Zober Laurel A, MD

I saw Doctor Zobar in October. During the visit I asked if all of the services being provided would be covered by my insurance. She answered that yes, since it was for a diagnosis that it would all be covered. I made an appointment for 2 weeks from then to get my results. I showed up for my results and was sent back to the room. I waited about 15 minutes past my appointment time. When she arrived she informed me that she did not have my results. I had to pay an additional copay to be informed that she didn’t have my results. I would have appreciated receiving a call to be informed of this so that I didn’t have to take time off of work and didn’t have to pay an additional copay to not be given results. 2 weeks later I received a call from Doctor Zober informing me that the results were inconclusive and that she had to send it out for a second opinion. I made the mistake of not asking if this would incur an additional cost because a month later I received a bill in the mail from the outside dermapathologist she uses for her second opinions. The office and the doctor were not transparent about this. I’m now stuck with having to pay for something I was not informed I would have to pay. The office staff was trying to be helpful when I called about this but in the end I was told it was my responsibility. I will not be returning to this Doctor.

I have visited Dr. Zober’s a total of 4 times beginning November 2013 with my most recent appointment in mid-​March.
Each of my appointments have been to check out moles and perform biopsies. This was encouraged by my primary doctor since I had a few moles and spots that had seemingly darkened since my last check-​up with them.
Because I was unfamiliar with the dermatologists in the area, my primary doctor went ahead and just picked one for me. Dr. Zober was approved by my medical group, so I scheduled an appointment in mid-​October. When I called, the receptionist was nice, however, she said that because I was a new patient it would be about a month before I could get in to be seen.
Come the end of November 2013, I finally had my preliminary, and rather thorough, appointment with the Dr. Zober. My appointment was at 9 AM, but I realized the doors were shut at about 8:30 that morning. I wasn’t sure how much paperwork I needed to fill out so I got there pretty early. (Much of the parking lot, by the way, was filled to the max.) It wasn’t until 8:45 that the office opened their door, but that was right after I called to make sure that I was in the right place.
From the time that I signed in and was asked for my copayment until the moment that they called me back, about 20 to 30 minutes transpired for each appointment. (They only accept checks or cash for copayments.) My first visit, though, took about 40 minutes before I could see the doctor.
I waited at least another 10 – 30 minutes to actually see Dr. Z each time I was called back. This is not a new phenomenon within the medical field, but dermatology?
Meeting Dr. Z, I had already lowered my expectations based on the first two horrible Unilocal reviews. I don’t let doctors get away with bad bedside manners or rushed visits, though. My entire thesis for my masters degree encompassed the communication between patients and the wide array of caregivers, so no issues there. In fact, I already knew what she was most likely going to tell me… more biopsies & more follow-​ups. My dad says, sure, more money for them. Probably so, but I feel better about getting checked.
The issue I had/​have with any and all doctor’s office comes from the lack of communication between the front office (in this case Dr. Z’s office staff) & my medical group. Not wantingly, I had to switch insurance companies halfway through my visits to Dr. Z. I called my medical group to verify authorizations from my primary doctor to continue seeing Dr. Z. Even they dropped the ball on me several times with other specialists so that’s a separate issue. But what irked me was when I called Dr. Z’s office to ask THEM if there was anything else I needed to do after a certain point. They said no, just to schedule a new appointment and they would ensure I was authorized. I thought everything was hunky dory until I show up for my most recent appointment and a lady from the front desk yells out my name roughly 20 minutes after I had already been sitting there and says, «we’re sorry, but currently do not have any insurance.» Did they think they were doing me a favor by announcing out loud in front of a room full of other (granted OLD) patients in the waiting room about this issue because I had a nine-​month-​old baby with me? All I wanted was the results from my biopsies which were over two months ago at that point. I had already twice explained to those ladies that we couldn’t do anymore biopsies or anything pertaining to medication on my skin since I was having a second pregnancy — I just wanted the results from the previous biopsies and nobody would tell me any information. So, it took me saying this out loud in front of the entire waiting room to get results. «Without insurance,» I was told I could go ahead and meet with Dr. Zober about my results. That took a whopping 1 minute for her to recheck those areas, tell me that one was benign, and another was a vascular lesion and I had nothing to worry about.
I have plenty of time to reconsider whether or not I want to go back to this office, but the relationship I have established with Dr. Z is mostly copacetic. She did a good job on my biopsies and did not butcher my skin.
I can deal with the incompetent tendencies from my primary doctor’s office and my medical group (& I have already resolved this – they were just slower than usual processing everything perhaps thanks to the political arena surrounding health insurance) since they are not directly related to Dr. Z’s office, however, I would have appreciated a little more disclosure and professionalism from the front office staff. If they have an issue, next time they should call me up to the front as most staff do everywhere else, and present me with some solutions instead of yelling out «my problems» in front of other patients. I would also appreciate them following up on what they said they would do for me instead of just treating me like a number.
Review #231

I’ve been here for a few appointments because I have a HMO and it’s harder to go wherever I want. There’s always a long wait to see the doctor. Today I waited 35 minutes to go back to a room and another 30 to be seen. Most of the time I feel rushed once she’s finally there, so I’m not sure how they run so late. She was very thorough my first time though, and she’s never been rude to me. Today I timed it, and she actually stayed in the room and talked to me about all of my concerns, spending 6.25 minutes with me. That’s not very long, but longer than in the past. You just have to be vocal with your issues. They only take cash or check for payment, and cell phone reception kinda sucks in there, so bring your money and a book. They have some magazines in the waiting room, but not the exam rooms – where you will wait for another 30 minutes. I suggested today they add magazines to the exam rooms, so we will see if that changes. The ladies up front are friendly and the overall office is clean, but boring. I’ve been to worse doctors and dealt with nasty receptionists in the past, so I know this place is better than 1 star from my experience.

I kept coming here for 7 months so she could finally give me something to treat my acne but nothing seemed to work. And one of the prescriptions she gave me wasn’t even valid, so I had to go through the embarrassment in the pharmacy. Also she is very rude, I could understand her job could get tough but that’s not the patients problem that’s her problem. She should be polite because if it wasn’t for patients, she wouldn’t have a job. And I agree what the person below said, she takes forever to see you and when she finally gets to the room, it is only for 3 – 5 minutes and then sends you home unsatisfied.
So if you don’t want to waste your time and money, find another dermatologist.

What a terrible doctor and I will never go back to her again! The staff was courteous enough and the waiting room is nice and clean, but once you get taken into the back, it’s like sinking into an abyss.
I sat in an empty out-​patient surgery room for over an hour waiting for Dr. Zober to see me. I honestly thought that she forgot about me! I was ready to get up and walk down the hall to investigate it was THAT bad.
When she finally arrived, she seemed rushed. like she was trying to catch up with all of her appointments. That’s fine, but it’s not my fault that she was unorganized and in turn, rushed ME. I was unable to ask her any questions about my skin condition because she had this impatient look on her face. She basically wanted me to get the F out without saying so.
She gave me expired medication to use as a sample that, mind you, took her about 15 – 20 minutes to get! I will never go back to her because I felt leaving like a lot of my questions went unanswered and that I knew more than her about dermatology.