Patient
Executive Summary: Great Docs, but scheduling leaves some to be desired. A mixed bag of review elements for this. And the negative issues may befall Aurora BayCare as an oversight institution itself. In regards to my heart attack discovery, Emergency Department visit, diagnosis, and subsequent surgery / follow-up care, and Doctors have all been top-notch (5-star). However, scheduling is flawed (1 star). Where other medical institutes utilize a central scheduling process, Aurora appears to leave this up to each department. After my appointment in 2022, I asked to set up my "next year's" follow-up. I was advised that it was too far in the future and that Aurora Cardiology would be contact me when it was time to schedule. At about 6, 3 and 2 months prior to my anticipated anniversery date, I contacted Cardiology with the same inquiry; each time being told that I could initiate setting that appointment. Instead, the Scheduling Office would notify me in advance when it was time for scheduling. A couple of weeks past the anniversary of my annual checkup from last year, I found that my Rx expired. My pharmacy checking for renewal approval triggered Cardiology's realization that my annual follow-up did not appear on the schedule. While I appreciate the immediate call, apologies for the mistake, and quick attempt to get me in, I am now unable to see my primary Cardiologist as he will not be available for a month or two, and we will be out of the state for three weeks. I have no professional problem now with being scheduled with a Physician's Assistant, but this goes against our long-standing family practice of staying with one provider Doctor; this in order to not be bounced around as a "case" versus being reasonably known as an individual by our care providers. Such restrictions on getting a reoccurring appointment is not an acceptable scheduling strategy for a modern medical practice or facility.