Avita Community Partners - Behavioral Health

“I could not be more grateful for the services this place provides but the customer service has greatly declined in the past couple of months. Over the last while I can never get anyone to answer the phone except the pharmacy. A couple weeks ago I went to get my medication after calling the pharmacy and them assuring me that I can pick up my meds until 5 pm and the front door was locked at 4:50. When I went to my last appointment - my counselor is awesome - I walked in the front door and the entire office was dark like they lost electricity and there was no one at the glass window to check me in. I almost thought they were closed and forgot to lock the door but it was in the middle of the day. I am beginning to think that they don’t want any business.”

“I am leaving this review because patients need to know their rights when requesting medical records. I requested my Avita Community Partners records for disability claim adjudication and continuity of care, and I specifically asked that the records be emailed to me. I was aggressively stonewalled by eight different staff members, including senior leadership such as Michele Malone. Their collective response was to insist on a $0.50 per-page fee for a digital transfer. That is exactly the problem. A patient asking for their own medical records should not be treated like they are buying office supplies. If the records can be emailed, then this is not a stack of paper, toner, postage, and envelopes. It is access to my own health information. Telling patients only “we have the right to charge 50 cents per page” without clearly explaining lower-cost or no-cost electronic access options is misleading at best and cruel at worst. This is especially disturbing when the request is for a disability claim. Georgia’s own medical-record retrieval-rate guidance states that the posted rates do not apply to records requests necessary to make or complete a disability benefits application. HIPAA also limits fees to reasonable, cost-based charges and recognizes a patient’s right to request records electronically. Medical records are not a luxury item. They are not leverage. They are not something a provider should effectively hold behind a paywall when a patient is trying to prove disability, maintain continuity of care, or understand their own treatment history. The line “we have the right to charge” is not the same as “this is the ethical thing to do.” Just because an organization can try to charge a vulnerable patient does not mean it should. Avita needs to retrain staff immediately on HIPAA right-of-access rules, electronic delivery, disability-related records requests, and how to communicate patient rights honestly. Patients should be told plainly: “You may request your records electronically.” “We can email them if that format is readily producible.” “Fees, if any, must be limited and cost-based.” “Disability-benefits requests may be treated differently under Georgia guidance.” Anything less feels like gatekeeping a patient’s own medical history.”

“Horrible service, can never reschedule or cancel appointments because even though staff are always at their desk when I’m there, they NEVER pick up the phone. Dr.Welch is an amazing psychiatrist and the only reason I still stay with this place, but the counselors here are horrible and don’t know how to communicate effectively to the people that pay them to have some sort of emotional intelligence”

“I hate leaving one star. Especially for a place like this. I’ve never been, but I called and was asking them. What do they have for a place after they leave a place like Avida? They told me they have no resources for rehabs. How in the world are you a detox facility and not have resources to a rehab. Blows my mind. But any place that pulls you in for 5 to 7 days to detox you and just put you right back out on the street is not a good place. This is coming from someone that has 5 1/2 years clean. And I did only go to the detox and no rehab. But the Detox offer rehab matter of fact they offered multiple rehabs. Tried out if you want, but I would not trust this place.”