I am a little surprised to see some of the reviews here. I have been using Alameda family Physicians for decades and have literally never had a problem. In addition, I love their alliance with Stanford Health. Stanford has many locations with high tech equipment for all sorts of specialties. I have always received competent and helpful assistance when scheduling an appointment and have always been cheerfully met at the reception desk. Best if all is my Physician, Dr. John Carper. I have been with him for over 30 years. He is on-time, thorough, patient and a great listener. I am never rushed with him. In addition, I appreciate the detailed discussions about lab followups and his expert advice. My last visit, I was actually taken to the exam room 10 minutes early! With Alameda Family Physicians and Stanford, my health is closely tracked and well documented. I feel like everything is being done to monitor changes in health due to age and corrective actions are being made to keep my body in check. In my opinion, Alameda Family Physicians is stellar with preventative care! read more

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STAY AWAY FROM HERE!!!! Once again the witch behind the front desk got me. Left work at my school in Fremont and raced down 880. I arrived 15 minutes late due to 2 accidents on 880. She indignantly told me HOW DARE I EXPECT TO BEE SEEN and sent me away. HEY JERK! How about all those times I had to wait way beyond that for YOU?!! How about the time you told me my doctor had' retired' when, in fact, she left and started her own practice? You then gave me a new doctor who went out on Maternity leave and no one could see me? I have been coming here since my late doctor started this practice 20 years ago. Once they were affiliated with Stanford, they went downhill. I will look for a new doctor. read more

Alameda Family Physicians is unreliable. I have had to complain to my health insurance regarding my annual wellness exam because my doctor gave me an EKG and I never asked for an EKG as it's never been part of my annual wellness exam. Then I got charged for it when this doctor said that it was part of my annual wellness exam. I had at first given this office five stars but now it's one star because this experience has caused me undue stress. First inputting the wrong codes and having me figure out what was wrong with my insurance. Only to realize that the wrong codes were submitted. And sadly, this is the only doctor that I can depend on however, this person let me down. I'm still experiencing undue stress as it's still an ongoing battle between my insurance, doctor, and me. My annual wellness took place almost a half a year ago and this is not at all what I had ever imagined a simple wellness visit would include. A headache and bills that I never agreed to because my plan included one annual wellness visit a year. Sadly, this is the only doctor I feel comfortable with because the others ones I've seen are rigid and I always feel like it was a waste of time to go see them. I can look up answers on Google that will help me more than seeing doctors here. To give one example, I had a ganglion cyst and one of their doctors said to schedule another appointment so that the experienced doctor can remove it. However, I found out that my podiatrist can do that instead. I was in excruciating pain and this doctor basically said they cannot help at the moment. What was the point of even going to see a doctor and paying a copay? read more

Alameda Family Physicians - Clean exam room - Family Practice Near Me - Alameda, California

5 yrs of proactive care, they are best I have experienced in 80 yrs. Fast and accurate care.

Ok. This is a tough review to write. I loved my doctor, Dr. Fisher. I was saddened to hear she left the practice. I was then moved to Karen Kline, which I was happy about because she came with glowing recommendations from Dr. Fisher. Then Karen Kline left the practice. I was then moved to Dr. Sheth, who I had also seen and thought was great. She's out right now too. I never got the chance to see Karen Cline PA-C, but both Dr. Fisher and Dr. Sheth are wonderful doctors. I don't know why either health care provider left, but it's a bit crazy that this practice cannot keep doctors on staff. To the powers that be who make the decisions that impact your staff, please listen to your staff and consider how care is provided and what your health care providers need in order to give good health care. read more

The frustration and anxiety that comes with coming to this urgent care is not worth it. I want to preface by saying, I had a pleasant experience with the doctor. However, there is a huge lack of communication and organization with the administration aspect of it. To simply put it, they screwed up my paperwork. It's been OVER 1 year, and through continuous emails they have promised to get it sorted, but never did. To this day, my bill has been sent to a debt collector even though it's not my responsibility. This urgent care is dragging their feet in getting this sorted, and it's beyond frustrating. How unprofessional is it to not be able to get something sorted out when it's become this urgent?! How can you as a business screw up paperwork, and not be able to fix it right away, let alone a year?! Frustrating. read more

