“I signed up for Brightside about a year and a half ago. My provider was habitually late to our appointments, did not remember me, and rushed me off calls. I switched to the medication-only plan as soon as possible because I didn't feel like I was getting any help or support from talking to my provider - I was just another number to her.
When it came time to renew my prescription refills, Brightside, nor my provider, reached out to me. I requested a refund for the two months that I didn't receive a service or a prescription and was denied one of the refund requests, as they said the policy was for me to cancel prior to the end of the billing cycle, however, how was I supposed to have the foresight 18 days before they did not refill my prescription, that they weren't going to so I could cancel?
When I did reach out to them, it took them 13 days to respond to me - after several emails, phone calls, and help tickets. Their providers don't care, customer service is completely lacking, and policies don't make sense. If you're looking for an online mental health company, Brightside isn't it.”
“Brightside's platform isn't very good. You have too many missed meetings, don't process admin requests within the time you say you will, and don't offer to help patients with things they legitimately need like FMLA or STD related paperwork. You also don't bill me for 2 months, and then out of nowhere tell me I have $1000 worth of bills that you immediately charged my credit card for without giving me the chance to request monthly payments. I want my money back.”
“You're horrible. You already know your patients are relying heavily on you and you make empty promises just to not follow through and let them down. Most may see you as their last piece of hope and you're letting them know by your lack of action and care that their mental health is not a priority to you yet you still send multiple messages trying to intimidate them into continuing care before you cut them off just to take more money from them or their insurance but continue to rob them of the real care, treatment, and therapy they need and deserve. DO BETTER!!!!! Look at the messages attached that Amy claimed in her notes were incoherent ramblings from me and tell me if I sound incoherent to you. Falsifying medical records to make me seem crazy and discredit me to cover your own ass is a crime!!!!! Shame on you!!!!”
“Unfortunately you can’t prescribe effective adhd medication via telemedicine. Not your fault but strattera and Wellbutrin just don’t work. Wellbutrin has horrible cardiac side effects for me. You really should stipulate what you can and can’t prescribe on your website before charging ppl $300. You also can’t prescribe lyrica which helps with co occurring pain and anxiety”
“I signed up for Brightside because I could not find mental health care locally that didn't have a six month waiting list. So far, my experience with the platform has been poor.
-My psychiatrist has yet to respond to my complaints about the side effects of my medication.
-It took over a week for the billing department to respond to my inquiries about payment and costs based on my personal insurance.
-While they accept insurance, the payment options for treatment are limited. You must have a credit card to sign up and there are no options for payment plans or setting a payment date, just "we charge you the full amount 7 days after your insurance processes your claim." Because I have no credit card and have to rely on a debit card, this severely limits the number of therapy visits I can afford and definitely increases my anxiety over potential overdrafts of my account. I need less anxiety, not more. That's the whole point.
-My second visit with my therapist was delayed two weeks because of technical issues with the platform. For those of you struggling with mental health, you'll understand how much something like that can set you back.
-The app is for IOS only.
I'm sure many of the providers that use the platform offer great service to their patients, however I cannot recommend the platform itself.”
“The new audio video app DOES NOT WORK! I’ve had two appt with Melissa moss and could not do the session because the connection did not work! Please go back to ZOOM!”
“Both providers had little to no knowledge about antidepressants during pregnancy. I felt ignored and judged and will not be using this service again.”
“didn't like psychiatrist who met with me 1 time, she was dismissive of me and didn't listen carefully or care about any medications other than the psych meds. haven't been able to figure out how to schedule with a different psychiatrist. only 1 therapist is available for scheduling and they wouldn't be a good fit for me.”
“Very Poor. The app was broken for me all month and it was impossible to contact my provider. When an issue with my prescription refill came up, it took 2 days for support to just say ok now you can access your provider messaging and then the provider just said to make an appointment next week. My prescription ran out today and this is beyond awful that I would have to wait a week to get more meds. This has been an awful experience and I am not going back”
“Your site and app on an iPhone constantly goes to schedule therapy. Can’t click help or anything but can schedule an appt with therapist. But I just want to message my provider”
“No, it really isn't working for me. I don't feel that a 15 minute check in is even remotely sufficient care. I don't feel a personal connection to, or rapport with, my provider. I don't appreciate being bombarded with text messages, emails, and in-app messages every 5 days to fill out a GAD-7. None of it works for me.”
“I have had a terrible time using this service:
The providers do not communicate at all with Brightside or "administration" and I'm constantly inundated with prompts to schedule appointments when I do not need them. Med checks should be like a monthly thing, not weekly.
I feel like the psychiatric side of things was just trying to push medication on me. Several times it's felt like I'm just an item to check off the list for the day rather than an actual person.
When transferred to the "crisis care" program, something got so messed up in the system that the appointment I had already waited two weeks for wasn't legitimate on the provider's end of things so I then had to wait *another two weeks* to be seen by a therapist. Went from supposed to be seeing the therapist once/week to waiting a month to be seen because of a software error. So much for "crisis" care.
Am always asked to arrive 5 minutes early but regularly have to wait 5-10 minutes past my appointment time for my provider to show up.
Brightside sucks. Mental healthcare software should make accessing care easier. Do better.”
“It takes forever to see a licensed psychiatrist, my psychiatrist is in Israel and in a different time zone, his hours do not work with mine, I have only been able to talk to him once and he prescribed a medicine with potential lethal consequences. This is not an effective system at all.”
