The Gist:
Office / Office Staff : friendly and SUPER efficient!
Dr. Lalwani : super friendly, extremely bright, great listener, patient, and VERY thorough!
Beware: office location is no longer 301 S. Fair Oaks.. it is now on 988 S. Fair Oaks in Pasadena, second floor.
Just as a quick background, I am a physician myself so I have seen and done it all before. I know the *right* way to do things and the *fast* way to do things, and as many of you know, they don't always go together. What greatly impressed me about Dr. Lalwani and her office staff was that they were actually able to do both!
This was my first visit to Dr. Lalwani at Healthcare Partners in Pasadena. The building was easy to find (directly on Fair Oaks right next to "Burger Barn" - you can't miss it) and parking was ample. The office was on the second floor, had a large clean lobby and reception desk in front. The receptionist was very friendly and was able to look up my information, photocopy my driver's license and insurance card, collect my co-pay, and then hand me some new patient forms to fill out, all under 3 minutes. I barely sat down and wrote my name at the top of one of the forms when a nurse was already calling me into the exam room. She kindly showed me a clean, modern exam room, weighed me, took my blood pressure and temperature, and gave me a gown to change into. I again started filling out the patient information forms but only got to about the part where you check off male or female when the knock on the door from Dr. Lalwani came. She politely asked if it was okay to come in and after I said okay, she came in, greeted me kindly and introduced herself. She then asked me the reason for my visit and then went on to ask several standard medical questions, the answers to which she input directly into the exam room computer. She performed both routine and symptom-directed physical exams thoroughly and efficiently, gave some recommendations, listened to my thoughts and concerns, and we agreed on a plan. From the exam room computer, she wrote a prescription and sent it directly to the pharmacy of my choice. She was always professional and I never felt like she was rushing to see the next patient or that she had other things on her mind - she stayed focused on me and addressed all of my concerns patiently and thoroughly. Once we agreed on a plan, she sent the prescription electronically to the pharmacy. All I kept thinking was wow, this is what medicine is supposed to like in 2010!!
So after Dr. Lalwani left the room, I changed back into my clothes, collected my things and went back into the lobby to finish filling out my paperwork. I looked up at the clock on my way out and saw that only 40 minutes had passed by since I first walked into the office. Amazing. read more