I don't like this place because of those bad, lying, unprofessional receptionists. I give 2 stars here, 1 for the nice nurse, and 1 for the work of the doctor. The receptionists is totally nonsense/ insane. All they care is if you come on time or late and have an appointment or not. They totally don't care if you are sick or not. Too bad that I was late, and the first thing they told me is "you are late, let me reschedule you". They didn't check or ask why I need to see the doctor. Instead of checking with the doctor if he is ok to see me or not. They wasting time to looking for another appointment. And I end up to be rescheduled for a 1.5 month later. From 3/30 to 5/15. Wasting my time to drive there. (40 minutes because of traffic) My baby was sick that day and he need to see the doctor but we end up to go home and taking OTC meds such as Tylenol and ibuprofen. I definitely won't recommend this place to my friends or people I know. read more

As other reviews have stated, I too delt with an extremely unhelpful, rude, LYING receptionist. Good luck getting an appointment as a new patient, I was told I would have to wait until August. I explained although there is an 8 month waiting period, I would still like to book my appointment with Dr.Sheth as she is my primary. I was told "there was no doctor under that name". The receptionist blatantly lied to me rather than correcting my mispronunciation of the doctor's name. I told her "Bansari Sheth", & she then rudely told me how she cannot book that far out. Don't even bother with Stanford. read more

Do not use this medical group. Their office support team is a zero out of 10. Rude, ineffectual and unable to complete simple tasks. read more

I call today to make a new patient appointment and was told they are only booking establish patient appointments and new patients will need to wait months to be seen. So if you new or haven't been seen in 3 years, you will have to wait months to book an appointment. read more

On August 18th, I was was seen by Sheth Bansari of Alameda Family Physicians. She recommended a CT chest scan due to my chest pains. I went on August 23 to the Alameda Hospital and had the scan. No results have appeared in my Medical Records on the Stanford Health website. I called the hospital which confirmed they were sending the report to Alameda Physicians. I wrote Alameda Family Physicians two emails, on August 31st, asking what were the findings of the test and also requesting the physicians send the endoscopy test order they had promised to give me. As of today, September 8th, no one has responded to either of my emails. read more

My experience with Alameda Family Physicians was mixed. Pros: -They found me a visit with the doctor I requested. When I needed to be seen urgently, I was able to get a Telehealth visit with another doctor. -Staff seems to do their jobs as needed. I didn't have a problem with them. the front desk people were pleasant. The nurses were pretty businesslike, but that's ok. -Dr. Mirmira ordered some of the tests I needed for two chronic issues, though it did take me a couple of visits to get an MRI for pain that I had been experiencing for over a year. I was new to the practice, though. -When emailed, Dr. Mirmira responded within a day or so. He also provided me with a referral that I asked for. -Dr. Mirmira apparently cared enough about my care to get mad at me about it. Not sure if that's good or not. Some people might like it. Cons: -I was given two prescriptions for the chronic pain condition, but was not told how slowly I would need to use them. I used less than directed on the bottle, but when I needed a new prescription it was refused, saying I had used them too fast. This left me with none. I was later told by another doctor that with chronic pain it is normal to have a pain management plan. This was not mentioned to me when I came in about the pain, and gave my history. -Dr. Mirmira came in to the second visit angry with me about not getting a test done for an unrelated matter. (It hurts to sit up and the test was regarding a non-urgent matter, so I hadn't gone. Still, I should have, that's true.) Due to stress and mental issues, I ended up in tears from that for a while. For me, that kept me from being open with him about my medical questions, etc., which effectively means I wouldn't get care. With this understanding it seemed like it was time to switch doctors. -Dr. Shen, who I had an urgent care video appointment with, I would also give 3 stars to. He discussed my concerns and gave me medication as an emergency measure, but refused me an MRI when I requested it, saying something about how my going to physical therapy would give them the information they needed. I have spoken to other doctors since then, and they do not seem to have the same belief. As I understand it from those later conversations, the only reason to refuse an MRI would be because it would be expensive for the insurance company. Personally, I think that operating from those kinds of concerns leads to less effective care. Although to be fair I get that sometimes resources have to be conserved in order to care for the most people. It seems like other people have had good experiences with some of the doctors here, so it is quite possible that I just had bad chemistry with them. I'd say that if you do go here, definitely push for an understanding of what is expected of you, and get a detailed idea of what the next steps are in every area of your treatment. Just in general, it's good to educate yourself, write down your questions in advance, and don't be intimidated if you feel rushed. Regarding the pain, I self-referred to a pain/sports specialist. That is going better so far. read more

