all the tests. Though my file was marked that I had a vasectomy, I was chastised by the staff, at almost every visit, for not having completed my sperm analysis & had to explain each time that this was N/​A because I had no way of giving them a sample. /​My wife began hormone treatments & when she had questions, could not call the doctor or staff directly. Had to access an on-​line portal & ask questions there, or leave message for revolving door of nurses at office because it is virtually impossible to reach anyone live, in any dept. unless you chose the phone option that you wish to schedule an appointment. We rarely spoke to the same nurse twice — horrible patient management process. /​Messages & questions on Invia’s portal may not be returned for 24 hrs. When my wife, a pharmacist, saw her hormone regimen, also on the portal, had been changed, she wanted to confirm with the doctor or nurse the accuracy of the change & understand why. Timing of these treatments is critical, but an answer could not be found until we demanded the doctor call us back, neither the first or last time we did that. /​Expectation setting is critical during fertility treatment. We had a descent number of ovules, but when her eggs were harvested, the nurse came in the recovery area with a huge smile on her face & told her the number of eggs had been retrieved was almost half the number of ovules we had seen growing on ultrasounds. We were devastated because we had no idea that it was normal for there to be fewer actual eggs harvested than the number of ovules seen growing — horrible expectation setting! /​We were lucky to have at least a small number of embryos. We planned DNA testing before implantation, requiring them to stay in their petri dishes until Day 5 instead of being considered for implantation at Day 3. Despite having some healthy one at Day 3 that could have been implanted, none survived until Day 5. It was not until we went to another clinic that we learned not implanting at Day 3 poses more risk to the embryos. We were never informed of the additional risk we were taking with our embryos until we went to new clinic where we chose not to do DNA testing. In fact, on call with the embryologist we were told there was no additional risk to delaying the implantation of the embryos until Day 5. /​When none of our embryos survived & we met w/​Dr. Klipstein to consider next steps, despite having had multiple embryos that had survived until Day 3 with our own eggs & sperm, her immediate & 1^st response was to suggest we use donor eggs & donor sperm. We started researching other fertility centers & found other reviews of Invia where couples thought donor eggs & sperm were prematurely recommended. When we went to the new clinic, no mention was ever made of using donor eggs or sperm. After all, we had already successfully made what appeared to be in the pictures we transferred, healthy embryos. Just hadn’t made it to Day 5. /​In January of 2014 I transferred what I believed to be all of my semen (3 vials that were being kept frozen after aspiration), from Invia Fertility to our new clinic. Recently, I received an invoice for the ³⁄₁₄ to ³⁄₁₅ annual semen storage fee from Invia. «What semen?» After waiting 24 hrs to find out if they still have my semen or if the semen I transferred was mine, I’ve been told to use the Portal to ask any questions I have for the Embryology lab! Stay away!

I struggled with infertility for 2 years and Invia was the third and final destination on my journey, so I have quite a bit of experience and knowledge within the fertility space. I was honestly blown away by the level of expertise, professionalism, empathy, and modern conveniences provided by this facility. I had weekly appointments at the Hoffman Estates location over a 6 month period, and I never once had a negative experience. In fact, the staff felt more like family by the end of my journey than a doctor/​patient relationship. Results are posted to the patient portal within a few hours of your appointment, and you can leverage the portal messaging system to ask questions and get responses within the hour… so for those of you who don’t like to wait on the phone to speak with the appropriate person this is the perfect solution. If you desire a more personal touch and want to speak with someone on the phone, this is also an option.
In addition, the hours that appointments are available are perfect for the working woman who can’t afford to lose time out of their day due to doctors appointments. I always snagged the 6:30 a.m. appointment timeslot, and was able to get to work with no delays. This was a critical benefit to me, because I didn’t want to draw attention to colleagues/​clients by having weekly appointments disrupt my work day.
This clinic also offers the latest technology available from ultrasounds to vitrification of embryos, and everyone’s exerience is tailored to ther individual needs — there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution.
I highly recommend this clinic, and can specifically vouch for IUI and IVF treatments.
Good luck on your journey.

Please AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!
As a donor, I understood that the treatment I will be receiving isn’t one of a paying customer. However, they are impacting my health so I had a basic level of expectations. This center is downright scary. They confused the timing of my injection twice, forgot about the kind of medications they prescribed to me, changed their mind of what is considered «Protocol» multiple times. It got so bad that I considered ending the donation process because I was seriously concerned for my health outcome if I let doctor «I can’t make up my mind if I want to see you» Klipstein touch me.
I couldn’t have dreamed up a worse experience!

I must say that I have had many postive experiences with Invia; from the front desk staff to the nurses and doctors and especially the donor coordinator. Everyone is always very friendly, appointments are always ontime and results and questions are answered in a very timely many via the portal. I would highly reccommend Invia Fertility, the donor coordinator and the staff will make your expereince very postive one.

