Rachana Potru's Online Review Report Card

What a horribly ran business and medical practice. This place would be out of business if there wasn't such a high demand and low supply for Gastroenterology in the DC area (and Arlington). They don't answer the phone and take forever to respond. They are still stuck in 2020 with their "telehealth due to COVID" and won't even see patients in person (seriously, its October 2022 and all other businesses ...

Dr. Potru seems like a fine physician, but her office is remarkably incapable. Please know this going in. She is a fine doctor, but dealing with her office will be far worse then you are accustomed to.

Dr. Potru saved my life by performing a colonoscopy and diagnosing my colon cancer at a very early stage, when another doctor told me I didn't need a colonoscopy. She is easy to talk to and funny. She's the best and I wouldn't go to anyone else!

This doctor's office is an absolute mess. Know this going in, be ready. While they may be knowledgeable, the entire back office experience is horrendous. Be prepared for levels of frustration that rival a flight cancellation and trying to rebook with United. Yes, it is that awful. You will get angry, you will get emotional, you will look for someone to show you an ounce of care... and these guys are incapable of emotion. Customer care doesn't reside here. If a doctor or a doctor's assistant is on vacation, not their problem. It's yours. I get it, there's patient churn and they've probably grown cold to warming up to their patients. Overall... low level attention to detail, no call backs, inability to complete prior authorizations, seemingly unable to provide required forms to insurance carriers, and just an overall low level of effort with regards to ensuring a patient's prescription does not expire. Their staff needs to be retrained in customer care and business process.

After hearing my symptoms Dr Potru set up tests for me promptly in the hospital. She kept me informed by phone of results as the tests were performed so that I understood that my diagnosis was serious by the afternoon. So I was able to set up an endoscopy appointment soon. I felt very fortunate to be in her care and got a quick start on pancreatic cancer treatment.

DO NOT go to this doctor. Does not listen and missed my food (gluten, milk, egg, etc.) intolerance, Barrett's esophagus and cholecystitis that were found by another doctor and I ma not even done with all the testing my other doctor needs to do to finally figure out why I have my debilitating symptoms. Dr. Potru is not there to help you! She does not care. After I explained my horrible symptoms and gave background information, she said "why are you here?" The office called me today 5/12 about my January (!) blood work to say that it is normal and there is nothing wrong with me... Clueless doctor!

The staff were excellent. She was fantastic with my first colonoscopy ever. However, my doctor had referred me to her because of specific issues with possible GERD-related health concerns (assuming severe GERD was the issue) and because I am having liver issues (fatty liver w/ elevated blood work, metabolic syndrome), but nowhere near as bad as the time before. We moved up the oscopies because of an increase in pain & continued abdominal swelling. She was perky about there being no issues from the oscopies. (mild-GERD was the only finding). I had to remind her about the coughing / pain. When I came in to see her, she remembered the coughing, but not the pain / swelling. Her solution was "lose weight" and follow up with my PCP (the one who referred me for a solution) I had already lost almost 2 pant sizes in 6 weeks and the scale was barely budging. It took some more discussion, to get her to examine me, order blood work and a CT scan, during which her concern seemed to be with "customer experience" and convincing me that she knew what she was doing. I got twice "What will make you happy?" My response -- "Find out what it is and fix it!" We didn't even do the CT Scan until I finally pointed out that I was scared and this was atypical of my prior history when the liver was acting up. "Will that make you happy?" She told me they would schedule it at the front desk. When I got to the front desk, they had the order for the blood work, but the CT scan wasn't even noted in the chart. They had to go ask her if she wanted to write the order, which she did. She saw weight and ignored the rest, even though I told her I was losing weight, but it wasn't making a difference to the numbers or the scale. I don't know what the results are yet, but no, I'm not a happy customer.

I was scared of my colonscopy procedure but not only Dr Potru put me at ease about it but I did not feel any discomfort whether prep-ing for it or during and after it was done. She is very caring and friendly.

Dr. Potru seems knowledgeable about her field, but her unwillingness to write anything down about our visits has meant that I have had to provide her with the same information in the last four visits I've had with her. Each time she seems surprised. I do not believe she has looked at my file since the first time we met. It is extremely frustrating, and I do not feel that she is engaged in my medical care or that she, at a basic level, listens when I speak. Also, I have regularly had to wait up to an hour past my appointment time, and it can take up to 5 days for the nurse's line to return a phone call. I feel certain that there are better doctors in the DC area.