Five stars for Dr. John Cho. However, one star too many for the office.
Let's be clear from the start: Dr. John Cho was impeccable--professional, courteous, attentive, and outstanding in every aspect of care. If this review were only about him, it would be an easy five stars.
Unfortunately, the experience at the front office of Straub Benioff Medical Center - Waterfront Plaza Clinic felt like an entirely different operation--marked by confusion, inefficiency, and an attitude that was at times dismissive and outright arrogant toward patients.
One week before my appointment, I called for directions. After what seemed like an internal conference among the front desk staff, I was given incorrect information--including the wrong nearby street for a clinic located inside a large and confusing medical complex.
They also failed to mention that the clinic entrance is hidden on the ground floor, on the opposite exterior side of the building from the main entrance. In practice, this turns arrival into a kind of unintended scavenger hunt through a maze-like structure. I eventually found it after about 10 minutes of circling and decoding their "hidden entrance logic."
Parking and copay instructions were also not properly communicated in advance. I only learned upon arrival--not over the phone as should be standard--that my parking portion would be $5 or less. However, I was ultimately charged $5.50. While it is only a 50-cent difference, the issue is not the amount itself. Given that I spent barely 10 minutes with the doctor after nearly two hours of waiting, and after paying hundreds of dollars for the consultation, it would have been the bare minimum courtesy to fully validate the parking. Not for the financial value, but as a basic acknowledgment of the time lost due to poor communication, disorganization, and inefficiency.
Several patients with flip phones also appeared frustrated with the smartphone-based validation system, only to be met with a dismissive and somewhat arrogant attitude rather than any effort to offer alternatives or assistance.
Then came the scheduling experience.
At 8:00 a.m., 90 minutes before my 9:30 appointment, I called to explain I had an urgent CT scan at 10:30 a.m. that Dr. Cho needed for my evaluation, and that I would need to leave by 10:15. I also asked--speculatively--whether I might be seen sooner if I arrived earlier. I made it clear that I would only come early if it would actually help me be seen sooner. I later learned from the nurse that arriving earlier would not have changed anything unless the doctor had been directly informed. The front desk nevertheless told me to come as soon as possible and said they would try to squeeze me in before 9:30 a.m.
At around 8:20 a.m., while already in the parking lot, I called again to confirm Dr. Cho was on schedule and reiterated my time constraints. I was reassured everything would be fine.
At around 8:30 a.m., after finally locating the hidden entrance, I was again told not to worry.
After a short 95 min. wait, at 9:45 a.m., I was finally brought into the consultation room, only to learn from his nurse that Dr. Cho was still behind and had two patients ahead of me.
Despite multiple calls and clear communication, neither the nurse nor Dr. Cho had been informed of my time-sensitive situation.
Only when I made it clear I was preparing to leave without being seen did the situation suddenly become efficient enough to resolve. I was seen at approximately 10:10 a.m., (only 40 min. past my appointment time), and by 10:20 a.m. I was rushing out the door to make my CT scan appointment--an appointment I had waited six months for.
Dr. John Cho deserves five stars without hesitation.
The front office, however, at Straub Benioff Medical Center - Waterfront Plaza Clinic, deserves 1 star--generously--due to poor communication, organizational failure, and an overall dismissive and at times arrogant attitude toward patients navigating a very real logistical system they themselves created. read more
