Bruce Chung, MD

I visited Dr. Chung for the first time after coming from a PCP i didnt really like.
I was looking for someone who’s professional and willing to spend the time with their patient and answer questions.
And thats exactly what he did!
I went for my annual check but on top of that he let me ask any questions i had and never seemed rushed!
He went over medical history in detail which i appreciated !
I would highly recommend Dr. Chung !

This doctor care’s about one thing and one thing only — money. He doesn’t care about your well being, he doesn’t care about whether your in excuciating pain. He just cares about extracting as many billable dollars from you and your insurance copany as he can possibly get away with.
My girlfriend is right now in a taxicab in excuciating pain on her way home from work in order to get her medication. Dr. Chung has just refused to renew her prescription for Endometriosis, a condition that causes truly horrific pain when it strikes. She has been diagnosed with this condition for years and Dr. Chung is fully aware of it, however he has just refused to renew her long-​standing prescription over the phone — his advice instead: «If the pain’s so bad — go to the emergency room».
I am absolutely furious When you’re in pain like this minutes count. If you’re a woman know that this man has zero sympathy for you. He insists on an office visits for the most basic of prescription renewals, even for chronic conditions that have been part of the patient’s clinical history for years. All this jerk wants to do is bill insurance companies and if that means leaving his patients to linger in excruciating pain for hours in a waiting room then he couldn’t care less. There are many wonderfully doctors in nyc — don’t waste your time on this creep.

Friendly doctors but the staff is rude and incompetent. Also, very long wait times.

The doctors are great, the front of the house staff, not so much.
As a patient of this practice for almost 10 years I would expect to be treated accordingly, at least with a little respect. As Eujins above rating stated, they will now scam you and code your visits to make the most money possible. It is truly very sad as I will now have to switch my PCP.
I had my annual physical, which I do every year. The usual is checked and then I am given a prescription for anti anxiety — This year apparently they decided this wasn’t part of my physical and should have been scheduled for a separate visit. Why would I come back again for something that has been taken care of every year during my physical. They are sneaky and will bill anything they can to try and make more money. When I called to question them about my «balance» the receptionist was the most unprofessional and rude employee I have ever come across. She actually cackled and said I don’t care. Shame on you Dr Chung, you should have courteous employees, or at the very least one who speaks english.
Surely there is a doctors office out there who will not participate in such antics to make a few extra bucks. See you later CityCare.

Dr. Chung is great. He is very kind, attentive and really takes his time. He is also great because he follows up via e-​mail and posts tests results on a secured site to prevent having to make you go back and forth, or play telephone tag. I love that they save slots for same-​day appointments. The worst thing ever is being sick and not being able to get an appointment with your doctor. Highly recommend.

The Bad:
The receptionist will try to diagnose you on the phone (no she’s not a medical professional)
How you’re going to pay is more important than your health
You can’t make follow up appointment more that 2 days out– even if they called you to make an appointment!!!
You can’t address more than one problem at a time when you see the doctor… so your high blood pressure will have to wait until your cholesterol is addressed, in a different office visit…
The good:
Both doctors there are very good…

Been going to Dr. Chung for a bit over year or so, and really like him. I’ve been in three times. He’s very smart, professional, helpful, nice guy. He was a bit hurried once, when another doctor was out, but what do you want? Happens to everyone. On the most recent visit things were quiet and we got to shoot a bit of bull. He was recommended to me by a friend who also spoke very highly of him, and I second that rec.

Look to the right and cough!
Smart guy.
Caring.
Been seeing him (platonically) for years now.
Submitted that prescription for that hole in my head directly to the pharmacy for prompt filling.

I was recommended to Dr. Chung by a coworker. I hate going to the doctor’s office, but Dr. Chung made me feel comfortable and I was not rushed out of his office. We talked a lot about prevention of health problems and my family history which is something I personally find to be very important.
He’s my new primary and I’d recommend him to anyone!

I have been going to Dr. Chung for more than 10 years. He is by far the best family doctor I have had. I moved away from NYC a year ago and all I find are doctors who have poor bed side manners.
Watchout for the administrative staff. They are like Nazi when it comes to booking appointments. I booked a same day appointment but decided to cancel it in literally 10 minutes. I was told that I had to pay $ 50 no show fee?!

I’ve been seeing Dr. Chung since 1991 and have been satisfied with his abilities and style in that time. However his staff and business model is another thing. in last 8 or so years the office has become much more like a healthcare factory which really degrades the doctor-​patient relationship I valued back in the early days of his practice. These days I find it a hassle to deal with the staff — as noted in previous posts they force you to come in for multiple appointments when one appointment or a follow up phone call should suffice. I am looking elsewhere for another doctor where the staff is less impersonal, inflexible and robotic.

My husband and I went to Dr. Chung for the first time last week and he was wonderful. He is genuinely interested in his patients, and he takes great care to understand exactly what is going on with each of his patients. He also explains everything as he goes along, which is really helpful! The office staff also was extremely friendly and accommodating! We had not received our new insurance cards in the mail yet and were thinking we’d have to pay the whole amount for the appointment up front, but the lady who was helping us just used our social security numbers to look up our information on the insurance website! They saved us from having to front the money ourselves, and overall they were just extremely nice. We will definitely continue going to him for as long as we live in New York.

I was a patient of Dr. Chung’s about 8 years ago then moved to San Diego. Thought he was great then and was happy to see he took my insurance once I moved back to NY. He’s friendly, interested, thorough, and is very meticulous about explaining what he’s doing and why. Great guy. Surprised to hear negative reviews of the office staff. They seemed very friendly to me.

