Texas Oncology – Austin Central

Two thumbs down! I wish I could give Dr. Balijepalli Netaji, MD ZERO STARS. His bedside manner is the worst. He sent my husband home to die and told him «Good Luck!» Where are his mankind blessings for human beings. Also, he said to come in for his first chemo without verifying his insurance first, so he had us waiting! It was so sad to watch my husband wait for his first chemo treatment, let alone it being a sad situation having to have been there in the first place. This doctor is an idiot when it comes to manners and caring for another person!!! You now have been warned. Stay away!!!

I can’t say enough positive things about Texas Oncology. I first became a patient in late 2009 after my previous oncologist couldn’t diagnose my cancer. During my first appointment, Dr. Kasper saw me after hours and spent nearly 2 hours with me formulating a plan to figure the cancer out. That was December 2009. By late February 2010 I was in remission.
Nearly 5 years to the day of my first treatment back in 2010 I am again back at Texas Oncology. This time the cancer is much more serious. Again, Kasper very methodically formulated a plan, and within 3 weeks of diagnoses I was having my first chemo treatment. All of his staff are first class. He has a nurse practitioner who has been incredible in my treatment. Every single infusion nurse has treated me with care, compassion, and the utmost professionalism. I have two more weeks of chemo on this round of cancer. I feel pretty sure in a couple of years I will have to come back. I won’t go anywhere other than Texas Oncology.

Unfortunately, I know Texas Oncology well. I am writing this review in hopes that it will help another cancer patient.
When I first was diagnosed, I was scared out of my mind. When I met my oncologist, Dr. Loukas, he immediately put my mind at rest. He is very kind, gentle, and extremely knowledgeable. The staff at Texas Oncology is wonderful. They are all very sweet and actually care enough to take the time to try and make their patients feel better. I am sure that most of the patients in the lobby are scared, but its interesting — the «energy» in this place is not bad. You would think that it is, but the people, the atmosphere and even the calming music is so nice, that I don’t actually hate going there.
Every single staff member that I have met over the last 4 years that I have been visiting this place is nice, professional and caring. Thank you, Texas Oncology. I am very grateful.

This place deserves five stars in my book. The staff is amazing and friendly they always remember your name when you come in. Always there to help ²⁴⁄₇. Cancer sucks so it nice to have an quality comprehensive place to go to for treatment. I definitely recommend this place if you have to battle cancer. Amazing place.

After having a terrible experience with my first oncologist my chemo nurses recommended Dr. Kasper. I took their advice and got a second opinion from him. And he is really great. He was 100% honest with me and answered all of my questions. He goes over my lab work with me. He is a wonderful man and I wish I had him as my oncologist at the beginning of my lymphoma diagnosis. I can’t say enough about him and the infusion room nurses. They are top notch.

I had a really bad experience with this place. The Dr. that I worked with was very condescending and spent more time talking into his dictaphone than talking to me his patient. He did not discuss options, but rather said «this is what you are going to do» and did not explain what, why, how, other options, or anything. He continuously spoke in «Dr. speak» and did not take the time to explain what he meant. He acted very put out when I stopped him and asked questions. I felt like he thought I was too stupid to waste his time on and the fact that I would ask questions just proved it to him. A person does not go to the oncologist for fun, it is scary enough without having a Dr. not listen to you. When I told them I needed time to think about one of the procedures they proceeded to use my fear to try to get me to agree to doing things that day in office. Tests and procedures were ordered in office that would have been much less expensive and could have been done at my primary care physicians office. Some of the tests had already been done only the day before, but they still wanted to repeat them in their office. I later found that this was not necessary. They even added in two tests that I did not authorize. When it came time to get the results from one of the tests the staff lied to me and told me that they were not in and that I would need to schedule another appointment with a Texas Oncology Dr. in order to see them. After several calls and being given the run-​around I was able to find out that the test was in fact in. I want to get it and they still made it very difficult and I had to argue to get a copy. On the test there was a date stamp that it had been completed and reviewed by the Dr. the day before. I had been told that the tests wouldn’t be available for another week until I scheduled an appointment with them. This group is more interested in your money than in your health. They will lie to you to get you to do tests you don’t need, lie to you when you want your records, and generally make it a real hassle. Dealing with cancer is difficult enough without having to deal with this group.

