Heart Attack and Stroke Prevention Center of Vero Beach

I have been a patient of Dr. Mattice since 2005. His thoroughness and attention to detail has made my life far easier and certainly healthier. Unfortunately, many doctors today are pressured to see more and more patients so they have little time to listen to their patients, perform a thorough evaluation and formulate an appropriate treatment plan. But Dr. Mattice is different. He is patient, attentive, takes as much time as you need, and orders the correct tests and blood work in his evaluations. Either he or his staff will generally follow a day or so later to confirm progress. I have referred him to friends and business associates, and he develops unwavering support in all instances.

Although I received good care a year ago (which is the reason I went back to Dr. Mattice) my recent experience was dreadful. Literature all over the office advises patients how difficult and expensive it is to operate a medical facility these days, and that Dr. Mattice is now converting to an appointment-only practice. After meeting with him, it was clear that there's an up-sell approach going on that should be investigated. Expensive tests and lab work were recommended, although they drew blood on the spot, without fasting. Lab work is now sent to Cleveland Clinic, and results take no less than two weeks. After waiting that long, I was told that one part of the blood work was compromised and I would have to go back in to have blood drawn again. However, Dr. Mattice's lab tech was unwilling to send ANY results to another physician, saying they couldn't be sure of the remaining results if part of the lab work was compromised. [She now says she never told me that!] Even so, I am unable to get any results myself without going back to meet with the doctor. I was not pleased when I received an invoice from Cleveland Clinic for this lab work. The woman in the Cleveland Clinic billing office told me on the phone that the blood work cost over $1,000, but if I paid the $101 that I was billed, they would consider the account paid in full.

In needing a new primary care provider I visited Dr. Mattice last year for a routine visit. I have not seen him since, as I have been well. I recently visited again for an annual check up and to ask about a sinus infection and to recommend or assist with a prostate exam due to my age. Without even a handshake, any type of physical examination or review of any previous years records, Dr. Mattice demanded that I have a disease of the circulatory system. He stated that since I had written that my mother died of a stroke at an earlier that 'normal' age, that I had this disease. He had never seen my mother or her records, or any other member of my family. As I sat silently and he pursued a 7 minute dissertation on my having this disease and him being one of the only doctors who cares about it (?), he appeared to become aggravated and demanded that I did not care about my health or my disease and stated that I should buy a book he had advertised on posters covering the exam room walls and waiting room walls, and had copies of behind the check in counter, and I must take a blood test specific to his obscure diagnosis of this disease that he was certain that I have. When he finally took a break, I reminded him that I had come in for a sinus issue and recommendation about a prostate exam, perhaps he could help me with those things, too? He was outraged and aggressive and stated that if I did not want to discuss this disease he could sense I surely had then he did not need me as a patient. I left his office immediately and will never return. Further, I have filed a formal complaint pursuant to Florida statue 456.073. I strongly recommend that unless you wish to be diagnosed without being examined, and forced to buy a book and have an additional blood test, you not visit Dr. Mattice.

I felt the care was poor and the doctor rude. He seemed too rushed to properly examine me, taking phone calls during and at the end of my brief visit with him. I felt the visit so uninspiring that I went for a second opinion, something I do not normally do, and was glad I did. The office verified I was in-network with my insurance, even though it turns out I was not, so the claim was denied. Billing has been unhelpful thus far, and beyond admitting it was their office staff's mistake, has made no overtures to correct my situation. I cannot recommend strongly enough steering clear of Doctor Michael J. Mattice and Urgent Care West.

One star is too many. He put my husband on 60 mg of prednisone a day for 5 days and wouldn't tell him why. A very important test result took 24 hours to relay to my husband, he should have been seen immediately. The doctor decided to ignore the initial problem that my husband was dealing with and did a chest Xray and, again, wouldn't tell him why or what he suspected. He scheduled him for an MRI of the head but wouldn't tell us why. When I asked why, he refused to tell me. We are seeking a second opinion. He was patronizing and unable to answer any questions we asked of him. EDIT: during the visit above, Mattice ran some new blood work and sent it to a local hospital lab. According to the lab results we picked up today, the results were faxed to the office at 11:32 am, shortly after we left the office. When my husband called at 1:00 pm, they office denied having any results. Mattice called my husband with "partial" results at 4 pm and told him the WRONG NUMBERS! He also claimed he did not have all the results although pages 1-4 were faxed at the same time earlier that morning. We can't understand why he would have lied about this when the time/date stamp on the results is very clear. When my husband went to pick up the results this morning, the entire office complained about labcorp and claimed that my husband's earlier (VERY ABNORMAL) results were just a lab error. Because he's symptomatic and because his later test results were also abnormal, I suspect he was trying to avoid liability if something really is wrong. I feel this physician is downright dangerous. He's patronizing and doesn't follow any logical sequence to determine a diagnosis.