Austin Gastroenterology

Trying to get an appt with the doc I have a history with will be 7 weeks. After being in the ER for this issue, I’m told they don’t do «urgent care» and that to transfer to another doctor will require a «transfer request» as a professional courtesy to the doctors there. Apparently, they are more concerned about internal customer service than to the people who pay them. What doctor’s office doesn’t squeeze someone in? I know they did when I went the first time and waited almost 2 hrs to see my doc. (1.25 hrs in the little exam room).
Let’s see if they respond to my concerns.

Dr. Scott Becker is awesome, kind and hilarious! You can tell he loves what he does and the office staff is really friendly. I really liked him! Recommend!

While I haven’t been to this office in years, I read several reviews about how difficult it is to make an appt. After several frustrating calls with ARC to get in with a specialist (as they told me I needed to do, yet it was a 3 month wait… ridiculous when feeling so sick) I spoke with Kim at AG and she was very kind, sweet and great bedside manners! After so much frustration it was a joy to get her on the line. She was beyond helpful and I was able to see someone in a reasonable time frame! Thanks Kim!

Prepare to wait 45 minutes after your appointment time. They told me over the phone they took my insurance, I showed up and after the useless visit where they told me I need surgery and a colorectal surgeon, I got hit with a $ 200 copay because, oh by the way, we don’t take your insurance. What a racket.

No stars, if I could. Horrible experience. I went to see one of the doctors at the James Casey location. They said I had low iron — told me my # was 4 and that it should be between 20 – 50! This had me in a PANIC!!! Turns out — false! WTF! How can you tell someone this and be WRONG? Who has the degree hanging on the wall? And Sandra — one of the people I was to book my appointments with — you need to work some where else that doesn’t require working directly with people. Using your personal cell to call me (yeah, I googled your # and it came back as a cell # in ATX, which to me = SPAM) to leave me a voice message saying the doctor cancelled my appointment and that you rebooked it at end of month — a time that I CANNOT get off — you knew this during the difficulty with booking my iron appointments (which you Sandra said had 3 locations (turns out only 1) and that you would book all the appointments — NOT. I did that. Thanks for making this patient UNHAPPY, and HIGHLY DISSATISFIED. This place is a joke!

Wow finally a place in Austin that gets my tummy issues. So far I am very impressed. I agreed, and do not want surgery unless there just is no other way. So glad I was refereed here, and got good news today from the second exam.

Dr Kumar only seems to want to write prescriptions. Then when those prescriptions fail, He will right you another prescription. When that fails then you obviously have IBS. I was able to get to a doctor that actually asked questions about my symptoms and diet and was able to determine I had LPR. Dr Kumar was not able to diagnose this «silent reflux».

The doctors are great, once you get in to see one. But trying to get an appointment is very difficult. When I leave all the information they want on a voice mail, i have never heard back. I finally figured out that the only way to get an appointment is to drive to the office and make it there at the desk. I have never been able to make an appointment without going into to office to do it. This is such a frustrating experience.

If you’re hoping to find the top gastroenterology doctors for you or a loved one, you’ve come to the right place. And, if you are looking for the best doctor in this group, it would have to be Dr. Gagneja. In fairness, I haven’t seen the others!
Dr. Gagneja has never steered me wrong and I consider Dr. Gagneja more like family than my doctor. He is just that good and I know he always has my best interest at heart.

I hate going to the doctor. I’m a terrible communicator when it comes to talking about what ails me so it has to be pretty bad for me to even go in. My primary care physician referee me to austin gastro and I have to say I’ve been quite pleased with the experience. Dr. Becker is so easy to talk to and he actually listens which is important because I babbel and he has to pick out the important stuff. He always asks follow up questions to a symptom and is more then happy to work with you and what you want. I’m not a huge fan of his nurse because she asked if I have been reading too much webMD but she was never anything but my check in person even though she acted like she was my doctor. I really didn’t mind having a long wait once. Things happen especially with doctors that listen and talk to you instead of rushing you out the door. I’ve been in four time and only had an hour wait once but they told me as soon as I showed up that it was going to be a long wait and that I could reschedual if I needed. In all I don’t care about the other things just about how my doc treats me and that gets a 5 star all the way.

