Submitted by TheTwelveYearOld t3_10sx5an in CambridgeMA
I've grown up seeing them for primary care and my family lives near one of their clinics, but lately I've been having mixed feelings about them overall. The PCPs there seem to be very good, but it's hard to work with the system.
In my last few appointments, I've run out of time to talk to the doctor about stuff or would have questions afterwards, and would try to message them on MyChart. If I choose to send a message to a particular one, I never get a response from them. My doctor said those always go through other staff and I could write "For Doctor _ only" and he should be able to get it, but not even that worked. My messages would follow on things I talked about with them specifically, but someone else would still have the nerve to respond. I needed him to send disability documentation to my college but since he couldn't respond with the way this system is, what could've been a few messages had to be a whole appointment, unnecessary.
I had seen a therapist with them 2 years ago but it was a hassle to even see one. I asked for one that could help specifically with intrusive thoughts but adding that detail seemed to have the complicated the process and then I just to see any therapist. I had to make a bunch of calls to hold them accountable for the process. In the end I didn't feel the therapist was helpful. Last month, my doctor made a referral for a therapist that specializes with Autism since I have issues with that. I called to make an appointment, then got a call back saying to make one, apparently that one wasn't made somehow and I had to do it again. I'm really thinking of forgetting it and not doing this all over again, and I should look elsewhere.
Needless to say, it's frustrating to work on them and I can't rely on anything from them other than primary care. There are other posts here, here, here, and here and also describes issues with them.
Stronkowski t1_j74sm44 wrote
Years ago I signed up as a new patient at the CHA in Malden. A week later I tore my Achilles (though I didn't realize that's what it was at the time). I spent 3 months trying to get them to see my sooner so they could look at my pulled calf muscle. By the time I finally got them to see me, the tear had retracted too far and it hurt the repair prospects.
A couple years later I hit my shoulder snowboarding and it didn't improve a couple weeks later. They wouldn't let me come in to the office because of COVID and only offered me a televisit, which is useless for a physical I section of my shoulder pain. That eventually healed on its own. A few months ago I had extreme digestive issues and pain, and tried to get in. They told me I was no longer considered a patient because I hadn't been in to see them in too long, and it would be 4+ months before I could get an appointment as a "new" patient reminder: I tried to go in previously and they wouldn't let me. This time I went to urgent care and ended up getting emergency surgery for an abscess.
On the other hand, the surgeon I had in the Cambridge location did a great job on my Achilles repair given how long it was between the rear and the diagnosis. The physical therapist I saw at the Malden location afterwards was also great.
Tldr: in my experience, their primary care is worthless and never has appointments.