I literally just joined Yelp to write this review because I feel so strongly that this practice has some issues. I heard good things about Dr. Issacson from a colleague at work, particularly about how quickly they are able to get patients in for an appointment. I call the practice to see about getting an appointment or with Dr. Berzin who seems to have a good reputation as well. I make mine, pleasantly surprised I only had a to wait about a week. I then find out they of course don't take insurance which is likely why they have such flexibility in their schedule. Fine--I have good insurance and decide it's worth it to pay out of pocket (effectively, since I have a deductible). I also really like the person I spoke with on the phone--she was very nice, answered my questions kindly. I have a mole that I am concerned about, and since it's in a sensitive location I wanted to make sure I saw a female doctor who would understand the aesthetic component of whatever options I had for removal, etc. Appointment's set with Dr. Berzin.
Two days prior to the appt. they call to confirm. No problem. Even though some things have come up at work in the meantime, I move some things around to be sure I can make this appointment work because it's inconsiderate to cancel at the last minute.
Arrive for my 9:45 appointment at 9:38. While I'm waiting, the two front desk attendants are chatting about various things, including other patients: one person (whose name they did not care to be discreet about, likely in violation of HIPAA laws) is awful and has a "bad attitude" because she consistently shows up half an hour late for her appointments and then gets upset when she can't get another appointment immediately. Understandable, I think to myself; that is really obnoxious. Another female patient is discussed in the context of it being strange that she missed her 9:30 appointment, and even more strange that she didn't even call. They weren't being snarky about their comments, just making normal observations about patients that don't really seem to have a good sense of how to handle unexpected schedule conflicts. Totally a fair thing to say, I think to myself. The patient should have called. Note that it's still only about 9:41 at this point, so that patient is 11 minutes late for her 9:30.
Shortly a woman walks out from her appointment, thanking the receptionists for squeezing her in that morning, and finally another patient in the waiting room says something about using Groupon for her visit. That makes sense, I think; this place is definitely more aesthetic-treatment oriented so they probably use Groupon to attract new patients/clients.
An assistant calls my name and then disappears around the corner. I'm new to the office and am not sure where to go and so I'm wandering around a little before seeing her at the other end of the hall...luckily it's not that big. I go into the office, and it's clear she hasn't read anything about me or my visit because she asks if I need to get undressed. I wonder to myself whether she isn't supposed to be instructing me on how the doctor does things, but in any case I say I suppose so and she points out a paper gown on the exam table.
She leaves; I undress. I sit, in a paper gown, on the exam table, catching up on email. Fifteen minutes go by. Strange, I think; it seemed like this place was on the ball with their appointments. Then twenty...twenty-five...thirty. It's 10:20 at this point and I have an 11:00 meeting. Even if the doc came in right that minute I was likely going to be cutting it close for my 11:00 (bizarre as it sounds, I have a day job too). After I dress and open the door to leave, the person I assume is Dr. Berzin walks up and says that she was just walking in. I say I've been waiting for thirty minutes. She says, "Give me two minutes," which seems strange to me because I would have thought (1) was she really planning to conduct this entire exam in two minutes?, and (2) an apology or an explanation for the wait was a normal response to learning that one of your patients literally waited half an hour for you. I'm an attorney, and if I ever kept a client waiting even two minutes I would apologize profusely regardless of if it was my fault. I informed her very calmly that, regardless, I didn't really appreciate having been made to wait so long, and continued walking. I explained the situation at the front desk, and--again, strange, I thought--no apology or explanation for my having been kept waiting that long.
This doctor doesn't run a free clinic. Having patients wait that longfor you is absurd--when you don't even so much as process insurance (and thus they are paying out of pocket, depending on their deductible situation). Further, the whole attitude of "well it's fine for the patients to wait on me but not for me to be waiting on them" as conveyed in the waiting room is ridiculous. read more
