Fanwood Westfield Cardiology LLC

This is part 2 of the review from Lisa Brody: PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU TRUST YOUR CARE HERE PART 2 Protocol vs common sense vs compassion He was removed from intensive care on Tuesday 2/20 and we returned his cell phone to him then as he was not able to speak on the phone before then. The F-W office called and spoke to him a second time in search of their device. He then told them about the surgery he had and he apologized for not getting the device back but he had some other things going on.....You would think that common sense would kick in at this point but they still had the audacity (because they were following protocol,) to inform him that they would have to start charging him for the device in some shape or form. The call should have ended as soon as they found out he was still in the hospital and he had just had open heart surgery just days before! Where is common sense and where is the compassion?? AND...if the front office can locate my father and bother him about a device that was late in being returned you would think that his own Dr. could make even one attempt to contact him and or the hospital to inquire about his medical state! But I suppose that is not protocol. Upsetting a person in his medical state took a backseat to the protocol of taking all measures to get their device back. The possession of the device is clearly more important than the medical well being of the patient. So in this day and age where many of us still have the opportunity to choose our medical providers please consider this review before you place your care in the hands of this group. As I type this review you should know that I spoke to the Jessica and Liza at the front office about 2 hours ago. I asked for the manager to call me back and I have provided them with my correct contact information At this time Ala (the manager) has called me back. I am making arrangements to return the device either today or Monday especially as I am now aware that this device is more important than the well being of one of their patients. Needless to also say, we are looking for a new cardiologist for my dad.

PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU TRUST YOUR CARE HERE PART 1 Protocol vs common sense vs compassion I gave them one star because they answered the phone. My father has been a patient of Dr. Alan Kalischer for many years. He is 80 years old and in relatively good health. In the month of Jan 2018 he had 3 separate episodes of shortness of breath, racing heartbeat, and dizziness accompanied by just not feeling well. He has had a history of heart issues. He is diligent about his yearly checkups, and more appointments are scheduled without hesitation if needed. When he called the cardiology office he was given an appt. on 2/26. Apparently the front office did not think his issues were important enough to be seen earlier. Thank goodness he did not just accept that level of expertise and called his primary care physician shortly thereafter. They saw him immediately and called the Fanwood Westfield office while he was there and he then went directly to the Cardiology office. Dr. Kalischer gave him a heart monitor to wear for about 24 hours so that when he came in next they could have a better idea of what was happening. Also upon the recommendation of a family member he purchased a blood pressure cuff from the drugstore so he could self monitor. That same night when he checked his blood pressure it was very high. When he woke the next morning it was even higher and 10 minutes later it was even higher. He called 911 and was taken to the Emergency Dept.at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital. That was on 2/10/18. As I write this review today on 2/22/18 he is still there. After much testing at the hospital it was determined that he needed double by-pass (open heart surgery.) Apparently before his surgery took place Fanwood Westfield Cardiology called his cell phone in search of the device they had given him on the 10th. He informed them of all that had happened since he had been to the office and that he would try to get a family member get a hold of the device and return it - obviously this was not a priority in his mind as he was on constant medication and was dealing with the fact that he was going to have to have open heart surgery which has major risk. He ended up having triple by-pass surgery on Friday 2/16 and is still on the cardiac floor of RWJ slowly recovering because as his nurse put it."his body feels like he has been hit head on by an 18 wheeler." You would think that when the F-W Cardiology office was informed that my dad was in the hospital for his heart that they would have taken ONE step to find out exactly why and follow up with even just a small attempt to find out the prognosis etc. I found out today by Jessica and Liza at the front desk that they did tell Dr. Kalischer after they first called about the monitor but no attempt was made by either the Dr. or his office to inquire about his condition! They did not take any responsibility for the lack of follow through and compassion on behalf of one of their patients and instead blamed it on the system because apparently Dr. Kalischer is not affiliated with RWJ. They also made me aware that they had made an attempt to call me (his daughter,) so that they could get his monitor back. Unfortunately they were calling a number that was discontinued in 2014 when we moved from NJ to MD. They had never even bothered to make sure that the emergency contact information for an 80 year old patient was up to date on either of the 2 opportunities (yearly check up appointments that had occurred in 2015 and 2016.) I am really surprised that the office protocol did not require them to update this information. I was told they called this old number and did not even get voicemail. So what did office protocol require now?? Well, call the patient again! I will post Part 2 as soon as possible.

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