The Polyclinic Ballard Lab's Online Review Report Card

Met with Dr. Panko, dermatology. She and her staff are excellent and the location and office are great. My complaint is the phone service. I received a voice message last week about a biopsy result, tried to call them back, waited on line for half an hour then requested a call back. I got the call back 5 days later at 8 am this morning and of course I missed the call.My recommendation is to NOT use the voice phone but to communicate through either email or text, avoiding the problem that the patient may actually be doing something else at that exact time.So as of this moment I still don't have the result and seemingly have no way to get it.

Good experience. No problems!

EDIT:Just called northgate clinic because I was fed up dealing with Ballard and was told that my refills would not be approved until I saw a dr. Something I was told specifically was not the case by the Ballard clinic as long as I had an appt booked with a new dr. Wasted 5 days repeatedly being told that the doctor would see the request when they saw it and they would call me when it was ready. This place is a joke. I made an appt for northgate tomorrow at 8 am so that I can finally have the medication that is necessary for me to take daily. Misinformation and negligence had caused me so much mental and physical damage and this place is responsible. I hope that the next time someone hurts themselves or someone else, or has a severe health complication because of the negligence of this place that they are aware how responsible they are and are held responsible.One of the worst experiences of my life. I have been taking medication daily for several years and I needed a refill. My pharmacy sent a first request and refill to my primary care doctor on 2/13 and another fax and call every three days with no response. Being out of my medication for over two weeks and facing severe medical symptoms because of this I called directly on 2/24 to see what the delay was. I was then told that my doctor who the requests had been going to no longer works there. I was never notified and the requests did not once go to the covering doctor as I was told they should have. At this point I chose a random doctor over the phone with the receptionist and they put in an urgent request. I was told it should be filled that same day (2/24). It is now 3/1 and I have spent several days calling multiple times a day for an update with them repeatedly sending urgent requests and there has been zero response from the doctor. I have now been without my extremely necessary medication for nearly three weeks and am finding it hard to function, have been very sick and my anxiety/depressions has caused thoughts of self harm, impacted my ability to work, etc. All because nobody can be bothered with doing their job and filling medication, checking "urgent" requests or alerting covering doctors.

Mind you, this review is specifically for today’s lab visit - all other visits have been pleasant. Today the bloodwork person was YELLING my first name very meanly, from a walled room down the hall, to apparently let me know it was my turn to come back for my blood draw! While yes, I thought I had heard my name, it absolutely was not clear where this yelling was coming from. Never have I ever had them not come out of said blood draw room to kindly say my name… well, except for TODAY!!!

DO NOT GO TO THE POLYCLINIC. They have some great doctors...BUTSince United Health Group bought the Polyclinic, patient services are non-existent. When you call to schedule or reach a specific department, such as Internal Medicine, Urology, Gastroenterology, Orthopedics, etc...you are told to call 911 or wait until someone answers. Guess what...they never do answer. I have been on hold at least 20+ times for 1.5 to 2.5 hours with no response. You have an option for a "callback". Guess what...they never call back. They must have one person for the entire business responsible for answering calls. This is cost cutting gone berserk and has no place in the medical services.It does not matter how great the doctors or care is...if you cannot schedule an appointment to see someone, or talk to someone to determine if you need to see someone, it is a pointless exercise to have an unreachable doctors office.The customer service at the Polyclinic is ZERO. Each department used to have it's own check-in area. They have combined them into one desk to save money. They do not have people answering calls, to save money. The Polyclinic has become totally profit oriented and zero attention to the patients. A lot of great doctors have left for greener pastures, and most of the current medical staff are inexperienced new graduate doctors. Check it out for yourself on their website.If you decide to go, good luck trying to reach anyone on the phone. By the way, you cannot schedule an appointment online yourself. Plan to drop dead while waiting to get into the Polyclinic.

This review is for Dr. Sarah Burns with podiatry. Dr. Burns has been one of the best doctors I've ever seen in my lifetime. I am the type of person who's scared to go to the doctor for fear of being written off or not listened to. I went to Dr. Burns with a problem I have been having since I was a teenager and I couldn't deal with the pain anymore. My first appointment, I got their early so they could get X-rays, which is exactly what they told me on the phone when they reminded me of my appointment so I knew to get there a little earlier. Dr. Burns probably spent 45minutes in the room face-to-face with me, which is incredible compared to most doctors that come in and talk for 5 min then leave. Dr. Burns showed me my X-rays, explained everything she found, then went through multiple treatment options. Most doctors would usually say "we're going to start with this treatment" but Dr. Burns gave me the decision, and I really appreciated that because I was just tired of having the foot pain I was having. We agreed on surgery and she gave me all of the information, risks, recovery/what to expect and everything related to the surgery at this appointment, and then I was able to get the surgery scheduled a couple days later for the end of the month. Surgery day I was nervous but Dr. Burns calming presence in the pre-op reassured me that everything is going to be okay. The surgery went great, she talked to my husband when she was done and made sure to check in with me. Recovery has been as expected, definitely painful but it's not unbearable. I had my first post-op appointment where she took off the dressing and re-dresses it, talked some more about the recovery process and answered all my questions. It's the weekend now and I noticed something a little abnormal to me so I called the operator and they dispatched Dr. Burns to me who called me back within 5 minutes over the weekend to answer my questions. She is an amazing doctor/surgeon, If I wasn't moving out of state, I'd have her do my other foot. Her team is incredible, my questions are always answered and I always feel as if I'm being cared for. I highly recommend Dr. Burns for any podiatry needs!

Was referred to the podiatry department here and was very hopeful. Unfortunately did not get my issues resolved. Was told the problems in my feet were due to weak ankles (?) and dismissed with handouts. Then proceeded to get countless bills saying I hadn't paid my copay. Since it is literally required before you can go into the office, there's no way I didn't pay it. Clearly a totally disorganized billing dept backing up a burned out staff.

You guys refuse to itemize bills you send and tell us what each bills are connected to which service. Then you go after your patients with lawyers?!! Talk about sharks! Your such a bad company that you can't hold on to your doctors. In the many years and being a patient who goes to all your locations I have to keep looking for new doctors because they always leave. I went in for urgent care one time and it was after lunch. He kept trying pressure me to make him my regular doctor but what was worse he smelled badly of alcohol! Next urgent care I sought he didn't even examine me. Just asked me questions and made me leave. I was still charged in full! Even good doctors I saw, your assistants rushes everything to get us out of the door so your doctor can meet their quota's. Poor employees who are forced to give minimal care. They must be so discouraged, thus very poor patient care. Your practice is an exact modern model of healthcare today. Pushing profit over care. Thats why you had to find a buyer before going out of business. I am now finding independent and outside doctors to manage my families healthcare with actual care.

Continued health issues 5 years later involving several specialists. Again, find another for your podiatry needs.

Polyclinic has always been consistent and reliable and I have always been able to see my PCP with an acute issue. I find that the nurse assistants are much more skilled and personable than at other clinics. I recently had to stop going here because of an insurance change but am very happy to now be back!