National Jewish Health - Denver, Colorado

Kristen B

If you have a sick child DO NOT GO HERE! We have had nothing but issues! The Dr said he would be doing us a favor by seeing us. He proceeded to tell my preteen her health issues were due to being overweight and having asthma. We have seen many specialists and she doesn't have asthma. And now we are dealing with her image issues on top of her health problem. Dr Brock has no bedside manner. Now they are billing for more than what the insurance company says they are supposed to bill. Trying to get an itemized bill or speak with anyone that knows what they are doing is IMPOSSIBLE! I have spent countless hours dealing with one bill that is over a year old. I receive emails, paper bills, and texts about a bill that billing can't find. Even my insurance company is fed up with them. We thought they were one of the best for pulmonary needs and couldn't have been more wrong. The Dr in immunology was great, it's too bad he works there. Save yourself the headache and go to children's hospital!

Britt F

Had an excellent experience with the GI clinic here - Dr. Periyalwar was so kind and helpful discussing my symptoms. During my procedure, the nurses and all staff were astoundingly friendly and made me feel so comfortable. Even the scheduler on the phone was kind. Also, quick to get through to them on the phone and quick to get an appointment. Bonus - the facility is beautiful. Very happy with my experience here and will come back!

Kelsey Mase

Would like to first say that the people answering the phones and trying to help me have been very helpful but I don’t know what’s happened to this practice. Starting January it’s been like pulling teeth trying to get my prescriptions filled and just getting a response from my doctor is near impossible. The past 3 refills I’ve requested have taken over 2 weeks to fill leaving me consistently without medication. I even message the dr in advance to let them know I’ll be running out soon and will require a new script sent. This last time there was an issue with insurance so I didn’t fault them, said I’d give them another chance. But after sorted, both myself and my insurance company have been trying to reach my doctor and she just won’t respond. It’s beyond frustrating. I wish I could say this had been a one time thing, but this has now happened the last 3 requests for refills. I understand being busy but this lack of communication and leaving patients without medication is absolutely unacceptable. The facility is beautiful but id go anywhere else if you are on a medication that requires any sense of urgency.

Shayna Raphael

Editing to reply to the update:
I have already been in contact with NJH--you can ask the CEO or CMO. They either don't respond, give misinformation, blame someone else, or don't provide clear, proactive guidance on how the continued issues with their billing errors will be resolved. (Like today, I got an email about one of the current issues--likely because of this review--followed by "we will continue to work with your insurance" even though my insurance has made it very clear it will not approve claims outside of timely filing). I should NOT be dealing with any billing issues and my insurance for visits from a year and a half ago when my insurance is amazing about processing claims within a couple weeks. Also to note, I had to repeatedly request to have my medical records changed, and it took 5 months to have my chart notes corrected to accurately reflect diagnoses and medication lists, since the changeover to the new system resulted in 21 medications that I was not taking and had not been taking, as well as numerous diagnoses that I never had and had never even heard of. Incorrect dx and rx lists can result in denial of authorizations and it did, in my case. Again, best physician possible to have overseeing my asthma care, but the absolute worst billing and administrative experience I have ever encountered.

Original:
If it weren't for billing their review would absolutely be five star, because Dr. Gerber is one of the best doctors I've ever been able to see and absolutely improved my quality of life. The low rating is because their billing department has easily took 30+ hours of my life, and I am STILL trying to navigate the failure that took place when they transitioned over to Epic EHR system. Epic itself is great, most of my medical facilities use it and have never once had issues like NJH did. My appts fell on the time that they actually transitioned from their last system to the new one. My appts from 4/2023 were billed perfectly and the appts after 5/1/23 continue to be a disaster. They billed my husband (not a patient, never stepped foot in there) as the patient for over $50,000 in services and my insurance paid it, because we have great insurance. I got EOBs and alerted NJH that they were billing my husband as the patient and not me. They told me I was wrong and so I had to have my insurance reach out. They then had to refund my insurance. Now, 16 months after the fact, they are still trying to bill me for some of the claims. My insurance did not pay out on many because they have to be billed within the timely filing period, WHICH IS A FULL YEAR. They failed to do that and so insurance is now denying them, even though it's clear they would have paid them had NJH just billed within the full year they had. So because of their ineptitude, they are trying to make up the cost through me, even though I gave them all the information they needed before my appointments, as evidenced by the fact that all my claims were just fine before they switched to the new system. They refuse to answer emails, phone calls, or mychart messages, and my insurance has advised my not to pay the bills they are attempting to stick me with, since it was completely their error. Dr. Salem, the CEO, also won't respond, the billing department won't respond, and the CMO, Dr. Horn, wrote me a letter that said I wouldn't be billed, but my most recent bill arrived yesterday for well over $1,000. WHAT A NIGHTMARE. They haven't apologized, they won't communicate, and they are failing to adhere to their own policies and practices.