I have gone to Dr. Chung for over ten years now, from when he was in the Sidney Hillman Health Center on West 16Th street. At that time I had constant strep throat, always sick. Every time I went to the clinic, seeing a different doctor, I would be put on antibiotics again. This would make me incredibly stomach sick, take forever, and at best, seem to resolve the issue slightly. After being on antibiotics for on and off for over a series of years, being on antibiotics straight for two months, and getting sick again, I was introduced to Dr. Chung. He looked at my chart, and told me that in all likelihood my tonsils were shot, and I needed to have my tonsils removed. Uncommon for an adult, yes… but after they were gone I had my life back. Mind you I had seen at least SIX other doctors there, and none of them would even consider it.
So when he moved to a private office, I chose to go along with him. He has taken every insurance I have ever had, including 1199 which is a notoriously poor paying plan. His reason for taking it? It’s a plan for health care workers, and how would it be for him as a health care provider NOT to take it? How can you NOT love that reasoning?
I’ll be the first to admit that his office workers are for the most part, charmless, and sometimes rude. However, what I tell myself is that they create policies that allow him to simply focus on health care… which he does REALLY, REALLY well. A yearly physical is it’s own appointment… which if done thoroughly, IT SHOULD BE. You can get any doctor to do a quick once over. The point is that he spends time with you, allows you to ask plenty of questions, and focuses on the many different aspects of your life that affect your health.
I have referred many friends and patients to Dr. Chung, and they have all been quite pleased. He also has a woman doctor in the same practice: because he was out, she did my immunizations and anti-​malaria meds prior to a trip to Central America. She was great as well– very knowledgeable, and nice.

Quite possibly the worst doctor’s office experience EVER.
AND I didn’t even set foot in the office for the 2^nd+3^rd to be visits.
Let me break it down so it is easy for me to write and for readers to understand:
[History of Attendance]
I had gone to this doctor’s office because of a cold and did not have any issues.
[Yesterday’s Call]
This time around I wanted to schedule a physical as well as get immunization/​booster shots for travel. The office manger told me that I needed to split up the visits as the doctor wanted to focus on one area and the insurance company did not allow patients to combine the two visits. Slightly confused, but busy at work I agreed and made 2 separate appointments. The skeptic in me, got the best of me… I called my insurance company and the rep said that there is nothing in the fine print of my insurance that validates the statement from the doctor’s office. My speculation was that they wanted me to co-​pay twice or were just coming up with some ridiculous bullshit.
[Today’s Call]
After speaking with the insurance company I was pretty annoyed because I felt conned. So, I called the office back because I couldn’t take off the work day to go to the Thursday appointment and just wanted to combine the two to my already scheduled Saturday appointment. I was the told the same as the day prior to — that the Doctor wanted to focus on one area and the new kicker was that a physical takes 30 minutes and the combined two would take too long. This did not make any sense. I explained that I had called my insurance company and explained what I was told. I even brought up the point about paying 2 copays instead of one as a K.O. to my duel with the doctor’s office. The lady was was unapologetic and very curt. I canceled the appointment on Thursday and was going to just go for an appointment on Saturday for immunization.
[Plan B]
While thinking over a piece of Hershey’s chocolate my coworker gave me after hearing my duel with the doctor’s office, I decided to call another doctor’s office. Waddayaknow… The new doctor lets me combine the two visits and explained the price breakdown as well as what would be covered and what wouldn’t be. Talk about some great customer service. Depending on how this Doctor works out, I will let all of you know how things go.
I probably sound like the most bitter individual here. But, this was very ridiculous and I wanted to share this info with fellow Unilocalers and reading leechers as I once was.
It’s unfortunate that it took this for me to write my first review…
I promise though to write about some good food in the city as I have always valued Unilocal as a resource for candid and witty opinions. :)

Dr. Chung is the man. I haven’t met a friendlier doctor in my entire life. I’ve recommended him many times, and am glad to do so here too. He’s a terrific GP and takes most insurance, too.

I don’t care too much for the receptionist or assistants here.
They are too slow and the wait is forever!
But Dr. Chung wasn’t so bad, but I only went to him once.

Dr Chung is the best doctor! I’ve gone to him for over 10 years and he’s great because he’s professional, courteous and thorough. I’ve recommended him to all my friends and collegues and all of them have nothing but great things to say about him. I would definitely recommend Dr. Chung.

One of the hardest things about moving to a new town where you don’t know anyone is finding new professionals you can trust with valuable assets such as your car or home. This becomes all the more important when it’s your life that you’re entrusting in someone else’s hands.
Thankfully there’s Unilocal,and I decided to go with Dr. Chung after reading Vincent’s review. Although they were booked for a few weeks out when I tried to schedule a routine physical, I can now report back that it was worth the wait. Dr Chung and staff quite possibly have the best bedside manner of any medical professional I’ve ever been to.
The office wasn’t lavish, but it was clean and looked like it was well equipped with the latest medical accoutrements. The receptionists were all smiles and looked like they actually enjoyed working there.
During my exam, the doc ran through all the normal tests, explaining each one along the way. He even pulled out an anatomy book to show me what he was checking out at one point.
No lectures, attitude, or other manner of unpleasantness, just a good natured informative guy who took his time to make sure I left healthy and satisfied.

Dr. Chung is a great doctor. Very friendly and helps answers all of my questions. The waiting room isn’t so bad as they have a TV with movies playing (or your choice of the traditional magazines, including the Economist.)
Very easy to get an appointment, and has been extremely helpful in scheduling emergency appointments.