It seems like all doctors these days treat you like a drug addict if they're treating pain and the experience with Dr. Fiks was no different. When they ask questions related to your treatment you feel like you're being interviewed by the police. Everything you say is met with a suspicious tone no matter how well you try to explain your history. You are required to take a urine test every single visit. I don't know if that slows down the longer you remain a patient but I must not have reached that threshold. Expect urine tests every visit. Another thing I found odd is that they never schedule your next appointment when you leave the office. They “call you” to schedule your next appointment.
Every time I called they answered right away. The staff is very pleasant and made me feel very comfortable! Called the day after my procedure to make sure I was doing ok. I have no complaints!! All positive!!
It was at that point I decided to look for another doctor. I was able to schedule an appointment with another pain doctor I found on Google the very next day with the actual appoint the following day. When I went in to speak with my new doctor he asked me about "some sort of ruckus I created in my last doctor's office." I told him that was untrue and I explained what happened just as I described above. There was no "ruckus" whatsoever. All I did was ask to wait since no one ever answered the phones. Obviously they tried to sabotage my relationship with my new doctor right out of the gates. I'll let you decide what to think of that.
Exceptional care. Great staff. First time at pain management so didn't know what to expect. Would highly recommend practice. I found Dr Fiks very personable and an excellent physician.
I went to this doctor because I was told what a great doctor he was. I was not in his office no more than 10 minutes when he informed me that I did not have a diagnosis for my pain. This is quite wrong -- my diagnosis is pyloric spasm which is well documented. He acted as though I was wasting his time and told me not to come back. I feel that he is incompetent and certainly not compassionate. Maybe my condition was too complicated for his limited abilities. Make sure if you spend the time to get treated by Fiks that your medical problem is simple enough for him to understand it. Otherwise you will be told "not to come back".
I don't doubt that Dr. Vladimir B. Fiks (Advanced Pain Management Center) is a decent human being and a competent pain management doctor. His administrative staff is incompetent and unprofessional. Dr. Fiks is from Ukraine. I think he mentioned that he came to the United States in the last 80's when I asked him. I don't know if that's a positive or a negative in terms of service. It probably has minimal influence on your actual treatment. Nevertheless a cultural barrier in communication style exists.
I even tried an experiment. I called their office at 9:30AM, 11:00AM, 1:30PM, 3:00PM, and 4:30PM all in the same day. I carried out this routine for several days. Not once did they answer their phone. I know I was selecting the correct phone option as well. I was hitting "0" for the front desk. Their voice mail greeting says not to leave more than one voice mail so one is all I left. I was never called back. What I find almost laughable is when a staff member called me on an unrelated matter, to schedule an appointment, I wasn’t near my phone. When they left a voice-mail they asked me to “please pick up” when they called.
My quality of life has improved drastically since becoming a patient of Dr. Fiks and Bridget Lahm.
All of the above is my personal opinion based on my personal experience only. Maybe other patients have had better luck with Dr. Fiks and his staff. These visits aren't cheap even when you have insurance. With all the urine tests and all the visits you have to have when you first start, the out of pocket expenses start to add up.
To give you an indication of the level of professionalism in this office I should start by saying they never answer their phones, and I do mean never. I don't know if this is the case for every patient. I can only speak from my personal experience and my opinion of their service.
Finally I needed an answer on something so I went in to the office. They were "all in a meeting." I told the receptionist I would wait because I had tried calling multiple times on multiple days and no one ever answered the phones, which I found to be the case the entire time I was a patient. The receptionist informed the staff that I had an important question and I wanted to wait in the lobby. After a half-hour no one found it important enough to take one moment and come out answer my question.
Everyone is entitled to as much information as they can get before they invest so much time and money. That's why I bothered to write this review. In the end I think the problems are more related Dr. Fiks' unprofessional and incompetent staff than to the doctor himself. Still, a bad staff can make all the difference in the world.
I have always been treated with kindness and respect.
Dr Vladimir B Fiks Md is a US Doctor based in Portland, Oregon. Dr Vladimir B Fiks Md is located at 10305 SW Park Way, Portland, OR 97225, USA.
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