Laureate Medical Group

Great first experience. Went in to see about a bone spur in my foot. Easy to make an appointment, receptionist was warm and friendly, X-​Ray technician was nice and well qualified and doctor and assistant spent adequate time with me. Had a bit of a strange experience with the guy who scheduled my pre-​op — felt a little condescending, but perhaps that was just because I had had such a positive experience up to that point. Close to a 5, and looking forward to my surgery there. \

Have been with Laureate for years though my employers medical plan. My doctor is very competent and intelligent but also arrogant and rather dismissive. The entire practice is premised on churn and burn for patients. Get them in, get them out and bill their insurance companies. I have switched medications during the course of my time there and they supposedly logged the same into their notes/​system and yet every time I return they ask which medications I am taking as if the last person was incompetent at correcting the system accurately. Appointments are impossible to come by and require months in advance due to the churn em and burn em philosophy. If your prescription runs out and you need a reauthorization of something you have been successfully taking for some mundane little condition like Hypertension, good luck getting them to refill it without them getting you to come in for more testing ($$$). Then you have to explain that you have an appt. but the earliest time they had available is 6 months away. Then when your doctor is at a seminar, out, playing golf with his buds etc. they have whatever Dr. is available finally step in after numerous calls for the refill who proceeds to fill the wrong or old prescription that they never crossed off their system though you told them the correct medications you were taking every time you had a prior appt. You can do better folks. This place is strictly a business for those in the medical field and not there to serve their patients. The doctors who operate the practice have become jaded and view patients as an annoyance they have to deal with to make their living.

There is so much I agree with in the other comments. I have been a patient with this medical group for a long time. In May I received a statement that showed I had a credit/​over payment of $ 35. Therefore, I ignored the statement. Then I started getting calls from Janet in the accounting dept. She said I owed $ 145. I directed her attention to a description box below the list of charges and payments which showed patient owing $ 145, Insurance payment of $ 180, leaving a balance or credit of $ 35. She wanted to go back to the listing of charges and payments to point out where I was misinterpreting the statement. I did not have a complete listing of all charges, etc., so I asked her to send me a complete statement for all of 2014. (The problem occurred six months ago). I received the statement and called Janet who asked me to find a line on the statement which I could not see on my statement. I challenged her and she started yelling at me and said she would find someone else to call and explain the statement to me. I did not hear from anyone so I called back and asked to speak to Janet’s supervisor. I was given Tabetha’s v-​mail and I left a message asking her to return my call.
She did not. I called again and asked to speak with Tabetha’s supervisor and was given Lana Walker’s v-​mail. As stated in another review Lana’s title is CEO. I do not think that stands for chief exec officer. She did listen respectfully and said she would have someone call me the next day. They did not. I tried to reach Lana again but her phone did’t ever go to v-​mail so I ask again who would be next in line that I could speak with. I was given Remeda’s v-​mail. She is supposed to be the Dir. of Admin Services. I have left two messages for her and have not received a return call. Today, I called my doctor’s nurse and left a message with her asking that she give a message to the doctor. It is my hope that I will get a return call from the nurse, the doctor, or anyone who will address this issue. Going by the experiences of others, this is probably wishful hoping. I too am concerned that they will never respond and I will eventually get a letter from a collection agency and a mark on my credit rating. Medical corporations are a good idea for the doctors but certainly not for the patients. I plan to avoid them in the future.