Just read review by Rebecca T. in Austin. I had an experience that was just like Rebecca’s. I got in to Dr. Kumar because he had the first available spot. He was wonderful, very knowledgeable and I respect both he and his PA a LOT. I had two procedures done at the same time and that whole experience was as fantastic as something like that can be. I was in and out and the anesthesia used left no «hangover» — felt fit as a fiddle when I woke up.

We’ve called the Round Rock office 5 times and have been the «2^nd» in line all the times we called, 1 time we held on for 20 minutes and never was able to speak to anyone. What kind of office is that. I don’t any scope in me when I can’t even get a person to make an appointment with! Then when I finally got to take to someone, she didn’t know where the office was located.

The nurses were great– I was disappointed that the doctor couldn’t take 5 minutes to talk to my husband once he woke up– I could hear him still talking to other patients.
I give the nurses a 5 for bedside manner– the doctor a 3 for bedside manner:(

Like others who stated they would put zero stars if they could, I also would assign this rating to Austin Gastro. My experience was long and absolutely useless.
I began having esophageal spasms as a result of GERD that was not well controlled last year. My gastro had moved and I let me say that I was referred here by a friend whose husband is a tech who works with several of the gastro’s. I was also referred to Dr. Hsu, hearing he was the best of the best. My experience is as follows.
My first visit in 2013, I was told to arrive early to complete paperwork, a normal request. I arrived about a half hour before my appt, was quickly checked in by the courteous staff at the front. I completed my paperwork and returned to the front desk. I am still waiting at 45 min past the appt time to just get taken to the room to see the doctor. An hour after my appt time, I am finally called back. First, Dr. Hsu’s very thorough and kind NP comes in and spends about 20 min asking questions. She leaves and Hsu arrives, spends about 10 min, tells me they want to do manometry and ph impedence testing, walks me to front and I sit and wait for another 20 min to talk to scheduling. Scheduling gets my info and will call me as soon as they’ve gotten the approval of my PPO, Blue Cross/​Blue Shield Anthem Select. In all, I was there for almost 3 hours that visit.
Two weeks later, no phone call from scheduling. I call them. They are waiting on BCBS Anthem to approve the tests. I call BCBS and they said, «we’ve already approved, nothing to do, you have PPO Select through us, it’s ready to go, no pre-​authorization is required to do this but we’ve already told Austin Gastro» about that. I call AG back, yes, they did get a VERBAL pre-​authorization but they won’t schedule until they get a WRITTEN pre-​authorization from BCBS to PROVE that BCBS will pay their charge. This crap goes on for nearly 45 days. Meanwhile, I am suffering, no diagnosis and no medication started to help my symptoms.
Tests themselves finally are done nearly 2 full months after I had my first visit. I return and have more of the same in waiting: an hour and 15 min in the waiting room and I’m nearly so angry that I thought I was going to have a heart attack. In fact, when they took my blood pressure once I did get back there, it was ¹⁶⁰⁄₉₉. They ask, is it normally this hight– no, it’s normally 120’s over 80 but you’ve had me waiting for hours– what do you expect??? Dr. Hsu drops in and gives some bogus diagnosis that no one ever heard of, tells me I do not have GERD (four previous doctors including ER where I was having horrible esophageal spasm due to the GERD all agreed that I do have GERD) and to take a sedative medication. Oh, but also stay on the reflux med.
I quit seeing gastros at this point until recently, it has gotten so bad that I just had no option. I could not get in to see a different gastro until January so in a moment of desperation, as an «existing» patient, I could get in to see Dr. Hsu. (I am told that the Austin Gastro physicians will NOT see another one of AG’s doctor’s pts!) so I begrudgingly set up an appt. I intentionally set up an early AM appt, thinking I’d be able to forego some of the extended waiting. I arrive to find a waiting room full of people and the ONLY gastro in duty was Hsu. I knew I was in for a long wait.
I finally got called back a full hour after my appointment time (though I arrived 15 min early.) Sat and waited for another 20 min for his NP to come in and ask all the questions. Another 10 – 15 min, and he came in for 5 min. After asking me about my stress level, he basically dismissed all my concerns with «your tests are all normal.» I’m wondering «what tests, the ones LAST YEAR? People change!» Two new scripts handed to me and he was out the door. What’s worse is that the scripts handed to me were not written by him but by his NP who as just in the room.
You can go here if you want to but be advised: this is not a «run down there on your lunch hour place» EVER. You are herded like cattle through a waiting room with other frustrated people who have been waiting hours to see someone, your time is not valued and given the fact that so many are waiting to see them like patient cattle, you will be treated as such. Dr. Hsu is not compassionate and he is not knowledgeable. I could never recommend this place to anyone.

