Advocate Health Care

I’ve been at patient at this location for the past 4 years for both OBGYN and primary care. The service and quality of care has gotten progressively worse over in that time. So much so, that I will be finding a new provider.
Miraculously, I was able to get in to see my primary doctor today after scheduling online around two weeks ago. It usually takes 4 weeks to get in to see a doctor (although I just scheduled my annual gyno appointment and first available was 7 weeks out. Apparently my gyno of 4 years is leaving, so I have to wait to see the only other one at this location. I found this out when I was unable to schedule an appointment online because her name was no longer in the system.) I have given up on calling the scheduling service to make appointments because the staff is incredibly rude, and I have been repeatedly been told they can’t schedule my primary doctor more than two weeks out… but he has no availability… so just keep calling until you luck out. It doesn’t matter if you have prescriptions that need to be refilled. They can’t do that without you seeing the doctor.
On my way to today’s appointment I tried to call them and let them know I was running a few minutes late (6 to be exact), but the direct number I had now gets routed back to the patient services line. I explained to patient services rep that I was running a few minutes late and wanted to let them know. She wouldn’t leave a message for the office without my full name, date of birth, address, phone number, and last 4 of my social security number. I gave her my name and phone number but explained to the rep that I was on a crowded CTA bus and wasn’t comfortable providing all my personal information… All I was trying to do was let the office know I was running a few minutes late. She reiterated she couldn’t do that without my social. I then asked if I could be transferred to the office directly to let them know I was on my way. She also couldn’t do that. At that point it was the next stop, so I gave up.
I go into the office and check in, and explain to reception that I wanted to let them know I was running a few minutes behind but am no longer able to get through to reception. She interrupts to tell me that it’s not urgent so they have no reason to put me through. All I can do is leave a message. Ok. Got it.
I have now been waiting one hour and 14 minutes to see my primary care doctor for an 8:40 am check up. (Still waiting. I’ll let you know if and when he actually shows up). I now understand why my 6 minutes don’t matter…
Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else.

I have HMO and have been coming to this location for two years now, primarily for my daughter’s pediatrician, Dr. Hartle. I cannot complain about the service at the front desk, they are always courteous and extremely helpful. Having a toddler it means a lot to me that I never have to wait more than 15 minutes to be seen by the doctor. I am definitely glad a chose this location for my family’s medical needs!

Frustrating to deal with. The doctors I’ve met with for my general obgyn Care have been nice enough and I’m meeting with a midwife next time, if it were just them I’d give them a solid three or four stars. But when you have a question you either have to go through the online portal or call and have the receptionists on the paid mass phone line listed in all of their info send them a message. Either way it takes several days to get a response. What happened to having a phone line that reaches the actual humans who can answer your questions? Even the «patient care» number can’t transfer you to them because they don’t have a directory of numbers. I prefer the docs here to the ones I saw at Swedish, but at least over at Swedish covenant I could speak directly to the nurses and have questions answered. Advocate’s system is a huge disservice to their docs and their patients.

Words can’t eve describe how irritated I am right now with this place. My very first appointment here back in 2014 was for an OBGYN. I waited an HOUR AND A HALF to see a doctor.
Second appointment in 2015 for another OBGYN appointment. I express that I waited long last time and they said they will schedule me with her first appointment of the day. STILL a long wait. It’s a different doctor, I tell her I have to get back to work soon and she’s extremely rude to me. about it but continues the appointment in a timely matter.
Third appointment today, for a primary physician. My appointment is at 11:30. (once again on lunch) At 12:05 they call me up to tell me my doctor LEFT FOR THE DAY! Are you serious? I will be finding somewhere else to go.

Good Doctor, pleasant staff. Horrible horrible scheduling system. It’s literally taken four weeks to schedule an appointment … Not to wait 4 weeks but back and forth for them to even schedule. Triple booked appointments. They said they do that routinely. 2 hour wait times. Completely unacceptable. Love my Doc. But it’s time to go elsewhere. My Doc should leave too!
Should have learned when they misdiagnosed my sister years ago and it ended up a death sentence. It’s all about the $$$ not patient service. Rush rush rush … Overbook overbook … results in errors and poor customer care.

