DR. NICOLA IS EXCELLENT!
I wanted to say this upfront to make sure that the doc gets his due. Now that that's out of the way I can begin with the explanation of the 2 stars. The office sucks donkey bullocks.
1) Firstly, there is no parking validation, which (in Beverly Hills) is equivalent to someone stealing your lunch money.
2) The office is packed with obviously unhappy and frustrated people waiting for their turn. We tried to check in but were blocked by a patient who was complaining that she did not receive a reminder call for her appointment and missed it by accident (she came a day later than she was supposed to). Unfortunately, the lady was getting no sympathy from the staff and no options to address the situation (like seeing if another doc can see her, reschedule the appt, do a virtual call, etc). The place feels like a coin laundromat, a space reserved for single lost socks and faceless machines that spin and spin while going nowhere until they break down . The staff for check in and check out could be replaced by a washer and dryer. The rest of the occupants are the socks.
3) I guess this is true of all doctors and dentists and anyone else in the medical profession but the appointment time is never correct. You get there and then wait 30 mins to actually begin your appointment. Depending on how you feel about Jerry Springer and his show, the wait can fly by or make you feel like you're a political prisoner who has been jailed for being literate.
4) The lab tech (I will call him "Igor: since no one there introduced themselves or wore a name tag except the good Doc) is just plain rude. He kicked me out of the room when I just wanted to make sure my wife was comfortable and didn't have any language barrier issues since she's a non-native speaker.
5) We filled out several forms asking the same questions about the injury and then some guy in the lab coat comes in and interrogates us about the same thing we just wrote 3 times on the forms next to him. Again he doesn't introduce himself or say what his role is (I named him "Friday").
After Friday left with his version of the papers (I think the medical industry and the paper industry are in cahoots), Dr. Nicola came in, greeted us with smiles and a handshake, introduced himself, and started the exam. He gave her a thorough exam looked over the x-rays, answered our questions and told us that there was nothing serious and that she just needed to take it easy and do some pain management and conditioning. I felt he was very professional, amiable, was the kind of doc who cares about his patient and knew exactly what he was talking about. He exudes confidence, knowledge and a genuine feeling that all care providers should. After the exam, he bid us farewell, and we left back to the horrors of the waiting room where they had misplaced our paperwork. I just paid the copay and fled.
I don't know if he owns the place or if it's a collective like the Borg or the other doctors own it and the staff are indentured or whatever. I just think Dr. Nicola was awesome and it's a shame the office environment is modeled after Kafka novels. I think I would go back there if only because we started with him and we like him. But I can't say for sure, the place was really depressing and annoying, kinda like the DMV or maybe a DMZ. read more