Dr. Ghannam has been my primary physician for many years. I had an appointment with him that was about 3 months into the future when I had some symptoms come up that were concerning to me due to underlying conditions that I have and my age. I explained all of my symptoms, concerns and conditions at that time.  So I tried to get an earlier appointment but he was booked solid.  I was asked if I would like to see another doctor. I said yes. Before I could see him though, that doctor cancelled the appointment.  So I was then asked if I would like to see a Nurse Practitioner. Still concerned about my symptoms (Dizziness, Nausea, an ongoing persistent cough, Emphysema, Diabetes, and Post-Stroke), I accepted. This turned out to be a video visit. When I explained everything that was going on, I was told that my issues were something that would have to be handled with an 'in person visit.' I said-"These are all the symptoms that I had provided from the very beginning. With this information being given, there was no logical reason to even schedule a Zoom visit.  It gets worse-  Still thinking that I had my originally scheduled appointment with Dr. Ghannam, I then found out that it had been cancelled. When I said "Canceled by whom? I didn't cancel it?" They said that when I made the appointment to see the other doctor, that my appointment with Dr. Ghannam was 'automatically' canceled by protocol. "Protocol?" That is a terrible design. No matter who I saw or when I saw them, I still wanted to see the doctor who has been treating me for years. The man who knows me and knows my history.  Then. I had to book a NEW appointment with him that put me into February (this began somewhere around Oct).  I was hesitant about going to an urgent care facility because of exposure (theirs and mine) and because it's hard for me to get out.  Enter-my NP rep, Leslie. She called me every month to check on my well being and goes through a lengthy questionnaire. After talking with her earlier this week, a nurse from the clinic called to set up a new appointment with another doctor. I was just about to tell her the story from above when she interrupted me to say that Dr. Ghannam just now had a cancellation for the next day and would I be interested in taking it. Well, YEAH!  On another note: And this pertains more to Advocate billing than patient care- But in the hopes that it might get to be seen by the right folks- here we go.  Every visit that I've had with all of my doctors (there have been quite a few), I register, I pay my co-pay and I see the doctor. Some time around last year or so, the receptionists have been telling me "No charge. There's no co-pay." I found this very odd, but when someone tells you that you don't owe any money, you generally don't argue very much. Then later, I get a bill from Advocate saying "You owe us money. Pay up."  I wrote to them a few times with my concerns. I would much rather pay for services rendered at the time of my visit than be billed later. That's the way it's always been and it's much easier for me to keep track of. I pay to see the doctor. I see the doctor. Done!  I tried to rectify this with the business office at 98th & Western, but I believe that they were only able to fix it (to pay copay at visit) for one doctor.  As it stands, at my visit yesterday (Jan 9th) I couldn't pay for my visit because, as far as they knew-there WAS no co-pay. What I ended up paying for was- a "Balance Due" amount for the useless Zoom visit.  Thanks for taking the time to read all of this.  -Patrick 
Beverly 9831 Western Internal Med