I came to Dr. Karande by referral of my OBGYN when my husband and I were having trouble trying to conceive. Meet with Dr. Karande and he assured us we’d be able to conceive… We did 2 IUI’s with no success. Dr. decided to do IVF. I’m now 7 weeks pregnant with TWINS! Dr. Karande and his staff have been very helpful and positive throughout the entire process. Would definately recommend to all family and friends.

If there was a negative rating available, I would have given it –5 stars. Very horrible experience. This center exists just to make money. We had terrible experiences related to billing and the billing lady is not ready to listen to us and keeps saying not to ask her any questions and threatens that our credit record will get affected.
Rather than a medical center, these guys seems to blackmailing patients to get more money. Please avoid at all costs. I am surprised how they have been able to retain their license. No organisation exists to monitor their dirty money looting practices? It high time a case is filed against them.

I am not a bad reviewer. I always try to pick up good things with every thing. But this place drew me crazy. I created my Unilocal account just write review so that it will help others.
Please please please avoid this place. They are horrible and just snatch your money.
I took appointment just for consultation with Dr. Sigal. She talked like any other doctor but I have never seen any doctor to force the pateint for ultrasound and bloodwork on the same day of visit. I was pushed to do all the tests. I was too shocked to realize what was going on. They wtihdrawn the blood 4 – 5 times and send me home.
Days later I recevied the big bill charging me for all reduntant tests, many were repeatative as well. They have also used incorrect codes while submitting my insurance. I have good insurance coverage where they cover 100% for all immunization tests and 90% for all diagnostice. My insurance rejected everythign as they submitted those as infertility. my insurance doesn not covere any infertility.
Its been 6 months since I visited them and still fighting for my billing issures to be resolved. Belive me they are not helpful in resolving ur billing issues. They are rude.
Please do avoid this place. Even though FCI is not innetwork with my insurance, I prefer FCI any time. They dont atleast run money making business like this.
I hope this benifits you all and avoid undergoing the toruture.

Having to go through fertility treatments is stressful enough but to have a rude front desk makes matters even worse. I came in for a consultation with Dr. Sigal Klipstein and before seeing her the front desk asked for $ 40. I asked her why I have to pay so much for a mere consultation and her response «we’re such a reputable place that we don’t need to give out free services!» I have gone to many reputable doctors for consultations and have never been charged! In fact, I think if you’re that good you should do free consultations because you’ll have a new client immediately. The $ 40 was upsetting but her disrespectful response is what made it worse. I would have walked out but then they would have charged me $ 50 for canceling. My advice, find a better place!
Good luck to anyone going through fertility, but avoid this place.

This place is terrible. First of all they talk to everyone like they are supposed to know what they are talking about. My husband and I had no idea about infertility as it was our first experience with this kind of thing. The nurses and the doctors rushed through the explanation of our cycle treatment. Dr. Krande gives the impression that he’d really prefer that you just shut up and either stick out your arm or open your legs for testing. He is unwilling to answer questions and is disrespectful and rude. In addition their billing department is terrible. Dr. Krande requested 2^nd meeting with my husband and I and we agreed thinking there was something important or he was changing something. No! He just wanted to recommend we keep with our current plan = 2 mins. Then the billing office wanted us to pay the copay to see him. I refused! Then they called and told me I owed for additional charges because my insurance company declined to pay them due to a coding error on their part. They insist it is coded correctly and that I am responsible for paying them. Infertility is hard enough to deal with and this is bound to put you at your breaking point emotionally.

Upon our initial visit with Dr. Klipstein, we were very pleased. Her bedside manor was great. Once initial testing was done and I had to make a decision about IUI, she seemed irritated that I was not ready to get to it. I really wanted to explore all holistic options of conceiving and she is a scientist. Plain and simple. There was no wiggle room and when I continued to ask questions about options and scheduling of insemination she was annoyed. I was devastated by her comment «you want to have a baby, but you are not ready to start treatment.» I do not think she took the time to hear me and I have since found an amazing group of doctors that do support holistic viewpoints. I think many fertility doctors feel you are so desperate to have a baby that you will do anything. Well, as hard as it can be to wait for the child to come to you the way it is meant to… sometimes it is best. I am not pregnant yet, but very optimistic under the care of new doctors that CARE about ME… not just the science of it all. I also did not care for the fact that the doctor does not inseminate you at Invia, the nurses do. Also, I have had a billing issue and the billing department is a joke. Calls not returned, action not taken to resubmit… even after my insurance rep. called them to ask for the paperwork to be resubmitted!

I do not blame anyone for my frozen embryo transfer cycle’s failure. In addition, it is very rare that any physician’s office keeps to their appointment times. However, I found the staff to be hurried and unable/​unwilling to answer many of the questions that I had. In addition, the frozen embryo transfer protocol form that I was given listed an inaccurate time line for each step and subsequently caused many scheduling problems for me. When I found out that the information was inaccurate, I asked a nurse over the phone if there was an updated form available, and the curt response was: «No». Lastly, no one should be told via a recorded message on the «Patient Results Network» that 1) their embryos didn’t develop and none are left over, and 2) that the subsequent pregnancy test was negative. That should always be done via a real-​time phone call.