JJR. D.

I have taken some time to reflect on my father's experience at the Ear and Balance Institute, and I feel like I have to leave this feedback for anyone considering them for treatment. We were told about EBI while my 82 year old father was in St Tammany hospital recovering from surgery. He has suffered with constant dizziness for 5 years, and has had every test and/or exam know to the medical world, with no relief. So I called EBI and was told about them not accepting insurance, and how this would allow for more personalized treatment, since they weren't dependent on referrals from other doctors, or insurance company approvals for treatments and procedures. While not inexpensive, my father and his children thought that the possibility of him finding out the cause, and subsequent lessening of his dizziness, far outweighed the out of pocket costs, which he had no trouble affording. He went through an initial exam and a battery of tests, went on a special diet, and took prescribed medication, and followed all of the doctors instructions in the hope of reducing the dizziness. After having crystals reset in both ears, and six weeks or so of the diet and medication, the dizziness lessened only slightly for a day or so, but quickly returned to the previous level. At this point Dr Gianoli, wanted my dad to meet with his partner Dr Soileau, later the same afternoon as our visit with Dr Gianoli. As I made the appointment, I asked if the $250 charge for the second opinion visit with Dr Soileau would be covered under the $250 visit fee paid for the visit we had just finished. I was met with some resistance from the lady behind the counter that always handled the billing, so I asked if they would please check whether the fee would be waived, and give me a call, but that I was coming back for the second opinion visit regardless of having to pay the $250 fee or not. We were happy to pay more the $6000 for our visits and treatments, but if I can save my father $250, I'm certainly going to try, as would any of you who are reading this review. I received a call from a different employee about an hour or so after we had left, telling me that Dr Gianoli, had now changed his "best course of action" to getting another second opinion from another doctor. I was shocked to hear that because I had questioned the extra visit fee, that we were being told that we should go somewhere else to get a second opinion(a second opinion that we had NEVER requested, but that Dr Gianoli had requested). I was assured that that was not the case, but honestly, how else could that have been translated? If I don't question the fee, my dad returns that afternoon to meet for the "second opinion" that they recommended, and everything is good. Had they called and simply said that they were sorry, but the fee had to be paid, and would we still like to come for the visit, I would have been completely satisfied. While meeting with Dr Soileau for another 3 hours, my dad was told that he had an irregular heartbeat(he had just had an echocardiogram less than 60 days before and his heart was fine), and we should consult with his cardiologist before coming back. As we walked out, Dr Soileau shook my hand and smiled at me and said "we're going to fix your dad, don't worry!" On my dad's next 2 nurses visits, no irregular heartbeats have been detected, nor have any been detected since. After spending over $6000 out of pocket with them, and being told how they were going to help(I took this with a grain of salt), we have not heard a peep from EBI, since the day we left that "second opinion" visit. So my dad is still dizzy, $6000 poorer and feels betrayed and lied to by both doctors at EBI. Since telling our story to anyone who will listen, I've discovered many other patients of EBI that payed a lot of money out of pocket with zero results. Fancy machines and sophisticated testing is no substitute for quality patient care, formerly called bedside manner. Whatever happened to "do no harm?"