Top Sentiments Expressed in
Top Sentiments Expressed in
Big staffing problems!
Elizabeth Wood was 45 minutes late for our initial appointment. She arrived frazzled, cut me off multiple times, and ignored all of the medical background I provided. She proceeded to misdiagnose me and give me the wrong medications for a medical issue I was experiencing (and have since cleared up after seeing another dermatologist who accurately diagnosed me). As this was our initial appointment, I asked to do a skin exam. Dr. Wood told me I’d only been booked for 15 minutes (yep, that’s all you get for an initial appointment here), so she didn’t have time. When I said the front desk had assured me upon making my appointment that I would be given time for all of my concerns, Dr. Wood said, “Well, it’s not like any of your moles are going to kill you in the next few weeks.” Following my appointment, my prescriptions were sent to the wrong pharmacy even though I provided the correct pharmacy on three separate occasions. Finally, when I received a bill for my appointment, the telephone billing system did not work and hung up on me multiple times. I tried calling the office to speak with someone and pay, and after 4 calls where I was on hold for more than 20 minutes without anyone picking up, I finally went in and paid in person.
Cannot get in contact with them for any questions, and the billing service they use (North Pacific Dermatology) has a terrible user interface. I can’t tell if they receive payments or even verify my account information.
Disaster visit. I had my moles checked here by Dr. Wood and the whole experience was uncomfortable. Although my visit was for an annual mole check, she asked with annoyance why I was there. She treated her staff rude, talking down to them. I had my newborn with me and when I went to cover his carseat with a muslin so he could nap while she removed two moles she exclaimed, "NO!! Don't do that, don't do that!" as if I don't know my baby best. He prefers darkness to nap and wasn't being an issue. She overstepped her boundaries but I didn't feel comfortable in that moment to respond. I was so caught of guard by her behavior at this point. She told me I would get my biopsy results in one week and I didn't. They were not in my chart and I tried calling and emailing several times for three weeks before someone finally responded to me. I will never come back here. It was awful and not the care that anyone deserves.
Left a voicemail over a week ago and never got back to me. Makes me wonder why there are people at the front desk if they don't pick up their phones?
Had a scheduled appointment on 7/21 at 11:30 am PT. Earlier that morning, I received an email to North Pacific Dermatology, the Patient Portal. I was not given any direction beforehand from office staff to complete any online paperwork; just show up 10-15 minutes prior to my scheduled appointment time. Going on the assumption that I needed to complete my profile online before my appointment, I spent about 45 minutes to an hour to complete as much as I could beforehand. I arrived 11 minutes early. The person who checked me in was new who took my DL & insurance card information for their records. She then asked for my copay. After that, she proceeded to hand me a clipboard with two sheets of paper to complete. I told her that I finished all of that online earlier this morning and she asked the front desk person next to her if I still needed to fill them out. And the answer was 'yes.' proceeded to fill out the paperwork and turn it in. Was told to have a seat. Finally, at 12:04 pm I was called by the PA's assistant and she led me to the waiting room where I would be seen. We spent about 5 minutes together and then was asked to undress and put on the robe. That was at 12:11 pm. I waited a total of about 30 uncomfortable minutes - no A/C was circulating in the room and it was very warm. No one came into the room by 12:36 pm. No one popped into to communicate that the PA was running behind. I had a previous engagement at 1:00 pm and could not wait any longer. I changed back into my regular clothes and immediately went to the front desk to ask for my copay refund and shared the reason why. She replied, "Yeah, she runs behind." Told the person if I had known that I wouldn't have scheduled my appointment with her (who was the supposedly only person available when I scheduled my appointment). The front desk person said that they don't handle refunds there and that I'd need to call the billing department. later that day, spoke to the Billing Department and they advised me that the office staff COULD have voided the transaction on their end. the A/P Supervisor was gone for the rest of the day and that I should receive the refund on the next business day. The customer service and new patient experience was very poor. While I know some Specialists are very busy, I'm not a difficult patient and haven't had to wait to be seen by a doctor that long in over 7 years.
I have been seeing Eli Wood, PA for 2 years at Westside Dermatology. She does my mole checks. She is amazing!! She is friendly and smart! I highly recommend her!
Informative, respectful and Dr. Marcus spent plenty of time with me. I feel like they give honest opinions, even suggesting against a costly cosmetic procedure that he felt would not work well for my age & skin type.
