Surgical Oncologists - The Woodlands, TX

"I called this office to schedule a consult prior to a routine colonoscopy which is covered 100% by my insurance company. I asked how much the consult would cost me. The little girl who answered my first call told me I would have to get that from my insurance company. So, okay, I called the insurance company. They said the consult would be applied to my deductible, but not paid by them. Then they said they could not tell me how much the doctor's office would charge me without a five-digit code from the doctor. They put me on hold to call the doctor, but the office did not answer. So I called the doctor's office back and got a different teenage girl. I explained that I was asking the price that I would be charged, as I had already found out from my insurer that I would be paying for the whole cost of the consult out of my pocket. The little girl told me the only way I could find out what the consult would cost me was to have the consult, so the doctor could then give the office the procedure code. I explained over and over to the child that we already knew what the procedure was, and that I only wanted to know what I would be paying for the consult that is required prior to scheduling the procedure, but she didn't understand that whole concept. I finally asked for a supervisor, and guess what? The supervisor wasn't in. Needless to say, I gave up and called another doctor, who (surprise, surprise) understood what I was asking and told me what my out-of-pocket would be. How can you run an practice like this, with multiple doctors in multiple locations performing complicated and expensive procedures, and not have office staff who can engage in normal conversational exchanges and provide simple answers to simple questions like, "How much money should I expect to pay for this visit?" I see this doc has good reviews, but this sort of incompetence (I hope it was merely incompetence, and not dishonesty) on the part of his staff makes me question how trustworthy the whole practice is. Please replace the MORONS in your office with normal, functioning adults."