** This is me venting, but I guarantee you that it's all facts. I don't have any problem with any of the staffs, they are very nice. But I can't stand the business-practice....

Here are some of my experience with the Dr. Krahn's staffs...

First time was when the finance person called me 5 weeks ago, I couldn't asnwer the call but I called her right back (with in 5 mins of the missed call). I ended up leaving a message asking her to call me back. I never got the phone call. I called her atleast once a day, leaving one message a day for over a week. I NEVER gotten even "one" call back after the initial missed call.

Second time was when I called and made the consultation appointment, I was told by the person who answered the phone that the doctor may want to see some test results during the consultation. The lady said that she will call me back either that day or the next day to let me know what kind of tests I would need. so that I could tell my doctor to order it and have the results ready for the consult.

I didn't get a call back from that lady either. I waited a whole week for the call.

Last week I decided to call the San Bernardino office and ask about the pre-consultation tests that I might need. The lady who answered the phone looked up my file and said "I sent all your information to Rancho Speciality Hospital already. The other office didn't call you? They were supposed to." Once again, I was left out of the loop.

Today, I just got off the phone with Dr. Krahn's staff at Rancho Specialty Hospital. A month ago, I called to schedule a consultation appointment with Dr. Krahn. This morning, realizing that I don't know that room number, I decided to call in to ask. Once I told the lady that I have an appointment with Dr. Krahn today and needed the room number, she told me "I'm sorry, the doctor won't be in today, no one called you regarding the cancellation?"

**The staffs answered all calls in a very courteous and professional way, however, it seems to me that there's is a lot of blame-game between the two offices. I'm sure Dr. Krahn is a great doctor, but in reality, most of the time the patients will have to deal with the staffs. I don't expect to be treated like royalty, but I am playing for the services, atleast treat me like I matter. I don't have a goldfish memory, when you said to me that you will call me back, please do so. That is all I ask. But I guess since I don't even worth a phone call, then it's okay. I just have to go look for another doctor who will treat me better.

If you are already experiencing issues with the office staff it probably would be a good idea to look elsewhere. This type of procedure requires so much support and after care with fills and such that having a difficult support staff can make the whole process so much more difficult. It may not be a bad idea to let the surgeon know the reason behind your going somewhere else. He should be awaire that his staff is costing him business and reflecting negatively on his reputation.

sounds like somewhere I would stay clear of. You don't need this kind of help.

Hi cmcallister2 and pmcdaniel,

Thank you for your response. At the beginning, I really wanted to have the surgery done with Dr. Krahn, but after too many incidents, I decided that it would be wise not to.

I e-mail my husband and his response help me change my mind: "In my opinion, if the lack of communication you’ve been experiencing is any foreshadowing of what pre-OP and post-OP is like, then this is not the team you want behind you. You don’t want finger pointers when you need help. You want people that are going to help you with your needs"

I e-mailed the other WLS doctor (Dr. Milton Owens) and within 15 mins, I received the response. The patient coordinator had already called me back, sent me a list of the Lab tests I needed, set up a consult date, and also asking me for a tentative date that I would like to have the surgery. (I went to Dr. Owens's Seminar two months ago, so they had all my information. Also, I'm a cash-patient, that's why it seemed so fast)

Once again, I'm sure Dr. Krahn is a great doctor, it just so unfortunate that there is lack of communication between his offices....

Hi Caligirl. I just wanted to say that another dr. you might want to try is Dr. Oliak in Orange. He used to work with Dr. Owens. They are both great doctors and both have helpful staffs. I went with Dr. Oliak because he was closer to my home. Everyone has been so nice and helpfull. I'm not sure where you live but Orange may be closer for you. I take the 241 toll way to Chapman. Good luck.

Caligirl - it's universal. I told my family I would wait until after the surgery to write a letter of complaint. It's the call backs or lack of call backs that frustrated me. Surgery was April 14.

Grammy in Columbus

Hi~!

