Karen Earle, MD

The 1 star goes to the ladies at the front desk. I have been trying to make an appointment with Dr Karen Earle, but despite several attempts I was unsuccessful. I wasted a lot of time and got frustrated with their lack of service; they were unprofessional and far from being client-​centered. It is disappointing that they are part of Sutter Health as I have never experienced a similar situation with them.
To make a long story short, after several phone calls and submitting all requested information, they refused to offer care. However, to my amazement, 3 months after my initial contact and 2 months after their refusal, I received a call from the office telling me that they have a referral for me and they want to proceed with my appointment!
Here is the outline for those interested in the details:
I was referred to Dr Earle by my Ob/​Gyn when I was looking for an Endocrinologist for my annual thyroid check up. I was initially discouraged by the Unilocal reviews but I decided to proceed anyway, after also consulting the Consumer’s Checkbook.
Mid of December:
I contacted the office asking for an appointment. They asked for paperwork (referral, previous exams and primary physician reports) before deciding to accept me or not. The referral stated that the appointment needs to be done within a month but they would not commit unless it was an emergency. I sent the documents and waited for a phone call, as instructed.
End of December:
I never received a call, so I contacted them again. They said they had received my paperwork but they were not happy with the wording of my referral, so I should provide a new one. It would have been more professional to let me know as soon as they decided there was a problem. I then emailed my provider and she made it available electronically (they are both on the same health network — Sutter Health).
Beginning of January:
Still no contact, so I called Dr Earle’s office again! The lady on the phone told me that they could see the new referral but again they were not happy with it. She did not seem very interested in answering my questions about the problem, so I had my physician send the referral for the third time. It was done via fax the next day.
Mid of January:
Another week passed without contact, so I called and they said «We don’t accept new patients from your insurance». When I replied that somebody should have let me know, she said «I am not sure who was supposed to call you.»
They were aware of my insurance provider, Blue Shield, since the very beginning (December.) In January, Blue Shield and Sutter announced a 6-​month extension to their contract, while negotiating new terms. Maybe they somehow got confused, despite the numerous announcements on the matter from both Sutter and Blue Shield.
In the end, it all boils down to a dysfunctional front desk. Being misinformed about the agreements with Blue Shield, their inability to follow through with my case, and the 3 month delay to finally call me were all very disappointing!

I’ve been to many endocrinologists in sf/​marin and Dr. Earle is by far my favorite. She’s incredibly smart, and equally caring. Our visits are often full of laughter but she also gets down to business.
Her staff is good and all the exam rooms she’s ever put me in have been big comfortable rooms with lots of light and top notch medical equipment.
I highly recommend Karen for young people struggling to figure out diabetes. She is my favorite Endo that I’ve ever met.

Great doctor. HORRIBLE, RUDE front office.

Best endocrinologist I’ve seen. She’s knowledgable and treats each patient ‘s unique requirements. Nice front office staff. Dr Earle always takes her time with me. To Maria M, Type 1 diabetes is a complex disease to treat. Yes, we are lucky it’s treatable. To suggest that effective treatment of diabetic patients only requires knowledge of what «brand» of insulin to use demonstrates your ignorance about the disease. I am sorry you have such a debilitating illness that took so long to diagnose, that must be devastating. I will keep you in my prayers.

Wrote this review awhile ago… not sure why Unilocal filtered it. Anyway, everything I said still applies… really, really like this doc. Super down-​to-​earth and really takes her time to listen to my issues.

Dr Earle used to be good, until her practice grew and turns over her patients to her PA. I am not paying DR fees for the advise and medication regulation from an assistant instead of the «Well Educated» Dr. She is not accessible to her patients and she is not aware of what her PA is doing by covering for the DR and taking up the slack where the Dr has slacked off.
I have been listening to the PA re: my RX taking because the DR. is totally unavailable for an unacceptable time period. It is my body and I have to protect myself, therefore I am going to another Endocrinologist

I was pretty disappointed with my visit. Dr. Earle is booked months in advance so I had to wait quite a while to see her. When I arrived to the consultation, she was running late so I had to wait another 40 minutes.
When I was finally able to present her with my situation, I was amazed at how quickly she formed a diagnosis of my problem (pcos) and without even running any tests, wanted me to get on medication. The consultation couldn’t have lasted more than 15 minutes. I felt very rushed and don’t think she was thorough enough in evaluating my problem or explaining to me the implications of her diagnosis/​prescription.
VERY disappointing because having read the rave reviews, I was really looking forward to meeting a doctor that really listened to my concerns and addressed them appropriately.

