Scott T Kawamoto, MD, LLC

Dr. Scott Kawamoto is a very intelligent and knowledgable physician. He has impeccable bed side manor and is caring and receptive. HOWEVER, his office is a disaster zone. Good luck trying to call the office first off. They are only open Tue., Thur., and Friday’s for full days and have a half day on Wed. If you have a 9 – 5 job, you will NEVER be able to contact the office. Reason being they 1, rarely answer their phones and 2, they don’t take voicemails! What good is having a doctor if you can’t call to change an appointment or even make one! Let alone speak to them for advice or to change a prescription.
Lastly, their billing office is just as unprofessional. They don’t say a word about your copay at the time of the visit and then never bill you. So you may just have an outstanding payment at the office indefinitely until YOU call to ask them to check and see if you owe any money. Then if you want to actually PAY your bill, you can’t! You have to wait for them to send you a bill… which 6 months later, I still haven’t received…
I just don’t know how such an unprofessional staff can keep a physician’s office functional. We are talking about personal healthcare here people and my number one concern is the lack in confidence I have with this office’s professionalism and organization. These are my personal records after all and I want to know a competent employee is actually handling them.

Dr Kawamoto has been my Rheumatologist for almost three years now and I have received nothing but outstanding service from him and his staff.
I have really aggressive RA and have had a real issue finding medications and treatments that work. Dr Kawamoto has been so patient and understanding during his process and really goes above and beyond to help me. I had to quit working over a year ago because the pain got so bad and I applied for Quest. Unfortunately, Dr Kawamoto’s office doesn’t accept Quest. But knowing how aggressive my disease was and that it would be hard to start over with a new doctor, Dr Kawamoto decided to accept my insurance anyways so that I may maintain continuity of care. I’m sure he wasn’t supposed to do that, but that’s how much he really cares for his patients. I feel lucky that I have such a great Rheumatologist to work with.

Was initially referred to his senior associate, but she either was not accepting new patients or did not have an appointment available for a long time so I decided to give Dr. Kawamoto a try since he had an opportunity to see me right away. I saw him consistently for three years to treat a condition (s) that got progressively worse to the point where I was forced to resign from a company I had spent almost 20 years with. I was devisated. With the full support of Dr. Kawamoto and my previous employer, I applied for SSI Disability. Now, without employment, I applied for and received HMSA Quest insurance through the state. I made sure to check the listing, and Dr. Kawamoto is listed as an HMSA Quest participating provider.
I show up for my scheduled appointment, present my new insurance information and get called into the back. My vitals are taken and I’m told that the doctor will be right with me. The receptionist comes in and tells me «I’m sooooooo sorry, we don’t take Quest. We can’t see you. You have to find another doctor.»
I’ve been working in health care for 22 years. I know what she’s really telling me is: «You are not worth you’re horrible insurance reimbursement. The door is THAT way.»
I let her shuffle me out the office with a stupid half-​smile on my face as my mind is racing «you jackass… I needed you. My flares were getting worse, my disability was denied, I wanted to try a new medication and we had blood work to go over.» I feel completely abandoned.
Money isn’t everything. Treat people how you would want to be treated.

My wife recently needed to find a rheumatologist. After an brief internet search, she decided to give Dr. Kawamoto a shot — mainly because he was near by (Queens POB 3) and he took Kaiser Added Choice. She’s since had numerous visits and found Dr. Kawamoto to be both attentive and efficient. She says he’s a young doctor that’s easy to talk to and listens to your concerns. His office is new and clean and his staff is friendly and helpful as well. She’s happy to have found him and would recommend him to anyone needing a rheumatology specialist.