As with many Stanford clinics, Billing and Scheduling are generally a pain to interact with, and the providers and care are absolutely stellar. read more

Surprised with the poor reviews here. I've been seeing Dr Tsao for 10+ years. She's by far the best PCP I've ever had. Caring, available, methodical, organized. Her nurses have all been great too--friendly, caring, helpful. The front desk and prescription desk folks are very friendly and responsive. It's always easy to speak with someone on the phone if needed. The whole practice responds to messages in My Health within 24 hours. I strongly recommend this practice. read more

Poor patient service Receptionist is so unhelpful here Had everyone waiting for hours I don't know how patients put up with this health care ... They never follow up on sending documents for disabilities they ignore every patients needs and the women working as a reception needs to be fired . read more

Front desk and Dr. Kamath are great but twice now from other nurses and physicians there I've been asked to come in to get checkups/procedures done that I didn't want and it turns out was not needed. Made me realize that I really wish I went to med school instead of grad school. One nurse pressured me into getting a Hep A vaccine even though in my medical records it states that it was done when I was younger but she was convinced it wasn't don't properly or was noted incorrectly and deleted it from my file! WTF?! It all happened so fast I didn't even know what to say. Then the physician pressured me to get the flu shot since I'm there getting all these vaccines anyway even though my insurance requires that I pay a ton when I could get it free elsewhere. It's also the year the flu vaccine worthless too but I guess that's beside the point. The straw that's now breaking the camel's back is that a refill was being denied to me from a nurse until I come in for a pap because I "need" to get them done every 2 years. She said I was due for a physical anyway. Makes sense. Well I see Dr. Kamath and she says not only do I only need to have paps done every 5 years but she quickly discovers the visit is coded as preventative rather than as an annual physical and that I'll get charged way more as a result. It's too late to change the coding that day but she makes a note of it and says I should call when I receive my bill to get this fixed. Currently I'm running around trying to talk with billing and the front desk to resolve this. In any case, the silver lining is that I'm grateful for Dr. Kamath for even looking out for me in the first place. As for my review, I think what people need to realize is that at the end of the day clinics are businesses (I'm naive and thought their purpose was to help others...). The more things they get to do to you the more $ they will make. They will convince you to get this or that even if it does little to enhance your health. Know your coverage and ask how your visits will be coded BEFORE you walk in (this applies to dental clinics especially...dentists are the car mechanics of the healthcare world). I guess this is common sense and I'm the fool for listening to all these clinicians in the first place without knowing what I need but hopefully this review helps at least one other person. read more

Today I called to make an appointment for something pretty serious and whoever picked up the phone asked me two very superficial questions and then told me to call my work HR. I could not believe the level of unprofessionalism and the lack of caring. What does my HR has anything to do with a medical concern that is completely not related to work? Since the woman was so disengaged, I stopped trying to get an appointment. I am looking for another doctor, this is not the care that I expect specially due to the large bill that I paid in the past. read more

We too have found the front office staff to be challenging at times, but here is a RAVE REVIEW for Dr. Sheth!!! She actually takes REAL TIME with patients. She is caring, professional, and kind. We love her. She is the primary care doc for someone who is 94 years old, and we couldn't be happier with Dr. Sheth. read more

