Care Practice

*COUGH* When I got sick, I called my regular medical office to find that my doctor was on leave. I went searching for a new office that I could pay directly. Being that I am an avid Yelper, I searched and picked this place based on the review.

Just so happens you also get $50.00 off your office visit when you mention Yelp. I scheduled an appointment online using the website and headed down to Care Practice.

So when I get there, it's a beautifully decorated office with cool books on the table. I checked in and as soon as I settled in, my Doctor was calling. Sad to say, I'm really not used to fast service at a medical center before now.

I met with Dr. Vinh Ngo, who checked me out and spoke to me about my poor little cold and sore throat. He wrote me a prescription for the medicine he did not have, but the others he gave to me and charged me for them. I was impressed! You just saved me another 45 minutes waiting around in Walgreens.

I really enjoyed the visit. The Doctor was great, the receptionist was great. I was in and out with my medicine in less than 30 minutes and spend a total of $112.00 with my meds. How could one sick girl be happier than that?

Care Practice is a great alternative to paying the big bucks for medical insurance. I hardly get sick and paying $112.00 is way cheaper than most monthly plan preminums.

This review is specifically for Jessica the admin and Dr. Wardwell.

Where to begin, how about with absolute racket. Its funny that they call themselves Care, such a misnomer. They should just put "$ Care". At every interaction I've had with them, its been about more appts, more money, oh and by the way, THEY DON'T TAKE INSURANCE. Many of their fees might even be covered by your insurance, but they don't want to do the paperwork.

So seeing how its out of pocket, I wanted to be very clear about the cost up front. By phone, they told me "$185 per visit, thats a discount since you found us on Yelp." They scheduled the visit for Saturday, the only day Doctor Wardwell was available. When I came in for the visit, I asked again to verify the price and the admin told me $240. I mentioned to her the discrepancy and she said, "oh, thats our weekday price, its more on the weekends". I mentioned the Yelp discount and she said she could bring it down to $210. Ridiculous but I reasoned it was only $25 more.

I told her I knew the test I needed based on two other phone calls with Naturopathic doctors and didn't want to waste Doctor Wardwell's time without having the results first, which were a 3 week turnaround by an outside lab. Doctor Wardwell took me back to his office and instead of a quick 5 min chat, it turned in to 25min with the same result, he recommended the same damn test. I exit feeling cheated that I just did a visit for no reason and no progress. And here's the kicker:

Admin: "Your total for today is $290", she says with a straight face.
Me: $290!, why $290?"
Admin: "Its says here your visit was of medium complexity"
Me: "what does that even mean? Is that an actual line item, can I see it?"
Amin: "no"
Me: "a half hour ago when I came in you told me the visit would be $210"
Admin: "okay, I can bring it down to $240"
Me: "no, you told me $210"
Admin: "okay, $210"

I left with a sour taste to say the least.

3 weeks later she calls to tell me my results are in and wants to schedule an appt. Not wanting to return, I said I was feeling better and would call if the symptoms re-surfaced. Two days later, another call from Care, "Dr. Wardwell would really like to discuss your results with you." Me: "I thought I already told you what I wanted the other day". Admin: "Well, he would like me to send you the results"
I'm thinking perfect, then I can decide if I need a follow up visit.

Two days later

Admin: "Dr. Woodward is in the office today (sat) and would really like to either set up a visit or he can speak with you by phone"
Me: "I'm at the gym but can do a quick phone call in an hour"

She calls me back in an hour and says: "Hi, I have Dr. Wardwell right here, is this still a good time"
Me: "yes"
Admin: "ok, I'll pass you right over. The call will be 175, is that okay?"
Me: "WHAT! $175 dollars? American? Definitely not!"
Admin: "oh, okay. Is money a problem?"
Me: "Yes, $175 for 5 - 10 mins is a problem, why didn't you tell me this an hour ago when you called?"
Admin: "oh okay, I'll tell Dr. Wardwell you don't want to talk to him"

Absurd on so many levels. First that she didn't tell me the price of the call beforehand and second that she made me feel like an ass for not wanting to pay a rate that is higher than any lawyer in SF. My two interactions with Care: 1st one I was scammed, the 2nd they tried to scam me again. Not kosher. In retrospect, any doctor who is right there and their patient says, yes money is an issue and doesn't get on the phone to discuss for at least a couple mins, doesn't give two shits about their patient and is purely money driven.