Kairee Tormoehlen

I have two young boys that have been patients for 8 years. Initially, I had a great experience, however, the past two years have been a challenge. As a parent, you don't have access to call the pediatric line. You are directed to leave a lengthy and time consuming message with a receptionist. The messages are getting lost in translation and my son's prescription was filled incorrectly. We see Dr B and we are rushed, as he constantly tells us there are other patients that are waiting and wants to go, however, I schedule two appointments back-to-back. He spent about 10 minutes total with us, so we definitely didn't get the care we hoped for. Additionally, their accounting department is where my nightmares live. I typically don't receive invoices for their appointments for over 8 months and when they DO arrive, they request a 3 week turn around for payment. Their processes are challenging and there are other providers that pick up the phone to help you.

Victoria

Do not go to this hospital.

I’ve been dealing with NJH for the last year and it has been an incredibly awful experience. I waited 6 months to see a specialist, and when I finally saw her she very quickly dismissed all of my concerns. At what turned out to be the end of my appointment she handed me some papers, didn’t say goodbye or have a nice day, or point me toward the exit; she just walked out and left the door open, leaving me sitting there waiting until a nurse noticed me and was like oh you can go.

I don’t live in Denver and traveling is not always convenient. I expressed this to my doctor, saying I would like to get images or lab work for her done at my local UCHealth so I don’t have to travel to Denver for a simple test. And she said that was ok. Then didn’t send any of my orders to UCHealth.

I thought maybe she just forgot, so I messaged through the portal asking her to send the MRI requests to UCHealth along with an X-ray order explaining that UCHealth has a policy of requiring an X-ray be done before they perform an MRI. So, I got a message back saying ‘Well you can just get it done at NJH then’. ?‍♀️ I was intentionally disregarded and ignored. She did not provide me with an X-ray order. And after a brief back and forth over the portal I was told I could ask my primary care to send an X-ray order… like wth. I’m your patient, why do we need to bring another provider into this?

Getting the MRIs done was its own separate issue. I was uncomfortable and numb in this awkward position they put me in and I said that I didn’t think that I could hold it for more than a couple mins (much less the required 35mins) and the guy said “well if you can’t hold it then we can’t do it”…. Soo, no other position in the whole wide world would work? He didn’t even try to adjust me. Totally didn’t care.

Then he asked me what kinda music I like and I said anything instrumental. He left it on a terrible, crackly FM radio station that had a talk show on. This happened on my second MRI too. Same talk show. I don’t know why they ask at all about music preferences. But I do know that I was in a lot of discomfort that escalated to pain, which was totally avoidable. Just being in an MRI machine holding perfectly still is uncomfortable enough; add listening to people talk on a subject at length that you don’t care about and can barely hear anyways- it’s utter misery. Plus the headphones are garbage and weren’t even put on me properly so I left with my ears ringing.

Hmm what’s left? Oh yes. Getting my images and records from NJH to be done with them forever. I thought this would be straightforward because they use MyChart. So, I submitted a records request through the portal. Then I get a message back from someone saying she was sorry she can’t help me because they don’t process record requests for NJH…. Ok, I did it through the NJH portal and it’s automated so that’s weird.

The other option is to call the records department. You can call all you want, no one will answer. Or you can leave a voicemail that no one will return. In the release forms it says they’ll mail your images on a disc to another provider. But my other provider who needs the images has informed me that they don’t answer or return calls from medical offices either because she’s been trying for 4 weeks and still hasn’t received a disc in the mail or any response at all.

Frustrating doesn’t begin to cover dealing with the incompetence of this place. NJH made managing my healthcare an absolute nightmare.

