Anderson Allergy & Asthma PA

Very low quality service. High staff turnover. Unfriendly. Poor bookkeeping. No evidence of a physician on staff since our first visit a year ago. Given the negatives, one wonders if they are really doing what they are paid for, a scary thought. We are switching allergists immediately. Why did we stay so long?

I went to this allergist for the first time about a month ago. I had never been to an allergist before and picked this one frankly because it was the closest one to me that was «in network.» So I go to my initial appointment which was fine (I really liked Stephanie the PA) and I was due to come back the next week so they would do the prick test of airbornes. So I return a week later and they pricked me with 64 of the allergens and I noticed that they all kinda looked the same after a few minutes had passed… and after the 15 minutes was up, they came in to look at it and they said they weren’t impressed by what they were seeing because they all looked the same. So either I was allergic to all of them or none of them because I guess they all looked the same as the two controls that were in the batch. So they say they’re going to have to test further and I said, «Right now?!» and they said yes, and they come back with like 25 needles full of serum and they make 25 marks on my arm and start injecting the needles into my arm under my skin and I had no idea what was happening. It was really painful and I was not mentally prepared for that kind of test. I started feeling funny from the pain I was feeling from the injections, that the next thing I knew I was dripping with sweat, dizzy, feeling like I was going to throw up, all at the same time. I tried to tell the nurse to stop but she just kept going, and then I fell backward. The next thing I know all these people are in the room and they’re saying to get a cold cloth for my head. So the nurse practitioner came in and told me to take deep breaths, calm down, etc… and then they started injecting again. So after all that was done, they came back looked at those results and it turned out that I was most allergic to dust mites. So at that point there’s the NP, the doctor, his PA, and some nurse I had never seen before in the room and they start talking about the results/​options. I told them I just wanted to feel better but didn’t want to be hopped up on medicine all the time, especially if this is only a seasonal thing. The doctor left and said the NP would take over, and then somehow she left pretty quickly and the next thing I knew, I felt like I was being given a sales pitch by the mystery nurse. She was asking me, «How badly do you want a better quality of life? Do you want to be carrying around your Zyrtec and Flonase for the rest of your life or do you really want to FEEL BETTER» and I said I didn’t know because I don’t fully understand what is going on with me?! The next thing I knew, she was going on and on about shots and basically telling me that was my ONLY option and I told her that my quality of life would suffer in a different way if I was being drained of ALL of my money to get shots! She didn’t like that I said that and kept going on about the shots and I was still so dazed from fainting and overwhelmed by everything that the next thing I knew, I was making an appointment to have «rush» shots, which she explained was like combining 15 visits into one. (seemed like a good idea so I wouldn’t have to be driving out there all the time) DIDN’T mention any risks, side effects, how it’s really DANGEROUS or anything like that… and then tells me I need to have my epi-​pen with me all the time. I said, «A what?!» And she tells me I’m crazy for not having an epi-​pen! She shows me how to use it and I’m thinking… is this because of the shots that I will need this or because I am going to die from a dust allergy?! An epi-​pen for a dust allergy, really? I left feeling like I had just been given a sales pitch and was backed into a corner after I had just lost consciousness on the table. Why would you try to push something on someone that had just fainted? It was absolutely horrendous. My husband called the Office Manager to complain and was sent to her voicemail and it took over a week to get a call back from her. She never once apologized for her staff’s behavior (particularly «sales nurse» as I called her) and was trying to cover her own tracks throughout the whole conversation. I was appalled that we did not even receive an apology or a promise of better patient service. Since they were convinced that this was all me and that they did absolutely nothing wrong, and that EVERYONE needs an epi-​pen (allergic to dust or deathly allergic to peanuts, we all need it apparently), we told them we had no trust in their ability to fulfill their oaths as doctors, nurses, etc., and that we would part ways. Awful business practice to say the absolute least.

Easy in and out for allergy shots.

For the past 3.5 years, I have been a patient of Anderson Allergy. Regrettably, this once decent practice is now unreliable and demonstrates little concern for patients’ time. Here are a few examples.
APPOINTMENTS: Appointment times are not well kept. Several times I have had to wait over an hour before being seen. Once, when I told Dr. Anderson that I was not pleased having to spend an extra hour away from work waiting on him, he simply replied «Sorry, it is allergy season.»
THE VISIT: At the appointment, you never really know who you will see. It might be the doctor, or it might be one of the assistants. The one thing you can count on is that each visit is often like your first visit. «What seems to be the problem?» «What medications are you taking for your allergies?», «Have you ever had nasal surgery?» They do keep a file, but it seems easier to ask the patient the same questions each time than it is to read the file. More importantly, there seems to be a lack of understanding, or at least an inconsistent understanding of your treatment history.
PRESCRIPTIONS: During my last visit, it was stressed that I should use Advair every day. So, I went to the pharmacy and requested a refill. Over the next couple weeks, both the pharmacy and I contacted Anderson multiple times, requesting they authorize the re-​fill, but the pharmacy never received a reply. Ultimately, I had to drive to Anderson’s office, request a hard copy of the prescription and take it to the pharmacy myself. For a medicine that is supposedly important to take daily, you’d think they would have been more responsive to the pharmacy’s requests.
THE KICKER: A few months ago, Dr. Anderson suggested that I may benefit from aspirin desensitization. He was going to review my chart and give me a call. This never happened. At my next visit, I saw one of the assistants who also recommended the same treatment, so I made an appointment. This treatment requires 4 hours, so I had to block-​off half a day. One hour before the appointment, I received a call informing me that this procedure had to be rescheduled and performed at the hospital. However, Dr. Anderson still wanted to see me at 1:00, because it was important that he explain the procedure. At 1:00 I showed up, but Dr. Anderson was not in the office. At 1:15 he had still not arrived, so I left. Having to move the procedure to the hospital is not an issue, but changing the appointment on one hour’s notice and then not showing up on time for the appointment shows a lack of regard for a patient’s time.