HRC Fertility – West Los Angeles

They never answer the phone and I felt like all they cared about was selling me on egg freezing instead of caring about what was best for me. Terrible doctor that didn’t even review our test results before recommending IVf.

I had an appointment scheduled for 8 AM, but no one arrived at the office. It is now 8:45 AM. This level of unprofessionalism and lack of respect for customers is unacceptable and does not meet the standards of good customer service.

They never answer the phone and I felt like all they cared about was selling me on egg freezing instead of caring about what was best for me.

HRC is the most disorganized medical practice I've ever experienced, and an already traumatizing time--going through IVF--was made so much worse by what I saw as extreme carelessness on the part of HRC. And I just read a news article that reported that HRC is being sued for implanting the wrong embryos (it won't let me link here, but if you google "HRC wrong embryos" it should come up), which doesn't shock me at all considering how incompetent their staff was. While there are a few good things about this practice--short wait times, a Dr. who seemed nice enough, kind surgery center nurses-- those positives are outweighed by HRC's mistakes which ranged from being extremely irritating, expensive, and inconvenient to causing emotional trauma. First, dealing with the financial counselor at HRC was a nightmare. She made countless mistakes with my account--costing me extra money-- and it took a lot of work on my part--some of which I had to escalate to management--to even get someone to finally acknowledge that she messed up and forgot to issue an owed refund and forgot to provide records and bills (I think she hoped I'd just ignore the extra charges!). It should not take multiple emails to get a response to a simple question. Whenever I pressed for clarity or information or asked her to look into a potential mistake, she would either refuse to, or give me an answer that seemed like an outright lie--as was evidenced when I got a COMPLETELY different explanation from her manager while she could only muster up that a quote was "no longer valid," which was impossible given the time frame . The other questions you have simply get ignored or you are told to "contact person X '' but then person X never ever responds, or "responds" weeks later but doesn't actually answer your question or hangs up on you. Their inability to communicate clearly--or punctually--is astounding. While issues with billing and record-keeping were frustrating (and pricey!), they paled in comparison to the what seemed to be extreme sloppiness on the medical side. All treatment/medical communication goes through the nurse coordinator, which was frustrating because she made so many mistakes. I caught a bunch of those mistakes and sent replies to her emails asking for clarification, for her to make a correction, etc., but many times, those requests were ignored or significantly delayed. For example, a medication was ordered in excess, costing almost 1000 dollars. I asked about this via email and the issue was skirted until the next time I was in the office with her, and then, when pressed, admitted that HRC "estimates" medication and they often order (and charge you for!) too much on purpose (which I can't find disclosed in their medical forms, nor was it ever told to me verbally). Then she said my only recourse (for the extra medication SHE ordered that I didn't consent to!) was to sell it on the "black market." She even suggested Facebook groups were a great place to sell excess fertility medication! I also had one of the PAs give me the same medication-selling "advice", making me think that miscalculating meds/encouraging patients to do sketchy and illegal things to cover HRC's mistakes might be common practice at HRC. She also failed to provide key details including schedule changes/timelines for treatments. Instead, she pretended that this was the plan all along until pushed to admit she changed things (without telling me). She also had to be reminded to send necessary lab request information for my treatment/testing and address other key administrative duties. The last straw was the mistake made in my transfer procedure instructions--once again this nurse coordinator failed to provide essential details about requirements for taking the Valium that resulted in my not being able to get them to fix their mistakes in time for me to be allowed the medication during the (extremely unpleasant and invasive!) procedure. As a result, it added a level of extra pain and trauma to an already-stressful day.

The first time I went to HRC was back in July 2018. I had just been to Pacific Fertility, and had been VERY mishandled (they prescribed medication without taking my blood). I had already started an egg retrieval cycle, and thought I might have to start all over again. In a panic, I went to see Dr. David Tourgeman to see if my cycle could be saved. Immediately, I was put at ease by his demeanor and knowledge. He took time to explain where I was in my cycle, and how he and his team could help me. He assigned a team to me, and I had 24/7 care and felt like I was their only patient. We ended up being able to salvage my cycle and I was happy with the result of that egg retrieval cycle. Years later, in April 2022, I went back to HRC and Dr. Tourgeman with intent to use the eggs that I had retrieved. We ended up having to do another egg retrieval, and two transfers. I'm really happy with the treatment I got, and with the result (spoiler alert: I'm pregnant). Not only was he incredibly kind (as he was before), but the team assigned to me made me feel like I was their first priority. My care coordinator Mei was consistent and dependable - I could always rely on her to respond to my numerous questions and emails - usually well within 24 hours (typically within a few hours). My nurse Maria was always kind and professional - she had to take a lot of blood draws from me throughout the processes, and it never hurt. She has such a gentle touch when it comes to needles. Maira handled the finance part, and was always helpful and answered questions I had. I always understood the costs associated with my care. I can’t more highly recommend HRC and Dr. Tourgeman, and his team. They are incredibly supportive, and helpful. Dr. Tourgeman is thorough, caring, knowledgeable, available, and best of all, he assembled an incredible team that has exhibited nothing but the highest professionalism and dedication to my care.