I have been on accutane for 4 months now. I've been to westside dermatology for years to be treated for acne. While they used to be good, there has been a noticeable decline of their practice after covid hit. It is always a waste of time to go. I would recommend seeing Marcus Ramsey, but I currently see Eli Wood and wait at least an hour in the waiting room every time. It wastes my day and I've even heard of other people waiting 1.5 hrs. I have had them send my prescription to the wrong pharmacy multiple times. Not to mention, the receptionists do not answer the phone, respond to voicemails, or communicate in any way. It is impossible to get in touch or schedule an appointment. I've had to physically go in twice to get in touch with them. I went in today to schedule a follow up appointment for another month of accutane (my last month) and they don't have an available appointment until the middle of September. I am on a very serious medication, and refuse to wait that long just for a prescription refill. The receptionist continues to tell me that I may have to restart the process?!?!? After 5 months of hell, dry lips, eyes, back pain, face peeling.... You tell me I have to RESTART. I thought it was a joke. The amount of stress and hassle it has been to work with them is indescribable. I would not recommend going to them.
Do not waste your time. This office is disorganized, doesn't seem to care about their patient's time, and was a giant pain to deal with. On April 28th, I booked an an appointment through your website scheduler for Friday, May 26th at 10:30am. I received an email confirmation that day. On May 26th I arrived and was told by your receptionist that my appointment was somehow lost in your system and it was not on the books. They were less that apologetic about it, but I figured I would give a little grace and I rescheduled for Wednesday, June 7th. At that time, the office staff scanned my ID, insurance, and sent me a confirmation email. I took the morning off work to attend this appointment - it was extremely frustrating to have this happen. On June 7th, I arrived 15 minutes early for my 2:15pm appointment. My ID and insurance was scanned again and I was asked to fill out some paperwork. Just after 2:15 I was taken back to a room, checked in, and asked to change into a gown for the doctor. 45 minutes later, no one had come into my room. I sat waiting in a stuffy room, in a gown, with no one bothering to even check-in and let me know they were running behind. At 3pm, I decided I could no longer wait. I changed, walked up to the receptionist, and let her know I'd waited over 45 minutes without being seen and needed to leave. She looked up, gave me a thumbs up, and said "gotcha". She did not ask my name, apologize, or express any sympathy for the situation. This office has wasted hours of my time. I expected someone might reach out to me yesterday after the doctor realized I'd left without being seen - but no. This is so unprofessional, disorganized, and disappointing. I will, obviously, go somewhere else for my care in moving forward and suggest you do too.
Avoid at all costs. I don’t want to disparage a local business but there are other options. I also hope they read these reviews and fix their business. I cannot believe the mess that this place is. You cannot contact them! You can’t call them, email them, or message them through the patient portal. You can try but they WILL NOT get back to you. If you have a question or need help you have to physically go there and talk to them. I can’t imagine how they can run a business like this. They have caused so much trouble for us!
Zero Stars. The clinic was bought by a California group. No one is available to answer the phone that is just on repeat to sell you cosmetic treatments, which isn't very helpful when you just want a medical appointment to have a mole looked at. Billing has never called me back about the $377 'surgery' charge to insurance that was a 10 second procedure of freezing off a spot (this procedure used to be $40) . No wonder insurance costs so much. Doctor spent maybe 12 minutes with me. Will be looking to see where my old provider Taj went. No wonder she left.
Do not waste your time. This office is disorganized, doesn't seem to care about their patient's time, and was a giant pain to deal with. On April 28th, I booked an an appointment through your website scheduler for Friday, May 26th at 10:30am. I received an email confirmation that day. On May 26th I arrived and was told by your receptionist that my appointment was somehow lost in your system and it was not on the books. They were less that apologetic about it, but I figured I would give a little grace and I rescheduled for Wednesday, June 7th. At that time, the office staff scanned my ID, insurance, and sent me a confirmation email. I took the morning off work to attend this appointment - it was extremely frustrating to have this happen. On June 7th, I arrived 15 minutes early for my 2:15pm appointment. My ID and insurance was scanned again and I was asked to fill out some paperwork. Just after 2:15 I was taken back to a room, checked in, and asked to change into a gown for the doctor. 45 minutes later, no one had come into my room. I sat waiting in a stuffy room, in a gown, with no one bothering to even check-in and let me know they were running behind. At 3pm, I decided I could no longer wait. I changed, walked up to the receptionist, and let her know I'd waited over 45 minutes without being seen and needed to leave. She looked up, gave me a thumbs up, and said "gotcha". She did not ask my name, apologize, or express any sympathy for the situation. This office has wasted hours of my time. I expected someone might reach out to me yesterday after the doctor realized I'd left without being seen - but no. This is so unprofessional, disorganized, and disappointing. I will, obviously, go somewhere else for my care in moving forward and suggest you do too.
