Often you notice a difference when you stop so this will be a good test!
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I wish I could suggest another vascular doc that is familiar with Eagles but know none as it has not been on my radar. If this doc is one that Hepworth suggests, I would consider seeking others out too for a consult as I know someone who didn’t have a good consult there very recently. (sorry JustBreathe)
I have found few vascular surgeons familiar with ES.
Sorry you are still struggling Stuuke. Hang in there and keep pressing forward.
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I’m sorry you’re still struggling so much @stuuke. Have you looked into the possibility of CCI at all?
No offence taken @Snapple2020 
Everyone has their own experience and no one is perfect. It is hard to fully understand someone’s negative review of a doctor not being in their shoes (as the patient or provider). I tend to try and look at a broad scope of reviews and talk to those directly when able. These forums are helpful in that way.
There are few surgeons working in this field so at least it is a small field to go through … if that is a silver lining - or not. 
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I saw Dr. Hauser at Caring Medical before Dr. Hepworth but I haven’t seen any legit doctors regarding CCI.
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Dr. Hepworth refers his patients to Dr. Henderson in Washington, DC, for CCI evaluation. We have at least one member (@Eagle1) who’s gone there to be evaluated by him. https://www.metropolitanneurosurgery.org
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Getting anything from Hepworth might be an issue.
Yes, Just Breathe, no one is perfect and they all have bad days on top off staff that are not patient friendly or incompetent. Generally, the medical system has taken such a severe hit due to COVID, the system even more broken. Alot of medical professionals have retired putting more pressure on the ones still practicing. Alot of them overworked and understaffed and things are falling thru the cracks and being poorly managed. It is the nature of the beast.
Unfortunately I don’t see a silver lining in lack of providers. Just like with ES, trying to find an experienced and competent surgeon who believes in the condition AND have a competent staff to manage the practice, is a journey.
Due diligence can be tricky when it comes to docs. This is why I always suggest seeing 2-3 specialists or surgeons before making decisions. I don’t think one doctor knows it all and there is value in more than one approach or opinion. I think patients talking to each other quickly find out when a doc has stepped outside their level of expertise, have poor staff or are not patient friendly.
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I know you’ve had a horrific problem w/ communicating w/ that office. I’m so sorry! I don’t understand why they have that problem. So many of the doctors on our Doctors List have busy practices, but Dr. Hepworth’s ofc seems to be one of the more difficult to communicate with. Perhaps they are understaffed? I vaguely remember someone making a comment to that end. I guess it goes back to the old “squeaky wheel gets the grease” adage, but I understand that even that isn’t very effective.
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Dr. Fraser Henderson is whom my doctor has referred me to for neck instability. I’m on west coast too so its a long haul for me. I have looked into going and haven’t quite got around to it. I do know Dr. Henderson requires you to go for specialized imaging at a specific radiology practice before your appt with him so its likely a couple day stay. He wants the scans done by his people. There are some good U-tube videos Henderson has done.
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Yeah, he missed my last appointment and the only response I’ve had since has been that they’ll look into it. They haven’t rescheduled or even told me why he was a no-show. If I’m relying on him for anything I might be at a dead end.
Do you use the patient portal with Dr Hepworth’s office?
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I just don’t get it. Even though others have had communication problems w/ his office, I don’t think any others have been through what you have. I wish it was a better experience for you. I don’t blame you for being frustrated/angry.
Patient portal, personal email and phone. I’ve never had anyone answer the phone but I have had people call me back. Dr. Hepworth gave me his email address and he’s never responded to any of my emails. I get some response through the portal but usually it’s just putting me off saying we’ll look into it. I’m sure the holidays didn’t help matters but this isn’t the only time I’ve had issues with their office. I’ve even had the people doing my CT scans try to reach Dr. Hepworth’s office to clarify his orders and they could not reach anyone and had no response. I know several others have had great luck with him and I don’t want to discourage new patients but I do feel they should be cautiously optimistic. I know how it is to finally feel like you found the answer to your pain and then have them dismiss you like every other doctor has.
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It has been about a month since Dr. Hepworth missed my appointment. I still have not had a response from his team. I’ve messaged through the portal and left messages at his office. Just ridiculous to not respond to a patient. I doubt I’ll be able to see another specialist without his referral so he is in complete control of my healthcare.
Maybe one of our members who is currently seeing Dr. Hepworth can inquire about the office staff’s poor communication & give us a report. When you do finally get an appointment, I recommend you call his office the before, & if you don’t get a live person, the day of, to confirm that he will be meeting with you. I know someone who recently did that, & it saved a lot of frustration since he did come into the Zoom meeting about 30 min late but at least she knew FOR SURE she was on his schedule.
I was in to see Dr H today and asked about the communication problems. He understands and said they have had a lot of MA turnovers, training a new front desk and lost an NP due to child care which was a big hit. His frustration is palpable and they are doing the best they can with the limited staff. Given this, if anyone is having difficulty, my recommendation is to be persistent and pleasant using the patient portal and phone messaging. At any medical office I have always walked out with paper orders (imaging and prescriptions) just in case, everyone is so busy and we outnumber the providers.
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Thank you for sharing this information. I hope it encourages our members who are frustrated w/ Dr. Hepworth’s ofc. staff or even Dr. H himself.
I’ve been as pleasant as I can be even though I’m obviously very frustrated. Much more pleasant than I am on here 
I haven’t left nasty messages on the phone or in the portal and the response is still the same. The most negative message I sent was just detailing out how 3 of my 4 appointments haven’t gone smoothly. I really don’t know what else I can do other than fly out to Denver and show up at his office.
Isaiah the first time I had a zoom appointment with him I called 4-5 times before the appointment and sent messages. I didn’t have any of the zoom login information. Someone finally got back to me the morning of my appointment. For whatever reason they just don’t respond to me.
Hey Stuuke, I’ve had a difficult time with scheduling and communicating with Dr. Hepworth’s office as well, but unfortunately he’s apparently the only one who can really help with this issue, so we’re stuck with him. When I was in for an appointment last week I was told they had tried to hire a second front desk person, but that fell through and so far they haven’t found a suitable replacement. So, in the meantime I have developed a few strategies that are slowly making interactions less painful.
- I always expect to wait up to an hour past my scheduled appointment before seeing anyone, and simply plan my day accordingly.
- I have started asking that the nurse message my visit reports and other pertinent information directly to me through the portal, as they never show up on their own.
- If any referrals are suggested, or prescriptions written, I request all contact information for the doctor, generic and brand name of the medicine etc, and a time frame in which to expect the referral or prescription to have been sent. Once that time frame has passed, I usually end up calling the referral or pharmacy to initiate what needs to happen. They don’t always have the referral or script, but once I contact the secondary party, they somehow magically find communication lines into Hepworth’s office and make things happen.
- I refuse to leave the office until my next appointment has been scheduled. This has at times meant I’ve ended up standing silently at the front desk for long periods of time until some action is taken. It doesn’t feel great, but I try to be as pleasant as possible while also making sure I’m on the books before leaving. I have never once had the front desk call me back when told they will, or when leaving a voicemail.
I know not all those strategies will work for you since you’re not local. However, I have my next appointment with Dr. H in person on Jan. 16th. If you haven’t gotten through to his office by then, please direct message me with your phone number and I will call you from the office when I’m done with my appointment, and see what I can do to help you get back on their radar. <3
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