Hal S. Shimazu's Online Review Report Card

Great doctor with staff

Thorough, pleasant, and has appreciation for uniqueness of each patient. A very fine physician!

I have had this doctor since I was born or a child and I am Deaf. Dr. Hal Shimazu has always been very kind and nice to my family. He also has been my dad's doctor for many years and my dad highly trusts him (which says a lot if you knew my dad). So I highly recommend Dr. Hal Shimazu and his office. He has always been very friendly with me and always treated me and others like an equal. Thank you Dr. for being you, you are a wonderful doctor! Thank you for cultivating a wonderful space in your building.

Dr.Shimazu and his team are amazing! They are always so helpful when you may have a problem and go the extra mile to help solve! Dr Shimazu is the best Dr. I have ever had for all these years! He is extremely professional and takes all the extra time to help you!

Great Physician! Very smart and detail oriented. Has lots of experience so he likely won't get surprised by your condition. He's well connected with Specialists at St. Joseph Hospital and is a part time Medical Director, so he's well versed in the administrative business. Lastly, he's one of the hardest and most dedicated PCPs in OC. Part of the St. Joseph Hospital Affiliated Physicians (SJHAP) network and available on most HMO and PPO plans.

Dr. Hal Shimazu is a fireball of energy and an efficient, friendly man. My friend& I were wondering what qualities make him so effective-ones we could emulate in our own lives-and we noticed that he habitually gets things done immediately. Be it a an exam or concern, he doesn't set things aside "to do later." He also knows excellent doctors, which makes his referrals particularly helpful! In one case, I needed help connecting to a specialist, and the office staff literally called the office while I was on the phone to make sure it was done correctly! I am SO impressed! This was a difficult specialist to find, and with my insurance, not usually covered. Both were taken care of on the spot. Many thanks, and I'm posting here because I am able to go into more detail than on Healthgrades! :-)

Sandy R succinctly summed up my experience and how I feel about Dr Shimzu too. He is a GREAT Dr and is in the OC Magazine as on of OC's best on a regular basis. My dentist told me this rating is given from other doctors, so it's prestigious. Dr Shimazu has taught (and maybe still teaching) at UC Irvine) so he has always been up on current treatments. He is not big on eastern medicine (once I tried to get him to write me a prescription for acupuncture), but he kinds blow off that idea, LOL. His thinking is embedded in western medicine and I still think he is the greatest! I just found other ways to make the eastern treatments happen, if I want. Snow N. - I feel your pain. Once you wait and get your first physical appointment, your next appointments are scheduled in advance, so its not an issue. I've had to change my appointment date at the last minute and they scheduled me about 2 weeks further out, so no problem. I think it's just initially getting in. As Sandy said, he's busy, but there is a reason for that. I'd rather go to a good busy doctor than a slow mediocre dr., right?! I'm sure not everyone will feel the same as I do. Not every doctor is great to everyone. Good luck finding a doctor you are comfortable with!!

Dr. Shimazu is the most conscientious doctor I have ever known. Eleven members, ranging from 2-year old to 78-year old, of my family go to to see him for more then 25 years. He has not ones give us any wrong diagnoses. The office is very busy and the wait might be a little long, but that is because he is one of the best Family Practice physician in OC. Do you really want to go see a doctor take you in right away and see you only for two minutes? This your health we are talking about.

Dr. Shimazu's been my primary care physician since I was a child. In short, he is a very busy doctor but a wonderful, trustworthy diagnostician. I occasionally go elsewhere for quicker service or minor issues, but he remains my most trusted health care provider. Pros: 1. Excellent diagnostician. I have not had a doctor who is this accurate 100% of the time. It always surprises me. 2. Fast and accurate. This goes with #1. He asks all the right questions, presses the right spots, and comes up with the right diagnosis. Fast. 3. Extremely knowledgeable and great at explaining conditions. 4. Urgent appointments are accommodated the following day - sometimes the same day. Cons: 1. Many patients means a busy doctor and a busy office. It's tough to get a non-urgent appointment. Physicals with the doc can take six months. 2. Fast. Fast. Fast. Sometimes you feel like you're being rushed out of the exam room. He knows all the questions to ask and knows he has to get to the next patient, so he gets to the diagnosis and gets out. In the past, I've gotten a tad annoyed about not being able to see my PCP whenever I wanted. But now I know the value of a truly great doctor. AND I know how to work with the resources the office offers the patient (not just the resources the doctor offers). Examples: 1. You can leave a message at the desk or on the machine for him and he'll reliably call you back when he has a few minutes between patients. 2. You can make appointments with Nurse Practitioners for non-urgent things like physicals or vaccines to reduce your wait time. 3. After building trust, you can call with an urgent situation to the Medical Assistants, have them convey the message to the doctor, and get a prescription called-in to your local pharmacy within hours. My most recent experiences inspired me to write this review. I had to get several vaccines and a physical within a few weeks time prior to entering the Peace Corps. They squeezed me in with an NP and popped me in quickly for extra vaccines when I stopped by for paperwork (didn't get an exam room but it literally took 10 minutes. No complaints here!). More recently, I came down with swine flue, bronchitis, and a sinus infection. A Saturday minute clinic helped me over the weekend but wouldn't refill a prescription over the phone. I called in to Shimazu's office, got the necessary cough syrup that evening, saw him in the morning and got additional prescriptions (antibiotics, etc.). He returned two calls with questions personally - spoke to me on the phone once and left a 5 minute message in another. His explanations for my progress were both clear and helpful. In short, he is VERY BUSY but he does make time when you need it and ask for it. That's why he gets 5 stars and why I will keep him as my PCP as long as I am close enough to visit his office.

Dr. Hal Shimazu is one incredibly efficient, empathetic, knowledgeable professional! His walls are peppered with awards from the County of Orange to charitable organizations, and he gives excellent referrals. I appreciate his habit of doing tasks immediately, so patients don't wait for care! He tackles what you need while you're with him, so nothing is left to pile up. His office staff are as friendly as he is, & his I am very fortunate to have found such a sweet, energetic doctor!