Newlife Fertility - Tallahassee's Online Review Report Card

I have to say, from someone who was so incredibly scared of having to face going forward with fertility treatments, they made everything so calm and I felt very taken care of through the whole process. Doctor Ripps was caring and his whole office never once made me feel judged for being so nervous. They helped me when I was having one of the hardest times of my life and we were a success in this journey!! I would highly recommend. The main office is in Pensacola. I live in Tallahassee and the women who work at the Tallahassee office are amazing!

I was referred to New Life by my OBGYN. I filled out all the on-line paperwork and signed all the waivers, then received a call from Deanna, Clinical Coordinator, to set up the consultation. Due to our work schedules, our appointment was made a couple months out (8/28/19 @ 2pm). While I had Deanna on the phone I asked her what the consultation fee would be since they do not accept our (CHP) insurance. Deanna said it would be between $150-$220, but that the amount would depend on the length of our visit. Weeks later, my husband received a call from Deanna and while he had her on the phone, he asked Deanna about the consultation fee. She gave him the same answer, except she told him consultations were strictly one hour.On Saturday, 8/24/19, I found out from a friend that most fertility clinics do accept Florida Blue Insurance (an insurance that I can change to). I called first thing Monday, 8/26/19, to ask Deanna about the price of our consultation and future testing if we had Florida Blue, but the phone rang and went to voicemail. I left a message and called back approximately 6 times throughout the day - no answer. The next day (8/27/19), I called back mid-morning and left another voice message. I called approximately 6 more times that day - no answer.Finally, the morning of our appointment (8/28/19) my husband drove to New Life on his way to work to ask the consultation/insurance questions, and was greeted by Linda, APRN. Linda told him that the clinical coordinator had left under "unexpected circumstances" so there was no one to answer the phone and no one to do the billing, so phone calls were not being answered or returned and billing questions could not be answered. Linda did say that there is "no way the consultation is more than $100," and that she would not bill us today, but rather we would get a bill in the mail for an unknown price at some unknown time in the future.My husband and I both took off work and met at the clinic that afternoon at 1:55 pm for our consultation. We went inside and were the only ones in the front part of the office. After a minute we heard Linda say "hello" and when she came around the corner she had a big smile and said, "Hi again Chris!" She gave us some more paperwork to fill out and as I was filling it out I asked her if she could let us know how much we would be charged for the consultation. At that point Linda's happy demeanor completely changed and she told us "this is not the place for you" and told me, "your husband already attacked me this morning and now you're attacking me." She then said, "You need to leave." -- Just a side note I've known my husband since I was 14 and have been married to him for 11 years and I can honestly say I have never heard him raise his voice, that's just not his MO.Before we left, I told her that I would like our file, to which she stated we had no file. I mentioned all the paperwork I had filled out electronically and all the paperwork that had been sent over from my OBGYN. At that point, my husband calmly said to me, "Let's go," and ushered me out the door as Linda tried to give us the number for Administrator Leeann Wheeler, CMPE (who works in Pensacola).All of this happened within 3 minutes of our arrival.At 3:28 PM I received an email (attached) letting me know that my patient portal access had been revoked. Simultaneously, I received a call and voicemail at 3:28 PM from Leeann Wheeler saying, "Linda felt that you wanted a phone call from me in regards to your account."I shudder to think of the response (if any) I will receive from the owner for this review, and I went back and forth on writing it. But I just want others to know that if you are like me and my husband and want to know the cost of services and the time period in which you will be billed (as Linda said) "this is not the place for you." Sadly, New Life appears to believe that if you want a baby badly enough you should not ask any questions as to the amount you're required to pay for their services or the time frame in which you will be billed.

I was really surprised by some of the comments. We have a three year old thanks to the wonderful staff at the Tallahassee office. We are getting ready for another baby and I cannot imagine using anyone else! Yes, it’s true insurance can be a pain when it comes to fertility but it’s not the office’s fault. They did everything that they could to help us when it came to insurance! In addition, they were extremely encouraging and supportive! If you are having a hard time starting your family, I promise you this is the place to go!!

New Life has changed our view on fertility treatment. My husband and I completed two IUI treatments with Tallahassee's other "highly recommended" fertility team and did not feel confident in the care we received.From the moment we walked into New Life it was different. We were greeted with smiles and soon became family. When I call the office all I need to say is my name and Deanna or Linda know exactly who I am and where we are in our journey. They even remember personal struggles we are going through and are sure to ask how we are doing. We first met with Linda to ensure all data was collected and that our consultation with Dr. Ripps would be the most beneficial. Once we met Dr. Ripps we new that New Life was the place for us! He put both of us at ease and we are now excited for the next step in our journey!Please learn from my experience and START with New Life---I assure you it will be the perfect fit!

Dr. Ripps and the entire team at New Life are truly the best when it comes to infertility. We received personal, individualized care from the beginning. The journey was not easy, but with Dr. Ripps the experience was very meaningful. We have been patients in both the Mobile and Pensacola offices are were equally impressed with both offices.

This office is everything I hoped it would be. Anyone who has walked the road of infertility knows how heartbreaking, embarrassing, and lonely it is. When you go into a medical office for uncomfortable conversations, tests that may shatter your dreams, and treatments you wish you didn't have to have, you want someone gentle, kind, empathetic. Every single person in this office is like that. They are this sweet small family and they treat their patients so well. My husband and I first went to Tallahassee's FIRM clinic, and met with Dr. Winslow. I left in tears. I cried as soon as we got to the car. He was cold, didn't want to see the data we'd spent hours collecting on what we'd learned about my cycle over two years, and even seemed annoyed that we'd even brought it. He didn't want to answer our questions. There was no sense that we would have a say over our own care. He abrasively assessed us for 15 minutes and then his staff asked us to pay without first billing our insurance (we have coverage for consultations). I handed over the money because I was holding back tears and just wanted to get out of there. FIRM's billing department was a nightmare, as I tried to get our money back after the fact. We made a tough decision to start over at NewLife, and it was one of the best decisions we've ever made. They treated us with respect and spent over an hour in our consultation. They showed us a power point that was educational and helpful. They empowered us to be in charge of our own care. NewLife is making this difficult time so much easier, and I am forever grateful for them.

My husband and I , but mostly me, went through 2 months of expensive fertility testing that wasn’t covered by insurance only to have the doctor (who I only met on the last and final appointment) tell me that my weight was an issue for IVF treatments. Everything was ok for me to conceive except for my weight. The doctor suggested trying the keto diet and if I was able to lose 80 pounds to give them a call. My biggest issue is the doctors office obviously saw that I was over weight upon my first arrival but that didn’t stop them from letting me pay $$ thousands of dollars on fertility tests. They knew I wasn’t a candidate for fertility treatments from the moment they met me and saw my size. Them taking my money when they knew they would do nothing for me and letting me get my hopes up for nothing is unethical and immoral.