Joe Chen, Md's Online Review Report Card

Dr. Chen was my wife's doctor. She died as a result of Dr. Chen's negligence. He never answered answered the call from the hospital while my wife passed away at Los Alimitos Medical center after she received a fentanyl shot from an inexperienced nurse which caused her to go into cardiac arrest. I've been trying to speak with Dr. Chen since the day she died 12/27/22, but Dr. Chen never reached out to me or my family to explain what happened, but his office still sends bills to my house for my deceased wife..... I pray he reaps what he sowed.

Very professional with caring staff This is my second time dealing with Dr. Chen for my procedure and both times were great. Dr. Chen takes the time to listen and explain things. I am incredibly impressed with both his professionalism and the efficiency of his staff, from the receptionist, pre-op nurse to the OR nurse. From the moment I walked into the clinic, I was greeted with warmth and sense of organization. The entire team worked seamlessly to ensure a smooth and pleasant experience.

Uncaring and Uncommunicative Some doctors are not concerned with patients who are elderly and have a poor prognosis. This is one. My mother is currently a patient at the horrible Los Alamitos medical center. Dr. Chen is doing a procedure tomorrow. Dr. Issa is currently the on-call physician. She is severely dehydrated due to Dr. Joe Chien and Vu Phan failing to communicate a delay in procedure that forced her to suffer over 20 hours with no food, no water and no IV. We have requested an IV this afternoon prior because it hurts her to eat or drink. DR. ISSA AND DR. CHEN ARE BOTH REFUSING TO BE THE ONE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY TO SAY THE IV IS APPROVED. Neither will communicate a medical reason. When advised that it hurts her to eat or drink,Dr. Issa’s response is to tell her to drink anyway. Dr. Chen’s flippant response was, “Well she ate this weekend, right?” She is elderly, with a poor prognosis. IT IS CLEAR THAT THEY HAVE NO CONCERN FOR PATIENT WELFARE OR FOR TREATING PEOPLE WITH DIGNITY.

UNCARING, UNCOMMUNICATIVE & NEGLIGENT Some doctors are not concerned with patients who are elderly and have a poor prognosis. This is one. My mother is currently a patient at the horrible Los Alamitos medical center. Dr. Chen is doing a procedure tomorrow. Dr. Issa is currently the on-call physician. She is severely dehydrated due to Dr. Joe Chien and Vu Phan failing to communicate a delay in procedure that forced her to suffer over 20 hours with no food, no water and no IV. We have requested an IV this afternoon prior because it hurts her to eat or drink. DR. ISSA AND DR. CHEN ARE BOTH REFUSING TO BE THE ONE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY TO SAY THE IV IS APPROVED. Neither will communicate a medical reason. When advised that it hurts her to eat or drink,Dr. Issa’s response is to tell her to drink anyway. Dr. Chen’s flippant response was, “Well she ate this weekend, right?” She is elderly, with a poor prognosis. IT IS CLEAR THAT THEY HAVE NO CONCERN FOR PATIENT WELFARE OR FOR TREATING PEOPLE WITH DIGNITY.

I think that Dr. Chen is a great doctor but since separating from Long Beach Gastro there are many problems within his office. They no longer have a Patient Portal (supposedly working on it for months now) and it's very hard to reach anyone in their office. Mostly you get directed to voice mail. I had tests performed in early August and was told I would have the results within two weeks after the procedure. It's been well over two weeks and when I called (after multiple attempts) I was advised the doctor had reviewed the results a week and a half after the procedure but never bothered to let me know. He saw the results two weeks ago and no word. I have been seeing Dr. Chen for several years but I am becoming extremely discouraged with his practice.

Staff at the front was rude upon checking in and asking a very simple question. . That alone made enough reason for a review like this, employees should be able to answer questions in a polite manner. On a follow up visit one of the staff members was more accommodating and another one was talking to me about seeking another expert opinion outside of Dr. Chen since his diagnosis didn't make much sense. There are multiple things I was not fond of when it came to his practice and overall a bad experience for my first time seeing a specialist in his field. 1) even with insurance his prices aren't cheap and for the quality of service you receive it's not worth your money 2) he prescribed me a medicine that caused me to have horrific side effects and after telling him that sent me to the ER midnight for ten hours he didn't have any comment to make. I emphasized the bill was over $350+ with good insurance. . 3) during my 2nd appointment the research I looked up seemed to have matched his "knowledge" and he didn't have any answer what so ever on what could be causing my abdominal pain (bingo: it was the medication) He insisted I stay on it for another month when I said there was no reason to since my initial concern was already solved? The medication doesn't target abdominal pain so why would he want me to do that after repeated mentions of side effects? Regardless I entertained it for five days and felt awful, I couldn't function at all and immediately stopped using it. I've been better since. . How does that work? On top of that he walked out mid-sentence when I was bringing up how I waited over an hour to be seen when I was on time for my appointment and he had no answer or advice to give while just saying "I'll book you for a month out for now with a revisit" What?? I've cancelled my appointment and kept all the receipts because the business seems like he just wants more $$$ than anything. This is my honest review and experience with him and I won't be removing it unless he offers me a full refund of both appointments. He's very lucky I'm not asking for the ER fees which is seriously ridiculously high. Awful. .

Staff member was NOT helpful. My friend had an appointment to see Dr Chen today. I called to advise she had been hospitalized yesterday. I requested Dr Chen order the tests for her stricture while she was in the hospital. Employee said that since she hadn’t seen the doctor since 2017, she was considered a new patient & they would do nothing for her. Employee had no empathy.

Be careful with Dr. Chen. If he sees you in the ER make sure to ask the hospital to verify he is in network outside the hospital. If he is not in network he will not follow up with any procedure he did with you in the hospital! He is a money seeking doctor and does not care about the well being of his patient.

I called his clinic July 09 @ around 1620 hrs. to reschedule a possible sooner date. When I asked the name of the lady who answered the phone she just ignored my question many times refusing to give her name. She should be reminded of telephone etiquette in introducing yourself to the caller.

Great doctor. He listened to my concerns and I learned a lot from our conversation. Thank you!