Very rude office "manager", called for clarification on directions and she was very short, very rude, if you are going to work with patient you should work on your attitude. There was NO reason to be rude. Check around before going here. Very UNPROFESSIONAL. read more

Dr Lao cares about he patients. The office is clean and professional. And his wife his nurse is so friendly. I always feel welcome.

I have been there. Horrible. Appointment wait time long, Giving out expired ua tests that show false positive for a number of things. Dr looking at computer the entire time intimidation technique. Very uncomfortable!!! read more

Dr Lao does a good job. Staff has improved. Dr Lao is a pro at giving the injections, he knows how to hit the right spot for the best relieve. I have had approximately 80% pain reduction. Thank you for being there read more

Unfortunately, I've been seeing pain management specialists for about 16 years now. During those years, I have been through some HORRENDOUS situations, all of them caused by the staff working for the pain doctors. From having to sit in waiting rooms for over three hours at my appointments every 30 days to not getting my prescriptions filled in time because the staff didn't fill out the necessary paperwork, to showing up for my appointment and then telling me they scheduled me on the wrong day... I have gone through it all! However, once I found Dr. Lao (Spectrum Pain & Spine), EVERYTHING CHANGED FOR THE BETTER!!! I don't know how she does it on her own, but the doctor's wife, Mrs. Lao, runs the entire office completely by herself! With such a heavy workload and no help, you'd expect her to be overwhelmed and irritable, but if she is, she certainly doesn't show it! Mrs. Lao is always friendly and kind. Both her and Dr. Lao are always patient, never rushing me, and they me feel like they genuinely care. I've been to 4-5 other pain management doctors, and had bad experiences with every single one of them. Because Mrs. Lao is so organized and obviously cares about what she does, I haven't run into a single problem!! Unlike my experiences in the past, I never have to wait more than five minutes in the waiting room, I haven't had any issues obtaining my prescriptions, and most importantly, Dr. and Mrs. Lao treat me like a human being!!! Without all of the stress from hassling with the staff at former pain doctor offices, my pain is the most manageable it has been in DECADES!!! In fact, I'm so pleased with the way they take care of me that I am now paying out-of-pocket to see Dr. Lao since my insurance no longer covers him. I don't have extra money to do that, so that illustrates just how happy I am with them!!! If only all pain doctors and their staff ran their offices the way they do at Spectrum Pain & Spine! read more

In all fairness, I must say I was never treated by Dr. Lao. I never got past the gorgon at the desk. I believe she is his wife. I, too have been managing pain for decades and have had just about every type of treatment. The day of my appointment with Lao - after 6 weeks waiting for an appointment with my PCP, 3 weeks for a referral and another 6 weeks for an appointment with Lao - was a nightmare. My transportation didn't show up so we called and said we were running late and took the trolley. We got to the office 15 to 20 minutes late, but I wasn't worried because my appointment wasn't for another 45 minutes. We walked into an empty office and the receptionist immediately berated us for being late and said that they couldn't see me. I left my husband to handle her because he is the nice one. I tried to sit on one of those hard plastic chairs that stack. Then I stood up and tried ,moving around. Then I tried leaning on the back of the chair. By this time the dim bint was yelling at my husband that we did NOT have time to fill out the papers - you know the medical history questionnaires that every other doctor sends you ahead of time and you fill out in 10 minutes- and clutching the clipboard to her heartless chest. At this point I realized that she was mad because we had not arrived a full hour before my scheduled appointment at 1 pm when they were done with lunch. That's why the office was empty except for the excruciatingly uncomfortable stack 'em seats. She had scheduled a new patient, semi-disabled and suffering from chronic pain to WAIT for an hour in their torture chamber waiting room. And she was still yelling at my husband that she would NOT give him the forms because we were late and there wasn't time to fill them out. I looked up and said, "Just give him the fucking forms." It went downhill from there. I am from san diego not SF. i have to figure out how to change that read more

I do not feel Dr. Lau cares about finding the true source of my pain, or helping me manage it until we figure out what is going on. Today solidified that as he wrote a script without even reviewing my MRI results with me. I have seen too many physicians and it appears this is something I am going to just have to live with. I do not recommend this doctor for pain management as I have not found any relief myself since seeing him. read more

NOT IN ALPINE ANYMORE I heard this doctor was wonderful because he wasn't afraid to write prescriptions for opioids, a rare doctor. I am supposed to have an appointment tomorrow but I have been calling his office and even had my insurance company call but there is never an answer, just a machine and no returned phone call. What is happening? Instead of seeing Dr. Lao tomorrow, I will be hustling to find another pain doc. I have enough morphine for 7 days but no desperately needed muscle relaxer, not good read more