To sum it up: Maybe there are other good doctors at Care, but there are a lot of good docs in this town. If you don't want to get totally fleeced and feel like a jackass for asking about the price of your out of pocket care, I would stay away.

Care practice has helped me change my life so much. The staff are very professional, and kind. I always feel very welcome and treated with respect. I drive over an hour to get to my appointments, I don't know what I would do without this place.

Dr Blackledge is one of the best doctors I've ever met. He's brilliant and available when we need to see a doctor. He doesn't just diagnose, he counsels us during our visits so we get twice as much help for a truly low price. Not sure how he does it - but he's an important part of San Francisco's healthcare system.

I came here only after my own urgent care place couldn't take me on a Saturday. Made an appointment online, got a Yelp discount, saw a doc and his med student for like 15 minutes and he said I just had a little cold virus and would be soon without antibiotics soon. He gave me a script just incase the fever were to shoot up again but told me only fill it if I have to. Their receptionist was super and she guided me through the insurance paperwork I'd have to file soon.

The only odd thing is the MD tried to push some homeopathic "virus reducer" tonic on me...I asked him "do i need that, what does it do exactly" and didn't get a good scientific response. I told him, unless you would actually prescribe it, I'm going to pass on it. He was cool with me not taking it. I'm not in the habit of paying people with advanced degrees for hippy advice.

VERY VERY shady operation!

I saw Dr. Blackledge, and my actual appointment with him was fine. However, he recommended several medications and supplements to me. When I got to the front desk to pay my bill, the total was very high, so I decided to leave out the supplements.

The receptionist Nicki (sp?) refused to remove the supplements from the total. She kept insisting that the price of the supplements had been rolled into the total of the visit by the doctor and she couldn't remove the items. She said I'd have to speak to the doctor to reprice the total bill. But since the doctor was already with another patient I'd have to wait 45 minutes.

I was in a hurry and desperately trying to work something out with Nicki, but I have never met a more apathetic person in my life. She clearly didn't care about providing me any level of customer service and ignored me while I was standing right in front of her. In the middle of this whole nightmare, she randomly accused me of using her desk phone to make a personal call (what?).

As I had no choice but to wait for the doctor or pay the ridiculous bill, I waited to speak with the doctor. At first he suggested I leave things as-is since my insurance company would pay. But after I explained that they are out of network and I have a deductible, he agreed to remove the supplements from the bill. However, the process of repricing was ridiculous. He stood there for a few minutes thinking about how much to reduce the price. He had clearly made up the supplement prices. According to the price labels on the bottles, he should have reduced my bill by $82, but he only gave me back $70. They also failed to give me an itemized receipt.

Even though Dr. Blackledge himself was nice, the entire pricing and payment debacle combined with the receptionist's rude and dismissive behavior simply left me feeling ripped off.

Save yourself the headache (and money) and take your business to a more professional clinic.

Care Practice is like everyone else, flawed. That's fine. It's how we handle our flaws that defines us though, and at least one doctor who is a member of the Care Practice team has failed to live up to the first tenant of medicine: "do no harm".

Every experience I had with Care Practice tells me one thing: the administrative staff there really does seem to care. They were polite and respectful at all times, and tried their best to help me out as another human being. My hat is tipped in their direction.

But when two Care Practice physicians (who had very little experience seemingly) told me on my initial examination that I had a significant mid-abdominal gastric mass that needed a CT scan (mmmm radiation!), I believed them. My condition could lead to that some day, yes. However, when the CT scan revealed specifically that there was no mass of any sort in my abdomen, it's not like they pressed forward to see what the problem really was. They basically ignored me, ignored the fact that I had spent time and money on the scans, and ignored the fact that I could still be sick.

Okay, you wasted my time on the CT, put me through radiation, don't you think the least you could do is try and figure out what's actually wrong?

The bigger problem comes with "do no harm". One doctor at care practice had assumed the role of my Primary Care Physician... he had taken over two medical prescriptions I had been on for over a decade... and was prescribing them for me. Then, when I asked him to refill these prescriptions recently, he told me that he couldn't unless I came in to see him -- a lie, at least by AMA standards, and by the standards of some 10 other doctors who had prescribed this med for me before at the same dosage.