Dan Winn

Unless you know beforehand what is wrong with you, able to tell the doctors how to treat you, don't go to National Jewish.

To start, thousands of dollars in tests were ordered that I had to pay out of pocket as my insurance didn't cover them, but I was not told this ahead of time. I signed the paperwork in good faith their billing had checked this first, I would have said no or limited the # of tests if they had been up front and honest with me.

After all these tests, the doctor told me I needed to learn how to breath, yet 6 months earlier I had rode a century climbing 6k feet over 6 hrs in the rocky mountains, no breathing issues.

The doctor could read test results but not listen to me, the patient. Instead of admitting this issue was outside of their scope of expertise, they kept leading me on ordering tests my insurance wouldn't cover, they could have cared less if I was financially able to cover them, then they blamed me for their incompetence, the patient seeking their help.

I didn't give up, went to another doctor at a different facility who listened to me, ordered a non invasive test covered by my insurance which showed exactly why I had the breathing issues I was complaining about. This doctor was able to offer medical solutions, not tell me it was in my head.

I will never go back to possibly be treated the same way and up with no answers again.

S Chenko

I can't say for certain, but I think I have found the place where all former DMV workers have been re-employed since I now have efficient experiences getting a license or car registration, but at National Jewish Health their motto must be, "As little as possible!"

Some historical context: I'm 34 years old and have been seeing doctors for all 34 years in both New York and Colorado. The National Jewish Departments I have interacted with at this hospital: Allergy & Immunology, Pulmonology and Otorhinolaryngology.

I will start with the reason why this review is two stars and not one: Allergy & Immunology. I'm unsure why this Department can operate efficiently and effectively, but every other Department treads the line of incompetence. I would HIGHLY recommend the doctors and the Allergy & Immunology department to anyone.

The reason why I'm leaving this review is mainly due to how aggravated I am regarding Otorhinolaryngology with the major shortcomings and failures being primarily administrative. On June 10th, I had an appointment with Dr. Khanwalkar to get a second opinion regarding sinus surgery. As a Provider, I was really impressed with how thorough of an assessment he gave and him explaining my CT Scan slice by slice. I don't think I have ever had spent so much time with a surgeon during a single appointment. Kudos to Dr. Khanwalkar! The scheduler then came in after and I had a surgery scheduled for September 20th. On June 21st, I was called by a member of the staff to tell me that my surgical appointment had actually already been taken and I had to reschedule for November. This is after I had already put in time off from work, asked a friend to drop me off & pick me up, and made recovery accomodations. But the re-scheduler let me know "At least it's the first appointment of the day!" What a moronic thing to say.

Next up: Pulmonology. Yikes. This department is really resting their laurels on the fact that they are nationally accredited as the best pulmonary department in the country. I assume this ranking is 98% attributed to research and innovation, and 2% based on patient feedback (and I also assume those patients we're critical). My Provider always enters the room anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes after my scheduled appointment time (and I have only had roughly two appointments). This most recent appointment a majority of the time was spent with him looking through my chart trying to find a breathing test, CT Lung Scan and labs. I told him that I completed all those things after my appointment last year which he responds, "Yes, but I'm looking for the ones from this year." Would have been really helpful to know the requirements BEFORE the appointment, so I did have to let him know that I was never informed that these things had to be done and homeboy collected a paycheck for literally nothing. But at least they could get a spetum sample! All that requires is a staff member bringing in a tube for you to cough and spit your inner demons in. After seven minutes of waiting, I had to use the restroom. I asked a staff member if they could assist me return to my room, and being gone for a minute resulted in already assigning my room to another patient (which brings into question there steralizaton procedure). He asked if I could wait but I declined. As I'm walking back to my car, contemplating my mortality, I get a call from a member of the staff asking if I could please come back. I declined again. I know insurance companies are evil, but even I don't want them to waste their money here.

Finally, the front desk. I have seen lines longer for check in here than I have seen at the drive thru for In-and-Out burger. The party line at the beginning of the year was "we just changed systems" which they did just join MyChart so I understand their will be growing pains. But, no exaggeration, my insurance card has been scanned around eight times this year because it mysteriously disappears from there system repeatedly.

I'm out of characters but to summarize:
Allergy & Immunology - Good.
Everything Else - Awful.