I had a great experience with Dr.Ball. His office staff were great to work with. They were helpful and made sure I had all of the necessary paperwork ahead of time. At the time of my visit, they were pleasant and well organized. Dr. Ball is a pulmonologist and takes care of illness in your lungs. He was very nice and thorough. He took a look at my previous tests and ordered some new ones. My only complaint is that it takes a long time to get an appointment. I did wait a couple of months to see him. But, I think it is worth the wait. Thank you to Dr. Ball and his staff. read more

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THE GOOD: Karen Yuschak MA and Chelsea Shakes PA; initial responder on phone call , young lady on the desk of appointment. These folks were reasonable to work with, tried to keep things going (positively) even after the appointment experience went sour. Office manager stepped in to seek resolution too. THE REST: I am not taking issue with any one person. I am taking issue with what appears to be the need to review practices, procedures, written instructions for new patience. Those items may seem unimportant, but in reality those components set the tone for a patient/medical staff relationship. I set up an appointment in February for earliest opening, June 1, 2026. Was referred by my doctor to the practice so I waited. Apparently the Pulmonologist are considered top quality and worth the wait. Received a "new patient - prepackage" of paperwork which was completed for submitting at time of appointment. (also completed multiple electronic information request from the practice/Advantia/Privia . ) In the prepackage, ion the cover sheet was stated in caps and in one part underlined and partially in bold letters: ".....you must bring your paper referral at the time of your office visit. Please note: WE CANNOT SEE YOU WITHOUT THIS PAPER REFERRAL." Prior to that it stated that a patient must bring a paper referral at the time of the office visit if their insurance requires it." Guess what stands out if you are a new patient?! Paper referral! Well apparently my insurance had a relatively new policy of wanting electronic referrals sent. [Noted however is that medical practices I went to in the prior month (3) flagged me and asked moving forward that an electronic copy be submitted via the insurance company portal. None of those appointments were cancelled or rescheduled. ] When I arrived, with paper referral in hand (per written instructions) I was promptly told that my insurance required an electronic referral, my appointment was going to be cancelled, and I was going to have to pay the cancellation penalty (cost provided in writing in registration package: $75 (new patient consultation) $125 (PFT). After the confusion had passed, catching my breath, and questions were asked, I have to be honest and say it "over my dead body " moment when it came to paying a cancellation fee. ( I had arrived 30 minutes early for intake.) I have had experience with having team/staff and I understood, that the young woman at the front desk was following her marching orders. Voice was firm, but also kept repeating that the problem was not a person but poor communication, poorly written instructions. It was not acceptable to then pronounce a monetary charge. (My own primary doctor's office was on the phone with me at the same time and was trying to push the paperwork through from their end. ) After several back and forth, the manager was asked for. Again, despite sharing about the Bold Print CANNOT SEE YOU WITHOUT THIS PAPER REFERRAL, the confusion it caused and bewilderment that (while other medical offices kindly do this) no caution was provided that a electronic and not paper referral would be needed. It is common practice when the text/email/phone confirmations come through reminders about the type/form of referral needed is address. Eventually after discussion with the office manager, and no progress I left. The matter of the fee had been resolved, and I appreciated that. But I still needed the appointment, with multiple doctors waiting for the results. As we were leaving, the office manager approached us in the hall way, came up with a resolution and the appointment was worked in. I also have to give a shout out to the admin staff at my primary office for their in the moment contributions to resolution. People don't typically go to the doctor because it is a fun thing to do. And while not my case, people take off work, spend money for public transportation (or their own fuel) , make all kinds of arrangements to make medical appointments. Staff are typically trying to do a good job. Foundational, the intake process and first interactions with patience (new patience, or returning patience) sets such a tone and is largely the public/customer service face of a practice. Got what I needed, but this was not a good experience. Blood pressure was elevated, and the experience was stressful, and upsetting. read more

Ask anyone who has been seen by or worked with Dr Ball and you will hear nothing but how amazing of a provider he is. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for his office. The staff and online systems felt like a convoluted mess and rescheduling was an enormous headache as I seemed to be dealing with multiple people and systems not communicating with each other. read more

Dr. Joe Ball and team are fantastic. Kind and competent professionals. Easy to schedule pulmonary care appointments. Friendly and tip-notch care. Easy to check out. read more

Pulmonologists PC - Pulmonologist Near Me - Gaithersburg, Maryland

Dr. McMahon has been very caring and is a great diagnostician. Office staff are efficient and pleasant. Has gone out of his way to help me resolve my problem. read more

Follow up spoke to office manager as my brother was sent a bill for a missed appointment because when we arrived at appointment there was no referral.....so I called the primary Dr and a referral had been sent electronically. After an unpleasant conversation with office manager today she reluctantly agreed to credit the erroneous bill. I am sure the Doctors in this practice are good but their Staff needs coaching on courtesy And their waiting room is untidy and in my opinion dirty. read more

