Peak Health Medical Group

WORDS CANNOT FUCKING DESCRIBE HOW MUCH I DESPISE THIS GROUP. terrible customer service, slow with referrals, bad group. The doctors are kind but making an appointment with them is a joke. I’ve been trying to schedule a surgery for about 6 weeks now.

I will start off by saying that the doctors here are very nice. I have been a customer here since 2014. Why the three stars then? This is due to the management or mis-​management of the clinic…
It is difficult to schedule appointments. The earliest appointment I have ever gotten was 3 weeks ahead of time. Because of this, after the first two times, I didn’t bother calling them to make an appointment because I needed medical care sooner than 3 weeks. I preferred going to an urgent care clinic, which thankfully has the same co-​pay due to my insurance plan.
Secondly, if you schedule an appointment with a doctor, you may be surprised to find out on your arrival there that only a nurse will be taking a look at you, not a doctor. Yes, this has happened to me after I specifically called to see Dr. Madden. I was told that there may have been a miscommunication over the phone and that the doctor was not going to see me that day.
Lastly, I was there this past Friday (after making an appointment 3 weeks in advance). I finally got to see a doctor here, yayy! But it was a challenge to just make it to the doctor. Let me explain… There is construction going on in the building and in the one adjacent to it. The regular elevator I used to take no longer went up to the third floor which is where the doctors’ offices are. I tried taking the stairs to the third floor but the door wouldn’t lead to any open entrance to the doctors’ offices. It was all locked. I tried calling twice trying to ask how to get there and they said I should just follow the directions posted on the first floor of the building. The directions said something like, «Entrance to Peak Health via the first floor.» There were no arrows explaining how to get there and the elevator wouldn’t cooperate either. I was tired of looking for the place and was about to leave when my call was answered for the second time and a nurse volunteered to come down to pick us up (there was another lady with me who was also facing the same issue! She couldn’t get to the doctor’s office).
When the nurse finally took us up, I was surprised to find that the entrance was now via the elevator of the adjacent building which had signs posted only for another medical group (called Care …). It said nothing about Peak Health group or its recently changed name (St. John’s group — which acquired Peak Health). Anyway, upon finally reaching the clinic, I told the nurse/​receptionist about how difficult it was to find the clinic. She apologized and said that many of their patients were having the same problems but that the management company for the building does not allow them to post proper directions nor do they post them themselves. It was nice that she apologized but the rest of it was just an excuse.
It shouldn’t be this difficult to make an appointment, see a doctor or find the clinic! I can see why so many patients move on to a different Healthcare facility after such treatment. They seriously need to work on their management issues because the medical care itself is pretty good (if you are able to see a doctor that is).

Outrageous. Had to wait 2 weeks for someone to call me back to schedule an appointment, then 2 months for an appointment. The actual visit and the doctor were totally fine. A couple weeks later I started having some health issues and called the office. I got their voicemail and left a message for them to please call me. I didn’t get a call back. I sent the office an e-​mail, I submitted a contact form through their website, and I messaged my doctor though their medical record system. No one got back to me. After a couple months of me calling every single week, leaving multiple pleading messages, making any attempt to contact them, I finally left a message saying I would have to find a new doctor if it is really just this impossible to get in touch with them. They never called me back. Needless to say, I went to a new doctor’s office, and that doctor was horrified to learn why I had switched doctors. I literally never heard anything from that office at all, and it’s been like 7 months since this happened. The reason I finally decided to write a review is this: I was looking at my health insurance website a couple days ago and happened to click on the «my conditions» button. Down at the bottom, I saw high blood pressure and diabetes. I am 24, and not one doctor, including this place, ever said anything to me about high blood pressure or diabetes! I am totally freaked out. I remember literally even asking their assistant if my blood pressure was alright, and he said, «Oh yeah. I wish mine was that low!» And diabetes?! What?! Why does it say that I have diabetes??? I confirmed that the «diagnoses» were entered by Peak Medical because the date matched the date of my appointment. But the doctor listed as having made the diagnosis, I have literally NEVER heard of before. He’s not even listed on their business card I have.
So now I guess my health insurance company thinks I have high blood pressure and diabetes. So I’m sure that won’t impact the cost of my health insurance at all… And you know, diabetes is no big deal. Even if I am actually diabetic, I can’t really see any reason why anyone would mention that to me, right? WTF?! Why is this bs in their medical record?!
This doctor’s office is truly a nightmare.