I had a great first visit with the midwives at this location. Super easy parking and only $ 2. I didn’t have to wait long to be seen and the staff were all very friendly. Only issue is that I needed an emergency appointment and they couldn’t fit me in for 2 weeks!

This is not about my two doctors I see there. I see Dr. Dianna Bibbs for family medicine and Dr. Angela McElwee ob/​gyn. They are both wonderful.
But scheduling there is very difficult. When I try to get an appointment they are booked two to three weeks out.
If it is a routine check up you can schedule that far out it is okay to wait. But not if you are in pain and need to see a doctor for a referral to a specialist.
At some point shouldn’t they hire more doctors so the current ones can stop accepting new patients? If they are so booked you can’t get in to see the doctor what’s the point of having medical care you can’t use?

Ok, so, I’ve had a few doctors I really like at Advocate and have been a patient there for a lot of years (6, to be exact). But recently their scheduling service has really upset me and their communication is terrible.
I called to set up my annual exam (pap, physical) and told them my doctor’s name. They set it up (it was a month away– they never have availability to see anyone). As it got closer I got an automated confirmation call that — problem was it listed the location of the visit as somewhere out in the west suburbs not at my usual location! Confused, I called to reschedule– they had made an error and it turned out my primary care had left the practice and they didn’t so much as send me a letter letting me know, so they had booked me with another doctor with the same last name. Who does that? It’s right there in my file who I usually see and at what location.
So they get me rebooked and the representative on the phone is actually really nice about it so I move on and go to the appointment with a new doctor. I get there expecting my pap and physical and the doctor says they’ve only booked me a short appointment to consult about my allergies. I have to REBOOK and take a second day off work in a few weeks to get what I came in for. Doctor tells me to use the online portal because this kind of mix up is so common.
Sad news is the online portal doesn’t always work and isn’t intuitive, but i get it done.
So, while I was in for my second visit to get my pap I talked to my new primary care about getting and IUD. She says she’ll order the full STD test to make sure everything is good then all I have to do is self refer to a gynecologist at the office and set up an appointment. She then tells me that she’s retiring because the work environment there is hard to deal with and her patients aren’t happy– I can’t blame them after my scheduling issues and am sad to face finding another doctor.
Fast forward to getting my physical blood results– with an abnormal result. Doctor leaves message that follow ups are needed. I’m of course concerned and want to call back and ask questions. You have to call and leave a message with an answering service then wait for 1 to 2 days (sometimes same day, but not usually) to talk to anyone. I have to explain what is happening every single time I talk to anyone because it is never my doctor who calls back– always a tech or assistant or something.
While we’re still trying to figure out what is up with my test result I go ahead and try to schedule my appointment to get my IUD. Online portal won’t let me search for providers so I have to call the answering service. Remember that I don’t know the process so I expect to be able to call and have it scheduled and understand the process. I call, they make me an appointment (more than a MONTH from today is first available!), I ask what to expect and they don’t know, so they leave a message. Someone calls back, I have to explain again what is happening and what i need to know, the woman on the phone makes me feel like what i“m asking is stupid, then puts me on hold to go talk to someone in gynecology. She comes back and tells me the appointment I made is nothing more than a consultation, during which they will tell me everything I already discussed with my primary care, then I would schedule the appointment for the procedure.
Now look. I get needing a consultation. That’s not the issue. The issue is that had I not had questions and been really explicit in asking that someone call me back, I would have shown up expecting a procedure and been told for the SECOND TIME that I wasn’t getting that and would have to schedule something else.
That’s a lot of strikes in my book, and I’ll be finding another office that has better scheduling and at least can tell me if my primary care doc retires.

