Dr. Banafsheh Bayati, Md's Online Review Report Card

This is not my review. I have no idea how this appeared. Please remove this so as not to involve me.

I can't say enough positive things about Dr. Bayati and her excellent care. She recently delivered my second child and was simply outstanding throughout the whole care of my pregnancy (which had some complications, which she easily helped me navigate) and during my labor and delivery. It's so hard to find high quality care and Dr. Bayati is a diamond in the rough. She takes time with her patients, providing clear and evidence based guidance. Her gentle yet confident approach to labor and delivery made me feel comfortable during the process. She took good care of my body during labor and ensured a gentle delivery of my baby. I wish everyone could have such excellent care. One final note, I rarely, if ever waited for appointments. Her office runs efficiently and is in a great location.

I love Dr. Bayati. She delivered my first baby, made me feel so relaxed throughout my pregnancy. I had to change my OB in the middle of my pregnancy and I'm glad I did. Dr. Bayati and her staff are just wonderful and she'll make sure you have a smooth delivery and postpartum. Definitely not going to any other OBGYN. Her admin fees are high but totally worth every single penny

I can't say enough positive things about Dr. Bayati and her excellent care. She recently delivered my second child and was simply outstanding throughout the whole care of my pregnancy (which had some complications, which she easily helped me navigate) and during my labor and delivery. It's so hard to find high quality care and Dr. Bayati is a diamond in the rough. She takes time with her patients, providing clear and evidence based guidance. Her gentle but confident approach to labor and delivery made me feel comfortable during the process. She took good care of my body during labor and ensured and gentle delivery of my baby. I wish everyone could have such excellent care. One final note, I rarely, if ever waited for appointments. Her office runs efficiently and is in a great location.

This is a long overdue review. This is not a review about the doctor, who seemed lovely, but the administrative charges. When I was pregnant 3 years ago I ventured out to interview OBs. Dr. Bayati came highly recommended, so I went in to see her. Scheduling the interview appointment was easy, however once the interview was finished and I walked out of her office, the front desk charged me $500 for her time! Outrageous! I was told if I stayed with her, the funds would act like credit towards her services. That alone did not want me to stay with her practice. I was never told this before the appointment so I was completely blindsided. Unfortunately I didn't speak up at the time, but in hindsight, I should have. No other OB office charged this fee.

Banafsheh is the most wonderful OB/GYN possible! She is kind and caring, thorough and cautious. I also love her office. From the front desk to the nurses, everyone is so sweet and involved and really cares about your pregnancy.

Please note that this review isn't about the medical care that I received during the time I visited this practice, but rather their administrative policies. If you go to this practice, they will charge you to have your records transferred to a different doctor. $25 to $50, specifically, depending on the size of your file. I have never even heard of such a thing. I didn't believe it, so I took to the trusty interwebs to see if this was actually legally permissible. In doing so, I learned that it is in fact permissible by law (although it feels ethically void for someone to charge me for the paper trail of services that I/my insurance carrier previously paid for). California state law states that $0.25 per page is the figure, however the law only covers "the patient's request for copies of his or her own medical records and does not cover a patient's request to transfer records between health care providers" as stated by the Medical Board of California (http://www.mbc.ca.gov/Consumers/Access_Records.aspx). The MBC continues that "Generally, physicians will transfer records without charging a fee; however, some doctors do charge a fee associated with copying and mailing the paperwork". Apparently, $25-$50 is the cost incurred for the 10-15 minutes it takes to pull and fax a file. That hourly wage beats my salary. Whew! I hope CiCi in records is living the high life! Dr Bayati called me herself when word spread that I was expressing my dismay with her records staff about the fee. She explained that she had my signature on file that I agreed to all of her various policies, this included. I don't recall this but if she says it's so, I am sure it is and I didn't pick up on it or I didn't understand how it would be implemented (or after seeing her practice for four years, I wasn't going to stop at that point over a policy change). Hence why I am here now... should anyone be on the cusp of using her practice and leveraging Yelp for input, I think it's important to have this fact upfront as it speaks volumes about how she wants monetize every touchpoint with her customers. In all my years, I never would have thought that transferring medical records between doctors would become a profit center. Wow. Truly, wow.

Where to start? I was referred to Dr. Bayati by my integrative medicine doctor to go over some ultrasounds I had done. Scheduling the appointment was easy enough - the person who helped me just had to confirm that they accepted my PPO insurance. Appointment day comes around (today) and I call in advance to see if I need to arrive early to fill out paper work as is usually the case for new patients. The person working the front desk told me to arrive about 5 minutes before my appointment. Easy enough again. I did so and filled out paper work. Surprise surprise - this doctor charges a $300 "administrative fee" - according to the person working the front desk, many doctors are no longer accepting insurance so the $300 fee allows Dr. Bayati to do so. No - sorry - I'm not paying a $300 fee when no one even mentioned it when I called to book an appointment and when I have no idea if I'll even like the doctor. The person working the front desk then gives me option to pay "a la carte" administrative fees (how kind) - things like "looking at my chart" or "writing an email" all going for different prices. Since I was already at the appointment and had left work in the middle of a busy day in order to make it, I decided to swallow the "a la carte" pill. At least I wouldn't fork out $300 for a doctor I didn't yet know I'd like. I sat in the lobby until about 25 minutes past my appointment time, at which time I asked the person at the front desk how much longer it would take for Dr. Bayati to see me - I get a "she has one patient in front of you" response. I questioned why that was the case even though I had an appointment time. Dr. Bayati was running late - fine. I have the nurse take my vitals and then lead me to a patient room, where I proceeded to wait another 20 minutes. I finally decided I'd had enough of this place. Still hasn't seen Dr. Bayati and decided she wasn't worth any admin fee I'd have to pay. As I'm walking out, clearly displeased by the entire experience, the person working the front desk says "she's about ready to see you." NO THANKS! I'll do the rest of your patients a favor and have her catch up on her schedule - and find myself another doctor. In sum, I do not recommend this place.

Banafsheh is not just the best OB/GYN ever...she's one of the best people I've ever had the pleasure to meet! I had a difficult time getting pregnant - she was there for me and my husband every step of the way. She's direct and honest yet deeply caring and invested. Then we got pregnant and she was even more amazing... She's the kind of OB who ooos and aaaaahs at every ultrasound like she's really excited to see your baby (as if she doesn't see them all day long!). She literally held my hand through every difficult step of my very complicated pregnancy. She is calm and comforting and so so sweet. She's also conservative and put me in my place when I was clearly overdoing it. She really advocates for her patients, which empowered me as a working parent and walking ball of stress to advocate for myself. We never felt rushed during our appointments. She always took the time to answer our questions, no matter how insane. I can't say enough good things about her and her wonderful, caring, helpful staff. I wish I could have a million babies just to be around them all the time! LOVE LOVE LOVE Dr. Bayati and everyone in her office! Go there and you and your baby (and even your overly-worried partner) will be in the best hands.

Loved Dr. Bayati! She is caring, responds quickly to email, and the office team is extremely professional. I had to switch providers to an insurance change and she has been the best from all of the OBGYN's. Highly recommend.