Maria P Canter, MD

I’ve been to a few appts at Dr. Canter’s office. The staff is rude, starting with the woman who books the appts. By reading the reviews here, it looks as if I’m not the only one to experience this. Dr. Canter was fine — abrupt and to the point — her bedside manner could use some work. She does seem knowledgeable, however I won’t go back due to the interactions with the staff.

My rating is just from dealing with the office staff so far. I have yet to actually meet with Dr. Canter. The physician who referred me to her spoke highly of her.
About the staff: I can understand and sympathize with why, when I called, I was somewhat brusquely (rudely even) interrogated about who referred me and whether this was the appropriate type of specialist (the implication being I’m too dumb to call the right kind of specialist). I get it; maybe it’s busy day for the office staff, all phones are ringing and they want to make sure they’re not wasting time with someone who’s calling about the wrong thing.
I explain my situation (despite much interruption and jumping to conclusions on the part of the staff member) and am basically told ‘well you probably have X [medical condition that one of my doctors suspects which I mentioned]’ and the staff went on to effectively imply that I’m wasting my time wanting to make an appointment with Dr. Canter. They also point out the various possible medical conditions I might have which Dr. Canter doesn’t treat. So are you saying I should hang up and call a different doctor, despite having a referral to Dr. Canter?
Excuse me, but if a doctor referred me to Dr. Canter, then doesn’t it make sense that I follow-​up on the referral? Of course, if the office staff are trained and qualified to give out medical diagnoses over the phone, maybe I should save my $ 40 co-​pay and time off work. I’m just very frustrated and I found the conversation rude and depressing.
For several months I’ve had mystery health problems, and I’d like to at least wait to hear a board-​certified actual DOCTOR tell me what she thinks my problem is, as opposed to one person who has been rude to me for 3 minutes on the phone, only about 15 second of which involved hearing anything about my medical history or symptoms (I checked it was 3 minutes and at least 90 seconds of which were spent telling me how to get the online forms).
I’m half tempted to call up and cancel the appointment and find another doctor. When you have medical problems, the last thing you need is someone being snotty and telling you they know what your problem is based on no information.
I sincerely hope the appointment goes better, and if it does, I will update my review accordingly.

Dr. Canter was knowledgeable and friendly but her in-​office staff (with whom I spent much more of my time) are terrific. Dr. Canter performed my first exam but all my subsequent testing was done by her staff. She saw me for one final follow-​up appointment. The PAs and nurses in her office were thoughtful and friendly — I really liked them.
That said, I wouldn’t go back to her because her billing department does her a disservice. My insurance paid 80% of the tests (which I expected) but, by the time I got my first bill, it was already 90 days overdue. I am currently dealing with being furloughed so money is tight however I’m making a payment every two weeks. Even with biweekly payments, I receive constant phone calls harassing me about payments not being received (even though, in every case my bank says the check has already been cashed and when the caller looks back at the records, they find that, «Oops, we DID receive that payment.» I understand that they want their money but they’re getting it. There doesn’t seem to be much communication between whoever is receiving the payments and the people making the phone calls.
In the end, Dr. Canter is probably worthwhile if you need a urologist but make a point of pre-​paying if you don’t want to deal with the frustration of being chased down like an unwilling delinquent. Considering my first bill was ALREADY overdue, the only way I could have avoided this was by paying in advance.