Poor diagnoses, no referrals, and prescriptions don't work. We are never coming back here again.

tl;dr - Friends Medical Group is pretty good. Joanne who works there should be avoided at all costs if not Korean. My parents are long time patients with Dr. Hong. For an older Korean gentlemen, he has consistently made time to accommodate my parents (often unreasonable) requests and does things by the book. I can appreciate that. This review, however, is for one of the office workers - Joanne. I'd imagine that any comments made about the staff being rude is due to her performance. After speaking with the office manager and other associates (all who were very delightful and helpful), I learned that Joanne has a bit of tenure at this office and perhaps as such, she feels justified in being rude to patients, not listening to questions, cutting people off, and being uncooperative, amongst other things. If you encounter Joanne and you're not a full on Korean, be prepared to be ignored and patronized by her entitled, rude, and unapologetic demeanor. read more

Dr Han is very kind and listens to patients. Always calls right away as soon as the test results are out. I feel really taken cared of.

First and last appointment with Dr. Richard Han. I arrived on time for my appointment, but still had to wait half an hour to see the doctor. Dr. Han would not renew my prescription for birth control pills but instead referred me to an OBGYN. He said he was not comfortable prescribing me standard BC pills since I was a new patient when my medical records clearly show that I have already been on this prescription for years. He also advised that I screen for covid antibodies on my blood test to avoid covid vaccine boosters, which he felt were produced quickly without sufficient research. He claimed they might be a greater risk than not getting boosters at all. CDC states that natural immunization is NOT a reliable or permanent protection against covid. Dr. Richard Han would not provide the medical care I needed as a woman and imposed his own biases directly contradicting the CDC. I will not be returning and frankly don't think he's fit to provide care for any patient. read more

Been with Dr Hong since my twenties, he was a caring doctor before, after 25 years, he's gotten old, grumpy and don't give a s**t about patients. I had questions about my diabetes, and he scolded me saying i used up 10 more minutes of his time. is he in debt? like what the hell? all we are to him is a sign in money. no care whatsoever. no health planning. no questions should be asked unless you want to get scolded as if you are 5yrs old. literally he is with you for exactly 10 minutes or less, and his followup blood test calls are "you lack vitamin D". Please retire if you hate your job. read more

We want to thank Dr. Hoon Hong and "staff". My sister and I have been going to Friends Medical Group for many years. We "followed" them when they moved their office location. We have other family members that have also gone to Friends Medical Group. We are greated nice and "brought back in a timely manner". Today (6/20/24) it was MARINA "who helped take care of us". MARINA is always pleasant and professional. Thank you to Dr. HOON HONG, MARINA AND "ENTIRE OFFICE" for always treating us with courtesy and respect!!! read more

The receptions , I can't even believe what they said. They don't care about patients they are unbelievably rude and horribly unkind, unprofessional. It is service job. You don't want to work? Just go home and rest. Dont ruin someone's day because of your rudeness. read more

im not sure why they are getting bad reviews. generally all front desk employees are rude but the ladies at Friends Medical are better than the most ive been to. But mainly , my doctor Dr Hong is such a great, caring, genuine, and professional doctor that ive encountered in my life. that should be enough to leave 5 stars here. doctors should not be judged because of incompetent nurses or receptionists..Dr Hong , Thank you for your kind help on every visit!! read more