Had a pretty close to perfect visit to Peak and my doctor there, Jennifer Chin. Yes the parking and entrance to the building are confusing, and yes there is a bit of paperwork because of the group’s new affiliation with Providence Health & Services. But everyone inside was efficient and friendly, and there was virtually no waiting at all. As always, Dr. Chin made me feel confident that my health care was in the right hands. She is knowledgeable, thorough and empathetic.

Providence must be doing something right because I just saw a family practioner, physical exam, blood drawn and walked out all under an hour. Results will be ready to view for me next 4 days.

They were great for years but have been bought out by a new medical group that clearly cares much more about profit than patient care. The last 14+ months dealing with them has been a nightmare. It’s nearly impossible to get an appointment (if they even answer the phone or call you back. Good luck!) and ever since i switched from PPO to HMO they haven’t let me see a doctor. When i’ve managed to get an appointment at all, i’ve only had access to nurse practitioners, the last of whom last barely even looked at me. Rather than examining me, she wrote up a stack of referrals.
I’ve had to go to my local walk-​in clinic and pay cash 3 times in the last year because i couldn’t get timely appointments. The last straw was 2 weeks ago when after being on hold for 12 minutes they told me i’d have to wait a week for an appointment for a UTI infection and suggested i go to urgent care. Ridiculous.

I’ve been coming to Peak Health for more than 10 years — but today was the last straw. I will not be coming back.
The only reason I gave 2 stars instead of 1 was the fact that all doctors and nurses are extremely nice and very capable. I have no problems with any individuals. I do have a problem with the office being unorganized and ineffective. I don’t like people who waste my time and I’ve given Peak Health the benefit of the doubt way more times than I should have.
They just don’t operate efficiently in a number of ways. Let me explain my last appointment. I needed a physical and medical form for my commercial driver’s license. After spending 20 minutes on the phone updating my information in the system (yes, 20 minutes. I know they have a new system but I’ve been coming for 10 years, why do I need to tell you my address and date of birth 3 times?), I was given an appointment the next week, but not with my primary care physician — those appointments take weeks.
I show up and they say, oh by the way, this is not covered by insurance and will cost $ 200+ dollars (they can’t tell me until everything is complete, by the way). It would have been nice to know before I drove 45 minutes to get here. I have a job, two kids under 3, and am starting a business — taking an hour and a half to go to the doctors can be hard to fit into a schedule. If I had known I would be paying out of pocket for the consultation fee — I would have just gone with a $ 40 clinic down the road. It’s not the price that’s the issue. Again, it’s the fact that no one bothered to tell me when I made an appointment that I might have to pay out of pocket.
Not my first issue for something like this with Peak Health, but certainly my last.

I love my doctor. I really do. When I’ve been able to actually SEE my doctor, the experience has been great.
That’s the problem, however.
I called the office last week to see about a follow-​up appointment, as I need to see the doctor to get a refill of my medication. I was given an appointment date SIX WEEKS in the future. When your practice has this much of a patient backlog, you either need to stop seeing new patients or hire a few more doctors.
This is unacceptable.
Add to this the lack of follow-​through on the part of the office staff, and throw in a complete inability to contact the physicians by email or by phone, and you have a recipe for a healthcare nightmare. If this is the future of healthcare, may God help us all.

Does not reply emails nor return phone calls. Got 2 wrong referrals from them —
one cost me half a day. Doctors may be ok but staff wont even let us see ANY.

