Simmonds And Simmonds Chartered

Hate to wait.
I am yet 2 months until full term and I want to skip my appointments at S&SC which are scheduled once every 2 weeks for now and then in the last month on would be once every week. I want to skip them because most of the times even when I reach on time I have to wait to see the doctor for atleast 1hr and at times more than 90mins.
Come on, being pregnant dsnt mean you hv nothing else to do? Its terrible to keep waiting there for hrs even after having scheduled an appointment. And once the dr comes to see you, the job is done in just 5mins. they take my existing weight, size of tummy and baby heartrate by Doppler. If that’s it then why don’t they have a better system to make it quick?

After having scheduled my [same-​day] appointment, seeing the two star rating on Unilocal had me really questioning whether I should keep it – I’m glad I did. I made an appointment at the Gaithersburg office for 12pm with Dr. Cara Simmonds. Free parking aplenty. The front desk staff was so nice. I honestly hate going to the ob/​gyn almost primarily because it’s stressful, and my first interaction is always with some front desk person who seems like I’m ruining their entire life by showing up for my appointment and taking their attention off whatever game they’re playing on their phone. The person at the front desk was VERY pleasant, sweet, fast and genuinely nice.
I was called back for my 12:00 appointment at 12:03, the nurse was also very personable, nice and professional. Dr. Cara Simmonds came back shortly thereafter, was very easy to talk to and made me instantly feel comfortable about an appointment I was rather stressed out about. I didn’t feel rushed, all of my questions were answered, and I walked out feeling very glad that I’d come in.
I highly recommend both this office and Dr. Cara Simmonds. Those who are complaining about costs should probably provide that negative feedback to their insurance companies or reevaluate the insurance they’ve purchased. I’m sure their costs are in line with other practices in the area; you get what you pay for with YOUR insurance.

I saw the midwives at the Frederick office. I LOVE them. I met them all and they were very kind, listened to me and answered all my questions. When it was time to deliver however I ended up seeing Angel from the Gaithersburg office at FMH because the midwives I saw were not on call that day. Either way everythimg came out great. Everything went smooth and she was great.
I did come back for an additional follow up after I gave birth because of post partum depression and I ended up waiting an hour before I was even taken to a room. I left and they did call me to reschedule but I was not interested.
Over all the midwives are awesome and the front desk staff I encountered were very nice but wait time is long but honestly you expect that at any doctors office.
Only midwife (I think she was like a nurse midwife) was Teri Poeperling wasn’t too fond of her the first time I met her but after having no other choice but to see her again she was great. Very helpful.

SMH AND I JUST BROKE UP!!!
I am absolutely livid and disgusted with this practice. I’ve been coming here for years and recently I had a D & C aka a miscarriage. I now have a $ 500 bill with Simmonds that I have been paying off consistently. I find out that I am pregnant again and when I call to inquire about an appointment I am told that I cannot make an appointment until my balance is paid off. With a payment of $ 100 a month I wouldn’t be able to be seen until my fifth month. I even offered to give them my credit card or bank account number and keep on file to give them reassurance and security that they would get paid. The billing person told me that it wasnt me it was other patients who never paid their bill and it was their POLICY! Oh how much I hate when people call policy. They speak with Dr. Simmonds himself and he would not allow me to come back to the practice until it was paid off. I understand where they are coming from… I truly do! But as a long time patient of theirs, I have consistently been paying, and offered to have my card on file– they still wont let me come back. It makes me sad they are putting patient care second, I truly love this office, the staff, and doctors but this puts a sour taste in my mouth and makes me wonder about our health care system. I plan to pay off my bill and to find a new practice since I am being dumped by my current.

Love this place the always does follow up calls and staff is very nice Dr helmbrecht is my favorite doctor here

Every single time I go here I wait 45 minutes for a 5 minute visit with a doctor. Each one of my concerns was brushed off. Their phone and bedside manner is terrible. Before going away to school in 2013, I called to get a refill of my birth control prescription and they said they wouldn’t refill it until I came in. When I tried to make an appointment, they said they were booked until January 2014. And they STILL wouldn’t refill my prescription. Finally, I demanded to speak to my doctor and she refilled it right away. But the nursing and reception women are just incompetent. GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.

I have been coming here for 12 years and they DO NOT CARE! they could care less if you sit in an exam room for 45 minutes freezing to death waiting for your doctor. every single time I have come here, it’s been 2 hours long! I am definitely going to find a new doctor.