Like others said, if I could give zero stars, I would. Our current situation is that my dad feels like he is being kept a hostage without proper referral to a specialist. My dad's PCP was Dr. Hong. (AKA in my family as Hong Dol-Pal, which means he's a quack.) After turning 65, he went for a full body checkup and after an ultrasound, 4 lesions/tumors were found in my dad's liver. Keep in mind this was in March. Dr. Hong said it's probably stage 3 liver cancer, so of course my entire family was worried and on the edge of our seats as more testing went on. The issues that I have is that Dr. Hong never did a blood test to check liver function, and his office is not very responsible, as you'll see later on in my tale. The BIGGEST issue is he's also not wanting to refer my dad to a specialist even after he first suggested it. We feel this is so he can to string my dad along for money, but we see through him and that's why I'm writing this review. Dr. Hong ordered an MRI and the radiologist said it's probably hemangioma which is a common type of benign liver tumor, but neither he nor Dr. Hong were 100% sure. So they decided to do a CT scan, but that referral was sent to a new scanning center they are working with that doesn't even HAVE a bloody CT machine. We were waiting for the appointment to get scheduled and after a long time, my dad finally did some sleuthing and found out there's no CT machine at the place they wanted him to go to. WTF? So we asked that they refer us to a place that actually does have a CT scanner. All of these mistakes resulted in a delay of WEEKS. While we're all freaked out about the possibility of liver cancer and very affected by it. Then after the CT scan results come out, Dr. Hong says that they still think 2 of the lesions are probably hemangioma but 2 they don't know about. So they're still not 100% sure it's cancer. So, they told my dad to go see a liver cancer specialist / oncologist affiliated with USC. But they didn't give him a referral and gave the scans to another radiologist to look at. That guy said he knows 2 are hemangioma but he doesn't know what the 2 other things are. But instead of going through with the original idea of a referral to the liver oncologist, WHO IS AN EXPERT AT DIAGNOSING LIVER CANCER, they said let's just wait 3 months and see if the tumor grows, and let's do the ultrasounds at my office until you have symptoms of cancer. WTF again? So this guy just wants to NOT SEND my dad to a specialist, saying what if the specialist wants to do a biopsy and ruptures the hemangiomas... Well WHAT IF THE TUMORS ARE MALIGNANT, effing ahole? After all these tests, the doctor doesn't know if it's not cancer but doesn't care to find out for sure. My dad asks him why no one can tell if it's cancer or not, and the doctor asks my dad "Can you tell if a long-haired person is a man or a woman from behind?" UM WHAT KIND OF ANALOGY IS THAT? He then told my dad he should relax because he doesn't feel sick. But liver cancer symptoms only show up in stage 4 and rapidly get worse. So now we're still not sure what the tumors are, and we're very unsatisfied, and Dr. Hong mentions that we should probably do a liver function blood test, AFP, because that's usually the FIRST thing that people do to check for liver cancer. So why is it that for my dad, you're going all out of order??? Maybe bc you don't know what the hell you are doing! Now my dad has no idea if Dr. Hong or any of the radiologists involved can be trusted, so he needs to switch PCP's and start all over again, but he can't get an appointment with the new place until mid to late August. It's May 24. Thanks Dr. Hong. If it's cancer we will have wasted ANOTHER 12 WEEKS. Liver cancer is extremely hard to beat and you don't eff around with it but that's what Dr. Hong seems to be doing. Plus, my dad doesn't like him because he literally spends just 5 minutes with him each time, won't give straight answers, changes his story, effs around with people, and is money hungry as hell. I really home karma hits this guy big time. read more

Do not let the name fool you. It should be called Crappy Medical! This place is the worst Dr. Office you can subject you or your love ones to. How they stay in business is freaking mystery. Paul Chang (thats if you want to call him a Dr.) He himself looks like he's a patient in need; this is my analogy - its like going to a gym and a extremly overweight trainer is telling you how to loose weight. Would you take any of his advice seriously? Customer service sucks beyond believe. Seems like everyone that works in that office hates life. You almost feel sorry for them (I said almost). If your expectations is this office will follow up with you, return your calls, or even talking to Paul... Hahaha! Yeah right! Your the one who has to chase them down. I'm curious if anyone has filed a report with the Department of Consumer Affairs on them. Yelpers, if your even considering this place... DONT! Just read the reviews, it is as real as it can be. Trust me your better elsewhere, even if the commute is further. Holly hell, can't wait to get the heck out from under this place. read more

Do not go see this provider. Worst service and the staff has attitude when you tell the how poor service was and indicate their downfalls. I want to this facility in mid September as my prior Dr was no longer in the insurance network. This was a new location and I was expecting great service as this is a new medical plaza. As I need maintainance meds, I needed blood work done. I called twice ask for the blood reports never sent to me. Health code indicate that verbal request should be addressed by provider. I finally got my bill this week January 2020 and to find my record was signed today, not acceptable. Additionally, I tried to reschedule to see doctor before December and was told doctor in vacation and not able to get any info. They talk to you very nice but no actual follow up or work done. Do not go here. I have a one star as when I told this to the office staff today she indicated that yelp reviews don't matter to them. I am sure there are guidelines for releasing blood results from a provider. Seem like the place don't care about patient concerns. And they seem to don't care as to customers concerns. read more