I never Unilocal.Very, very rarely.
The ONLY reason that I am today is that my experience was so drastically different than the other reviews on here.
I was referred to Austin Gastro by my OBGYN (it’s funny how things can be linked! But I digress…)
The worst part of my experience there was getting an appointment. I first filled out the appointment request online, but never heard back from anyone. That was a little frustrating, but I ended up calling and they got me in within a week. Fantastic!
I requested the first available appointment — and it ended up being with Dr Kumar Pradeep. He ended up being incredible! I had an incredibly short wait time in the waiting room (5 or 10 minutes), was taken to the back by the nurse & had vitals taken, then his PA came in and met with me. She took more information and discussed my symptoms. Then, she relayed that information to the Doctor — and he came in fully up-​to-​date and informed on my condition. He spent a long time talking with me about my concerns and getting a plan together to get me diagnosed and taken care of. He didn’t push a ton of unnecessary medicine on me — rather, he listened to what I thought might be the problem and talked through it with me.
I was a little nervous (don’t judge me!) when I heard his name, solely because nothing drives me more crazy and makes me feel invisible than going to a doctor that has a language barrier & not being able to understand him or vice versa. He had a 100% American accent. I felt like a jerk for even worrying about it.
He and his PA spent so much time with me and really made me feel heard! I spent probably a solid hour with them both, put together.
Great experience!

I’ve got a love/​hate relationship with Austin Gastroenterology — my first upper gi back in 2003 (I think?) was an utter nightmare and prompted me to stay away for years (to my detriment), but subsequent visits have been nice enough, to the point I kind of look forward to my regular visits. After that first procedure, I’ve had nothing but very positive experiences here, mixed in with the long waits that everyone else talks about.
I had a diagnosis and recommended course of treatment that would have been rather life-​altering in a hugely negative way, but after much research, I found a doctor in the same office who specialized in a new treatment that saved me from having radical surgery, radiation and chemo and months of recovery. It would have been very nice for everyone there to be on the same page, especially with new technology and new breakthroughs.
Not all of the doctors here have good bedside manners, and a couple can be quite brusk, but I take the good with the bad — I’m alive, and in moderate good health, because they know what they’re doing.
Billing can be quite confusing, but I blame this more on insurance than GA. GA has been quite accommodating in paying things off, and assisting me when it comes to the invariable battles with my insurance company. And they explain the charges when you go in and get things scheduled.
Where this place rocks is the entire nursing staff upstairs — from the ones bring me to the back and get me situated, to the ones who put the iv’s in, to the ones who wheel me in back and slip me the great knock-​out drugs. They put me at ease, they explain what’s going on and what will happen, we laugh, we joke, and because I’m a frequent flyer here, I try to put them as much at ease as they do me. They really are angels and I love them to pieces. Without these warriors on the front lines, I would have probably gone elsewhere after the couple bad experiences.
I’d probably think differently if I only had a couple visits here, but I think I’m pushing 10 visits now (if not more — I’ve lost track), so I understand the doctors and their assistants, and as much as I want to slag off on what’s gone on before, I really can’t, because I can honestly say they saved my life — Dr. Gagneja specifically, and Dr. Hsu with the follow-​ups.
Are they perfect? No. There have been a couple slips and a couple scares, but they’ve been resolved, and for the most part the staff has been very helpful in follow-​ups, answering questions, and anything else I’ve needed.
I still can’t say enough good things about the nursing staff. They really are why I keep coming back. Well, that, and I’ve got long-​term issues that require regular visits. And Drs. Gagneja and Hsu have proven their value and worth to me.
If it hadn’t been for those couple bad experiences, I’d have given 5 stars. This was almost a 3-​star review, but the nursing staff really did earn them a 4^th star. If I could give them a full 5 just for the nurses alone, I would. I hope GA keeps these men and women on staff for years to come, because seriously, after all the visits I’ve had, these folks are your saving grace and why I keep coming back year after year.

