I've been live in Santa Barbara for 30 years and I am a registered nurse retired and I've been to many different family practice doctors and I have to say he's one of the most thorough. He really gets to know you he doesn't hesitate to refer if he really needed it. He really listens when you talk and gives good advice. He's great. I can't say that about every doctor I've been to believe me, but this guy is worth going to read more

Dr. Kozak is an outstanding old school physician. He always takes his time with me and recently solved a potentially serious medical condition. I have never felt rushed and he truly cares about his patients. We are very fortunate to have him in our community. read more

Dr. Kozak is the best primary care physician I have ever had! He is very professional, knowledgeable and caring. Recently I had test results return from the lab and he spent a lot of time going through my results and answering all the questions I had. Dr. Kozak is great at listening to his patients and knowing which follow up questions to ask to get the full picture. Another time I was injured and I called his office to make an appointment thinking it would take a few days for the doctor to have availability, but they were able to make me an appointment for the same day in just a few hours. His team is very efficient and understand that your time is important, I always feel well taken care of when I see Dr. Kozak. I feel very lucky to have such a caring and knowledgeable doctor! I highly recommend him as a PCP. read more

Anyone questioning Dr. Kozak's dedication and professionalism must be having a very bad day is all I can say. Dr. Kozak has been my doctor for over 15 years!! Over that time he's always shown dedication, knowledge and compassion as far as I have seen. His office people have also been kind and professional. If you are in search of a competent physician and old school personal service this is good place to try. read more

Dr. Kozak is a thorough doctor & extremely responsive. I wish I had him as my primary years ago as his recommendations likely saved my life. I highly recommend him. read more

Literally the worst doctor I have ever been to. So rude and refused to refer me to another doctor for specialty care that I needed. What doctor refuses to give you care and then refuses to refer you to someone else?! There are so many kind and smart doctors in this area, this is not one of them. Women beware, the blatant misogyny I experienced was truly horrifying. read more

I almost never review things, but the egregious behavior of Dr. Kozak's office is deserving of a review. I called on Tuesday to make an appointment, and was given an appointment for Friday at 1:15 pm. The receptionist told me to come 15 minutes early for my 1:15 appointment. The next day, I realized that I had not confirmed that they took my insurance, so I called back and spoke to the receptionist who assured me that their office would accept my insurance policy. On the day of the appointment, I showed up at 1:00 pm sharp, since I was told to come 15 minutes early for my 1:15 appointment. The business was not even open. At 1:15, I called the office, only to be told by their answering machine that they are closed until 1:30 for lunch. I waited on the curb for 30 minutes until the receptionist finally opened the office. When I asked her if I had misunderstood the appointment time, she told me that my appointment was actually for 1:30, but she had told me 1:15 because people are usually late, and for some unknown reason told me to show up 15 minutes before my fake appointment time. As if that's not enough, the receptionist then informed that they the office does NOT actually take my insurance!!!!! I reminded her that I had called for this very reason and had checked with her. She acknowledged that she had said they would take it, and couldn't understand why their system wouldn't process my insurance. So I left, after having wasted a Friday afternoon. If you value you your time, and if you want a Doctor's office that's professional and respectful, do NOT come here. read more

Dr Kozak took my husband off aspirin although specialty doctors recommended it. He felt it was the best option with his condition. My husband then had a stroke and the hospital staff told my husband he needed to be on aspirin or stronger blood thinners. We tried to make an appointment with Scott Kozak and needed him to make An appointment to get us back across into the USA. The doctor refused . Although we still have a house in Santa Barbara he refused to see my husband. Today ( 4 months after the stroke) Scott Kodak calls my husbands cell while he is sitting in a hospital in Stanford California, and tells him he is refusing to be his doctor and to find someone else. We already chose a proper primary care physician and it was bit Scott kozak. The least he could do was call the check on him versus call to tell him off - nothing like kicking a patient while he is down. beware - this doctor has an awful bedside manner !!!! read more

I'm relatively new to Santa Barbara and have had to make a couple of "quite urgent" appointments, and was recommended to Kr. Kozak. I couldn't be more pleased - he's been very easy to get in and see, has run on time, and is an extremely easy doctor to talk with. I just recently had an annual physical with Dr. Kozak and really appreciated his views on a balanced and healthy lifestyle, but he's very balanced and doesn't hesitate to prescribe medicine without unnecessary delays when it is needed. I hate to see the other review here as it's not at all been my experience, but I guess we all have bad days :) read more

Negligent doctor that cares nothing about his patients but is all about billing insurance. Someone close to me saw him for extreme pain and he made her feel like a whiny little girl so she ignored the pain and ended up having emergency surgery. He literally told her he was concerned insurance wouldn't pay her visit because she came 2 days in a row. Who says that to someone in pain asking for help??? Her life is forever changed and now insurance will be paying thousands for surgery and week long hospital stay. He is completely heartless negligent doctor who should NOT BE ALLOWED TO PRACTICE!! read more

