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December 2023 by Freya L.
The customer service people give me a call back and asked a lot of questions about the unpleasant experience at the Internal Medicine Department at PAMF Mountain View. They told me the doctors and nurses may be rude or not supportive enough but what they did didn't violate their policy or protocol. Okay fine, if that's their protocol, just let the market decide if it is acceptable or not.
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November 2023 by Samuel W.
Stay away! Do not ever use this facility Sutter Health in Sunnyvale, I had a terrible experience by having a vaccination one shot by them in Oct 2033, the total invoice was $578 including a forced unnecessary "consultation fee"
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November 2023 by Lupe M.
The staff that answer the phones are extremely rude. Lack of appointments and last minute doctor cancellations. Plus the fact that you have to wait 6 months to see specialist when you've been going in for the same issue for 3 years....
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October 2023 by Leo T.
I had new patient visit / physical with Daniel J Hwang today and found him uncaring, unfriendly, and condescending. Although I was paired with him as a potential PMP, he wasted no time on getting to know me or small talk and jumped right into dismissing my concerns. He refused to look at my medical history and contradicted himself and the NP on a routine question. I felt judged for my condition and completely unwelcome. We had to cut the visit short as it was clear there was no intent to provide a standard of care. I am really disappointed this didn't since I really wanted to have my primary care at this PAMF but unfortunately all of their experienced doctors are not accepting new patients.
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October 2023 by Susan Tighe
The phlebotomists here are generally great - polite, quick and efficient. However, the front desk staff and check-in process leave a lot to be desired. Although I always make an appointment, I still end up waiting in line to check-in for quite a while and I find it rather frustrating. Today, they checked in four people who arrived after me and didn’t have appointments before they checked in those of us who arrived earlier and had appointments. It makes no sense. Rachel is the lab representative who handles appointment check-ins and she is the worst - she is slower than all other check-in staff and regularly gets up and disappears for several minutes, and she never, ever apologizes for the delay. It just makes patients feel very disrespected and as if our time isn’t valuable.
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September 2023 by Betty W.
Like many of the complaints mentioned here, their billing practice is sketchy, not transparent and bordering unethical and their customer service is close to non-existent. I will think twice about going to them. I had a colonoscopy done recently, the procedure was a standard, part of a regular checkup routine and should be covered 100% by my insurance as preventative care. The procedure went smoothly, nothing outside of the scope of preventative care was performed. The same as what I had 5 years ago which insurance covered 100% as in-network preventative care. However, this time I was shocked to see two separate bills were sent to my insurance in which one for over 50% and the other for a little over 40% of the total charge. The higher bill by PAMF MV Surgery Center was only covered at 70% by Aetna, my insurance as out-of-network service resulting in a deductible of $700 and some balance of uncovered expenses. I ended paying $1K out of pocket for the procedure. The other bill was coded as in-network service which was covered 100%. I don't understand why a single procedure done in a single day was billed twice with the same procedure code and how PAMF MV Surgery Center is considered out of network for Aetna. I have been very careful to select healthcare providers who are in-network for my insurance and for all my other care received from PAMF, never once have I been told or billed as out of network services. If more than 50% of the charges will be billed as out of network, I am surprised that I, the patient was not informed of the extra costs in advance. $1K is not a small sum and could present unnecessary hardship. Minimally, I should have shown be a cost estimate beforehand or a pre-approval be obtained from my insurance for the charges. Their code review process is not transparent and provide no assurance that it will be properly carried out. In fact, reading other reviews, I am almost convinced that it is going to be a waste of my time. No reference number nor written confirmation was given for future follow up and all I was told is that I will be informed of the outcome in writing in 30 days. I expect minimally someone to write me to confirm that the case is under review and to provide a case number to check status update. I will consider looking for another healthcare provider and others should avoid PAMF unless you want to spend hours trying to figure out and keeping track of their confusing billings.
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September 2023 by Mike G.
Cannot recommend this place at all. Here's the latest. Mom seeing Dr Nguyen for cancer treatment. The case worker nurse paints a "what to expect" picture that is out of touch with real experiences. We contacted the support person when my mom started experiencing more intense side effects. They said they would prescribe different medication. We expected they would use our carrier - Alto - so it would be delivered. However they chose to use the same pharmacy where they order the cancer pills. The cancer pills had been delivered so we expected the same. Not the case. The nausea and other medicine we needed falls outside the cancer medication area and is not delivered so I had to go all the way to palo alto (from mountain view) to pick up her medication from Walgreens - Do I even need to mention how this went? We had called the Nurse back but she provided no further help beyond placing the order. An experienced and competent nurse would have know this and understood this would be an important piece of information knowing full well my parents don't drive and I have limited availability to take off work to pick up their medications. The nurses at Dr Nguyen's office are seemingly underqualified. Talking to this particular nurse was very frustrating because she tried to make excuses to point the finger elsewhere rather than just trying to solve the problem. My parents are both in their mid 80s and lack the energy and are quite vulnerable. I would hate to see how they would be treated and taken advantage of if I wasn't around to help and question the overall treatment received. Here's another reason. Today we went to give blood and got there and Dr Nguyen's nurse made the lab work with the wrong doctor. She placed an order for doctor Shaw instead of Nguyen. So thankfully we had a very good person at the lab resolve an issue cause by the oncology receptionist. She was another example of someone they hired that had no reason to be heading the desk. She had difficulty making lab appointments 3 weeks apart. She made the appointments with the wrong cadence and we had to question her so that they were corrected. These are by no means the only substandard experiences we gone through but over the past two days it was enough that I decided to write a review. I don't and won't use Sutter Health. It goes beyond Sutter as well. It's the overall system and single payer would further cripple the quality of care.