When I finally got insurance last year I had to pick a provider, however there is no great way to find one who might, let’s say think outside the box. The bios on any doctor are vague at best. I chose Rachel Delfavero I guess, like anyone picks a doc, by throwing a dart and hoping for the best.
I saw her P. A in August as she herself wasn’t available until December. I liked the P.A. Crystal, but as I gave all my info, did blood work, I wasn’t convinced that I had made the best decision.
I received my labs back through the portal and had multiple issues with it. I eventually got them to mail me the paperwork.
I had an appt in Dec with the doc and we again did labs, since some were off from the first time. This time we had a discussion about the prescription and how I was feeling. I had seen a doc previously who understood my issues and was supportive, and I told her that he was willing to speak to her about my condition. Apparently none of that took place and she told me to cut back on the meds, which then resulted in a huge spike in BP. I told them after research, that that was not a good call.
At the December appt, I was charged $ 100 which I was unprepared for and later found out that the insurance company had covered what they had charged me. By January, the check from insurance was sitting in someone’s pile on the desk. I had to contact the CEO to get my money back which took over 4 months! I was pretty outraged at what the problem was. Thankfully Lana Walker was a very sweet and down to earth person, who understood my issue with the billing dept.
After I received my check finally, I had asked the doc for a sample of a prescription that was almost the same, except for lacking in the fillers from the same lab. I liked the sample, but after asking her to switch the script, I could not get an answer. She agreed after multiple phone calls but would only approve a dosage that was almost half of what I’d been taking. Multiple phone calls to her nurse explaining that it was the same drug, and needed the dosage to be the same… resulted in nothing but rebuttal. I asked the pharmacy to call and explain, so they did, to no agreement. I called the lab to ask that they also explain that it was the same drug and half the amount would not result in anything good for me, particularly after having high BP by dropping the dosage. I again, called the CEO, but never was able to speak to her and voiced my concerns and problems with her assistant about Delfavero and why she couldn’t understand the fact that the dosages should be the same.
Fast forward to a month or so later, I just received a certified letter that I had to pick up at the post office stating that she was discontinuing our professional relationship, as if I wanted to have a personal one with her.
I called the lab of the drug company again, spoke to the person that had been helping me, and she said she eventually got to a nurse after multiple phone calls and being routed to wrong areas, that she explained that the drug was the same but would have to be equaled out to get the same dosage as the first one. I then told her that I was fired by the doc, for asking questions and trying to get the doc to understand the problem that she apparently didn’t want to address. The person helping said she had never heard of that happening before. Delfavero did no research, did not speak to the lab or the pharmacy and decided that I was a pain in her ass, so wouldn’t help me anymore. This is a doctor who has taken an oath to help people?
I am disgusted with this doctor and now the whole facility because it seems to be completely screwed up, but more importantly, there are lots of people willing to take money from patients, without helping them, when they truly need it. And now am back to square one.

I haven’t felt this well taken care of since I arrived in Atlanta.
I see 3 doctors, primary care, Dr. Scott Shulman, sleep doctor, Dr. Scott Liebowitz and Dr. Gavin Brown for headaches.
They are all accessible via the patient portal, and very responsive. Plus, when I see them, I feel like I am the only patient they have to attend to that day.
This clinic uses technology really well, and everyone you meet cares about your happiness and wellbeing.

This practice has become too big: many offices with different competencies. Left hand has no idea what the right is doing. Nurse in Jonesboro scheduled me for stress echo test but this is not done at SS office, where she made appointment. What a mess. No sense of urgency about rescheduling; still waiting callback.
Many years ago I had repeated difficulty obtaining an appointment with Dr. Shulman, and was advised to give Dr. Ghosh at Midtown a try. Both are competent doctors, but if you’re sick and need a last-​minute appointment, even long-​time patients always get directed to a PA anyway. A fact of life at Laureate.
I’ve never had a billing issue, but I concur with other complaints on
. Laureate’s latest attempt at a third-​party «portal» is terrible; retrieving patient info and appointment times is unreliable. One can neither depend on this portal nor call after hours to reach a human. Patients must maintain their own records due to portal unreliability. This time around, portal personnel at FMH indicate two-​day delay to fix their problem, long after my appointment time this morning. Again, no urgency.
The SS Laureate office has relocated to Barfield Road, so don’t be fooled by the incorrect address on
.

Dr. GIles is amazing but the front desk/​billing department is completely incompetent… will not recommend this office to anyone…

I have just been with Laureate for about 3 months now, but I’m a Type I diabetic and am pregnant, so that means that I’ve been in for 3 visits already. I am seeing Dr. Morris Brown. I chose Laureate after having signed up with the Emory hospital endocrinology group (I’d just moved to ATL) only to have my appointment, that I’d already waited over a month an a half for, canceled through an automated message on a Saturday morning. The next available appointment was over a month away. If you are not aware, this is a dangerous situation for a first time Type I pregnancy. They were not able to help me reschedule any earlier either after I explained my predicament…
AND THEN I found Laureate Medical. My first call with them was very pleasant. They were happy to help and eager to get me in. I think I called on a Wednesday and they scheduled me for an appointment THAT SATURDAY! Dr. Brown is very nice — he does have a little different way of managing diabetes than my last Dr. (who was like 25 and very up on the latest and greatest), but he is respectful of me and my wishes while still being firm in his instructions and does seem to know what he’s doing. (I’m sure there would be a little less pressure if I wasn’t pregnant). He’s also spent a significant amount of time in the room with me making sure I understand what’s coming up and how to deal with stuff.
I do have two complaints with the group however. First — you have to pay for parking and no validation. Not a big deal if you’re coming every 3 months I guess but by the end of my pregnancy I’ll have spent probably close to $ 100 on just parking. Not a deal breaker, but definitely annoying. Second — every time I’ve been to the office I’ve had a significant wait time. The first time I thought it was because I was about 5 min late to my appointment (had trouble finding which building and where to park etc), but the second time I made sure to arrive 10 minutes early only to wait in the waiting room until 30 min past my appointment time. Once in the exam room I waited another 45 min after the nurses finished taking my BP and downloading my pump & CGM for the doctor to come in. Then it turned out they had forgotten to take my blood for the blood work and so after the doctor left I had to wait another 20 min for another nurse to come back in. If they’re running that late I just wish they’d call me or something so I can stay at work a little longer and not be gone so long. However, I’d still recommend this practice for diabetics in Atlanta.