I came to Texas Oncology because I was diagnosed with cancer (well duh) but I feel so positive because of this place. Everyone — the patients, the staff, the visitors are all part of your team. Cancer is scarey and life-​changing but the people at Texas Oncology really care. I started working with Dr. Lynne Knowles and I’m so happy I did. She’s hands down wonderful. I start chemo next week and TO provided me with a nurse practioner who went over everything — from what to expect, how to handle the side effects, places to go for support and easy to find phone numbers. These people involve you in your program and encourage you to think positive.
I cannot say enough about how wonderful they are. I cannot thank them enough no matter what the outcome — they have made me feel like I can do anything.

I was referred to Dr. Knowles for a consultation following a different surgery that raised some questions about an enlarged ovary with a tumor. It turned out that the tumor and ovary were borderline cancerous and had to go. Dr. Knowles scheduled the surgery ASAP and I felt very well prepared for it. She explained exactly what was going on in a way that I understood and listened to my concerns. She was compassionate and professional.
After my surgery, I was in some pain and her nurses really went the extra mile to squeeze in an appointment for me immediately and get me taken care of.
I gained quite a bit of weight (15 lbs.) after surgery, surely partly due to the bed rest and comfort foods involved following a partial hysterectomy. When I whined about it to Dr. Knowles (knowing that there were other doctors more well-​suited to help me map out a solution) she brightly answered that she had recently been away to a conference on obesity and seemed eager to share what she’d learned. I took her advice and am down 12 lbs. I’m excited for my next appointment so that I can show off my results.
Dr. Knowles is an excellent surgeon and doctor and a wonderful human being. I’m so thankful that she and her staff were there for me when I needed them.

This is a top rate institution (Balcones Dr. location). My father was a regular patient here for the past 4.5 years, before he passed away. I came with him for many doctor’s visits, radiation appointments, and treatment appointments. The staff here is attentive, caring, and always on the ball. They’ve got a CT scan machine on-​site and have a PET scanner. This cuts down on time and hassle that would be spent making appointments in other places.
At one point, my father switched health insurance providers, and his new provider dragged their feet in issuing him prescription coverage card. The pharmacist did what she could to minimize our out-​of-​pocket costs. When he finally got the card, we went into give her a copy of it, asking for advice on how to submit our out-​of-​pocket claims to the health insurance. She had not billed us for any of it, and said that she would submit the claims and take care of all of it, saving us a lot of hassle and work.
At one point, my father had a large growth that was becoming uncomfortable and affecting his breathing. He went in twice for the radiation treatment (Thursday and Friday), and Dr. Nuesch and his staff opened up the clinic on Saturday and Sunday to give my father and a couple other patients radiation treatment. I’ve never seen such initiative in healthcare before.
Dr. Kasper, my father’s oncologist, was similarly always attentive, patient, and knowledgeable. The entire staff is always friendly and smiling.
My father was an engineer who ran a manufacturing plant, and he was always impressed with the way this clinic was run. This is an exemplary example of healthcare. They’ve got a good thing going here.

Texas Oncology Far West location is one of worst New Patient service I’ve ever seen. Their new patient scheduler NEVER answers the phone, only option is to leave message, then when you call back NO way to speak to a person, always machine. Their new patience dept. supervisor «Lily» does NOT have intention to improve their service, telling patient it’s patient’s fault that when they call back you are not there! The supervisor explained they are very busy with other things, no time to answer new patient phone call! I wanted to make an appointment to see an oncology at the location, after over a week of trying to speak to a person to make an appointment, I finally gave up, this kind of service department does NOT deserve to serve any patient. I want share my terrible experience with their New Patient service and their supervisor «Lily», so you can think twice before use their service. Best luck to you.

Remodeled. Undate. Comfortable surounds.
Excellent staff. Doctors are wonderful.
Good location, easy access to Ben White blvd.