Wow, these guys pretty much restored my faith in our broken medical system. From the appointment, to signing in, then to seeing Dr. Havemann I was highly impressed.
His communication and expertise are excellent and the office staff is extremely friendly and thorough. I had a follow up question and they actually followed up and returned my call within an hour!

If I could put zero stars I would. The first thing I asked when I called this place was if they accept my insurance. The lady said it should be fine and if there was a problem they would call me. No call so I arrived to my appointment at 8:30am to a crazy waiting room of people.
I was then told, «ohhhh yeah we don’t accept your insurance so you’ll have to pay out of pocket». Mind you my insurance is blue cross so it’s not a mom and pop company. I then had to cancel my appointment after driving all the way here because I wasn’t going to pay 200 dollars to sit in a 3 ring circus waiting room for 2 hours. Drive anywhere else but this unprofessional joke of a practice!!!

If you value your healthcare choices and care, do not go to Dr. Hsu’s office. I went in about 3 months ago for stomach pains, bloating, heartburn, etc… only to be put through tests and lab work. When I was finally diagnosed with gastritis (after 3 months of appointments, tests and waiting) I was told there was nothing they could do. I woke up from the procedure and was told, you have gastritis, good luck. That was it. I called Dr. Hsu’s office after a few days to see what I could do about my constant stomach burning from the diagnosed gastritis, and was basically brushed off and told there is no medicine for this. Huh? Really? When I pushed the issue asking what I could do to relieve the gastritis, I was told I should head to the ER for a CAT scan. These people are insane at this office. No customer service or care. They scam you out of money with tests and then you are told «good luck»
I highly recommend anyone with stomach issue to run away from Dr. Hsu and his staff as quickly as possible. These people are not interested in helping you. Just giving you need less tests and wasting your time and money. I plan on filing a complaint with the Texas medical board as well.

Just went here a few days ago for my first visit, a consultation to talk over whether I need a colonoscopy or not (*sigh* Yeah, I do. AND an endoscopy. Oh, joy.). The place was easy to find, and the front desk staff were nice and friendly.
After a short wait, I was put in a room by a nurse who did all the usual blood pressure and weight things, then said a medical assistant would be in soon to ask a few more questions, then Dr. Kumar would see me. I barely had time to read a page or two of the book I brought ’til the medical assistant was there. She was also friendly and efficient, showing concern for me and the symptoms I was having as she was asking questions. I told her everything I could remember and read off some notes and she paid close attention. Nothing like having medical staff pay attention to you! That’s awesome! Dr. Kumar did as well ~ he was also very friendly and amenable and he just felt good to be around, like he really knew what he was doing and was listening.
The only reason they didn’t get five stars is because I did feel like Dr. Kumar was a bit hurried (I wish there was a 4 ½ star option ~ that would be more accurate maybe), but maybe he’d had an emergency that day that put him behind and he didn’t want to make his other patients wait. And hey, he hit all the bases and answered all my questions, even if some of them were asked as I followed him out the door (I kept coming up with more). But I feel like if I had had still more questions, he would have stayed as long as it took to answer them all.
I haven’t had the procedures yet, but when I do, I’ll come back and update my review. If it goes like Dr. Kumar told me it will, that I won’t remember a thing about it, they’ll get five stars then! LOL!