Literally took me TWO WEEKS to ATTEMPT to get an appointment. This first week I called & left multiple voice mails yet I received a call at the end of the week stating that not only i had to verify my insurance myself (Inst that what front desk if for ?) bc of my «special plan» but I had to chase people down to get a referral I apparently «needed» yet my insurance told me wasn’t necessary. After that I could only make my appointment with Dr. Orlansky since my insurance plan is so «special». But as we all know trying to reach any doctor is nearly impossible. They just gave me a call back after I’ve ran around like a chicken without my head getting all these things they need only for them to send me straight to voice mail after I called back 2 MINUTES LATER. I“m so annoyed with this whole process & I feel like they made me do all this in hopes that I will give up & not wanna go through it all.

This place is a joke. I made an appt and then they called to cancel but apparently the person that left the message doesn’t exist. Hmmm… I have called back several times and left 3 – 4 messages at both the appointment desk as well as for the nurse. I even stated it was important that someone call me back and nothing. Stay far away from this place.

I just moved here from Charleston, SC. It is impossible to schedule a well visit or sick visit with Dr. Pepper. I made an appointment for a physical. The first appointment they had was over 6 months out. They cancelled the appointment on me last minute because she was going to be out. Then when I was sick I tried to make an appointment to see any doctor in the practice and they said I wouldn’y be able to see anyone until December (it’s August now). I left a message for the office manager and never recieved a response. This is terrible service in my opinion. I would go somewhere else. I called Emory Healthcare and they are able to see me on Thursday as a new patient.

My physician (Adam Leaderman) is terrific — I can’t say enough good things about him. However, their new patient portal run by the practice is terrible.

I have gone to many internal med drs in this is by far the best practice I’ve been too. Dr. Kara Pepper is amazing and is the first dr that actually listens and is thou rough. Not only that, the actual wait time is very short compared to most. My only complaint is its hard to make a last minute sick appointment besides that great practice.

I have been going to Scott Shulman in this practice for almost 20 years… he is excellent, and so is his nurse assistant, Linda. They return calls promptly, he eases my fears, and he is just all around a great doctor. Easy to talk to, etc. i could go on and on. He’s one of the original doctors at Laureate and it is still easy to get an appt. for sick visits and a physical. However, the appointment desk is bad, and my appts have been screwed up several times. They make the appt for another location, or once I wanted to make an appt with Dr. Liebowitz and they made it with Dr. Lefkowitz, and when I called to confirm, I had appt. with the wrong doctor. What I care about is the doctor i see… every medical office has screw ups (this more than most), but i would never go to another doctor. I have referred a ton of people to him and this practice.

WARNING WARNING WARNING They will overcharge you.
I went in for a routine physical, which is 100% covered by my insurance. Because they found something during the physical, they coded it so that it wasn’t covered and they charged me an additional $ 340.
My insurance company has told them twice that routine physicals are covered and they needed to resubmit with the correct codes… but they won’t do it.
Dr. Mark Friedman is the doctor that input the incorrect codes and his staff won’t fix it.

Me, my mother and father all go here. My doc is Dr. Valdecanes and she is great. After the initial physical it is always easy to get in to see her either at the St. Joes location or up by Northpoint Mall.
They are fast when it comes to doctors offices. The wait in the lobby and in the exam room is rarely longer than 10 minutes.
Easy check in with paperless tablets and nice staff. Will call your insurance even to check on your copay if unsure.
I always see Dr. Valedecanes when I am there. She is quiet but I enjoy her professionalism.
Thumbs up!

I haven’t seen my doctor the past several times I’ve needed an appointment. Instead, I’m sent to a PA (but of course, my insurance and I are charged as though we saw an M.D.). The PA I saw was rigid and concluded that it was more likely I had a virus than the bacterial infection my son was diagnosed with 48 hours ago, whose drool, spit-​up and poop I clean up morning and night. Yup, that makes tons of sense. Wasted my time.