If I could give this place ZERO stars, I would. DO NOT GO HERE. I was a patient here for many years because it was in my insurance plan. I always had to wait a long, long time and the customer service/​front desk was always rude. I was a patient of Dr. Scott who I liked — she was fine. However, she left the practice without the office telling me, leaving me in a major bind to get prescriptions refilled. They have no respect for their patient’s needs WHATSOEVER. Whatever you do, go elsewhere.

I’m having an amazing experience with the midwives of Advocate Medical Group! Having such a great group of medical professionals supporting me during my pregnancy is valuable beyond measure.
Halsted & Blackhawk is my «home base.» They only have one midwife scheduled to be in their office on one day of the week. If you need more flexibility with scheduling appointments (plus, they can’t handle everything at this location, including ultrasounds) choose a different AMG office to be your home base.
Lori Fender is my absolute favorite so far, but each midwife I meet or speak to on the phone is nicer than the next!!! They are all highly experienced, super patient with answering any and all questions, and never act like they are in a rush to get you out the door. They also share the philosophy that YOU are in charge of deciding what will be best for you, your pregnancy, and your baby — they’re there to advise and support you through it all.
I see a lot of the nastier posts are really about fees, delays in getting documentation processed, etc. Being on an HMO sucks in the above respects, so you just have to learn how to play the game. Advocate Medical Group understands this. Tell everyone you’re dealing with at the medical group that you’re on an HMO, so that they know the right way to report stuff and what documentation you might need (especially referrals). Keep track of your paperwork and bring it with you to each appointment. Ask them to fax referrals ahead, and also make a hard copy for you. Make sure to call your insurance company in advance of any special procedure, prescription, etc to make sure that it’s covered. I found out that my HMO covers a breast pump at 100% — if I have it ordered by my medical group!

I saw Dr. Casaclang for a routine women’s yearly exam.
My visit was very rushed (I’ve had a quite a few of these yearlies and they never take long, but this was record speed) and it was a non thorough exam at that. The doctor didn’t bother doing parts of the exam that every doctor I’ve been to has done. Through the whole appointment the doctor seemed rushed and uncomfortable, making me feel uncomfortable and even more nervous than I already am during visits.
I agreed to a small blood panel, and was told I would receive a phone call in a few days with results. About a week later I received a letter stating «your test (s) results came back normal. Have a nice summer» During a fall month… Can they not even change a form letter to fit a patient at all? And to make it even better, after receiving the EOB from my insurance the doctor billed blood work that I did not request, approve or even know about.
Now the real kick comes now, over 6 months later. After not receiving an invoice from Advocate (and an EOB that said I may not have a balance) I received a bill from collections. I called them and they eventually allowed me to handle it straight through them after they argued with me that they sent out the bills. They probably got lost in the good old USPS, but how do I know that? They could be lost somewhere in the Advocate billing office, all I’m sure of is that they weren’t delivered to me.
The point is I can’t trust Advocate. With issues in both this specific office and their billing department, I can’t see myself going to any advocate provider and I certainly won’t be calling for an appointment at this office the next time I need one.

This is not a review for Dr. Bibbs, who was fantastic, if you can manage to get an appointment with her.
First of all, when I had my first appointment with Dr. Bibbs, I waited an extremely long time in the waiting room. I think it was close to 2.5 hours. I was nervous because I did street parking and was genuinely afraid to leave the waiting area with the fear that I would get called when I was putting more money in the meter. Anyway I went and shortly after I came back I was called in. Dr. Bibbs was absolutely wonderful.
Fast forward to next year. It’s time for my annual check up/​refill on prescription. I call in early December because I remember how tough it is to get an appointment with her and needed it done by February. I call and they tell me her calendar isn’t open and to call back in two weeks. Okay. I call back in two weeks and the first woman who answers can’t find my info (even though I’ve been with Advocate for a year). She transfers me to new patients because according to her since I made my account online it’s not valid apparently. Okay, so I’m transferred there and they find my account instantly and transfer me back to Dr. Bibbs office. I call to make an appointment and again they tell me her calendar isn’t up and to call back in early January. Okay so I call back in early January and guess what she has no appointments available on the days she is there until APRIL. Truly frustrating.
Dr. Bibbs is a wonderful doctor and I am sad that I won’t be able to work with her again. It’s a shame that the scheduling is such a mess because I really did like her.