Right now, I'm not doing so well in the money department -- every bit helps, and I'm about to be on Medical. I asked him to please just tide me over 30 days or even just two weeks until I could start seeing my Medical doctor. Ignoring the very dire warnings posted by the AMA, the Mayo Clinic, and every doctor before him I've talked to, he seemed unphased by the fact that I couldn't afford to pay him to not go into medical withdrawl. He hung up knowing full well that his actions will cause me pain, suffering, and could lead to really severe side-effects... all because he wanted some money from a person infinitely poorer than he is.

I hope he sleeps well tonight. I won't be able to because of his lack of compassion. I'm sure I'll be able to go to a hospital if necessary. More wasted time and money. Thanks Care Practice!

From the other reviews here, it seems Care Practice will treat you right if you have A) great insurance, or B) lots of money. Otherwise? Best be going someplace that cares about human beings who are still alive, rather than dead presidents.

I highly recommend Care Practice. I've been using this practice for many years both for regular medical care and for urgent care. The rates are very reasonable given the high quality care of the doctors and the availability to go in on weekends and within the same day for urgent matters. They do not bill insurance, but they will give you a detailed receipt to submit to your insurance directly. When I had my previous insurance, my insurance covered 80% of the appointment fee. My new insurance has a high deductible, so my appointment fees won't be reimbursed, but I can submit my receipts from my appointments at Care Practice to go towards the deductible.

The Mission location is great. It's a fifteen minute walk from my home. Today, I was able to schedule an appointment online when I woke up with worsening cough and sinus symptoms. I was seen on a Sunday, no waiting, and had a thorough exam and treatment plan. This is a great example of the reason I recommend Care Practice. They really do live up to their name by providing high quality healthcare.

I think I would rather wait all day for a doctor that actually cares about the patient rather than waiting for one that wants to get you in and out as quick as possible. This isn't fast food - it is a medical office.

I read decent reviews about Dr. Blackledge on Yelp and when I noticed Dr. Ngo wasn't available, I decided it was fine to see him. Forgoing waiting all day in an uncomfortable urgent care center - I scheduled a quick and painless online appointment. I was telling myself I would rather go to a facilty where I was familiar with the environment than wait all day to find out I had a viral infection, as I had already predicted.

Dr. Blackledge was inattentive after I told him that I had a presistent cough (since October) that has worsened in the past 4 days. In fact, I had to correct him when when he wasn't listening to what I said. I was worried, that since I had asthma, that it could go to my lungs and I hoped to prevent that. Instead of getting care, I was slapped with a fee for an herbal supplement ($24) and codeine-laced cough syrup. He sarcastically asked me if the "company" I worked for gave me insurance and shooed me out the door - not even a "take care". Nice.

Now, I wasn't hoping for pampering but I expect to be treated as if the doctor actually cared - even if I just have a "cold". This was possibly the worst experience I've had with a doctor and I'd rather not go back. I'll gladly wait in the stuffy, overcrowded urgent care for $20.

Overall:
Dr. Ngo - I'd give 4 stars.
Dr. Blackledge - I'd give 1 star.

I have recommended Dr. Blackledge to several friends based on the A+ experience I had when I discovered him this Fall (4am on a Saturday looking for Urgent Care for a severe upper respiratory infection following the flu). I was in a lot of pain and had already been to my primary care physician where I had been refused antibiotics despite a ruptured ear drum and a serious infection. I was almost a month to recover and returned to Care Practice 4 times for adequate care and follow-up. When a specialist was required, I also went to see the ENT folks at UCSF thanks to Dr. Blackledge's referral - they indicated that his treatment plan was spot on and to stay the course.

I appreciate that housecalls are available and that basic medications can be purchased on-site like antibiotics or standard prescriptions -- when you are sick the last thing you want to do is stand around at the pharmacy. Pricing was very fair given the convenience factor.

The office is warm, comfortable, well appointed and doesn't feel clinical whatsoever. The staff are professional, responsive, and courteous at all times. Dr. Blackledge is competent, patient, and empathic. It was so easy and straight forward to get an appointment plus there is no waiting - you are in and out so quickly. Parking is also very easy.

I found the pricing structure to be reasonable and filing my own insurance claims was a straightforward process plus the staff gave advice as needed. Definitely go for urgent care or travel clinic needs - especially if you are uninsured or under-insured. I have a high deductible health savings plan and will likely abandon my primary care physician to see Dr. Blackledge exclusively.