What takes a healthcare professional from being merely good to being positively great?…read more 1 The office is bright, clean, airy, and tranquil. 2 I have never had to wait more than 5 minutes for our scheduled appointment. 3 Every staff member greets you warmly. with a genuine desire to do everything they can to serve you. I've had the pleasure of working with Kassie, Danyel and Jana. I have never been to a friendlier office that is more dedicated to serving its patients. 4 Rachel is thorough and takes whatever time is necessary to conduct hearing tests and to fit hearing aids as perfectly as possible. This may take 25-50% longer than other audiologists who think 80-20 is good enough. And she does it at no additional charge. 5 Rachel is deeply knowledgeable. She stays current with new technology and the characteristics of hearing aids from different manufacturers so she can make a recommendation that will suit your unique needs. 6 Rachel makes it fun to come to her office. 7 Rachel will answer all of your questions, whether obvious or esoteric, fully and with respect. 8 If you have a question between visits, the staff will provide the answer immediately by phone, and if necessary, will send additional materials electronically. 9 I also consulted with Dr Brook Raguskus in the Pacific Hearing office who is a specialist in tinnitus. She too is deeply knowledgeable, respectful, and makes the visit fun. Rachel and her entire team are exceptional. They have earned my wholehearted recommendation.

I haven't given a review in a very long time but this one is well deserved. I noticed my left ear…read moregetting clogged so I tried ear drops and the spray bottle and that made things worse. I couldn't hear out of my left ear. It was horrible! So that night I searched on yelp and found the most amazing hearing clinic. I called the next morning right when they opened and the receptionist was the nicest person and got me an appointment the very same day. Dr. Ashley was the doctor that took care of me. She's absolutely amazing. She was very thorough and explained to me everything she was doing. She definitely spent over an hour with me irrigating both my ears and micro suction. I'm so happy she was able to get all that compacted wax out of both my ears. I can hear again!! I'll definitely be back to have my ears cleaned on a regular basis.

The audiologist adjusted my hearing aids to better clarity after one year usage. Being new to…read morehearing aids, I thought my hearing aids were defective but my hearing is gradually decreasing. He informed me that adjustments need to be made at least yearly and that applies to all wearers of hearing aids. I informed him that the cheaper Apple AirPod pro now can be used a hearing aid. It was superior to my more expensive Resound hearing aids before the recent tuning. The Apple could be used as a standard due to its online testing of one's hearing profile.

I have moderate hearing loss and tinnitus due to an accident in high school which nearly destroyed…read moremy left ear. I have been seeing the same audiologist - who also is an audiology professor - for over a decade, but she was out of network for my employer's insurance plan. Better Hearing Center was the only place within 40 miles that had the Widex brand I wanted, so I made an appointment. Dr. Mark recommended the Resound brand over the Widex I originally wanted and he was absolutely correct due to the advances that Resound had over the older Widex models that I knew about. I would put Better Hearing Center into the "hearing aid mill" class of providers. Dr. Mark is personable and took the time to answer all of my questions during my initial testing and delivery appointments. However, I felt that my hearing test and hearing aid configuration were perfunctory. And when I called, emailed, and asked for assistance through the app to tune my programming several times around 14 months after I got them, I never got a response except from the office manager who told me she would pass my message along. I paid my long-term audiologist to take over management of my hearing aids so that she can tune them for me going forward. She made some small EQ tweaks and one VERY MAJOR change. She showed me that I had the wrong wires (#4), which were so long that the hearing air hung down behind my ear so that the front-facing microphone was hidden behind it and not picking up sounds from in front of me. That may explain why I couldn't hear in restaurants using the advanced beam-forming technology that was the main reason for choosing this brand. I remember asking Dr. Mark why he didn't use the wire-length template and he told me that he had enough experience to not need it. Guess that wasn't true. To sum up, Better Hearing Center may be your only in-network choice, and going with them is not a bad decision. Just be aware that you may not get the right configuration or follow up care that you need until your insurance pays for your next set of hearing aids. I am 9 months away from that and may need visit Dr. Mark again for an upgrade.

I purchased a pair of Earlens hearing aids about 7 months ago. I paid $12,000 for them with the…read moreunderstanding that I could get a full refund from Earlens if I wasn't happy with them after 90 days. At the end of 90 days I informed them that they were not working out. The processors We're unreliable and when you remove the processors from your ears you are really deaf because you have lens covering your ear drums and blocking out any sound. I made an appointment with Earlens and returned them as soon as I could get to Menlo Park. I had to travel from Hawaii. I returned the hearing aids to Earlens in early February. I was told that I would hear about the refund later. It is now late April. I have not heard from them and they don't answer the phone. Ralph Wood

Awful! Understaffed, don't answer the phone, don't return messages. This has been going on for over…read morea year. They keep promising to improve, but. never do improve.