After reading some of the reviews about my OBGYN, I feel like I need to share my experience. I began seeing Dr McElwee when I was about 4 months pregnant. I had previously been seeing a midwife in the same practice, but wasn’t very happy with the care that I got with them. Right away, I loved Dr McElwee and her nurse Diane. I always took early appointments and never waited more than 15 min to get in. She was so personable and I loved her down to earth attitude. I was so happy to find out that when I went into labor she was in the hospital and would be able to deliver my baby. She sat at the edge of the bed and talked me through the whole process with a lot of positive encouragement. It was a fabulous experience! I would recommend her to any of my friends or family.

I love my doctor, but every interaction I have with Advocate Medical Group brutally murders a little piece of my soul. GAWD they are awful and impossible to deal with.

I love Doctor Casaclang, but this medical group has really gone downhill since I started coming three years ago. Doctor Casaclang has been consistently wonderful, but here are my gripes with this office/​group:
–Every month I have to call to have my prescription rewritten, same one every month. It’s a slight inconvenience, but what really gets me is doing it through the answering system. It’s not always ready on time, I don’t always get a call and this is the second time the message seems to either not have gone through or been missed.
— Getting an appointment with my doctor in a timely manner is unlikely to ever happen at this point. I’m usually offered appointments that are one to two months away. Last December, I called in a state of emergency. I needed urgent care. Not only was I told I’d have to wait over a month to see my doctor, but close to three weeks to see ANY doctor in their group. I had an infection and a fungus that was starting to eat through my skin causing itching and bleeding. I explained that and got nothing. Apparently, the right thing to do would have been to refer me to an urgent care clinic. Since I went to one with no referral, because no referral was offered, I got a nice hefty $ 680 bill (would have been a $ 10 copay had they given me a referral, insurance said there was nothing they could do since I was not referred).
— Even when I have an appointment, I sit in the waiting room for at least a half hour.
I just left the clinic. It’s 2:15 pm. I called around 12, because I hadn’t heard back since calling 5 days ago to have my prescription written, and I’ve now run out. When I called at 12, they seemed ready to tell me I’d get a phone call when it was ready, until I told them I requested it 5 days ago. Then, they said it would be ready in 30 minutes. I came in at 1:48. It wasn’t ready and nobody seemed to know anything about it. I was told they’d call when it was ready and replied that they told me it’d be ready by 12:30 and I called 5 days ago. 30 minutes later, it’s ready. I’m an hour away from work and supposed to be at work in 15 minutes!
Not one person has even feigned an apology over the inconvenience.

Horrible experience from beginning to end.
I called to make an appointment after a month of chest congestion. It took over an HOUR just to make an appointment. I kept getting transferred and every person that picked up asked the same questions over again. Name? Can you spell that? Social security number? Yeah, nothing like repeating your name, DOB, address and social to ten different strangers over the phone. Should have tipped me off that the place was poorly managed but it did not.
I finally get my appointment scheduled at the Logan Square office. Doctor was nice enough. I see signs posted in the waiting area stating that payment is due at time of service. Standard. So before I leave, I stop at the receptionist desk and ask for my bill. The staff member tells me that the total is $ 118.00. She also informs me that Advocate has a policy of offering a 20% discount to customers without insurance that pay in full within 30 days. Since it is my first visit, she explains that they cannot give me the discount at the time of service. Instead they will mail me a refund check for the 20% discount. I repeated the information back to her, confirming that in a few weeks time, if I paid in full now, I would get a refund check from Advocate. She confirmed. I paid the bill, took my receipt and left.
Two weeks later, I get an envelop from advocate. I’m assuming its my refund but no, it is an additional charge of $ 12.00. I called the office thinking there must be some mistake. Nope. Apparently they are allowed to determine how much to charge you after the visit. I asked what the additional fee was for. I had no tests run, no blood drawn. It was a standard doctor listens to chest and prescribes antibiotics visit. No one could explain the charge or why I was not getting a refund check. I told the woman on the phone that I had a bill and a receipt showing the charge for my visit was 118 and that I paid it. Doesn’t matter. Even though they have signs demanding payment at time of service, they can charge whatever they feel like after you pay in full.
It keeps going. I just got a another bill from them for $ 48.00. Again, no explanation as to the charges. And! Added bonus, another letter arrived stating that their office was broken into and multiple computers containing my personal info were stolen. But don’t worry. Advocate stated that they don’t think the thieves are planning on using the information to steal anyone’s identity. Oh good.
I have called repeatedly asking to speak to the office manager but they are always in a meeting or unavailable. I have left messages for the manager and no call back.
Total scam. Rip off. Go to a walk in clinic at Walgreens.