Peak Health has been my medical practice for many years now and I still don’t know how I feel. Every single physician I have seen at Peak Health, from my primary Dr. Chin to covering doctors like Dr. Farazha, the NP, etc have had fantastic bedside manner. When they’re in the room with me, I feel really at ease. Procedures and treatments are very clearly explained. The practitioners are pretty damn wonderful.
On the other hand, when I am not physically present at the clinic I’ve experienced some of the same issues other Unilocalers have. It is really hard to get an appointment, especially for physicals since they do not calendar very far out and appointments fill up fast. When my partner was urgently sick and told by the hospital he was discharged from to go see his doctor right away, he called in the morning for an appointment and was told he would get a call back in an hour. When two hours passed and he still didn’t hear anything, he called back and was told there was no record of his call and that at this point in the day there were no more appointments. We ended up having to go to urgent care. More than half the time, after labs are drawn, I have to call at least a couple of times and follow up before they will send me the results. It’s also happened multiple times where our pharmacy’s refill request will just go unanswered despite multiple attempts – thankfully, this is usually for allergy medicine or birth control and not something super essential. There was one time– after multiple calls to the pharmacy and and to the office over two weeks – where I had to walk in to request a birth control refill in person before it was granted. These are things that added some unnecessary stress and make me wonder if I would stick with this practice if I had a chronic disease that required me to rely more on the practice’s support staff moving more efficiently.
TIPS
The building they are in has implemented pay parking so parking is no longer free. Plan accordingly.
The website says they open at 8:30am but they don’t, they open at 9am.

You will notice a pattern in most of the reviews for Peak Health. Those who have only been there once or twice give it 4 or 5 stars. The rest of us who have been going much longer, however, have all come to the same realization: while the doctors continue to provide good service themselves, their front office is absolutely poorly run.
Please take this review seriously from someone whose entire family has been going there for 15 years (yes, all the way back to Dr. Escobedo) — I can’t echo enough the people who say this place his slid downhill, and it makes me sad to think that the doctors here don’t care enough to read these reviews and do something about how their office is managed.
Case in point, and the reason this has finally come a boil for me: last week, I called to get a (non urgent) appointment. I was first met by a «fast busy» signal. A few minutes later I was met with voicemail, on which I left a message. 24 hours later, when I had not received a return call, I called back, and again was met with busy signal. Another call and I got voicemail and left a second message. 24 hours later I hit the lottery and got a live person, through whom I got an appointment…5 days later. When I asked her if anyone ever returns voicemails, she actually had the gall to tell me in a cheery voice that, heh, they must have over «300 voicemail messages» stored on their answering service!
It’s so sad for me to say this, but it’s likely that I will move my entire family of 4 and all of our medical records for the last 15 years out of the office. It’s just become too much to bear. Please, Drs. Chin, Saeki, Madden and Taylor — we really like all of you. Can’t you find someone to manage your office properly?

REVIEW SPECIFIC TO DR. BRIAN MADDEN
I’ve been a patient of Dr. Madden’s for many years now, through several different insurance carriers, and I’ve always gotten great care from him and his staff. Personally, I’ve never had to wait a long time for my appointment. I check in, sit down and get called in less time than it takes to open a magazine — although there are no more magazines or coffee table with magazines in the waiting area.
One thing that has always impressed me about this office, and Dr. Madden, is that they were one of the earliest adopters of a paperless PMS (practice management system) — all the doctors have laptops/​tablets that they use for patient histories, prescriptions, etc. Dr. Madden was the proponent of this system for this office and the benefits to both doctor and patient are great! With this system, the doctor has my entire medical history at his fingertips and is able to review, compare and discuss my issues year over year. This is a big advantage over traditional paper offices, in my experience.
Here are my thoughts in regards to the other reviewer’s beefs:
Yes, the building is a bit jenky (not sure that’s a word but it works)
–though it’s just been «remodeled»
Yes, the counter staff is sometimes gruff and not personable
–you get what you pay for and this is an HMO practitioner (low wages)
Yes, it takes longer than it should (seems to) to get an appointment with YOUR doctor
–but I’ve always been offered a same-​week appointment with an associate if my Dr was not available
Yes, the phone system and callback situation has been lacking
–I too have had to call several times over the years to get through to a human or get a call back
Yes, the parking is no longer free, it’s $ 5 with validation, credit card only
–metered street parking on Pontius (west of building) north of Olympic
I’ve seen the other 1-​star reviews and I can feel the pain of the other patients/​reviewers — the potential for disappointment is there — although I’ve NOT had the same experience with this office in the almost-​ten years that I’ve been coming here. Perhaps I have better HMO insurance or maybe I’m lucky that way.
Dr. Madden is TOP NOTCH, while Peak Health, the office experience, could be better.
YMMV