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September 2023 by Mike M.
PAMF is too busy now days and it's very difficult to get an appointment with a doctor or specialist. Old and dirty furnitures in the waiting areas. This business is degrading and it's a pity.
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September 2023 by Dale Jehning
I'm at 3 of the nicest people ever.
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September 2023 by Bubba T.
The deficiencies of the Sutter profit making system implemented at PAMF have been more than adequately identified in previous entries. There are exceptions, but it appears most physicians have been indoctrinated into doing as little as possible (the bare minimum) for patients while still appearing to justify their billings. They treat symptoms not causes. If your lab tests don't exceed the normal range, they don't treat; if they do fall outside the normal range they ignore it and refuse to act unless the markers are in the danger zone. And if the numbers aren't what they consider egregious they don't tell you when your lab results show a steady worsening trend , instead advocating a "wait and your body will take care of itself" inaction instead of taking proactive, preventive measures to deal with avoiding further progression of the condition--which smacks of medical negligence.
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August 2023 by Liz Z.
Bills are a complete nightmare!!! They approach you without explaining the costs, invoice you for things you had no idea about, and conveniently avoid any responsibility to address the problem. During my annual physical exam, my PCP recommended an allergy test. A few days later I got a call from Palo Alto Medical Foundation, saying I was referred, asking for my insurance info, and saying the doctor was ready to have a video call with me. He simply asked my insurance id, not mentioning any potential fees or financial responsibilities. Next, I got a video call from the doctor. I asked immediately "will my insurance cover the allergy test". The doctor checked for me, and answered "no". Since it was not urgent, I thanked the doctor and refused the test. Now, I got a bill from them asking $307 for "consultation visit". I called them immediately, and explained why I shouldn't be charged: 1) I didn't initiate anything. I just answered a call from the doctor, and refused the tests; 2) No one in the process informed me of any costs; 3) I didn't receive any treatment or medical advice. The call agent took a note, and submitted a cost code review for me. However, I was informed that direct communication with the review team was not permitted. A few weeks later, I received a letter simply saying "after reviewing the documents, we believe the cost code is valid". What documents were examined during this review? What factors led to the determination of the cost code's validity? It's puzzling how one can self-assess and then distill the conclusion to 'We reviewed it. We're correct.' without providing any underlying rationale? Exercise caution regarding their bills!!! They simply charge you without assuming any accountability!!!
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July 2023 by Peony B.
Please don't mix "fishing" and blood draw. This review is for the LAB at 701 El Camino of MV. It's been many times that my family members and myself had painful blood draw from inexperienced lab technicians, who inserted needles and FISH for veins. Not only it's painful, it could lead to bruises and blood clog. If you miss a vein, don't fish.
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July 2023 by Jocelyn Mo
Hong-Jing Li phlebotomy technician went above and beyond to take care of me after I felt dizzy after my blood draw. Thank you so much! Nice, caring staff at the Mountain View Center. :)
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June 2023 by Natasha D.
I have been a patient, on and off, since last millennium :) and my children were pediatric patients when they were young. It would be unrealistic to expect that everything would be perfect over so many years and so many providers, both general practitioners and specialists, so, 4 stars and not 5. But most doctors are simply wonderful, the labs offer very convenient hours (especially the Mountain View lab which is open from 7AM to 4AM on Saturdays and Sundays) and short wait times, the COVID vaccinations were handled very efficiently at the San Carlos clinic back when that was relevant, and My Health Online is a trove of convenient features.
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June 2023 by Suki Y.
The medical bill from this hospital is problematic! Earlier this year, when I received treatment and underwent several tests here, the hospital didn't ask me for any payment other than the copay. But recently, when I went for another visit and test they didn't inform me about the cost, and after they sent me a bill to pay. They didn't ask me to pay anything during my previous visit, so why do they expect payment this time? Moreover, they didn't inform me in advance that I would need to pay out-of-pocket. I called the hospital, and they said it's an issue with the insurance company. However, my insurance has already reached the out-of-pocket maximum, so I shouldn't be responsible for any charges. Everyone should be cautious of this hospital!