Alameda Family Physicians is literally the worst. Unfortunately I've gone to them for years because they are pretty much the only major medical group in Alameda besides Kaiser and Stanford Medical Group takes my insurance. They always keep you waiting, but more than that, I've been repeatedly disappointed and frustrated with the doctors. Their practicing OB has the worst bedside manner I've ever experienced to the point that I switched to an amazing OB doctor all the way in Orinda at 6 months into my pregnancy just to get away from him. I've not found a regular doctor I've liked for regular checkups or medical requirements; they are often weirdly confrontational and it's like pulling teeth to get them to focus on the actual reason I'm there. The last time I was in, about two months ago, I thought I was in for a physical; instead, the doctor never examined me but just took my blood pressure and made another appointment for me three months from then for a physical... like she didn't have time to do the physical that day or something. Just a complete waste of time! I've been saying it for years, but I'm really in the market for another doctor and practice now... my husband, who only liked one doctor in this practice is also looking now, too, now that his preferred doctor has moved to another practice. Alameda is ripe for a good new medical office... they'd easily be able to take so many of AFP's legion of unhappy patients. read more

My husband sees a doctor here and he's happy with his physician, but the front office staff is deplorable. While waiting out front, they made many snide comments about patients because they didn't know insurance information or other random things they seemed to think would be common knowledge. As soon as the patients were out of earshot, they were disrespectful and rude, mocking what patients had said. All that aside, I thought I'd make an appointment with one of their doctors to have a good GP nearby. When I called their office I was treated to the same rude attitude. I've been a receptionist - I know it's a tough job - but it's the face of the office, so these unkind, disrespectful 'faces' are making this entire practice look terrible. So disappointed that they've not already been replaced with staff who actually care about the people they are supposed to be helping. Will keep looking for another doctor. read more

Disappointed. Medicaid and Medicare not welcome. All about $$$. Poor skills from reception and admin come from the top. Used to be a very good medical group read more

I was a patient here for 5years.My doctor was very nice but she was retired. She recommended me to see an another provider but I didn't want to because of receptionists. They were super rude and not professionals. I always had bad feelings when I visit here. They don't care about patients. read more

Dr Chan has terrible bed side manner. He doesn't give you a thorough or informed explanation. He doesn't give any context or layout a treatment plan. Never offers pros and cons. He barely examines or asks intelligent questions. He offers zero proactive solutions. We are told not to google our conditions, but I literally learned more on my own in 15 min than from him. Waste of time. Much better doctors out there, don't bother. Stay away. read more

I haven't even had the chance to see a doctor there and I won't. The staff who is picking up the phone is very unpleasant to talk with, difficult to say the least. Zero empathy and desire to help, which I believe should be mandatory for healthcare workers. read more

***UPDATE*** After scheduling an appointment the morning after this review was added (for a prescription refill and some other issues), Dr. Vijay Mirmira voiced a snide comment to me while I was in the midst of a near panic attack (which he is aware of) and said "oh by the way we appreciate everything and thanks for your support and your review." My girlfriend and I left the office completely speechless. It was extremely unprofessional, unethical and downright rude. Today will be my last day ever going to this place. Here's a tip for the people that work at here reading the review: learn to take criticism in a constructive manner. It's YOUR fault your Yelp review is 2 stars. Not mine. **** ORIGINAL I've been a patient here for over a year now. Literally. Every. Single. Time. That I put in a refill request for my prescription (that I've been taking for a year), it never get processed the same day. I end up calling the pharmacy time after time to check to see if it has been sent, to find it hasn't. Then, conveniently the office will be closed and I have to try and contact the on-call doctor to have my prescription refilled. I'm seriously baffled at how after a year of being a patient here, with the same medication and same pharmacy that they still can't do this right. Especially with a prescription that is time sensitive. Don't waste your time. Find another place. read more

