Caring doctors, friendly and collegial staff. I would not change to another primary care physician unless I moved to Alaska.

Terrible, frustrating recent experience. I was experiencing fatigue, body aches, and back pain for the last week. I had to wait 4 days to be seen, and only a nurse practitioner was available. I saw him Friday and he prescribed lidocaine patches for my back. However, my pharmacy never got the prescription - despite me calling the office several times on Friday to follow up. The prescription wasn't sent in until Monday morning, and of course I couldn't get it until Monday evening. No explanation was given other than he was probably busy and then went home without sending the prescription to the pharmacy! read more

Love Dr Carpenter. She listens to my concerns and then we go from there. Staff are very kind & professional. Never had a bad experience there. Yes sometimes I wait a little longer than usual but hey there could be a patient that needs a little extra time. That might be me someday. I never want to leave this practice read more

I reached out to spruce internal, as I always do to have my inhaler script refilled. This time, they replied to me saying that I haven't been seen since 2017, and they will not fill the script until I make an appointment. Understandable, so I call to make an appointment, and there isn't availability until possibly November, maybe even December! I cannot go without my inhaler that long. What I don't understand, is that if an appointment was necessary, why did they not let me know this upon filling my last script, so that I could make an appointment? this isn't for opioids! Its an inhaler for asthma! making me at risk for covid for starters! I called and spoke with this awful woman names Rae, basically yelling and saying we cant do that, we cant give you your medicine until you have an appointment, but there are no appointments, and that there was nothing that she could do for me?!?! I then asked to speak to a manager and she refused. My husband was a witness to this as I had her on speaker. He is in the healthcare field and said that is not supposed to happen. I would like to file a formal complaint. patients should not be treated this way with zero solutions. How do you keep filling a script, but don't inform the patient they will need to be seen to continue to receive said script? Shame on you Rae. read more

I've been with Spruce Internal Medicine less than a year. I have never had so many issues or dealt with such an awful staff at a doctor's office. They doctor didn't really care, blatantly ignored concerns about sitting to new prescriptions, couldn't provide answers to questions, and was dismissive. The admin staff Is completely unhelpful and frustrating. Wait times are awful. Every interaction is more frustrating than the one before. Save yourself some frustration and use any office besides this one. read more

Do not go to this clinic if you are POC. Dr. Jenifer Nizen Refused home health care for my mother who is in poor health. She said No and refused to fill out the forms telling her, "You don't need it". She asked to switch doctors and the clinic told her the only option was to leave the clinic. read more

While I had read positive reviews of some of the doctors practicing here, my overall experience with Spruce Internal as my PCP was unpleasant, cold and jarring. The lobby was uncomfortable and full of weirdos who may or may not have been homeless. The young man staffing the reception desk was rude, terse and uninformative. When I was finally shown back to Dr. Mazzotti, she was ALSO rude, terse and uninformative. Did not even look at my medical history report. Displayed no feelings of concern, sympathy or human kindness. Told me to "look it up on the internet." The second time I tried to make an appointment here, the receptionist condescendingly informed me that I had never been there before, because I was not in the system. Needless to say, Spruce Internal is no longer my PCP. read more

Ugh. As an exile from Delancey Medical (one floor up), I decided to try my hand at Spruce, and I really wish I hadn't. The doctor I saw decided to code my annual physical as a "problem" visit, despite me requesting a full physical. She even ordered the same type of blood panel that past doctors have always ordered as part of my physical! But because she didn't consider the visit preventative, the bloodwork isn't covered, so I'm out an extra couple hundred bucks. And despite my appeals, she refuses to change her coding, and without that, the office manager and billing departments can't do anything. Now, yes, my crappy insurance deserves lots of blame for being predictably soulless. But this experience points to a bigger problem: Spruce is another of the worst kind of cold, corporate medical practice where nobody really listens and your actual needs take a backseat to policy and profits. Where a doctor would rather hurry out of the room than take her time and do the proper physical you asked for. Maybe with a different doctor the experience would be better. But I can't afford to take another chance. read more

