Allergy & Asthma Associates

Let me start off by saying what happened to me. I noticed hives covering my body one day and they didn’t stop until a week and a lot of steroid shots in the butt later (thank you Urgent Care for saving me!). These hives were bad. Incredibly itchy, and caused my face to swell up before I got the shots. I realized it was time to go to a specialist to figure out what I was allergic to (assumption was I was highly allergic to something)! After my initial meeting with Dr. Like him and going through my medical history (no prior allergies) he told me that it wasn’t actually an allergy, it was something in my body acting as an allergy. We weren’t sure what was wrong with me, but he prescribed me meds and told me to come back 10 days later to see how that worked. Dr. Lokshin is a very smart man, and he knows what he is doing. I truly do trust him! After my 10 day visit and no hives were back we cut my medication in half and I was only to take it for 2 more weeks then he wanted to see me in a month. The reason for not giving a full 5 stars is that they ding you your copay fee (mine is 70 dollars) every time you have an appointment, even if the appointment is 5 minutes (which my last one was). I can’t afford to see him 3 times in 2 months with this charge. If my hives don’t come back, I probably won’t be either.

Wow, really bad reviews the whole 2 that were written!
Well, I was getting really bad headaches. I was sneezing all day for weeks. I felt really sick all the time, my mother in-​law suggested that I go see an allergy specialist so I called up my insurance and asked them which doctors were in-​network. Allergy and asthma associates came up. Perfect very close to my house.
Saw Dr. Shapiro hope I didn’t mis-​spell his name I’ve only been seeing him for 2 years now. Anyway.
He is a very serious man, but he gets down to business. Nothing wrong with that. He asks questions and I was answering he asked me what I think I’m allergic to and I told him so he set up an appointment for me to get scratched to determine what I was really allergic to. Blah blah. Well turns out I’m allergic to every native plant, tree, bush in Nevada. Yay lucky me.
So he started my shot sessions and I haven’t had a headache in two years from allergies.
At first I thought the doc was too serious, but once you get to know him he lightens up. He was joking with my daughter and I was taken back because I was like uhhhh did he just crack a joke. Haha. Well anyway he has saved my life. I highly recommend them. Oh and the staff are super super nice. Including all the nurses. Super nice.

The good:
The front desk staff was friendly and efficient.
The bad:
I had to arrive 30 minutes before my appointment despite them mailing me the paperwork to fill out. This resulted in me sitting in the empty waiting room for 30 minutes. I believe this is standard practice for every appointment, not just new patients.
Dr. Shapiro was less than friendly, very matter-​of-​fact and almost made me feel like my allergies were in my head, despite having suffered from them for 15 years. Apparently I passed his test because I was informed that they would in fact schedule an appointment for me to be tested… wait. what? I thought that’s why I was there? Nope, I was only there to answer a barrage of questions (the answers could have been found on the paperwork I filled out) I would have to return to get the actual allergy testing done. 2 co-​pays is the only reason I can see for this. They told me it was because I needed to stop taking any medication 7 days prior but they also booked this appointment over a month ago and couldn’t they have told me then?
In this grand age of insurance company red tape and referrals I am stuck with Dr. Shapiro, so I will go with hope that he gets away with being cold and unfriendly because he is really good at what he does.

I don’t even know where to start. Upon checking in, I was told I had to pay a copay — which is totally fine– but in a world with HRA plans at the beginning of the calendar year and insurance plans that pay 100%, I advised my insurance would pay in full. The gal advised me that it was the doctor’s policy to collect a copay whether they have one or not, and then said «if you don’t agree with it, you can not be seen and pay the $ 25 no-​show cancel fee instead.» I completely understand being precautionary and the doctor collecting the coinsurance upfront — but the staff should be encouraged to show a little bit of empathy and not be snarky and rude on a patient’s first visit (or any visit!)
We saw the doctor for a total of 5 minutes… Within 5 minutes of the appointment time — which is what justifies even 1 star– but then were told we had to stand in a narrow hallway to check-​out. There was a line with 2 people ahead of us to check out. We were not acknowledged by anyone — other than other workers asking us to move out of their way so they could bring patients from the waiting room to the exam rooms. After TWENTY MINUTES of employees avoiding the checkout line — and not being acknowledged and having employees avoid eye contact — I finally walked out. This prompted the check out lady to run out the door chasing me to get my paperwork. She apologized for our bad experience — which also supports the single star rating… If I could have rated zero stars, I would have. I waited 3 weeks for this appointment and will not be returning.
Tip to the doctors: your office staff is clearly under appreciated and have zero expectations for providing customer service. Empathy and acknowledgement go far in this world. And I will drive across town to another doctor that’s not as convenient to avoid ever stepping in your office again.