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Review content:
My parents have been patients of Dr. Duke's at Coastal Dermatology for many years. I believe she's been a good dermatologist, although her practice seems to focusing more now on ""cosmetic"" dermatology than before. \r
My parents had recently chosen a new primary care physician, and had given that physician permission to request records from the 10 or so different combined specialists that they also see. A couple of months ago, the PCP noted that he hadn't received any records from Dr. Duke, so we told him that we'd get the records for him. We called Coastal Dermatology to request the records, and they said ""no problem, we'll call you when they're ready for you to pick up"". A week later, they left a message on our machine saying ""the records you requested are ready, you can pay by cash or check; the total is $7+change. It came as a surprise that they wanted to charge for the copies because we weren't told that in advance. When we questioned the office about it, all they said was that the law allowed them to charge so much per page. It wasn't the amount of $$ that they wanted; it was fact that they wanted any money at all. When we asked if they could fax or mail the records directly to our pcp, they told us that they do not fax or mail records, even at the request of other doctors, and that the only way to do it was for us to pick the records up ourselves, pay for the records, and then we could do whatever we wanted to with them. I told the girl on the phone that I thought it was a crime, and that I would discuss it with the doctor at my father's upcoming appointment.\r
My father's six month skin check appointment was today. Dr. Duke entered the patient room after we had been waiting in there for 45 minutes past our appointment time. After the check-up was completed, while still in the patient room, I brought up the subject issue of the records, and expressed to Dr. Duke that I was disappointed, that I thought it was unnecessary, and that I thought it was a shame that she charged for record copies. She said ""it's not a shame at all, do you know what the costs associated with that are?"" I replied that my parents had been patients of hers for many years, and that these records were not for us, that they were for their new pcp, and suggested if she was financially hurting so badly that she had to charge for a few sheets of paper, that maybe she's living above her means somewhat. I also told her that out of all of the specialists that my parents see, she was the only one who refused to send record copies to other doctors, and the only one who felt the need to charge a fee. Dr. Duke told me that she didn't care what other doctors do, and when I asked her what made her so special, she told me that we could take our business elsewhere. Her resolution to the matter was to discharge my parents from her practice, rather than offer to absorb the cost.\r
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