I’ve seen Dr. Diana Bibbs over four years and finally had to give up. While she is an amazing doctor and actually listened and asked the needed questions to ensure proper treatment of issues/​check-​ups, her nurse and office is absolutely horrendous.
I’ve had the same prescription for well over 2 years and need to call to get it refilled each time. Every time I called I left the prescription info with the office, (they guaranteed that I would hear back within a business day) and would never hear anything unless I followed up (resulting in having to request to talk to the clinic manager a handful of times — who clearly was only flying cover for the nurses). Progressively this timely turn around time got so long and frustrating (call back with no one answering my calls or un-​returned voice mails — even having my pharmacy call and request the medication) that I ended up having to leave. The last 3 months I had to wait for over 2 weeks (while they knew I was out of the medication) before they even called me back — only to notify me that it’s still ‘in process’. All of this being well over the 30 days that each prescription lasts.
I’ve moved to Northwestern Memorial Group (in the same building — same floor level even) and haven’t been happier. If you require having to frequently call in your prescription (s) to get them renewed I would highly recommend this place as you can email your doctor directly and have ALWAYS heard back within 24 hrs (longest wait so far — 3 hrs) and they always process the refill.
Also, Advocate had incredible long wait times to see your doctor (easily an hour wait every time I visited) and they were so kind as to invoice me for the copy of my medical records when my new provider requested them. I’ve never heard of this before.
Best of luck!

I was pleasantly surprised with this office and Dr.Casaclang. As a new patient, I recently had my first appointment.
Poor office management and scheduling management is one thing that really turns me off about a practice… but this place has it together! I only had to wait about 5 minutes for my name to be called… a refreshing and welcome change from my previous provider where I would wait 30+ minutes after arriving 10 or so minutes early.
The nursing staff was so friendly and knowledgeable. Dr. Casaclang has a great bed side manner… and strikes genuine conversation. He is a great listener as well… does not give you the impression that your time is up after 3 — 5 minutes and he must move on to his next appointment.
As a health care provider myself I tend to be overly critical of providers at times… but this place is one of the best primary care provider offices I have been to in a while!

Dr. Angela McElwee is a terrific OB/​gyn.
I highly recommend her.
She is a very attentive and skillful listener.
She explains things VERY well.
The reception area is very clean.
The receptionists are very polite and discreet.

I really can’t say enough about the folks at Advocate Health Care — Lincoln Park and specifically, Dr. Casaclang. Like most people, I don’t like to go to the doctor and had so many bad experiences over the last 10 years. But this office is very relaxed, clean, and inviting. From the front desk associates to the nurses to the doctors, everyone takes their jobs seriously.
Dr. Casaclang is a great doctor, he’s very respectful and honest while still being a normal person. I’ve seen him for a number of issues of all sorts and has always been able to accurately diagnose and treat my symptoms. In a volatile health care world. it’s comforting to know there are caring and professional doctors you can rely on.