I wish I could leave 2 separate reviews. Dr. Bernstein is my go-​to doctor and he’s great. He spends time with me, answers my questions, and always gets me what I need.
Dr. Cara Simmonds makes me think that it needs to be harder to get a medical degree. Her lack of bedside manner and her stubbornness and flagrant lack of concern for her patients is absolutely insane. To keep it short, I went to see her when Dr. Bernstein was not available to see me. I knew what I needed, a medication refill, and figured it would be easy.
WRONG
Cara kept me in the exam room telling me over and over she needed to biopsy a piece of skin because she thought I had cervical cancer, and wouldn’t refill my medicine until she had her way so I finally gave in after about 10 minutes of persuasion. She assured me I would be able to go to work that day. On my drive home I was hit with a crippling pain that made it almost impossible to make it home. I had to call out of work for 2 days before the pain stopped. I got a call a few days later saying the test was negative (duh?) and my medicine was being refilled.
Then I got the outrageous bill for the test I didn’t even want. When I called to try and argue my point, I was told I would get a call back. Cara herself called me back and sounded totally bored with me on the phone, and I even heard her laughing with someone else in the background so I hung up on her and I refuse to go back to her. If Dr. Bernstein ever moved practices I would follow him in a heartbeat.

I had a very similar experience with Dr. Jones. She brushed off every single one of my specific concerns by saying «Don’t worry about. You’re young.» I promptly decided she was not the doctor for me.

The below review is from my justifiably aggrieved wife:
When I scheduled an appointment with Angela Jones, a provider in this practice, I had high hopes that my search for a new OB-​GYN was at an end. My initial interactions with the front desk left me feeling like the operations were more than a bit disorganized, including leaving clients’ personal information in clear view of incoming patrons, but I was willing to look past this less than stellar start.
After waiting in the examination room for about 20 minutes, Angela came in to discuss some of my concerns about a recent test result I received from my primary care physician. She seemed engaging, confident, and knowledgeable and convinced me that no physical examination was necessary. I accepted her advice. In hind-​sight I probably should have insisted on an exam since her recommendations turned out to be questionable at best and against mainstream thinking about management of my specific condition. After 15 minutes of discussion we parted ways and, at that time, I felt pretty sure that I had found someone who could help me stay informed and healthy over the long term. I could not have been more wrong in my impressions of Angela and her practice.
As mentioned, the medical advice I received was dubious at best and dangerous at worst. That alone should give anyone pause about continuing to work with Angela or any of her colleagues. However, that is not where this story ends.
A month after the appointment I was graced with a bill that totaled $ 275 for the pleasure of our 15 minute physical-​exam free chat. Yes, that’s right: $ 275…nearly $ 20 a minute for bad medical advice. Feeling that this was an outrageous charge, I contacted Angela’s billing department to ask why I was billed at such a high rate for a minimal amount of service. Lisa J took my call and agreed to follow up with Angela to get clarification on the bill.
Over the course of the next 2 months I called 10 different times (more than once a week) to try to get answers about these insane charges. Lisa J always told me that she was «trying» to get a hold of Angela and that she would get back to me as soon as she heard anything. Really? If it takes two months to get an answer to a simple billing question, how long would Angela take to respond to a pressing medical query? Angela’s persistent non-​availability became increasingly aggravating and, frankly, left me wondering how she could possibly mange to stay employed by being so aloof and disinterested with her clients.
After begging and pleading for resolution on my billing issue over the course of two months, I was finally left a message about Angela’s summary decision. Without explanation, I was told that she refused to modify the bill in any way. Payment was due, immediately. The complete lack of care for customer service signaled a collective failure on the part of all parties and let me know that Angela did not care about me as a patient, much less a person. Insulted does not even begin to describe how I feel about the way I was treated by Angela and her organization.
Angela and her group encapsulate everything that is wrong with our medical system today. No compassion, no accountability, no interest in anything beyond churning out patients to make a buck. Shameful behavior, all around. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of Angela or anyone working in the Simmonds, Martin, and Helmbrecht group. Don’t become their next unsuspecting victim.

This office is all about the money and they make it painfully obvious. After my first prenatal visit I got a letter in the mail from them asking me to pay for my delivery in monthly payments starting now. What? They called it a coinsurance. My insurance does not have a coinsurance on anything. (different than copay) I verified with my ins and pulled up the related info online also and talked to them about it. To make a long story short they harrassed me on 4 different occasion about the same thing and kept sending bills. On the fifth occasion my ins, the office and I were on the phone and my ins asked the office to stop asking me for payment that they are not entitled to. Providers will pressure you into voluntary screenings and annual exams even if you prefer to opt out and only want birth control. Happened to 3 other people I know. Again, RECOMMENDED AND VOLUNTARY is the key word but they will withhold birth control if you don’t do it. They get paid on the exams and not prescribing meds. Will share information benefitting them or info they have decided is benefiting you. Info pertaining anything should be given without judgement and patient should make informed decision based on all available info.
They don’t care about you as a woman and will rush you and make you feel like an idiot if you question them or have concerns.
When I was pregnant I waited 30 min to 1 hour past my appointment time EVERY time. If you are 10 minutes late they will cancel your appointment.
I was with them for a long time before I got fed up with it and left.