Washington Center for Pain Management

Dr. Daniel Nelson at Washington Center for Pain Management in Kirkland gave us our lives back by controlling and then eliminating my husbands pain from shingles and post herpetic neuralgia (PHN).
Even though we had both gotten the shingles vaccine inoculation over 5 years ago, my husband came down with shingles in his right shoulder, arm and hand. The pain was excruciating. Our primary care doctor just kept upping the strength of pain medication he was to take, but it didn’t really help. It just turned him into a zombie that still had pain. She referred him to a neurologist at Swedish and suggested we contact the Washington Center for Pain Management. The neurologist at Swedish basically told us she could do nothing for my husband and that he might suffer from the pain for the rest of his life. Fortunately Dr Daniel Nelson at the Pain Center told us about procedures that he had used successfully in the past for similar situations. We opted for the nerve block and he gave my husband the first injection that afternoon. He continued to prescribe pain medications. After the nerve block, they actually helped to control the pain. My husband received 3 nerve blocks over a 3 month period. He felt better after each one and after the third he was actually able to move his arm, hand and fingers with minimal pain. This was something he hadn’t been able to do for 5 months. It is now 2 months since the last nerve block. He has weaned himself off of all of the pain meds and has recovered full use of his arm, hand, and 4 fingers. the thumb isn’t working as well as it did before, but it keeps getting better.
We had no problem scheduling appointments, all of which were kept. We found Dr Nelson and his staff to be very competent and caring. They carefully monitored my husbands pain levels and problems. They explain our options clearly and answered all of our questions. We would strongly recommend him to anyone suffering severe pain.

If I could give ZERO stars, I would! STAY AWAY FROM HERE! I was referred by my current Dr to Dr. Nelson at this location. My current Dr warned me he had had several other patients whom he referred, who had appointments cancelled on them when they showed up. It was so bad, Dr. Nelson visited my Dr at his practice to personally apologize and promise this would never happen again. Surprise, surprise, he was WRONG!
From the moment I first called to make my appointment, I should have known there was an issue. They would not even schedule my appointment without my claim number from my auto accident. The next day, I gathered all of my information and called the next day to make an appointment. The earliest I could schedule was more than a month out. The woman I spoke with took all my contact information, phone numbers, email address, claim number, adjuster’s name and phone number as well as the name of my Dr who referred me. I was coming in under an auto accident claim but she did also confirm I had medical insurance and my provider for this as well. Another words, she had ALL my information, can’t think of anything she missed.
So yesterday, I show up for my appointment with Dr. Nelson, and wait for it… it was CANCELLED. The girl behind the desk was completely unapologetic and said they tried to call me and couldn’t reach me so they cancelled my appointment. She stated they needed my claim number and my adjuster’s information to verify coverage. I pointed out they clearly had this information as the appointment would only be scheduled after I provided all of this information. They also had my wrong phone number in the system (mind you I gave them 2 when I made my appointment), however, instead of following-​up with my referring Dr., they chose to cancel my appointment. No apology from the snotty girl behind the desk and the only thing offered to me was making another appointment. If this one didn’t work, why would I risk it happening again.
Their customer service is horrible and their Dr.‘s know it and continue to let it happen. If you make an appointment here, don’t be surprised if it is cancelled. Find some where else to go where they will value you as a patient. I saw my referring Dr. yesterday and he said that was their last shot an no more referrals will be headed to Washington Center for Pain Management.