Charles Allison's Online Review Report Card

He is such a caring and astute man. A real doctor, he doesnt hide behind a computer. Dr. Allison helped me through some difficult years, I appreciate and respect his expertise.

Dr. Allison has been my GP since 2005.... He is great at explaining whatever ailment you may have and is great at making you feel comfortable in his presence....I have since moved from SF to the east bay, but still use him.  He is great at getting back in touch with you if you require follow up.I would recommend him to anyone

Dr Allison seems to be a nice guy I wouldnt mind having a beer with him, and he has been good about taking time to explain things at appointments and not making me feel rushed.However, as a doctor he has some serious flaws and is out of touch with medicine today (IMO, obviously)If want things coded improperlyIf you do not want to be able to email your doctorIf you dont like electronic medical recordsIf you want to be sent to improper labs for your yearly wellness visit (on your dime!)If you dont like to be notified of your test resultsIf you like having to leave a phone message to get a hold of himwell, then, hes your guy.Also, Hes in the Saint Marys medical center, which is owned by Dignity Health. The markup on services  provided by them is 510x over fair cost. Good luck communicating with them or negotiating a fair amount, their entire corporate structure is designed to prevent you from negotiating with them no wonder theyre making records profits.So, I recommend you avoid at all costs if your money and sanity are of value to you.

Dr. Allison was my primary care physician for quite some time and I continued to see him because he was so attentive I couldnt help but trust his judgment as a physician. Then, I gradually noticed a pattern of  dismissive behavior and subtle arrogance when addressing the symptoms I would come in for, some of which I have had in the past and were addressed completely different by previous physicians. It is my perception and opinion that because I have never come in with a life threatening symptom or condition, or one that involved a textbook severe case (although still disruptive to daily life), he dismissed the symptoms and concerns, even though there was well established treatment options and/or medical advice that could have alleviated or eliminated the symptoms.After researching on websites like UCSF and UCLA about some of the medical concerns I saw him for and which he dismissed, it became apparent that I needed to move on as the doctors on these reputable websites and at these highly regarded medical institutions clearly indicated contrary opinions to his on how to approach investigating, diagnosing, and treating some  of the symptoms I sought his help for,but he continued to dismissed.If you are seeing this doctor, my advice is to be proactive about researching and taking charge of your medical care or you may be overlooked and regret it later.

Ive been seeing Dr. Allison for close to 20 years.  Hes always been great. Even after moving to the Monterey area, hes still my GP.

I have been a patient of Dr. Allisons for five years. Dr. Allison is an affable enough guy but the office staff is intolerable. They dont seem to appreciate that their indifference to patient needs can have a negative impact on patient wellbeing. The proverbial last straw was when I needed to have from Dr. Allison a referral to my ophthalmologist for my annual eye exam. This is the type of routine referral that should have been automatic. I scheduled a tentative appointment with my ophthalmologist on the condition that they receive the referral from Dr. Allisons office.I called Dr. Allisons office and following office protocol, left a detailed voice mail requesting the referral. BTW, good luck ever actually talking to someone in Dr. Allisons office. Its not going to happen. They are too busy providing poor customer service to patients in the waiting room.Continuing the story ... I arrived for my ophthalmology appointment only to be informed that no one from Dr. Allisons office sent over a referral. At that moment it hit me that I never did get a call back from Dr. Allisons office. My bad for not following up when I didnt get a call regarding the referral request. Then again, I shouldnt have to for such a routine request.I called Dr. Allisons office again. Same protocol leave detailed voice mail and guess what!? It has been two days and no one from Dr. Allisons office has called me back.

So, Im STILL a patient of Dr. Allison, so are my parents, grandparents, (now) Husband, and now my sister! He really is a great guy, and he does deserve 5 stars, however, his billing department out in Oakland deserves a negative 10 stars because the guy is a complete an utter ahole, but that has nothing to do with Dr. Allison himself.

People, there is a reason you can get a sameday appointment: its because nobody wants to go!It seems to me that unless you are already in perfect health to begin with, meeting standards of the era he trained in, you are SOL.  Barely 5 minutes into our appointment, he had made a snap decision about my health and refused to listen further about my health complaint.  His arrogant bedside manner didnt help matters either.  He wrote me off, and threw a prescription at me without offering any kind of diagnosis.  I couldnt recommend a doctor less.

I went to Dr. Allison after reading all of your reviews that were perfect. I was shocked that it was such a bad experience overall. Heres the quick story. I went to Dr. Allison and he had over ten medical students with him. All of us squeezed into the little exam room. Im serious that it was around 12 people in one small room. I had ear pain and wanted to know why. EVERY student took turns looking in my ears, which got strange after the seventh or eighth person...HERE IS THE MAIN PROBLEM THOUGH......I was completely misdiagnosed. Dr. Allison told me that my troubles were due to sinus issues and that I definitely didnt have TMJ. I went to four other ENTs and in the end just found out the truth. I have bruxism (teeth grinding) and TMJ from my medications. It was the main side effect of a medication Im taking. I told Dr. Allison about my medication and nobody realized that it was the cause of my jaw pain and clenching. Dr. Allison tried to convince me that it was Sinus issues. He told me that it ABSOLUTELY WAS NOT TMJ. He kinda laughed about it and said no chance. The fact is that Dr. Allison was dead wrong on his differential and ended up being a big waste of time and not a great experience. The parking was terrible also. He was nice, but wrong.

Dr. Allison is absolutely great! My grandparents see him, my parents see him, and now Ive turned my fiancé on to him (this all says something already!) Im a very healthy and active 26 year old, but every once (very rarely) in a while Ill get some weird illness or concern. He ALWAYS sees me right away. Hes always very sincere and very informative. I always ask the most off the wall questions and he answers them without hesitation. His staff is always friendly, but I do agree its hard to get someone on the phone sometimes, in which case you just call back, you know?Hes such a good doctor, a very personable man, and is good at keeping you at ease. Its so rare to have a good doctor who knows what hes/shes doing, who legitimately cares about their patients, and clearly has a passion for what he does!