Been going there for two years. The doctor is very informative and listens very well and has good treatment plans. Through sometimes it may be busy he's always taking time for the patient in the proper care. I would like to thank the doctor and his staff from what they do. Thank You! read more

Professional and friendly staff and clean and always answers my questions and respects my personal information and privacy nurse Santos and receptionist Denise and Dr Lao very professional staff thank you read more

My appointments with this doctor are always late and I can never get a good conversation with him. I was left a message last week that my 8/30/19 appointment needed to be changed. I have tried to call 3-5 times every day since then and I only get an answering machine with a 'full' message log (I cannot leave a message). 8/28/19 was mentioned, so I guess I'll try to get a ride for 8AM then and see what's going on. I hope they are not closed down, as I am on medications that can create severe withdrawls. On top of my pain, that could me the ER and... possibly no follow up for Pain Mgmt.!??? I am very upset at being unable to contact this office. read more

I've been a patient of Dr Lao for about 3.5 years. He's professional, Honest & listens to me. I believe that Dr Lao & my oncologist are a large part of the reason I'm alive today. I have stage 4 lymphoma & severe RA. Instead of being stressed because I'm in horrible pain my body is able to fight this disease that I am determined to beat. I wholeheartedly trust Dr Lao & I don't understand how anyone could give him a bad review or his staff because his staff has always been kind & professional.If you have a condition that is very painful I trust & recommend Dr Lao & his helpful staff. read more

My fiance has been going to Dr. Lao for about a year now. They finally got new staff for the front office and it's like night and day. Michelle is very professional and helpful. Everything from scheduling appointments to getting answers to questions has been so much easier. We really appreciate Michelle's excellent customer service and actually caring about the patients that go to this office. Thanks Dr. Lao and Michelle for all of your help! read more

I missed one appointment and the doctor decided I am a non compliant patient. I didn't receive one call for a reminder of my appointment what so ever. I see many other physicians at the same time and I'm sure many others do as well. I'll make sure that my primary care does not recommend him to anyone else. read more

Saw Dr Lao in alpine for five years and then he dumped all his patients because in my opinion he got greedy If he did it once he will do it again say away find someone else read more

Dr Lao is fine as far as pain drs go. Although I still feel he doesn't try to manage pain. He tends to just do same thing over and over but that could be my fault as well. My main point of writing this is the lack of professionalism in the office. Appt Times mean nothing. If you don't have one of 1st 4 appts when they open in morning be prepared for a wait. The later in day the appt is scheduled the longer the wait. On my very 1st appt that was not at 8 am I waited 50 mins past appt time just to go sit in a room for another 45 mins. Today I had an 1115 appt I arrived 15 mins early(if your 15 mins late they cancel your appt and then you have to reschedule for different day.) waited for an hour to get BP taken and sit in back. 45 mins later I finally am told to sit in rm2. Then another 39 mins before dr walked in we spoke for a total of 6 mins. Then I sat waiting for receptionist to get scripts and chart for another 15 mins. And they only really started rushing because we were40 mins into their lunch time. Now if you know about pain drs visits and the fact that most appts last for less that 5-7 mins. My time is just as important as yours Get on time stop overbooking or whatever. That's all I ask. read more

Dr. Lao is an excellent dr. I have gone to a few other doctors before him and none were able to treat my condition like he has. He is genuine, caring, soft spoken and best of all knows his jobs and treats you with dignity and respect, because of him I've gotten my life back.Definitely keeping him and would recommend to anyone. Thank you Dr. Lao read more

Thank you so much for helping out my mom she has been doing so much better since she started coming to this office and the medical assistants are all very nice . read more

Good luck on keeping your appointment time been here up to 4 hrs past my time Iman your an asshole love the doctor but his staff is really bad read more

1st visit, Dr. Lao took extra time ( 45 mins + ) to find out about me and what my history is, and how to help me . wasn't going to make me to continue suffering in pain as last Doctor that didn't care, Dr.Lao has me trying a patch, something I've said no to in the past, it's working good , the staff was very friendly and took care of me right away got me in, in a day and much needed BRAVO to the Doctor and his staff only one neg was I had 1:00 apt and was not seen until 2:20 normally not a issue but I also had a 3:45 apt in LaMesa and after getting out at 3:15 and driving way too fast : ( I did not make my apt , but I normally don't make 2 apts in the same day so close still very pleased that I was seen on such very short notice ,,let's see how it goes have 2nd follow up mid week. read more