I really tried to give WD 2 stars, even though Dr. Marcus is good, it's their front of the house process is absolutely no bueno. This is not a slam against the front of the house personnel, just their system. This is the 2nd (and last time) they will be messing up my appointment times. It's frustrating to have to wait months to see the Dr, and then when you finally get in there (and this is after texts and phone calls a week out confirming my appt mind you) they tell you that your appointment has been lost due to the 'old system' or something. WD's office seems rudderless in a sea of disfunction...and its been since 2020 that I've started to see this decline. I tried hard to stay with you WD but this time you lost me for good. Godspeed.
Incredibly disorganized. Impossible to reach even after leaving numerous messages over several weeks. Apparently, someone is on leave and no one else is able to manage patient phone calls in the meantime. I showed up for my appointment, and they said I didn’t have one as if I made up the fact that I scheduled a follow up appointment after my last visit. Clearly, they need to work out their staffing and customer service kinks
Useless. Stay away! They call themselves "West Seattle's premier dermotologist." What a joke. The phone number on their website doesn't work as the automaticl voice tells me "has not yet setup their voice mail". The patience portal doesn't work (drop down menu does not load) On the old number they never pick up the phone. WestSide derm twice blocked my refill request (via pharmacy), but also never answer the phone nor call me back. I'm low now on a RX cream I need for a chronical skin conditions. Will never come back to this place.
It took months to book the appointment after repeated voicemails and emails. Finally they book me. I show up early to fill out paperwork. I wait FORTY MINUTES in the lobby after my appointment time. No one addressed how long I had been waiting. No sense of urgency. I walked to the desk after waiting so long and I said "I will need to cancel my appointment. I have run out of time to be away from work" and the receptionist, with zero concern or care, said "ok, I'll let them know." What an absolute joke. Don't waste your time. I'll be telling everyone who will listen to avoid this place. I took time off work and still don't have my needs resolved. If anyone knows a dermatology clinic in the Seattle area that actually cares for their patients, comment on this review (if that's possible).
I was not happy with my experience. I spent more time on the intake paperwork than the time the provider spent face to face with me. They charged me over $100 to tell me that they couldn't do anything for me and when I reached out I got a very dismissive, patronizing response from the provider stating he billed me for a low level service and went into excruciating detail about all of the bills he has to pay and how he only makes a fraction of the total of the bill and how he can't just give out free services. Then had the audacity to suggest I take it up with the billing department as if they would be able to change the billing codes he enters. Sending you to billing is basically a cop out that translates to "I don't have any good answers for you so I will make you someone else's problem". I am playing the smallest violin in the world for you and your very successful practice - and I know it is successful because it takes months just to get an appointment and the doctor's office I work at refers patients to you every day. He stated he provided services such as treatment options (either no treatment or services that he could not perform) and a referral that my PCP could have given me (most insurance companies will only process referrals from your PCP anyway). If the doctor that I work for has patients that he cannot treat or help he discharges them and drops the bill because there were no services rendered. If low level service translates to low quality then yes I would agree. As a business owner and health care worker myself I think it's just bad business practices. Next time I will conduct more research about who I choose to be a part of my care team and who I refer folks to in the future.
Can I give 0 stars? Like others who have left reviews, I haven't been able to reach anyone at this business by phone. I scheduled an initial appointment online but needed to change it. After multiple calls (waiting on hold for over 15 minutes each time and leaving messages), I still haven't received a call back. I feel bad for anyone getting care here who might actually need to talk to someone.
Unfortunately, the problem is getting to be seen. Once you get seen the service is great. Our provider spent all the time they need with you. we arrived at 4:27 for a 4:30 appt. time. the waiting area had 5 people sitting waiting. we have waited for this particular provider for over 45 mins before. when I asked the front desk how far behind they were running, both receptionists acknowledged that this was common. the people in the waiting area also made comments that they were waiting a long time as well. if this is a common problem, I'm wondering how these very educated professionals continue to over book themselves. it's frustrating and very unprofessional. my daughter is on a medication track that needs to continue for several months so I feel stuck. super bummed about this clinic!
Check DocInfo.Org for any disciplinary action against this provider.