Daria Marie Cirisano ESQ

Great doctor caring and compassionate.

While Dr. Cirisano may be a talented surgeon, beware of his office staff. We discovered my mother had ovarian cancer while she was here (Miami) visiting me from the Pacific Northwest. It was determined she needed to have surgery immediately and was scheduled for a Monday morning surgery with Dr. Cirisano. The Friday before... at 7:30 PM (!), his office manager, Anka, calls and says "We don't recognize Kaiser Permanente and don't know who they are." Um...they're just the 600 pound insurance gorilla that have established operations on the west coast and Northeast. Her response, "We don't know who they are or their billing practices; therefore, you will need to pay me for the surgery now, or it won't be done Monday morning," Me: "Ummm... isn't that extortion?" Anka: "We don't recognize Kaiser and have never worked with an insurance company not based here, so you will have to pay for the surgery, or else find a new surgeon." Me: OK, here is my credit card. Anka: "How do I know it will go through?" Me: Ummm... you swipe it, and if it is accepted it goes through." Anka: "How do I know you have enough money in your bank account." Me: "I really cannot believe I'm having this conversation on the cusp of a lifesaving surgery for my mother, but I don't think you have to worry about my bank account.... the credit card company will worry about that." Anka: "We still need to know you have enough funds." Me: "You swipe the card. Really. Do you want me to send you a screen shot of the funds in my bank account?" Anka: "How do I know it's really your bank account." I kid you not. THIS was the conversation. It has been told at numerous cocktail parties to stunned faces, and will be in the book I'm writing, it's that absurd. So simply: CAVEAT EMPTOR and ILLEGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM, especially when dealing with Anka. This was over a year ago, but still steams me for its complete and total absurdity. Recommendation for Dr. Cirisano: Get a new office manager/accountant, if you haven't already.