The admin staff is not pleasant. Very rude when you call in to schedule an appointment or return a call from a doctor/nurse. They are short and refuse to give their name when you call in. Not helpful at all. Feel like I went around in circles with the phone receptionist after explaining that I was returning a phone call. And when I asked for the nurse to call me back who called me, the receptionist was short with me and hung up on me. Wasn't quite done with my needs but I guess I will have to wait for the nurse to call me back to finish with my needs. read more

Been going here for a few months now & so far im happy. Edward Chan is my doctor and so far been pretty thorough. I like to keep pretty natural with my health & he is very understanding. I wasnt pressured to have flu shots or take medications. Hopefully he continues to listen to me because I have been to previous doctors that start to treat you like a number instead of a patient. Oh yeah I had to make one urgent care visit & it was with Mary Fisher...She was good too. Dont like the missed appointment charge tho :( read more

Wow, I was just looking up the phone number and saw the ratings are so low, so I came over to Yelp for a look. I very seldom go to the doctor, maybe once a year in addition to the annual physical. I don't have much interaction with the receptionists, but all interactions I have had seemed reasonable to me when I have been there. I do try to be "patient", and I also think the attitude on both sides of the desk plays into receptionist/patient experiences. My doctor is Dr. Mary Fisher. I have seen her since I moved to Alameda in 2009. Every single time, she has been fantastic. She takes a lot of time with me, asks questions, is open to answering my questions. I cannot imagine anyone giving her anything but a stellar rating. She's my favorite and best family doctor I have had. My husband goes to Dr. Chan, and he is satisfied as well. Also we like the Stanford online system. read more

Maybe we who live in dense urban areas and cities should not expect our physicians to be like the old Dr. Marcus Welby on TV. (I know, I'm dating myself). Maybe the only doctors who might care about their patients to some degree are the ones who practice in small town communities and have a smaller patient caseload. Nevertheless, it would be nice to not have to feel like just another number and experiencing the seeming lack of empathy, care, or courtesy from health care "professionals." (and I use that term loosely) For me, the jury is still out for Alameda Family Physicians, but I will say I have changed doctors here and I'll do a follow-up on my opinion before I'm done, I guess. The first one I visited had no bedside manner, and simply asked me questions while he punched whatever data into his laptop. Either he or I might as well have been a robot, is the impression I got. My main issue is that when I'm in pain and need treatment, I would like not to have to wait 3 weeks for my next appointment. read more

Stinks get an email your Pap smear went okay bu your stool sample was positive. End. Positive for what?

When everything is fine they are great. But when things go wrong, the incompetence and shear lack of knowledge about anything medical leaves you helpless amd wondering how these people are in the medical profession at all. Separately, my wife and I both had awful experiences in which her wrist would have been left deformed had we not reached out to other offices for help. All AFP could offer us was an appointment in 2 months time when we just needed a simple referral for an xray or cscan to find out if it's healing properly. My problem with them was that they won't set up a system to see or assist covid19 positive patients. You're sick? Your AFP physician cannot help you. You've quarantined over 14 days but testing pos for the next few months (normal occurrence)? CA Surgeon General says you can be in public after 10 days? Not AFP. Call back when you test negative and then wait 3 months for an opening. This is a medical office that claims to help? On to find a new better compassionate doctor. These people are useless. read more

Dr mirmira is the best family Dr I have ever used. He is well informed about issues and up to date on the latest treatment plans. A Stanford associate opens up the whole of the Stanford for your care options. The health app keeps you updated and aware of progress while allowing review at any time. You can message your care team and receive prompt replies. I have had an excellent experience with this team ....just don't be late for your appointment or you might be rescheduled. read more

Receptionists answering phones are incredibly rude and incompetent, unproffesional. I cannot believe this place is affiliated with stanford healthcare, what a shame. Please train your staff better to answer phones at least and deal with patients. read more

ok... so i went from 1 star to 5 star and well i guess i should go three star. The funny thing is... my feelings in all three are all the same..all the way back to my 2015 review. I love the doctors, for my whole family they have been great always sad when one leaves but the next has been good as well. The problem is its a mixed bag getting to them. Getting past the front desk is troublesome, Yes I had trouble with my child's video call setup. No I don't really need the attitude and scolding as i fumble to figure things out. Called back when I figured it out and got someone different. I think they wondered why I was so apologetic sounding like a wounded dog, seemed very nice, I guess I rolled the dice wrong the first time. read more