Round Rock location– CHEMO FARM.
While cancer certainly sucks, and ultimately, what really matters is the end result and healing but I was appalled by the large room where everyone get there chemo at the same time. There are 35 chairs squeezed into a large room with nurses running around. It’s not the most comfortable place and you are going to be spending some time there!
The large room is so cramped and crowded. There is absolutely no privacy (umm, HIPAA???) and it seems so depressing to be in a room with so many other cancer patients. Some of the patients are clearly terminal or much worse off. And how about germs? Doesn’t seem right to subject immuno-​compromised patients with so many other people.
I was impressed with the compassionate doctor, but geez, this medical group is raking it in and they should lease more space! Cancer patients deserve better!

A few years ago my wife was diagnosed with a serious form of breast cancer. At the time, her sister was fighting her third recurrence of the same thing.
My wife had surgery and afterward she went to Texas Oncology for chemotherapy. Her oncologist, Doctor Kasper, was patient and careful about explaining all of my wife’s options for treatment. It’s pretty damn scary. You know you’re sick with something that could kill you. You also know all the treatment options will definitely make you sicker before you get better, and you won’t necessarily get better either. We talked to other oncologists but thought Doctor Kasper was the best.
My wife ended up having five months of the most aggressive of possible treatments. We were there almost every week. I expected the chemo room to be a brutally depressing place, but it wasn’t. My wife sat in a big, comfortable chair during treatment. There were multiple TVs per section of the room, and you could control the channel and listen over headphones. A volunteer wandered around with a food cart — cookies, sometimes doughnuts or breakfast tacos — and water bottles. I sat with her and worked on my laptop (they had Wifi too). Everyone there was great: the nurses, the receptionist, the volunteers, everybody.
It wasn’t a walk in the park for my wife or for our family, but Texas Oncology made a hard situation manageable. My wife’s been off chemo for over two and a half years and she’s doing great.
I doubt you came to Unilocal to read about oncologists, but if you did, don’t give up hope. People go beyond cancer and get on with their lives. Doctor Kasper and the rest of the folks at Texas Oncology came through for us. Two thumbs up.

After hearing for the second time in 10 years I had a cancer — yet not related to one another — I thought I was going to have to haul my ass down to Houston and deal with MD Anderson. I ended up at Texas Oncology with Dr. Knowles who specialized in OBGYN related cancers. It’s an emotional, life stopping event that no one can relate to unless you
are actually going through it.
I felt so taken care of from the start. Everyone I encountered was genuinely compassionate and didn’t make me feel like «that poor girl». I actually felt more confident I would get through this cancer bout than I did my first run back in 1997 — not just because of location but because of the staff and doctors.
I hope I never have to visit this place again outside of check-​ups but if I do — I know I will be in great hands with vbery qualified people.

My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year. She has had a remarkable recovery from surgery, but it has nothing to do with Texas Oncology. She will have to have some chemo so we got an appt with a doc at this clinic since it’s the closest option for us.
What a headache! They have more than one nurse for each doctor and no one communicates with each other. To make a long story short, they constantly tried to schedule my wife for treatments she either didn’t need at all, or won’t need for several months. They were very aggressive trying to get us to schedule saying things like «we don’t know when we’ll be able to get you in again if you don’t take this appointment now.» I’ve never heard of a med clinic using hard-​sell tactics, but these guys do. Bad communication and the lack of individualized care are reasons enough to avoid this place. How can you trust your life with a clinic who can’t even keep accurate records?

I’ve had the unfortunate pleasure of developing quite a close bond with this place. I was diagnosed with Stage III cancer in Feb. 07. Compassion does not even scratch the surface. Dr. Michael Kasper literally saved my life, and the rest of the staff are incredible. My treatment was conservative (they said a hospital stay might be necessary when I felt just «sort of» bad) and state-​of-​the-​art, and though chemo is pretty rough, they offered plenty of things to keep me comfortable. The divas in the chemo room are awesome. Bobby, Rachel, Pat, they’re all great. Erica the scheduler is a miracle worker. The financial people spotted mistakes from my insurance company, and helped me get a refund.
Lotta love going on over there.