Christine Throm was so informative on explaining the options I had with my severe hearing loss. I…read moreasked a lot of questions and she always gave me honest answers and we came up with some good options. It's a great office .. you can be reassured you will always get the help you need no matter what your hearing loss is. I highly recommend them!

I've been served by Dr. Throm and her staff for about 20 years or so - my husband too. She is not…read moreonly very knowledgeable, but personable and friendly - and most important to those of us beyond 75, so patient in explaining how these little miracles in our ears work! Excellent follow-up, and she has a program to finance those $$$ hearing aids. I would add a sixth star if I could!

Great place. I was able to book an appointment the next day. Other places it was weeks away. The…read morecare was excellent. I had ear wax removal and found out my ear was totally occluded. They washed out both ears and now in can hear better than recent memory. I highly recommend.

I had a horrible experience with this money thirst unprofessional audiologist today at Palo Alto…read moremedical foundation. To my surprise this person accepted to see me to give me a lecture. My hearing device was not working properly I made appointment to see it can be fixed, she dragged me over to say because I have not bought it from there she won't be able to do anything so I have to come back to make an appointment to do a hearing test first. She had my history pulled out from Stanford audiology, she could see everything but instead of taking hearing test she wanted me to come back again I was so upset because I lost 8 hours of wages just to sit there and listen to her nonsense. Did nothing and I was so upset I called made another appointment with Stanford audiology which it is far from my house. I should have looked at her reviews here no wonder she is getting 2 and 1 for her service. She is awful, do not make appointment with Kristine Dabu.

Un believable service very clean very polite very knowledgeable Sierra new her field learned a lot…read more, Elton the front desk top notch, I wiki Be back

Wonderful experience from start to finish at this office!…read more I've always been protective of my hearing at concerts, parades, and other loud environments, but always been a little disappointed at how regular foam earplugs and even more expensive plugs distort the sound. I knew custom-fit, professionally engineered plugs were an option for far less distortion (and thus more enjoyment of shows), and I decided to bite the bullet and have some made. There was a little bit of a snafu with the appointment I'd made through a third-party provider, but the office managed to work me in despite the trouble (which was totally not their fault). This was all uncharted territory for me, but Dr. Giana Hatem put me at ease and was really wonderful to work with throughout the whole process. She answered all my questions, made some recommendations, and walked me through everything, from taking impressions of my ears (which feels super weird, but it doesn't hurt one bit) to making sure the fit was right and that I was happy when the final product came in. Which brings me to another thing to love about this office: they have a wonderful sense of humor! So refreshing! As Dr. Hatem was walking me through the office while I had bright pink goop in my ears, another doctor pointed at my ear and said "there's something in your ear!" On a return visit, they had a skeleton sitting on a bench in their waiting room reading a newspaper for Halloween too. These are not stuffy, super-serious-business people. I love that. After using my new earplugs for a while, I decided I wanted a second pair with far less attenuation for karaoke nights so I could hear myself off the house speakers better while singing, and Dr. Hatem made that process super easy. She asked me several questions to make sure she understood my needs and went out of her way to find me attenuators with about 80% less apparent attenuation (16dB less). I didn't even have to come back in for impressions- they still had my previous ones available to make a second set of plugs. If you're a serious musician or even just a serious concert-goer and you want to hear the full spectrum of sound, without distortion, and just quieter, I really recommend getting a custom set of earplugs. And this California Hearing Center office is a terrific place to get some made!

Dr Paul Yun examined my throat just using a small mirror and not a Laryngoscopy. I was complaining…read morepain in my throat and irritation. There was not much he can do to diagnose my throat discomport. I'm very dissapointed with him. He charged me almost $900 in about 20 minutes. Not going back to this doctor.