Dr. Kozak has been my primary physician for over 5 years. He has been a fantastic doctor and is always making sure he is giving the best care possible. When one of my medications stopped being effective, he explained some alternatives we could try and was able to get everything back on track for me. I would definitely recommend seeing him if you are looking for a doctor in the SB area. read more

Dr. Kozac has been my GP for 10 years and I visit his office on a monthly basis. His office demonstrates a level of professionalism, kindness, and attention that is second-to-none in the area. His process is seamless and wait times are reasonable. He takes a no-nonsense approach to care and wellness, is skillful, knows when to refer to specialists, and is easy to talk to--being both direct and respectful--a balance that is difficult to strike in any profession. Over ~120 visits (if my math is correct, give or take a few), he and his staff have delivered top-notch care. So if you value your time, and if you want a Doctor's office that's professional and respectful, then Dr. Kozac's office is the place to go. But if you can't understand your own insurance policy, arrive unreasonably early and during the entire city's lunch break, and have no appreciation for a stellar receptionist who would never schedule you during said lunch hour, and actually cares enough to take the requisite time from her busy day to try to save you from yourself (and the subsequent large bill from your HMO), then maybe you deserve your (subjectively) wasted afternoon. Such a person might find more providence in studying their HMO than in copy/pasting the same lame and poorly conceived smear(s) on multiple review sites. And probably less of their precious time needlessly wasted. But I digress. Highest recommendation. read more

I've seen Dr. Scott Kozak twice now for routine physicals. He has a small office with a friendly helpful receptionist. I've been very happy with his services. In addition to having a great manner and being informative, he gave me some important straight talk that helped me turn my health around. After seeing him the first year, I retired from fast food and dropped around 20-25 pounds getting in shape in the process. As a result, my second year blood panel work all came back significantly improved. Of course, I had to do the work to get there, but something about Dr. Kozak's encouragement got the ship turned around. Thanks Dr. Kozak. read more

Dr. Kozak is a wonderful doctor - he is responsive and thorough and very smart, and I am very grateful for his services. His receptionists are very nice and his office is clean. He is extremely knowledgable and seems totally dedicated to his profession. Thank you Dr. Kozak! I highly recommend Dr. Kozak!! read more

This is one of the most unprofessional doctors I have ever visited! I made an appointment and arrived on time for my appointment only to find out that Dr. Kozak wasn't even in the office. Mind you there was only the receptionist... no other patients. OK fine, these things happen. He called the receptionist 10 minutes after the appointment time and said he would be there in 10 minutes. Then his computer tech popped his head in the door and asked if the doctor was in because he needed to put something on his computer.. seemed like an unscheduled visit. The receptionist asked him to wait also and then showed me into the exam room. It is now 25 minutes after I arrived. Then I hear the doctor come in and go back into his office with the computer guy and stay back there for another 10 minutes. I'm cooling my heels in the exam room the whole time. After which the receptionist came in and said the doctor wouldn't be able to see me because he would be taking a lot more time doing "something". Uhh yeah I can put 2 and 2 together. Then I finally said something! I asked to see the doctor to explain himself and he was totally rude and condescending, saying 30 minutes wait time is standard.. yeah sure, if you've got patients and you are actually seeing them, not out of the office and then screwing around with a computer techie after which you send me away without ever seeing me. He even berated me for having an HMO plan and then told me to switch primary care doctors. If you value your time and want to visit a professional doctor who values all his patients do not see this doctor. Dr. Scott Kozak, MD is rude, disrespectful and condescending. Enough said. 2nd UPDATE: Dr. Kozak has since removed his response to my original post so the below update might not make sense... he is however, 10 years later, receiving similar type reviews from other people... so there's that to consider. UPDATE: I see Dr. Kozak posing as staff (he has a tiny office with one receptionist I doubt she trolls reviews) have finally joined Yelp. However instead of responsibly reviewing the claims made by separate Yelpers, apologizing and attempting to rectify the mistakes he made he has chosen to continue his unprofessional behavior. In addition, he is now just outright lying and avoiding the facts. He has updated his response to this review no less than 23 times and in each instance he has taken zero responsibility. I honestly can't keep up with his updates and changing story, so beware Yelpers my update may respond to an ever changing response. To recap, there most definitely was a 'pop in' computer person looking to fix something on the doctor's laptop... "no big deal" I remember the computer guy said. The doctor's comment to my review forgets that he wasn't even in the office yet when I was waiting to see him. I saw all this all go down as the computer guy announced himself to the receptionist and chatted her up. Not once in his 23 updates has he responded to this glaring fact. Now he is claiming in the response a 'billing emergency" What's a billing emergency anyway and do doctors cancel appointments due to billing errors? That's a new one for me but definitely worth mentioning to Yelpers. Frankly, this is a clear pattern of lying. Patients should beware of this pattern and look at the character of his responses not just to me but to the older female patient he attacks in the filtered reviews.. Do you want this sort of doctor treating you? It's funny because my complaint wasn't even about being seen late... doctors often make you wait. Waiting is annoying but not grounds for a bad review. My poor review is strictly based on the fact that he never even saw me before rudely canceling the appointment based on a lie. Calling me aggressive and threatening while again a clear lie, completely avoids the real complaint; I was waiting alone in an exam room and then his receptionist told me he was canceling. I "marched back to the doctors private office" only after I had been waiting 30+ mins and realized just what was happening. I guess he finds people who are assertive and don't take lightly to being walked all over "threatening & aggressive". Suffice it to say he and his computer tech were in fact busy messing with his computer when I walked into his office. I never raised my voice or cursed at him, I simply expressed my displeasure in frank and honest terms. The facts aren't even in dispute. Judge for yourself and read my review, the facts are the facts and all CAPS don't change them. read more

