August 1, 2010
Dr. Marshall C Mintz and Mr. William Allison
2722 Merrilee Drive, Suite 230
Fairfax, Virginia 22031
Dear Dr. Mintz and Mr. Allison,
I am writing to inform you of my recent experience at Fairfax Radiology. My son Cole is currently 12 weeks old. For several weeks, he has been suffering from digestive issues including vomiting, abdominal pain, and inconsolable crying. My son’s doctor ordered two examinations for him: a milk scan and an abdominal sonogram. Per the instructions on the exam orders, I called the scheduling phone number to schedule the appointments.
I was pleasantly surprised when the operator informed me that Fairfax Radiology could perform both examinations on the same day. She provided the following instructions:
- Have Cole skip one feeding and one nap (the milk scan required that he not eat, while the sonogram required that he have a full stomach)
- Bring two bottles with nipples
- Arrive at 11:00 am for my 11:30 appointment (so Cole could start drinking his bottles with medicine)
- The milk scan would be performed in two parts – one hour apart, and the sonogram would be performed in between milk scan part one and part two.
- The milk scan part one would take 1 hour; then, there would be a 1-hour break (during which time the sonogram would be performed) before the second part of the scan would be conducted.
The evening before my appointment, I received a call from Fairfax Radiology informing me that they would have to cancel the sonogram appointment because they did not have the appropriate staff available to perform the examination at the Fairfax office. They rescheduled our appointment for a week later at the Herndon office.
On the day of my appointment, I did not feed Cole after 7:00 am (as directed), and I made sure he did not take a nap. As you can imagine, I arrived at the Fairfax office with a very unhappy, uncomfortable baby. He was screaming and could not be consoled. When I checked in with the receptionist on time at 11:00 am, I was informed that the technicians would not be ready for Cole for at least another 25 minutes. I was told I could take my baby "outside for some fresh air." I believe I was given this suggestion so that he would not disturb other patients in the waiting room because he was crying loudly. Given the age and symptoms of my child, why didn’t someone from Fairfax Radiology call me to let me know the office was already behind schedule? While it is somewhat reasonable for adult patients to wait half an hour past their appointment time, it is unreasonable and cruel to expect infants to do the same.
When Cole was finally taken to the examination room, he was inconsolable. It took us nearly a half hour to get him to drink one ounce of breast milk and medicine. Then, the technicians informed us that he could drink the rest of his breast milk to have a full stomach. Cole was so upset, he did not drink the plain breast milk. As the technician put him on the examination table, she told him, "You’re going to regret not eating because after this, you won’t be able to eat for another 3 hours!" When I heard the technician, I immediately asked if we could try feeding him again. She said yes. He did not take the bottle, but after trying, I asked the technician if he could breastfeed. She said yes.
Cole underwent the part one of the milk scan. When part one was finished, we were informed that the wait would be two hours – not one as we were previously told. We came back two hours later, and the technicians finished the exam. I cannot understand why the preparation instructions for the exam were not clearly communicated and why the waiting times in between were not adhered to. I was not offered any explanation by the technicians or office staff.
Next, we had Cole’s abdominal sonogram scheduled. Monday afternoon, I received an automated phone call confirming my appointment and asking that Cole not eat or drink anything after midnight the night before the exam. This was in direct conflict with the previous instructions I had received that asked me to bring him with a full stomach. Because Cole is 12 weeks old, I decided I’d go ahead and feed him until 7:00 am the morning of the appointment (his appointment was scheduled for 10:05 am).
We arrived at the Herndon office at 10:00 am. We were immediately taken to the exam room, where the technician asked me if I brought a bottle with me. I had not been told to bring a bottle with me for this appointment, so I told her I had not. She explained that the sonogram could not be performed unless Cole drank a clear liquid before the exam (either Pedialyte or water). The doctor who was going to perform the exam came in and suggested that she try the exam without the Pedialyte or water in Cole’s stomach. As she was preparing to start the exam, she asked the technician for a specific type of transducer. The technician informed her that the office did not have the type of transducer she needed for the exam. The doctor went ahead and performed the exam with a different type of transducer. After a couple minutes of examination, the doctor informed me that she could not see much and really needed Cole to drink a clear liquid. It was decided that the office staff would obtain a bottle within 30 minutes, and we would retry the examination after Cole drank the clear liquid.
Within 30 minutes, I was provided a bottle with Pedialyte. At this point, it had been 4 hours since Cole had last eaten (he is on a 2.5- to 3-hour schedule). He was, again, inconsolable and was not able to drink the bottle. The doctor suggested that we try the examination again, but she was again unable to get a good picture of Cole’s stomach. The doctor concluded the examination and informed me that she did not "think" he has pyloric stenosis. I believe the doctor was unable to reach a conclusion because the preparation instructions I was given were wrong and because the proper equipment was not available.
As you can imagine, I am incredibly disappointed and frustrated with my experiences at Fairfax Radiology. The service we received was unsatisfactory in the following ways:
- Our sonogram appointment, which had been scheduled a week ahead of time, was cancelled at 4:30 pm the day before the exam because a technician was suddenly not available.
- Initially, I was informed that the abdominal sonogram required a full stomach, when in fact, it did not.
- My 12-week-old baby was made to wait (while overtired, hungry, and screaming) in the waiting room at Fairfax Radiology – even though we arrived exactly at the time we were told to arrive.
- Initially, I was informed that there would be a 1-hour break between milk scan parts one and two, when, in fact, it was a 2-hour break. I was not told that my son would not be able to eat for three hours after part 1 of the exam.
- An automated confirmation call informed me that I could not feed my baby past 12 midnight the day before the sonogram exam; obviously, these were erroneous instructions. A mistake of this magnitude would be traumatic for even a healthy infant; it would have been even worse for an infant dealing with digestive issues.
- I was not told to bring a bottle to the sonogram exam and the office did not have one available – even though it was required equipment.
- I was not told my son would have to drink a clear liquid before the sonogram exam.
- The sonogram technician and doctor did not have the proper equipment available, even though the appointment had been scheduled and confirmed in advance.
- The sonogram exam proved inconclusive with the doctor stating she did not "think" Cole had pyloric stenosis. After putting an infant through this grueling testing, I would expect to have a firm conclusion and believe one could not be reached because of the errors made in preparation and the lack of proper equipment.
While I understand that wait times and delays may not be able to be controlled, my absolute minimum expectations for these tests would be that I receive clear and correct preparation instructions and that the proper equipment would be available to conduct the tests. Even these low expectations were not met in our experience.
My experience exposed Fairfax Radiology as grossly incompetent in every area: from scheduling and preparation to the actual exams themselves. I ask that you immediately review your practices and procedures to better prepare yourselves for future patients. I would ask that the licensing board review this case and your practices to determine if a formal complaint should be filed. In the meantime, I am going to strongly suggest that my doctor consider sending his patients elsewhere and will share my experiences with my new mom groups, family and friends.
Sincerely,
Cole's Mommy
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