OPTIMA Super Speciality Hospital

Visited doctor on may 20, 2020 for rhematoid arthritis treatment for my mother. This was our first visit @ OARC.

About the doctor :

* Very patient, Friendly and a thinking listener.

* Understands and studies patients past records & treatment received from other doctors. ( past 10yrs record )

* Doctor spends a good 15-20 mins approx in understanding issues.

* My mother was happy to talk to doctor who is good listener which she never experienced earlier. I think sometimes more than medicines the doctors consoling,encouraging soft talks heals the disease more than medicines.

* OARC clinic entry is through a flatbed round about staircase - good initiative by OARC for patients who cant climbs steps.

* Good that doctor doesn't handwrite anything on the case study sheet, instead he takes 5 mins to summarize the case history and types it personally in a computer desktop and the summary sheet along with prescription will be given to us, remember all these are typed printed material. This will save us from understanding doctors beautiful handwritings.

* Treatment has started for my mother and its good so far and she is feeling better now.. She is getting on and off pains in joints.

Only Cons with Dr sharath

* I asked Dr sharath about any specific diet for Rheumatoid Arthritis - what to eat and what not to, he told that sisters will explain the prescription and diet if any. I think sisters were good at explaining prescriptions and injections.

Hence i suggest to OARC that if patients receive any printed kind of material on what food to eat and foods to avoid according to their disease it would be a great help from Dr sharath. ( For eg - eat salmon fish which is rich in Omega 3 fatty, eat walnuts ..etc... - would be great if we get it from doctor itself )

History :

After visiting multiple number of doctors , we were just unable to find a solution to my mother’s ailment.

She was unable to move around swiftly. Took ages to get of the bed and take 5 steps. Severe pain in legs , hands. Could not make tea for herself ( that bad )

pre-Diabetic , loose motions. What not.

Several blood tests , every specialised doctor possible. None of them could diagnose the issue. And months passes by.

During such a phase , we came across Dr. Sharath Kumar ( In my mother’s words : God in Disguise ). He has the best team of nurses , who patiently checked and took all the details from us. We then get to meet the doctor who took good 20 mins to listen to my mother and immediately Ordered for few blood tests.

And then after the results were in we got to meet him again who immediately started on with the medications and things just started on the right path. I could see my mother getting recovered day by day slowly. And I am so happy and blessed to her today after 6 months of treatment and medications. She is all up. She is doing all her daily chores , cooking and everything.

Thank you so much Doctor and Regards to your team of nurses. (Special mention to Ranjitha )

And People reading this feedback , Do not visit the clinic in hurry. Take out good amount of time from your schedule ( half a day I would say ) and then visit. And I feel, it’s worth it when we see our loved ones recovery.

We have been a patient of Dr. Sharath since 2015, we used to see him at Columbia Asia until Covid. We had no choice but to see him at his practice. We feel we made the biggest mistake of continuing seeing him. The level of care dropped, no explanation was given as to why certain tests were asked to be taken. As a patient with a history of psoriatic arthritis, it is mandatory certain blood tests are done regularly. We noticed extra tests which we have not taken before to be done at HIS CLINIC ONLY.

When there is a new drug or new line of treatment is advised, it is imperative that the Doctor discusses the pros and cons with the patient and upon receiving patient consent only then proceed with implementation. What we noticed at Optima is that he would see us for a few mins, give us his diagnosis and later send a nurse with the prescription, it will be a rude shock to see her explain a list of new tests we have to take. It comes to us as news. It would be better if the Doctor had to explain and keep us prepared and not be in for a surprise.

A few months passed by and when we noticed a similar pattern, we questioned the nurse why the doctor does not discuss this with his patients. It’s now when we saw their true colours. Rude answers, sarcastic replies, and what’s more upsetting is receiving calls saying Doctor no longer wishes to see the patient. Was it a crime to question what tests and why they need to be taken.

Pathetic frontline staff, zero phone etiquettes and what’s even worse is Dr. Sharath didn’t do a thing to clarify or even sort any issues. After seeing him for over 5 years it’s absolutely hurtful and sorry to say but appalling service and shoddy staff. ** **** ****** *** ****** *** ** ******** ***** After being treated this way, we wouldn’t want to go back to him, nor do we recommended Optima to anyone seeking arthritis care/treatment.

I visited Optima around a week ago. Except for the doctor everything else is pathetic at Optima. They don't deserve to be in the healthcare industry considering the quality of their support staff.

The lady at the Reception was extremely happy to make us wait for almost an hour extra to see the doctor.

I had spent 2 hours the previous night organizing my wife's medical records logically and sequentially, the nurses destroyed that.

They charge Rs. 40 as sanitisation charges which is an organised way of collecting more from already distressed patients.

Then, the lady at the Reception happily asked me to pay for the dietitian charges that I happily did. After that my wife amd I were made to sit idle for almost 45 mins. Then my wife was taken for injections. After that we were told that dietitian had lefy6for the day. Extremely slow and insensitive staff. The dietitian consultation could have easily been done if they would have done their job properly. She nonchalantly gave me an option of audio consultation, then video consultation which I politely refused but clearly expressed my dissent and dissatisfaction over the way they deal with patients I told her it's not about the money but the circumstances under which we've come and the effort required to reach here. I told that I'm disappointed and left.

I traveled almost 60 kms in Bangalore traffic for face to face consultation only. I She offered me to issue a refund of the dietitian fees which I declined and asked them to keep it for their dietitian. She was in that hurry to.colled dietitian's fee but couldn't facilitate our meeting with her. That speaks volumes about the focus people have at Optima.

She called me later also for the refund after I reached home following a 2 hour drive. I declined that offer too as it appeared clearly meaningless to.me.

I have taken a lot of time and pain to write this review with tremendous sense of responsibility as I know how agonising it could be for any patient or attendant to undergo this.

Dr Sharath is amazing and I will recommend that you definitely visit him in Manipla hospital, but certainly not here.