I've only seen Dr. Yun twice but both my visits and email correspondence were positive. I came to…read morehim in February for the first of several ear infection in a three month period. I agree with the other positive reviews about his bedside manner and proactive-ness. He said the ENTs at PAMF should have given me a reason for wanting to remove my ear tubes in 3 instead of 2 years (despite a perforation that required at tympanoplasty 2 years after my first set of tubes) other than "that's what we always tell people". Even better, he said I can leave the tubes in for as long as I want if they are not causing problems. I love a doctor who has the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude as I don't want to undergo unnecessary surgeries/procedures. Given that both he had Dr. Janas have treated multiple ear infections during the few months I saw them and the CT I had earlier this month showed mastoid fluid in both ears, it's possible I may need them removed in the future and he agreed that they would need to come out if infections persist. It's hard to find a doctor - especially an ENT - who both doesn't push unnecessary procedures/surgeries and isn't afraid to consider that route if the problem persists. Finally, I love that he gave honest recommendations for ENTs in/near Walnut Creek when I gave him some names of ENTs in network with my secondary insurance that MM doesn't accept (and I'm losing the primary they accept next week due to a new job). I told him what I want in a new ENT and appreciated that he didn't hesitate to steer me away from doctors who either had poor reviews or were sub specialists for issues that I don't need treatment. Several of the ENTs who have thrown their hands up over the years were sub-specialists (the 2 main offenders were a laryngologist and facial plastics) so Dr. Yun definitely understood why I wanted a general ENT. Some of the past recommendations I've received over the years - including an ENT I know personally who didn't even treat me as a pt - were biased and didn't take into consideration the qualities I want in a doc. Hopefully his recommendations will prove true when the time comes!

Very competent personable genuine ENT that is easy to discuss issues, asks questions to ensure…read moreunderstanding the patient and still manages time extremely well!! Efficient yet never rushed, after summary notes extended her care for additional knowledge, a sign of experience. Office was equally efficient and thorough despite my being late and appreciated my calling ahead to inform them.

My elderly dad suddenly lost hearing in his ear and we were very fortunate to see Dr. Moir. She…read moreexplained the procedure and resolved the hearing issue during the first visit. Thanks to the team at Sutter San Carlos, including Dr. Pyne, she was terrific as well!

Hats off to Anga and Hannah. I was happy with my widex hearing aids after five years - and they…read morereplaced one that was lost under warranty. My hearing decreased a bit so i looked a buying a new set to take advantage of changes in technology. They suggested the phonak ultrasphere. These have much better controls and integration with the iphone but to get better results you really have to know how to use the app. They got on support with Phonak and walked through my use case and we tailored the app (from the phonak app and apple dash board) so that i could adjust for different use cases : TV, playing live music, restaurant, etc. The Phonak can reprogram some settings with a remote session. So in my house we logged into a support call and they adjusted some of the settings. They also phoned me a few times so that i could learn about some of the nuances - such as adjusting sound levels of background noises. The Phonak allows adjusting speaker and mic levels as well as mike source. It's no fun losing your hearing as you get older but really great having the support of professionals who know their way around new technology!

Updated review: I…read morewas forced to use a different audiologist due to my employer's insurance coverage. After I got my aids, I needed assistance but they never returned my phone calls, emails, or a request for help through the manufacturer's iPhone app. It was worth it to me to pay a "transfer of coverage" fee to Dr. Lao to have her take over maintenance of them. To make a long story very short, the original dispenser put the wrong length wires on my aids so that the front-facing microphones were buried behind my ears making them useless. Certainly explains a lot, eh? Dr. Lao replaced the wires for me and now the hearing aids are in the right place - peeking over the tops of my ears and letting the microphones do what they were designed to do -- pointing towards people I am talking to so that I can hear them. You can read my previous review below.

The experience in the office was stellar. It did seem to me that the admin person didn't get my…read moreregistration info quite right, but she assured me it was fine. My husband's bill came promptly and was perfectly correct. After more than six months and several incorrect bills, they finally billed me, somewhat correctly. At least it was not the extreme overcharge of the first two attempts. Luckily I had my husband's correct bill for reference. Very glad this office is just for after hours care. Would not want to deal with their billing department on a regular basis. The first two times they sent the incorrect billing, I called them and explained their mistake. Each time they waited several months, and instead of sending me a correct bill, they sent a collection agency warning letter. Then I called them again and explained again. Each the very polite offshore customer service representative said all would be well. Finally the third time the billing was close enough to correct that I was willing to pay it.

Was on a recent trip to the Bay Area and got somewhat of a cold out of no where. Given the current…read moreconditions, I knew that going to Urgent Care or ER would have its long wait time. Between signing up on the app and getting in touch with a Dr it was about less than 10 minutes. I did like that the Dr wasn't in a rush as many are in person and in the comfort of my own car nonetheless. One of the biggest benefits is not having to deal with the office administrators of a doctors office. Sometimes as nice as a Dr can be, the front of the house can really turn people off and we all know how hard it is to find a good fit.