Synovation Medical Group

I’ve worked in the medical field for 10yrs. Due a bad back I’ve seen 30 doctors about. I have had 2 surgeries. I did Dr Niahemier and he an amazing doctor and compassionate! But, This group is the worst I’ve ever seen! I had to stop seeing Dr Niahmier due to being there only one day a week and not being able to get in so I was referred to Dr. Seltzer but this Doctor and his medical assistant Stephanie don’t care about their patients. If you call in a week ahead of time to get a refill and call back 5 days later to see what’s going on don’t be surprised if your message gets lost due to incompetent MA’s. I had just lost my girlfriend to suicide and let Dr. seltzer know that I was moving out of state and would need time to find a job with health insurance and finding a doctor for my med suboxone which I use for chronic nerve pain. Never once came short in 2yrs of being with this group. Actually came off of half of my meds in the last year. All this while my girlfriend tried to commit suicide and because of this I lost my job at Heathcare partners. So I decided to move back home in Seattle. I needed one more script to have time to find a new md which isn’t easy due to suboxone can only be prescribed by a special trained doctor. So, To find out he won’t prescribe my med one day before Christmas! Plus he was suppose to call me at the end of the day! No call! Nothing. I hadn’t seen my family in 5 yrs and was planning on spending time with them to rehab my mental self from losing my best friend. But now because of the lack of care and compassion I will be spending my Christmas in the ER! Thanks Dr seltzer for being the worst MD I’ve ever met. Merry Christmas to you too! I hope he reads this and realizes what he has done to a good hearted person while also works in the medical field. Mr seltzer if you don’t like your job? Go work at a McDonalds! That’s all your worth!

Awful insurance claim factory. I should have trusted the previous reviews. 15 min appointment to evaluate chronic pain! Save you money and see a real doctor. Waited 3 weeks for an appointment. Now I will have to wait longer to see another doctor. Waste of time!

********* READ IMPROVED SERVICE UPDATE BELOW ***************
I can only give this place an overall 1 star for actually jumping through hoops to get the few appointments I did get. I saw Dr. Levine twice, and he was okay. I came in prepared with MRIs, labs and records. He ordered PT and a surgical procedure with Dr. Seltzer. Here’s where the games start. It was submitted the next day and apparently approved, but his assistant Melissa claimed she couldn’t get into the system and it wasn’t approved yet. So i called repeatedly and got the run around by all the staff. I had to file a complaint with my insurance who found out it was approved and she contacted Stephanie to cLl me and schedule it. Stephanie called alright, but only to tell me they couldn’t honor it because it expires in 30 days. WTF! So i called the insurance back and refiled a claim. My insurance extended the authorization. I called Synovation back to now schedule and i was told I had to bring the auth in, so I did. They looked at it with all the approval codes and scheduled it for that week. I get a call the next day that it should not have been scheduled because Dr. Seltzer won’t be in and they need the MRI first. I told them the MRI was in the file. They then said they need to see the auth again for the codes. Didn’t the make a copy when I brought it in? So I emailed it to them. After they received it, they just cancelled my appt. i had to call back to verify they received the auth when they informed me. I asked why. They said the auth expired. I just got it! It’s good for 3 months. Then they said I didn’t have the MRI. Not true. It’s in my file and I’m holding the disc and report as we speak. Then I conveniently got disconnected! IF YOU’RE IN PAIN AND NEED RELIEF SOON AND PEOPLE THAT CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN, DON’t GO HERE!!! you’ll just end up with another pain to deal with. If you do go there proceed with caution and confirm everything and/​or get it in writing if possible.
*********** UPDATE *********
Okay, here goes. Not feeling very satisfied with this place, I had to go back for my MRI results from PA Steven Tai, whom I like. When I arrived for my appointment I was cheerfully greeted by the woman at the corner check-​in desk. I sat down and was actually called to the exam room within 10 minutes! The nurse assistant did standard vitals and Steven Tai walked in shortly thereafter. He discussed my results and we talked about treatment. I told him I gave up on receiving the procedure Dr. Levine ordered because staff kept canceling it or denying its approval. I showed him my authorization. He was concerned and said he would take care of it, and he did. The next week I received a call from the surgical team to schedule my appt. with Dr. Levine. Checkout was fast and easy with next appt. given. Based on my recent experience, but not forgetting the prior experiences, I’d give Synovation in Pasadena 3 stars!

Very frustrating to deal with. 3 to 4 weeks to get appointment. Didn’t schedule me for the location I called for. Spent 15 minutes on phone giving all my info. Called to confirm appointment to find it was another location. They wanted all of the info again so I told them to forget the appointment and I will look for a more professional company.

Boy, did I F – k up. My prior posts regarding Dr. Neimhr is correct, but this Dr. Seltzer, who I am seeing only because Jaime went on maternity leave, has turned out to be a total nightmare. Holy crap, the Dr from hell. I tried to overdose on pills about a month ago. I suffer from serious depression, and have been emotionally and spiritually maxed out. This little munchkin (5″ 3″) has the nerve to question whether my suicide attempt was for real or to obtain more pain medication. I spent 72 hrs on a psychiatric lock down, and that is not any fun at all. And, it aint worth going to for any f – king pain pills After some long winded messages, by myself, and my very concerned mother, who is 72 yrs old, which he did NOT call back, he has made up his mind and has made it his personal vendetta, and mission to f – k with me. On my last appt. which I had driven the extra miles to Pasadena, when I normally go to Van Nuys because I live in the Valley, we both agreed that our time together was over. He looked me in the eye, and said «I dont want to see you in any pain or withdrawl, so I’ll give you a 30 day prescription while you find another pain Dr». I wait in the waiting room and his assistant comes out and gives me a prescription for a medicine that had already been turned down, and that was not on my prescription formulary. When I mentioned this, she tells me that this will have to do for now, meaning we had to send special forms once again to the prescription insurance, which they have now had for days, but the Dr, who got his paperwork, has not, and obviously will not keep his word. He also wrote all of this on a piece of type written paper, and although there was no Letterhead naming the business «Synovation Medical Group» and the fact that he did NOT sign it, only me, well, I trusted the Dr. and he has gone out of his way to make sure I do suffer from painful withdrawls and could send me into a psychosis, since insomnia is part of withdrawls, and then that can send me right back to the hospital. This douche definitely has a small man complex. He calls himself a pain Dr. but then f – ks over the patient who is suffering the most pain. STAY AWAY FROM THIS GUY. HE IS «NOT» A CARING, COMPASSIONATE PERSON. HE HAS TAKEN THIS WHOLE THING TO A LEVEL IT SHOULD HAVE NEVER GONE TO. CAUTION: STAY AWAY

I think my physical therapist was named Will. Awesome guy. Showed genuine concern, gave me some very helpful tips, went through the process, even called my doctor to get some clarification (while I waited). Never been to PT before so I don’t have anything to compare it to. I felt very comfortable there.