I’ve been coming to Peak Health (formerly to see Dr. Escobedo and now for Dr. Jennifer Chin) for almost 10 years. It’s tough to write this but Peak Health has fallen so far off the map these last few years. I have full confidence in the doctors’ abilities to medically evaluate patients, but ZERO confidence in the support staff to run the place effectively to service patients’ needs.
The last straw was this most recent experience dealing with an injury — got a referral for X-​rays (which, apparently, they no longer do at Peak Health anymore) and literally waited 6 weeks to get any kind of response about further treatment. After calling week after week, I was finally able to convince the receptionist to track down the doctor so she could look at the X-​rays, which basically meant she simply looked at the radiologist’s interpretation of what he saw on my X-​rays, since Peak Health apparently doesn’t even possess the X-​rays for the doctor to view for themselves. Yes, I’m confused as to why the doctor wasn’t able to make her own independent evaluation.
This recent experience has made me lose all confidence in Peak Health’s ability to function as a medical provider and I will never recommend anyone go here for treatment.

I must say, I am very surprised by the low rating on Unilocal for this place. I went yesterday for the first time and was very impressed and had a positive experience.
I had to find a new doctor due to a new insurance plan this year, so I chose a doctor here due to the close proximity to where I live and the fact that they were accepting new patients. I called to schedule an appointment for a regular physical, and was surprised that they were able to fit me in relatively quickly (the last place I was going to had me wait literally like 6 months for a physical… here I got in a couple weeks later).
When I arrived to my appointment, I was able to park for free on a quiet street behind the building (they also have a lot that is $ 5 with validation). I was a little skeptical parking there because it was just a 1 hour spot and I figured I’d be inside for a while, given that I’ve usually had to wait a long time before being seen. That was not the case at all. I took the elevator up to the 3^rd floor where they are located, and the receptionist was friendly. She also explained my new, confusing insurance plan to me, which I appreciated. I had to fill out the new patient paperwork, but rather than it being some gigantic wad of paper like I’ve experienced at other places, it was only 3 short pages and I was finished in about 2 minutes.
As soon as I finished the paperwork, I was called in right away. I was so shocked that I had zero wait time, and I wasn’t even the first appointment of the day. Very impressive! Someone first took my height, weight, blood pressure, and temperature. I was then brought into the exam room and was, again, pleasantly surprised when the doctor entered as soon as I was finished putting on my gown. There was literally no wait time yet again.
The doctor was super friendly, and also funny. She had probably the best bedside manner of anyone I’ve ever seen before. She was personable, talked to me like a real human, and a great listener. She narrated everything as she was doing it so that we were on the same page and I was comfortable and had an understanding of what was happening. I was very impressed. I also mentioned a couple of minor concerns I had and she immediately issued me referrals for specialists, no problem.
Finally, I got dressed and went back out to the main room where they quickly and painlessly took blood for the blood work, and that was that. I was in and out of there in 30 minutes total! Everyone was organized, efficient, knowledgeable, and worked cohesively as a team. Additionally, the very next day I received the email I was promised with the referrals for the specialists, and I was also able to create an account online to log in to so that I can view my lab results when they come in — super user friendly! I’m very impressed with this new doctor’s office and am happy I chose them. I hope everything goes this well with them from here on out.

