I've been debating whether or not to take time to write a review about Dr. Danny and Balboa Pediatrics, but after thinking about it, I realized that our experience is important to share with new/expecting parents so that they can make an informed decision about their child's medical care.
There were red flags with Balboa Pediatrics from the beginning. I called a few times and left messages with reception to schedule a meet and greet call about a month or two before our son was born. They assured me that this would be scheduled, but it never was. Our son was unexpectedly born 5 weeks early, and we decided to just see Dr. Danny because we read good reviews online and we figured that maybe he never called us back because he was so busy seeing as he is a popular doctor. While our son was in the NICU we called his office and continued to have trouble scheduling an appointment, eventually the hospital arranged everything.
Our experience with Dr. Danny was very disappointing. Every appointment is rushed. I think all of our appointments were about 5-10 minutes at most. Any time we asked questions, Dr. Danny would either give really quick explanations or he would tell us not to worry about it. Our son was having some feeding/ intense crying episodes and we were really concerned because of how distressed he was, and Dr. Danny just chalked it up to "colic" and didn't take a whole lot of time to explore this issue further. We ended up pursuing a feeding assessment on our own with an OT and it turns out we just needed to change bottles. This was never discussed as an option with Dr. Danny. I will give him credit for ordering a stool test though. At every appointment, Dr. Danny would nearly be out the door when he asked if we had any questions. The rushed dynamic doesn't foster a space to openly share concerns. The biggest red flag was that during either our first or second appointment with him following our son's NICU admission, he kept checking his cell phone. I've heard from a friend, who also used to see him, that this is common practice for him to be checking his cell phone during appointments. It feels like he isn't fully present during appointments as it is, and it's really frustrating to see someone checking their cell phone when they're supposed to be focusing completely on your child. While he is a friendly guy, he has a really bad habit of making it seem like he temporarily forgot information about our child. He would ask the same thing about our son's birth history at every appointment and then he would be like "oh that's right" as if he all of the sudden remembered. I'm not expecting him to remember everything about our child, but if you're going to ask the same thing every time, just put a 2 sentence blurb on his chart and read it before you enter the room. With that being said, you truly feel like a number at this practice. I think that Dr. Danny would be an appropriate doctor for maybe a teenager who wants to get in and out of an appointment as fast as possible.
At our son's 4 month appointment, I noted concerns about flatness on our son's head and again, we were told by Dr. Danny to not worry about it. Turns out after seeing our new pediatrician at a different practice for his 6 month appointment, he needs a helmet and we were promptly referred for one. I am so grateful we changed doctors because this is something that could have affected our son the rest of his life and Dr. Danny did not highlight it as an issue which is worrying.
Reception is pretty unorganized and some of them come across as being irritated with their role. One time I scheduled a follow up appointment in person, but when the appointment came around I called the office to confirm it because I never received a confirmation, and they said nothing was scheduled. There was one really lovely receptionist though, but I can't remember her name.
On a positive note they have an excellent lactation consultant, Binky. I saw her numerous times and she was incredibly helpful and resolved my breastfeeding problems.
I wish I would have trusted my gut from the beginning and chosen another practice/doctor, but at least we changed before it was too late. read more