Angelface: I did consider Dr. Oliak. But since I work in Rancho Cucamonga and tends to do some on-site work around San Bernandino area, my decisions came down to Dr. Krahn or Dr. Owens.

I had a friend who had the band done with Dr. Krahn and he encourage me to go see Dr. Krahn. I did, and I do like the doctor. But considering that through out this process, you will have to deal more with the staff than the doctor, I chose to go with a better support system.

Wildercrews: Before writing this, I spoke to some of my really good friends and told them the situation, I also spoke with my husband and we all felt that Dr. Krahn's staffs may not be able to fulfill my needs. That's why I decided to contact Dr. Owens and then started writing this thread. If I decided to go with Dr. Krahn, I would probably kept my mouth shut about this.

Thank you so much for everyone's comments!

Wow... just think of what it would have been like had you gotten your surgery there and had some sort of problem.

Spooky.

Dr. Krahn performed my surgery in September 07. He is a fantastic doctor. My experiences with his support staff was and continues to be great! They were very responsive and helpful while I was going thru the approval process and they continue to be helpful as I go through the weight loss/adjustment stage.

I think you should complain to his office managers. Or better yet, complain to Dr. Krahn. His office staff represents him and I'm sure he would want to know that his staff is not responding/following up with his potential patients in a timely manner or at all. If he doesn't know there's something wrong, how can we expect it to get better.

I think you should complain even if you choose another surgeon to perform your procedure.

Hi Gigee,

I agree with you, I'll let my friend knows about this incident and when he goes in to see the doctor, he can tell him about it.

I know that Dr. Krahn is super busy, I went to his seminar and there weren't enough chairs for everyone. Maybe the staffs are swamped with all the patient files, but then they shouldn't make any promise to call / callback.

If you are going in to see Dr. Krahn, please let him know about this. I hope they can fix this problem.

^_____^

I re-read your post about the approval process. I told them that I was going to be a cash patient. Maybe that's why the process for me is different (in another words, very slow..)?

Hi CaliGirl626,

Most of the cash patients that I've spoken to at the support group meetings tend to get in faster than those of us going thru insurance approval. I don't understand why the process is slow for you.

Gigee: I thought that's normally the case, the cash-pay patient should be a bit faster since there's no wait for approval. Oh well, I don't know why.

When I first called the office to get the info on the Seminar, I told the person who answered the phone at Dr. Krahn's office that I will be paying cash for the surgery, and I got a very stern "Why?? you don't have insurance?" So I told her "Yes I do have insurance, but my insurance doesn't think it's medically necessary for me to do this."

I guess Dr. Krahn is just not meant to be my surgeon. Oh, well...

Hi CaliGirl - I had my surgery done by Dr. Krahn in March. He's great! The staff is great also (except for 1 incident) that has since been worked out. Rancho Specialty is very good also. But if you end up going there bring a heavy robe - that is the COLDEST hospital I've ever been in!

bevpear: thanks for the advice on the robe! I will need to go look for it since I already put my winter clothes away.

Too bad I won't get to do my band with Dr. Krahn. I really do wish the staffs would improve the business practice. It would be sad to see the dr. losing more potential patients this way.

If you don't mind me asking, what was the one incident that happened to you?

Edited April 24, 200818 yr by CaliGirl626
accidentally hit sent before finishing the sentence.

Well....I called the office 5 days after getting home from the hospital and was told that I could advance to a diet of soft/tender chicken and fish and soft veggies and fruit - The nurse said it was a stage 3 Bariatric diet and she had the diet emailed to me. I started that diet and didn't experience any problem......Then....9 days later I went in for my first post op visit with Dr. Krahn and he asked how I was doing on the liquid protein diet. I said "what liquid protein diet?" I should have been on liquid protein for 2 weeks after surgery so my stomach could heal and scar tissue can form on the back side of the stomach. so basically the nurse advanced me too soon - (She's new to the practice). So he put me on mushie food for the next 2 weeks. I've now advanced back to the soft chicken and fish and am hoping that no damage was done to the placement of the band. Will see how it goes!