Dr Matsuo and his wife Jodi (a PhD in Nutrition) offer support for a no alcohol, plant-based…read morelifestyle. They bill your insurance for appointments and classes --and bill YOU if you don't show up. I fully understand that a practice can't survive if patients don't show up, but how about making it easier for patients to be there in the first place? This is where it becomes a frustratingly, horrible experience for the patient.
Their biggest weakness lies in their office management and in their software. A BIG CAUTION: If you have a tele-health appointment you will get an email reminding you; but they do not explain where to sign in for the tele-health appointment. If you have other doctors in the area, you know to go to your patient portal and this links you to the tele-health portal.
But no, not Kukui LM Clinic, YOU are supposed to know (each time) that the email does not link you to the tele-health portal. The doctor is often late, so if you are waiting at the clinic's patient portal, you will miss the 15-minute window they offer you. If you have difficulty knowing where to look for the tele-health link they will not pick up their phone (it goes to voicemail) and occasionally confuse you by telling you they will use a non HIPPA compliant FaceTime call instead of the tele-health patient portal.
Make no mistake: YOU will be billed for missing the appointment. In other words, It's always YOUR problem.
In my experience, they will also bill YOU for appointments you might have missed for health reasons (I was in the hospital in the ICU). They may bill you for Sundays when the office isn't open. They will bill you for health teaching they offer (although they do not inform you of this). They will bill you for appointments even BEFORE you ever signed their office policies.
To be constructive here, I think that the the problem lies with the office manager, Jodi's sister, who in my humble opinion doesn't have the temperament or experience for the job. She blames the patient rather than stepping back and learning what's wrong with their system so that it gets fixed; so patients CAN be in the right place at the right time. It's just so basic and obvious it's almost ridiculous, but they continue to put their health care delivery problems on you and will bill you for them.
For me it was time to step aside. But to demonstrate my good intentions here's an example of how it should work: Allergist Alan Wang has an outstanding office manager named Vanesa. She always answers the phone. She also emails you to remind you of your appointment.
What makes Dr Wang's office work so efficiently is that, after you click on the email confirmation, you are linked to Dr Wang's patient portal. After you confirm, the program links you to a pre-checkin page. Here you provide the doctor with any new medications you might be taking. This is an opportunity to check that your address and telephone number are correct and your insurance information is up-to-date.
On the day of your appointment you will get another email, but this time it takes you directly to the tele-health page. Dr Wang's office manager then calls you to make sure your video and mic are set up and that you are ready for the call on time. You wait while watching a sign that says "The doctor will be with you shortly." You know that you are in the correct place and on time.
None of this happens at the Kukui Clinic. If you sit on the patient portal page that confirms your appointment, there is no link to the video or mic. Dr Matsuo is often late, so it's unclear if you too should wait. There is no information telling you to go to another website address. If you call for help it rolls over to their message machine, then they bill YOU for missing the appointment. This in my humble opinion is not only irritating it's unethical and stupid. Patient's are there because they NEED to see the doctor why block them from doing so? I for one was waiting to be seen when all this occurred!
Beware: If you try to text them You will be BURIED in clinic rules that repeat each time you text. As I said, they do not answer the phone, the office manager makes no effort to be helpful. In my experience she'll just try to find ways to charge you out of pocket thereby punishing you for your alleged wrong doing.
IN MY OPINION, This is a sad situation for the professional team who mean well but appear to be unable to deal with a relative who is clearly not in a job that best suits her abilities. It even appears that she may be directed to punish patients who may be sick, elderly, disabled or in need of a hand. Why can't they just swallow hard and look at what's not working rather than blaming patients for what is really their problems delivering health care?
ADVICE: I'd look for a clinic that has more concern for its patients. This is NOT being written by a disgruntled patient, but one who sincerely hopes that this clinic, with its good intentions but poor management, will succeed.