Like the others, if there was less than a single star, I would give it to these guys. I inherited these clowns through my parents signing me up for them when I turned 18. Need a physical? That will be a 6 – 9 month wait, ma’am. Have a question for the doctor? Don’t expect to receive a phone call. Will hear back lab results in X number of days? Nope, you will be calling them because they forgot about you. Want to leave a message for the doctor? Have to leave one with the nurse, who will also, of course, never call you back until you have called 5+ times and THEN she calls back with a snippy attitude, and still hasn’t asked the doctor your question. Very unprofessional. I got a name change during my time here and got all my paperwork updated. The rude nurse I always get stuck dealing with insists on calling me by my old name, even though when I make appointments/​login to THEIR system, it says the new name. I am trying to get my records transferred to another doctor to get away from them, and thus starts a new headache. I called to see what I needed to do to get my records transferred. They told me to look online. Looked online, says to call for their pricing, because records are «individually priced.» So had to call them back, AGAIN, to only be told that no, there would be no fee, just fax them the paperwork. By the way, if you ever have to get your records transferred, the State regulation right now is about .90 cents a page, so if they try charging you $ 50+ to transfer your records, ask how many pages it is, then ask if they are within the law. I know originally when I asked my doctor in person for my record, she said it would be $ 75, unless I transferred it to another office, then it would be free. NOT LAWFUL AT ALL… Anyways, two weeks later and the new doctor still hasn’t seen the records yet. I’ve called 5 times today and the «Medical Records» department hasn’t answered a single time, nor returned my phone calls trying to figure out where my request went. I left a voicemail at 9am this morning. When I called back at 3:40 (because their really awesome office closes at 4pm…) I was transferred and still no answer. I called the receptionist asking what was wrong with these people, only to be told they had left for the day. Why did you not mention this when I called 30 seconds ago and you transferred me to them??? No more idiots. I am done.
And like the others said as well, yes you have to pay for parking to see these people. Ridiculous.

If there was a lower rating than a 1 star, I would have chosen it! I saw Dr. Gottlieb at the Jonesboro/​Spivey location because I had chosen him as my primary care physician two years ago. I went to his office at the Jonesboro/​Spivey location as a walk-​in and asked if they could see me since I suspected something broken or cracked in my foot. After breifly seeing Dr. Gottlieb, he informed me that he had agreed to see me as a walk-​in but since it didn’t seem real simple he wasn’t sure he could do anything for me since he had other patients. After several exits back and forth and several conversations which deteriorated every time this «jerk» came back into the room, I got up and left and went to a more professional and caring doctor! I could write a book about how condensending his attitude was, how totally unprofessional he was but I just chose to not engage in a war of words with him and left. As I was leaving a nurse ran me down in the hallway and told me he wasn’t through with me and I told her I understood that, but I was through with him. When I explained what had happened with the situation she appoligized and she understood because that was his personality! I will never darken his doors if he was the last «doctor» on earth!

I was long overdue for a physical (it had probably been seven years) so I went online to find a physician in my network. I found Dr. V of the Laureate Medical Group. I ultimately went with Laureate because of the proximity to work. I also liked the website and how it provided bios and photos of each physician.
I actually made my appointment back in May. I was shocked to see how fully booked Dr. V was, because the next available appointment was not till today, July 26.
The building is fairly easy to find due to the abundance of signs. It is in a huge medical park that is located at the intersection of 285 and 400. I was shocked to find out that you have to pay for parking — the first 20 minutes are free, but come on – who actually has a doctor visit that lasts less than 20 minutes? After that, the price goes up to $ 2.25, then $ 3.50 and so on. I think the price increases in 10 minute increments, but I didn’t pay close attention.
Laureate’s office is spacious and modern. I was amused to hear Gotye’s «Somebody I Used to Know» playing, rather than the cheesy elevator music or Delilah crap. They use tablets for new and returning patients to check in. I arrived about half an hour early, took about 10 – 15 minutes to complete my paperwork and literally was called in a minute later, at 9:13 (my appointment was at 9:30). The nurse, Angie, asked my height and took down my weight. The scale is electronic, which I am not used to seeing at a doctor’s office. Most I have been to use the old-​school scales. I was ushered into an exam room where Angie conducted an interview of sorts to find out what medications I was taking and all that good stuff. She wrapped up and told me that Dr. V would be in shortly to see me. That never seems to be the case with any doctor, so I prepared myself for a long wait and pulled out my Kindle. I had barely read two sentences when Dr. V arrived. Wow. She was friendly and personable. We discussed my family history and any concerns I had about my health. She asked many questions and then performed the overall exam. It was quick, yet thorough.
Later, Angie came in to take some blood. She had me set a pillow on my lap to serve as a table on which to rest my arm, which I thought was odd, but whatever works. She had a bit of difficulty getting a vein to show up, but when she put in the needle — OUCH! Maybe I was just being a baby, but I swear at my OB-​GYN, when I’ve had bloodwork done, I can barely feel the needle.
I admit to getting lost a couple of times trying to find my way out of the office. Thankfully, there was always someone to point me in the right direction.