Atrium Health Pineville Pain Management - Pain Management in Charlotte, North Carolina

“It's just so disappointing, I'd been seeing Dr.V for years before he merged with Atrium.... His private practice was amazing he actually had a small practice that cared for people, made relationships and most importantly made their pain manageable and you even got to make a relationship with the front desk staff tell me where you can find that nowadays health care. Now being a part of Atrium it's a nightmare impossible to get through to anyone, they have no idea what the costs are which trust me if you're paying out of pocket prepare to take out a loan just to manage your pain so that you can hug your wife, pick up your kids and work without falling apart just to put food on the table. Don't get me wrong I understand healthcare is expensive but when you monopolize something such as health care costs are supposed to go down not up how come a private practice is half if not a third of the cost of a big corporation such as Atrium that being said if you can actually find one that hasn't been forced out by Atrium or Novant. You may think oh this guy's just complaining doesn't have any experience hasn't actually dealt with the hospital or only had this one experience well considering my family has a slew of medical conditions lupus, neuropathy, degenerative disk & angolosing spondylitis we can tell you point blank these big corporations the last thing they care about is you. My last and final example of the only time I've had to go to the ER in my life was to take my wife who had food stuck in her esophagus not actively choking no blocked airway just stuck right above her stomach. The EMT's recommended that she go and to be on the safe side we decided to make that trip obviously we would have went to an urgent Care but nowadays for some reason they all close at 9:00 p.m. which forces you to go to the hospital. She gets to the Atrium hospital which is almost empty no one in the waiting room for the ER. The front desk has no idea what the general costs are to be seen for something non-emergent. Gives me a cost estimator phone number I can call which obviously is closed after hours. We decide to still be seen she goes right into a room and within seconds of entering that room the food that had been stuck for over an hour finally unlodges. At this point she hadn't seen a doctor and we asked to leave again asking the front desk staff being that we weren't seen, the issue resolved itself all she did was step into a examination room and then leave; the lady still has no idea what the costs could possible be not even a ballpark not even a range nothing. At the end of the day she was okay and I didn't mind paying a few hundred if not up to a thousand because again I understand hospitals are expensive but again we weren't even seen. To my surprise we get a bill for $3,800 basically to just walk into a hospital. After hours of my wasted time on the phone threats of litigation that bill was dropped to a less than $300.00 and paid This is not how health care should operate there should be connections there should be communication and there should be transparency. Dr.V if you ever get a chance to read this please look at the other reviews and strongly consider reopening your own practice I know you got into this field to help people not add more stress and pain to their lives and Atrium, Novant all of the big companies their only goal MONEY nothing else.... Also don't get me wrong I know health care is expensive but you can't be charging what they charge and then have no access to anybody with knowledgeable information no way to reach the doctor never getting a return phone call and being mistreated by staff that can't take 2 seconds to get up walk 10 ft and find somebody that can help find a solution for you versus transferring you to another voicemail. This is an honest review of my experience as well as many others hopefully Atrium at some point realizes what they've done to the health care industry”

— Enterprise Solutions

“I had been seeing Dr V when he was a private practice he is great, and would give him 5 stars. The billing part I give no stars. Since I have no insurance I ask up front how much will things cost. No one can ever give you a final number. I was told to pay a certain amount and they would let me know after they see what the doctor does procedure wise. I went back and Dr V checked my reflexes and said injections where no longer an option, 10 min tops. Walked out and person at the front said you are good to go, me thinking I was paid in full. After a month later get a bill so the total cost of one 10 min appointment was over $700.00 Never will I return! This seems to be the medical culture Also when we called to get explanation from there office they kept pushing me to call billing. We had already called billing and they said call the practice. The old shell game. We paid the bill and moved on.”

— Ernie Riddle

“I waited in the room almost an hour then the nurse practitioner walks in doesn't introduce who she was , or apologize and did not give me the time needed to help me change my pain medication. The front desk girls are great and so are the nurses. It's like she wasn't really listening to me when I talked and I had waited a long time . I felt like I was just a bother to her and pain is making me so depressed that I really need helping finding the right perscription to help me live a quality life .”

— John and Carolyn Durkin

“My doctor called in a referral to this pain clinic to address a chronic pain situation I have been dealing with. THANK GOD I decided to Google this clinic. What a horrible Train Wreck this place sounds like! People are coming to you because they are in PAIN and they need help. I used to be a social worker and worked in the medical field and if I EVER treated any of my clients in the way these patients have been treated, I would have been fired on the spot. From the reviews, it sounds like some of the front office people need to be let go. Atrium, please, please make sure these hurting patients are HELPED, not injured even more.”

— Donna M. Spiker