FYI
Here is information regarding the time frames you should be able to get an appointment after a request (found in Health Net News, Spring 2015)
Business days are usually Monday to Friday and do not include weekends or holidays.
Routine care appointment with your PCP — your main doctor — Within 10 days
Routine care appointment with a specialist (PCP refers you) — Within 15 business days
Urgent care appointment for services that do not need approval — Within 48 hours
Urgent care appointment for services that need approval in advance — Within 96 hours
First prenatal visit — Within 10 business days
Well-​child visit with PCP — Within 10 business days
Physical exam/​preventive checkup — Within 30 calendar days
Ancillary testing (such as labs, X-​rays or therapy services) — Within 15 business days

Dr. Jennifer Chin is wonderful. I love her. She’s been my doctor for years.
Making an appointment/​rescheduling is a horrible experience. You wait on the line for what seems to be hours (after they put you on hold.) The person on the phone is usually rude and act like they are put out by scheduling your appointment.
During the appointments, the reception staff is not very friendly. But the guys who take your blood pressure are!
I give this place three stars because the doctors rock. It would be five stars if the entire staff did.

I am torn because I have been going to Peak over 5 years so probably 20 visits (to Dr. Jennifer Chin) and only recently, since 2014 has this place gone downhill and unfortunately taken a bit turn for the worse. You have to make appointments VERY FAR in advance, like 3 weeks. No chance at seeing her sooner… don’t bother leaving a message. The new staff is a bit rude and talk about the patients in the waiting area. I was hospitalized and couldn’t get in touch with this clinic all week/​weekend… =/​
Dr. Chin usually talks a lot to me and addresses all my needs but isn’t for big time stuff… colds, sinus infection? Prescriptions? GREAT! CDIFF OR GI ISSUES, no real help as this is not her area… not her fault. I think so many people have her as a doctor that it’s hard to schedule with her. Dr. Taylor — no thank you, no help. The nurse, Lee? Waste of time. Wish Dr. Chin could open a practice out of there.
On the plus — I have had to give A LOT of blood here and the staff is EXCELLENT. UCLA and GLENDALE did terrible job poking and bruising me. Peak guy is wonderful.
Park at the meters if you don’t want to pay $ 5 or more in the parking area. (new 2014). Also plan about 45−1hour more time than you think as it takes a while to see the doctor.

This place is packed and very popular. Make appointments far in advance and come in with patience. My appointment ran at least 30 minutes late so you’ve got to be prepared for that. They also tend not to do early appointments as they save the first appointment time each day for patients who are doing bloodwork. Overall, I was very satisfied with the doctors here but it just took a bit of time to see them.

I am absolutely floored by the bad ratings. I’ve been going to Peak Health for years and love it.
The front office staff is ALWAYS friendly, as is everyone I have ever encountered there. My doctor treats me as an equal and works WITH me on health decisions. She never talks down to me and she never overtakes my care. She values my opinion and insight and lets me be a partner in health and that means the world to me.
Everyone there has a great sense of humor and always makes me laugh.
I’m a ridiculously hard stick (needle wise, drawing blood) and they get it right EVERY time, on the first time. I’ve had other places stick me 3 — 4 times and not get anything. These guys have talent.
Their email communication system works really well for me and I am beyond appreciative that I have a copy of my own results to look at, examine and pick apart.
If you’re coming in for a regular, routine appointment you will probably have to schedule a month out. I’ve never run into a doctors office where this is not the case. But if you have a genuine emergency, they will get you in that day.
Getting someone on the phone can be a little difficult, but have you ever tried to get someone on the phone at kaiser? Same thing, but Peak has an emergency line that is answered right away.
I just pray I will always have insurance that they will take. There’s no way I want to give up my doctor or this place!

I went in for my visit two weeks ago. At the end, I left a form to be filled out for my job, it’s been two weeks and I still haven’t received that. I’m having back problems so I asked for a visit to a specialist. The NP suggested I have xrays done. I called after two weeks of not hearing anything, and the person who i finally got in touch with at the front desk relayed a message that the NP said they were «fine». And, I asked what does that mean? I have scholiosis and I know that just doesn’t go away over night. Should this person be evaluating my xrays?
Once I get all my documents and xrays, I’m never going here again. You shouldn’t have to basically harass their email line, voice mail and receptionist to get results from people.