I've been seeing doctors at this practice for the past 15 years or so. When I have gone for a preventive annual visit, it usually consists of getting a breast exam, maybe a pap smear, discussing my menstrual cycle, asking for a referral to a dermatologist, getting an order for normal blood work tests,etc. I saw Dr. Chong last October for my preventive visit. I discussed all of these things and also showed her a small varicose vein on my leg as well as the fact that I thought my hair was thinning and I felt that I urinate often (I feel like I have a small bladder). By the way, these are all things that have been happening with me as I have gotten older the past 4 or so years. I have discussed them at ALL of my past preventative visits at that practice (not withe her, but other physicians). She was not very friendly, and I did not really enjoy the visit. She basically told me that I could wear compression socks for the vein, but did not offer much advice for anything else, except we could wait and see what comes back in the blood panel to see if I needed to have my thyroid checked etc. Normally you don't pay a copay for preventative visits. However, I received a bill for $40 because whatever she wrote in the notes indicated to the billing department that it was more than a preventative care visit. Like I said, I have never been charged before when I've talked about the same things. A woman talking about PMS and her period. For that I have to pay $40. She never once communicated to me in the visit that our discussion was crossing the line of preventive care. I fault her for poor communication. I'm not sure if it is Dr. Chong, or the new group this practice is under: Stanford Health Care who is at fault for this gouging, but I will be leaving this practice and will definitely be choosing a physician that is not working with Stanford Health Care. Shame on this practice and the medical group for making money this way. read more

This place is the worst. I've never liked it but today took the cake. I had a very bad back sprain and literally couldn't get around this morning. My normal doctor is out so I reluctantly called Alameda Family. After spending 20 minutes going thru insurance details, they asked me what happened. I mentioned that I first noticed my back was sore about 10 days ago when I was on a biz trip in DC. They stopped me right there, said they were unwilling to treat me and that I should instead call my HR department. I said that I in no way was filing a workers comp claim, that was only when I noticed that it was bothering me. I was informed that it didn't matter, the doctors there would not see me. Zero stars - in the 20 years I've been in Alameda,I have never had a good experience at this place. I instead went to Alameda Urgent Care on Encinal. So much better!! Fast, polite and a sympathetic doctor that cared I was hurt, didn't rush me and actually treated me. Run, don't walk away from Alameda Family Physicians. read more

$309 for an office visit/consult? Please keep in mind- no meds were given, no tests done, no gloves even put on. All I did was spend 20 minutes TALKING to a nurse practicioner, not even a DOCTOR. Hmmm..?? If you absolutely have to come to this clinic, make sure you obtain ALL of your reciepts and a copy of your account ledger showing proof of your payments. Unfortunately, the staff cannot be counted on to handle money correctly and unless you ask for all proof of payment- you can expect to be billed erronously for additional amounts. Had to go jump through hoops to finally get this balance corrected. After 3 no call-backs and threatening to call Channel 5 on your side it finally got acknowledged. This isn't healthcare, it's highway robbery. read more

I called them because one of my co-workers recently told me that he goes there. The girl that answered the phone was NOT helpful at all and probably needs to have a different position maybe filing or making copies any where but customer service! I have been a Kiaser baby all my life up until I turned 26. My company of course does not offer Kiaser so to make it simple iI just asked my co-worker who he had because its guaranteed that they take my insurance as well. The first thing I said when she answer the phone was that My COLLEAGUE goes to you guys and I wanted to see if i could schedule an appointment. She ask who my insurance was through I said Blue Cross and she asked me is it PPO or something else. I told her I wasnt sure what that meant because I'm unfamiliar because I had Kiaser let me look for card. She says well you need to call your provider because we might not take your insurance. I said well I know you do because like i mentioned my colleague comes to you guys. So I asked her to give me a second to grab the card and then she she says well how about you give us a call when you get that information. How about NOT! They should really reconsider who they have answer the phone before they don't need anyone to answer the phones. I am actually glad she was so unwelcoming because after seeing other reviews looks like I dodged a bullet. read more