As an individual that has suffered a traumatic brain injury resulting with PTSD and seizures the professional staff made me feel very comfortable and welcomed. For some of the front office staff I cannot say the same. I do not know what is going on in any of your lives currently but the same can be said for every person you encounter over the phone or that walks into your office. I will greatly miss the bed side manner that I received. If you can get past the front desk then they have great professionals like Dr. Exar, nurses, and wonderful machine techs that truly do care but for me it is just too much right now. Calling on behalf of my mother who was already running 40 minutes behind was already causing me enough stress. I was asked to be put on hold which is understandable and after explaining the situation and that the reason I was calling rather than her was because she was having phone difficulties. I simply asked if my mother arrived within 10 minutes would the doctor be able to see her. The receptionist said she would check and hung up. So in my mind this made no sense I would hope that she would check and then respond back to me rather than have my mother show-up anyways. So I called back and was put on hold and hung up or "disconnected". It took every fiber in my being not to be rude by that point. I kept calling back until finally I got someone and I asked her to stay on the line until I was done. I cancelled my future appointment. read more

The place is hard to find and building is downright sketchy. Someone was drinking liquor downstairs in the lobby from a flask when I walked by. The restrooms are locked from the outside and there are no private restrooms in the facility. The room was old and outdated. Very rude receptionists. Kept talking over you. Not helpful. Couldn't answer my questions. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else. read more

I was referred to Dr. Ball by my PCP, but he didn't have any appointments available for over a month, so I made an appointment with Dr. Mahon instead. Dr. Mahon is awesome! I had a great experience with him. He was very considerate of my time, apologizing for any wait and letting me know he'll be with me shortly. He was a great listener and asked plenty of questions about my condition. He was funny! I was nervous, but he eased my worries a lot. I appreciate that he took the time to bring me into his office after his examination, sit down with me, and explain everything in detail. It is obvious that he cares and he was very reassuring throughout the entire appointment. I appreciate doctors who do not rush my appointment and dedicate time and effort to me. Dr. Mahon is wonderful with patient care. Honestly, I found the front desk staff to be very stressed out. They seemed loud and rushed everyone in the waiting room, including me. As a new patient, I had to fill out several forms, and I kept being told to, ''Fill this out quickly,'' and ''Do this quickly'' and ''Give me your cards quickly.'' I came 30 minutes before my appointment time as instructed just to do the forms, so I didn't know why I was being rushed so much. That was weird. Anyway, I highly recommend Dr. Mahon if you are in need of a pulmonologist. Just be prepared to deal with not-so-pleasant front desk staff. read more

Worst front office staff of any doctor I've ever been to. They spend most of their time bickering amongst each other in front of the patients, can't seem to get anything right the first time, put you on hold for 5 minutes when you call, then pick up like you are bothering them, have difficulties understanding English, then ask you to repeat what you just told them due to all the bickering in the background. I absolutely hate having to deal with them for anything. Totally unprofessional children. read more

my father had an appointment and was treated in an extremely rude way by office manager due to the language barrier. I was referred to this office by my primary care doctor and had a paper referral given to me. . they refused to see him bc he had a 35 no show fee from the apointment i made for him and canceled and since he never got a bill and call he was very confused . By the time i got there he missed his apt , and his blood pressure was up the roof . The lady was shooshing him and made the nastiest racist gesture. i tried to advice her to change her body language but she offered me a discount for $15 . My entire family including myself are healthcare professional and never seen anything to refuse patient bc of the fee that was not even sent as a bill yet . He even requested for them to wait for me to get there and they said no you have to pay for this visit as well...... Poor patient care!!!! The front desk staff was even rude The office staff kept closing the sliding plastic window in my face when I tried to explain myself. At no time did the doctor come to check on me or see that I was seen. It's all about the money here.we waited to see the dr read more

I had an appointment with Dr. Joseph Ball and was treated in an extremely rude way by his office staff and nurses. I was referred to this office by my primary care doctor and had a paper referral given to me. When I made the appointment I was told I needed a electronic referral, and I told them I didn't have one. On the day of my appointment with Dr. Ball they refused to see me without the electronic referral, even though I had the paper one with me. They should not have made the appointment with me if this was going to be the case. I had to waste my time coming there and not being seen for what could have been a very serious incident. The nurse placed me on the phone with my insurance company, though didn't tell me why. The insurance rep and I were both confused.They even took my copay, knowing they did not want to see me. Why weren't my benefits verified before my appointment, to avoid my time being wasted? According to my insurance company, a referral can still be obtained 2 business days AFTER an appointment. So, why wasn't I at least seen? Poor patient care!!!! The front desk staff was even rude to my primary care doctor's office, when calling them for the electronic referral. Why was I made to be the middle man? I'm the patient!!!! The office staff kept closing the sliding plastic window in my face when I tried to explain myself. At no time did the doctor come to check on me or see that I was seen. It's all about the money here. What I found was that this office has quite the reputation with rudeness and poor patient care. read more