I really like Dr. Earle — in my experience she’s responsive, open to suggestion (I’m a medical writer/​editor, so have the associated hypochondriacal tendencies), and overall has a great bedside manner.
I’ve seen her for my hypothyroidism for over 2 years, and she has been the most open of many specialists I’ve seen to my input and direction wrt how I’m feeling/​responding to therapy and next steps.
My only criticism is her office administration/​mgt — there were a few mishaps (scheduling, lost file/​test results, etc) over at the Clay St/​CPMC location, and it took several phone calls/​attempts to make an appt at her new location. Dr. Earle herself, however, is great — and she handles criticism/​feedback well, so overall I highly recommend her.

I absolutely love Dr. Earle. Her and her team at the Sutter Health Diabetes Center have been a blessing. I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes a little over 2 years ago and with Kaiser. Kaiser never lets you see a Endo and I had to work with a nurse who could barely remember the instructions she had previously given me. She kept upping my insulin without really listening to my concerns. Turns out, I didn’t need the amount of insulin she had me on and was having severe night time lows. The team at Dr. Earle’s office had me a continuous glucose monitor that would let me know when and if I had lows, and sure enough, it was happening in my sleep. If it weren’t for them, I would have never known and who knows what would have happened in time.
Dr. Earle is sweet, she remembers you, she checks for every possible conclusion, does every test necessary and thoroughly explains everything. She’s got great bedside manner and her staff is remarkible.
Highly recommended for Type 1 Diabetes treatment.

Update on this doctor: she only will be great for you if you go to her with obvious, easy-​to-​diagnose problem. She smiles a lot and LOOKS compassionate. I have been just diagnosed with peripheral tissue resistance to thyroid hormones. I have advanced myxedema, with my hair almost gone, deformed face, unable to work or walk or draw or enjoy life in any form, and am completely debilitated due to doctors like her. She spent a year keeping me on a drug that only aggravated my symptoms, adamantly refused to contact any specialists who are familiar with my condition, refused to read ANY research on the subject (oh, sorry, she did read a page once, and it was about the WRONG illness…) All I wanted to do is to have serious doctor who would have serious testing done and who would feel that a patient is suffering, and take measures if taking control is impossible. She kept telling me how yes, I am getting worse, but I should just keep staying on the same dose, refused to investigate any of my suggestions entirely, about testing or a different therapies which are available, and after me breaking down in tears in her office refused me services, plus made me starve for a prolonged period of time (punished me by refusing to fill out my disability papers which she had no problem doing before). There is a difference between bedside manner and actual knowledge, and a shame that ignorance goes hand in hand with utter resistance to further learning. General knowledge of Graves (I could diagnose that) or what insulin brand to prescribe doesn’t make you exceptional doctor at all, but add a charming smile, a few medical jargon terms here and there, and an «expression» of concern on her face-​and bam, you got you Department Chair.

I would be lying if I told you that I wasn’t scared.
Sam, I am.
Being told that the cause of all your wierd symptoms is an autoimmune disease called Grave’s Disease is a wierd feeling in of itself.
First having early onset of high blood pressure, palpitations, shortness of breath with exercise, like I’m an eighty year old is Super Fun! :P
All the while, I’m hiking up a storm, climbing, scuba diving, swimming in the ocean, trekking through the jungle, dancing, and exercising my ass off, but only losing 5 pounds in a year.
Then, in February, I lost 20 pounds in a month, had sudden muscle weakness, less tolerance for exercise, and having palpitations again.
Also feeling super anxious all the time and not knowing why.
Did I mention having hot flashes too??? Yep. Hot flashes at twenty-​nine?
My co-​workers thought I was kidding and I just thought that it was the temp flux of the A/​C in the building. FAIL.
It’s wierd when people say you look hot but you feel like a freak in February. Yeah, the weight is gone, but guess what? It took my muscle with it. I was having trouble walking down stairs. I needed help or I’d go down them backwards which looked really silly. I couldn’t even open a jar of spaghetti without help.
My eye bugging out was the last straw, as my co-​workers started to point at it and I just thought they were nuts.
All it took was one little blood test (TSH) to find out that I had hyperthyroidism and it was confirmed.
I was referred to see Dr. Earle by my first primary Dr. Sherman. From my first meeting with her, she was warm, caring, concerned. She explained what the labs meant, what my treatment options were, and how we could go about it. She was empathetic and understood how frightening it is to have your body get all wacky, like it’s some sick joke. I joke and say at least I’m not the hunchback of Notre Dame and I still have my large rack. My condition as she put it is in the acute stage, so aggressively she had me take medications to stop the thyroid from making more hormone. It was working at high doses as I recuperated and gained my strength back, but recently the BP meds aren’t working as well. My weight is fluctuating, and the BP keeps going up. Dr. Earle has been with me the whole way and just yesterday, she emailed me to ask if the BP had gone down during the evening. She’s referred me to an eye specialist who deals with Grave’s Disease at UCSF, and she’s consulted with my regular eye doctor before going ahead with some more permanent treatment options.
I’m doing my best to make lemonade. I really am. It helps to have a few good docs helping to make the best of those lemons. :)