If I can give a zero star I would.. Reason was I called for an appointment to see a doctor for my ear pain since my primary doctor is not available. Long story short I spoke with the lady name debin who took my schedule for that day and I asked her clear before making an appoinment that I do have an insurance, never been there and I want to double check that I don't need to pay out of pocket (not gonna lie because I don't have my paycheck to pay for any expenses) then she says I'm not gonna get billed w/in 2months (knowing what's my condition or situation). So I'm like okay cool I'd love to make an appointment since I have to see the doctor so bad because of my ear pain and knowing I don't have to pay for anything. So here it comes doctor saw me told me I need to get antibiotic shot and prescribed some medicine. Normal doctor would give you a brief explanation and even the person who'll give you the shot. It Seems like the doctor is in a rush, I get it there's a lot of patients waiting but be professional and just explain what kind of shot would it be just don't say we will give you a antibiotic shot. So after seeing the doctor they told me I have to pay $70 which that's not what the lady explained to me. And I just can't believe that the staff are almost getting annoyed because of what I've just said "that's not what the lady told me" I called and double check to make sure I don't have to pay anything. Since okay I don't have enough money and it so happen I got sick right after I just paid all my bills. So I have somehow ask them nicely and explained to them that's not the information that the lady gave me. All they did is just apologize and force me to pay. Let's say that's your policy for new patient they have to pay before you bill the insurance company, but how about the false information your employee explained to me? And all they can say is "we apologized". Good job staff member for giving me a hard time to pay my bill and for giving me a false information over the phone. Where infact it's not my problem if you guys gave me a false information. Piece of advice don't work just because of money. Work because you really want to take care of your patients. Oh and btw the doctor's note they'll give you a small piece of prescription note LOL! What a joke for a $70 bill. If I were in your shoes I will just let it go since it's the companies fault. So inhuman read more

Friends Medical Group - It makes me wonder if they give the same doctor's note if the patients are korean or this is for non korean only. - Internal Medicine Near Me - Buena Park, California

I would put zero stars if I could. My mom went in here to see Dr. Hoon Hong. She got an MRI scan and he said that there was nothing to worry about. Then her gynecologist told her to make sure and go get a sonography because they thought they saw a tumor. When she was getting her sonography, the technician taking care of her told her the MRI scan showed there was something clearly off in her reports that told her to check up further because it was unclear as to what it was. She then asked why she didn't get a copy of her MRI scan and made a copy for her. THEN, she gets a call from Dr. Hong saying everything is clear and that there was nothing to worry about. BEFORE the sonography results even came out. Then my mom mentioned that she heard the MRI scan did not come out clear. He YELLS back, "WHO TOLD YOU THAT?" ... She is now changing doctors. read more

Worst service ever. Tried to make an appointment by calling, but the attitude that the front staff gave me was the worst. Just because I couldn't understand her since she spoke too fast and I asked her to repeat, she gave me an attitude that completed ruined my morning. She sighed and said "oh my gosh" with frustration. Felt terrible after calling, and I couldn't even make an appointment. Okay, I get that you are busy with booked schedule. However, not all medical centers put their emotions first and show that they are unprofessional. Please be more attentive with your service so you don't hurt your patients. read more

I am giving 4 stars to Dr. Hoon Hong for caring about my well being in my junior year of high school when I had a horrible case of IBS and other stomach problems during my first year of college. I am taking off 1 star because the receptionists were not really helpful when I wanted to get birth control, but they sent me to the wrong doctor. I needed permission from Dr. Hong but the receptionst refused me and gave me excuses that I have to go to a different doctor that has been provided for me. Looking up, the doctor that I have been referred to has horrible reviews and I refused to go there. I just wish I had more options.. read more

I guess they have been improving, the reviews from last year got me a little scared, but this is why I give 4 stars: 1. Dr. Han even if he is rushing, does take care of all your concerns (including mental issues) 2. He will call you personally to follow up for your lab results 3. They do lab same place, which is a Time saver 4. Nurses are very nice and helpful The only thing I might improve is the front desk, but ultimately, they don't diagnosed anything!! read more

Do not go here!!!!! If I could get him 0 Stars I would Dr. Richard Han is the worst... my mother had been going to him for years and little by little he started slacking on his duties as a Dr. If she had a question regarding her care he wouldn't answer he said he just didn't have time he was always busy busy busy busy .then one day about a month ago he lost it.. he had a meltdown he just started screaming at her and my daughter because I asked a simple question he is the worst do not go here read more

I probably would have suffered a heart attack if not for Dr. Han's relentless effort to exhaust all available tests due to elevated BP in 2018. I am an active 70 year old male who is otherwise in good health who inherited heart disease from my mother. I have have never felt any symptoms or discomfort related to my heart.The tests ended up with a referral to cardiologist. An angiogram was ordered by Dr. Raveen Arora which revealed 3 arterial blockages of over 90%. Consequently, angioplasty/stent therapy thru radial catheterization was performed. I ended up with 3 stents. I now have resumed my activities including my tri-weekly basketball games. I thank Dr. Han and his staff for their care through the 15 plus years. read more

I been looking for great doctor for months and already saw 2 them and non-them seem care or nothing do with me I don't why so