Gary R Berk's Online Review Report Card

First, I LOVE Dr. Berk himself. I give HIM 5 stars. But I'm giving one star because the office management, while NICE people (generally) is awful, and this impacts the overall experience. I only saw Dr. Berk once a year for my medical MJ certification. He believes in the program, and tries to make it affordable for people in need. My own needs changed, and I realized my upcoming appointment (9/22) wasn't needed. I called the office during work hours. The phone rang and rang and rang, and no one ever picked up. OK, but there is NO ANSWERING MACHINE, so you can't leave a message. I tried calling again on the day of the appointment, to no avail. Fast forward to 2/23, and I received a bill in the mail for maybe $25. This was the ONLY bill I got, and it was marked "pay in 10 days or it will be sent to collections". Nice. But there is no way to pay on line. Clearly can't call to pay over the phone since the phones don't get answered reliably. Can't send a check, because I don't OWN any checks. I find this very frustrating, as the office should make it EASY to pay a bill, not hard. I assumed the bill was for the missed appointment, and wrote a note of frustration onthe bill to the office help, but added my HSA card information for payment--I mean, not worth it to get a credit ding over $25 dollars. Two weeks later, I get a receipt, with a return note written on it "this was for your 9/21 vist, not the missed 9/22 visit!" OK, so this is ANOTHER level of frustration, because I KNOW that I already paid this bill LAST YEAR (same late bill with the threat of collections). This is HORRIBLE business practice. I won't contest it, because I don't have the time or energy to dig up my last years statements from my HSA account and argue this via snail mail (I despise snail mail) over $25. Not worth it. If this practice employed some simple technology to make connection and payment simpler, I'd give it 5 stars. As it is, I will never go back. Sorry, Dr. Berk.

He listens.

While other MDs still advertise in this area and several close their practices to work for the local hospital Dr Berk remains as fully booked (not taking new patients - officially) as in the fall of 1994 when I first saw him thanks to "commendation" in the Healthcare Field (not taking new patients in 1994). He is a genuinely caring man with the best overall range and depth of knowledge of anyone I've know in the healthcare field (In my case that says a lot as I've known far too many providers!

For 21.5 years Dr Berk has helped me deal with many pesky conditions a chronic bad back that is falling apart gradually as well as a few potentially life threatening situations and very good care when I was in intractable pain due to a surgeons indifference and negligee in June of 2002. He has provided not only medication, suggested procedures and given referrals when needed. He's done more than it is reasonable to expect of one main. His knowledge is extremely broad and deep.