Focus And Balance PLLC

I am deeply concerned about an employee named Shelly, who seems to work in scheduling or billing but has repeatedly acted beyond her role, risking patient care. Shelly has denied or delayed prescription refill requests without proper clinical authority, failed to relay urgent patient messages to providers, and falsely reported patients as having “missed appointments” when they did not. These actions have interrupted continuity of care and led to incorrect documentation. Most troubling, these delays and refusals in medication refills could cause patients to go into severe medication withdrawal, with some ending up in the emergency room. No non-clinical staff should have the power to restrict access to prescribed medications or interfere with provider–patient communication. Schedulers and billing staff are vital to clinic operations, but they do not have the qualifications to make clinical decisions or control access to treatment. This pattern shows a serious lack of role boundaries, judgment, and responsibility, and puts patients at genuine risk. This situation damages trust in the healthcare system and requires immediate review and corrective measures by leadership.

Once I was established as a patient, it was relatively easy to get appointments and communicate with them about medications. Both my PA and the office were polite and engaged. However, my PA abruptly left the practice and I was informed a few days prior to my appointment. After that, it has been increasingly difficult to get in touch with them about medication refills and I have been trying to get my records released to me for over a month with no updates or communication from them. I no longer refer people to Focus and Balance due to the variable communication that they seem to now be known for over the last year and a half. This isn't a personal failing on any one person, it just has seemed like there has been a change in how things are conducted or that they've been running short staffed. I hope things improve for both the staff and patients soon!