I have been going to Alameda Family Physicians for four years. They used to be good. I felt like I got good care and was listened to. Over the years this office has declined quite a bit. My last few appointments have gone horribly. They are often 30 minutes to 1 1/5 hr behind schedule and if you ask how long your wait is they will keep telling you "just a few more minutes". It's disrespectful that they don't just tell you the truth. I often feel like the doctors aren't fully listening to me and that they don't care about my concerns. This has become worse with the company changing owners. To give you an example, I recently asked about what family planning services they offer. The doctor instantly became a used car salesman and was more concerned about selling me on using their services then asking what my needs were. He also went on and on about how labor is excruciating and that if you haven't had a baby before you should know you need to be in a hospital and get an epidural. Wow! Presumptuous? read more

From Feb 2008: With all the drama I endured today trying to get $10 worth of the medicine I have been taking for 5 years for my migraines, the only thing that saved my sanity was knowing that I could yelp about the experience. Up until today, Alameda Family Physicians was largely un-yelp-worthy. I always had an "okay" experience - sometimes good, sometimes bad, often just mediocre. The doctors and physicians assistants are friendly and seem knowledgeable about medicine. Over the past 2 years, I've seen almost everyone in this practice for both non-emergency and emergency reasons. It was never anything spectacular, but nor was it horrible. However, after today, I am divorcing Alameda Family Physicians and will be on the lookout for a new primary care physician. This has nothing to do with my current PCP, and everything to do with the support staff. I am traveling in Colorado on business, and woke up this morning with a migraine. It was still in its early stages. Stupid me had forgotten to pack my meds with me, but I thought it would be a fairly simple process to call in to my doc and have them fax over a prescription to a pharmacy in Denver. Boy, was I wrong. It took me 6 hours and at least 25 phone calls (according to my cell phone, so that doesn't even count the times I tried on a land line) to get... nothing. That's right... nothing. The first five times, the staff faxed my new prescription to a pharmacy in Alameda... even though I gave them the name, address, phone, and fax number of a pharmacy in Colorado. Everytime I called, I got put on hold (once for 42 minutes!) while they tried to correct the problem. Anyone who has ever had a migraine knows that 42 minutes without medication feels like an eternity. Each time I called, the staff person would tell me that the prescription had been faxed - and each time, I would call the pharmacy and they'd tell me they had nothing for me. Eventually, I started to get angry and voiced my frustration to the nurse. At that point, they claimed that they had been trying to call in my prescription all day, but that the line "just rang and rang" and no one picked up. Funny, because when I called the same number (about 10 times), someone always picked up on the first ring. And don't even think about calling from noon - 2pm. The office is closed. Wouldn't we all like to work somewhere that offers 2-hour lunches? I know I would. At any rate, it's been almost 12 hours, and I still have no medication. The last I heard, they were going to "fax it over right now." I have my doubts. Grrrrrrrrrrr. And ouch. *** From September 2008: As an update, I've had another terrible experience with the receptionist at AFP. This week started for me with an extreme case of nausea - I actually pulled over and threw up while on my way to work on Monday. On Tuesday, I had such a bad headache that I wanted to die - no joke. By Wednesday, extreme exhaustion had set in - despite 19 hours of sleep, I couldn't even stay awake for 5 minutes to make myself a cup of tea. I called AFP to see if I could get in to see someone, and told the person who answered the phone about my condition. She responded: "Is that it? It sounds like nothing." I said it wasn't "nothing" and wanted to see a doctor. She said, "I'm not going to make you an appointment to see someone because there's nothing wrong with you...." Since when does the receptionist have the authority to make medical decisions like this?! After a fair amount of arguing, I FINALLY got an appointment - and it turns out I have mono. I said I'd find a new doctor before, and now I mean it - this place is ridiculous. read more