If you want a Dr. who could care less about you or what is wrong with you, then Dr. Kozak is your guy. He's easy to get in to see and I never had to wait more than 10 minutes to see him. His front desk mgr was nice and very helpful. He never seemed very interested in what was going on with me or trying to help me. He was very defensive when I asked any questions, he told me another Dr's diagnosis regarding a medication interaction was not true, and when I respectively questioned his diagnosis/care of me, he flipped out and became belligerent and insulting. I have children of my own, I do not need a Dr. that acts like one. I would not recommend Dr. Kozak in any way to any one. read more

Doctors really do Care! I always have a wonderful experience when coming in to see Dr. Kozak! The staff is incredibly friendly and professional. I highly recommend a visit to this very knowledgeable, caring, professional and compassionate physician. If you need a good primary care physician who takes time with you, come see Dr. Kozak! read more

I had a cyst on my hand, and made an appointment thinking he would send me somewhere else. He was very nice and caring and in less than 10 minutes he removed the cyst. Very impressive. I will come back when I need a doctor again. read more

This doctor dumped me because he couldn't make enough money off me. He actually told me that he had to drop TRICARE patients because he doesn't make enough money off us. (Thank you, too, Obama Care). Has little interest in patients. Poorly managed staff if he even has one now. read more

I started seeing Dr. Kozak in 2014 and I could not be more pleased. He is a highly skilled and compassionate physician and I am very happy to have him for my primary care physician. I had previously developed a dependency on opiates and Dr. Kozak referred me to an excellent outpatient program, COPE. In addition to the referral, he has kept a very close eye on my health (struggles with weight and blood pressure), encourages me and has refrained from judging me in any way. I feel 100% comfortable talking to Dr. Kozak about my health issues and he is unfailingly supportive. Something else that I am very impressed with is Dr. Kozak's volunteering of his time and skills to medical missions in Mexico and Central America. It is very heartwarming to witness the pursuit of medicine for all the right reasons. I feel exceedingly fortunate to have been referred to this fine physician. read more

This doctor is extremely rude and unprofessional. His office had a problem with my digital insurance card. I asked them if they could find a way to still see me that day as I'd taken the time off work to make the appointment (including offering to pay cash) and the doctor said he would allow me to send the digital card to his email so he could print it out. He was quite aggressive and rude during the appointment (after a 50 minute wait although there didn't seem to be anyone else in the office) and then phoned me and accused me of "making him break his HIPPAA agreement" because of the insurance card issue. This baffled me as I had asked if they could find a workaround, he'd OFFERED that solution, and now he was blaming me for his decision? How was I supposed to know what he is and isn't supposed to do? Not only unpleasant but also worrying in terms of a medical professional who chose to break rules and them blame a patient for his own poor decision. read more

Dr. Kozak was extremely helpful and professional when I went to see him for a knee issue. He touched all the bases and wanted to make sure he correctly diagnosed me. He gave me options regarding physical therapy and described my condition in a way in which left me knowledgeable on caring for my knee when I left the office. Dr. Kozak was wonderful to see and I will be seeing him again. read more

If you are looking for a family doctor, please call Dr. Scott Kozak on W. Mission Avenue. Dr. Kozak if very thouthful, considerate, careful and friendly. He was responsible for discovering my cancer and helpful in finding those medical professionals I needed for treatment. His office is efficient, keeping timely appointments. If you appreciate a friendly family medical practice Dr. Kozak's ofice fits the bill. read more

I have found Dr. Kozak to be very caring, professional, and thorough. I have referred quite a few people to him and they are very satisfied with the care they have received. Unlike other offices, the wait time for an appointment, whether it be urgent or routine is outstanding. I have never had to wait more than a few minutes for my scheduled appointment. read more