This only deserves 2 stars because my actual doctor was very pleasant and helpful, everything else about it sucked. I made an appointment here to have a small procedure done. The guy at the desk gave me the appointment, it seemed odd that they would do it there since I assumed you needed to see a specialist, so I said "Do they actually do this here? I noticed Penn Women's Health is next door, should I go there instead? Do I need a referal?" He said "No you can make an appointment here, the doctor here can do it." Weeks later when I showed up for the appointment, I paid my $30 co-pay, spent my day off at the doctor's office, finally saw the doctor. She took one look at my file and said "You know we don't actually do that here, right?" She gave me the number to the place I needed to call and eventually I got it taken care of, but making and waiting for this appointment set me back by a month, easily. Really irritating. It's a good thing it wasn't serious. The most annoying part is that I flat out asked if he was certain that they would do the procedure there, and although he obviously wasn't sure he said yes rather than checking for me which would have taken all of 15 seconds. read more

Dr King is a very kind and caring doctor. She spent a lot of time with me which was nice. When I asked her a question, she had to Google it on the computer. I would give her 4 stars as a doctor. I guess a primary care doctor shouldn't be expected to know everything, but my condition affects 10% of women and I was given the run around by her and Dr. Mazotti. However the staff and the practice is difficult to deal with. Make an afternoon appt and you can easily be waiting in the waiting room for 2 hours. Once I left because of all the people sounded like they had the flu around me and I didn't want to get sick too. I asked for my records because I was going to have surgery and it was like pulling teeth. First they told me that they would charge me, but they couldn't tell me how much, then they gave them to me for free. When they arrived, I started looking though them and saw something about 'testicular pain'. I'm a female so was very confused and looked up at the top of the page. It was for another patient of theirs. So essentially, they had broken a HIPPA rule. I still wonder if one of my pages is in his file. read more

I love my doctors here. But holy crap. I show up half an hour before my appointment time (which is first thing in the morning) and still can't get seen on time. I waited for my doctor for 45 minutes, after showing up 30 min before my appointment. If it had been cold and flu season, that would make sense. But it's summer, there are only 3 other patients, and it's early morning. And it's this way all the time. I liked this practice so much better when it was small and functional. Now it's a scheduling nightmare. Why? read more

Spruce Internal Medicine. Every time I have a medication refill request, they give me a hard time. They never see the fax my pharmacist sends. I spoke to the LPN last time there was an issue, she told me she would write me a note and leave it at the front desk, no office visit required. The front desk office staff. is terrible. After talking with my pharmacist and explaining to him how I was taking the medication, he said I was correct. I called the office staff back and Nakia threatened to call security on me. Less than zero read more

I honestly have not experienced any of the issues that people complain about here. The new office is beautiful and has huge windows overlooking the city. If I call during business hours and am sick, I am always able to get through and usually make an appointment for the same day with my pcp, Lori noble. The receptionists are slightly terse, but rude is an exaggeration, and, I suspect, racially charged. I did observe one incident where a non English speaking patient was treated poorly, so that's one star docked. They are on the mypennmedicine system where you can make appointments online, request referrals and prescription refills. You can also email your care team with any follow up questions and see your care history- it's really great! My pcp is dr noble. She talks quickly and works quickly but is also very thorough, and responds to my emails quickly (even once when she was out of town or on vacation?) My benchmark is Jefferson so maybe I have Jefferson goggles but I am extremely satisfied with the level of care I receive. read more

5 stars for Dr. Melissa Mericondo! I took a chance on her as she is relatively new to the practice and had no reviews. She is a thoughful individual who pays strict attention to you and what you are saying, asking good questions and providing good feedback. For my first visit she spent a good amount of time with me, did a thorough check-up, provided full blood work and urine testing, provided two referrals, and even called in my prescription to my pharmacy! Very efficient and pleasant! Doctors are under a lot of pressure to get patients in and out under our current health care system. Even under pressure, Dr. Mericondo performed and made you feel like you were important. As far as the rest of the practice, it's okay. You may not be coddled like you might be at another practice (where it may be more expensive for you or your insurance carrier), but they get the job done. I waited a very short time as I went at 1pm on a Tuesday when no one was there. Didn't even have time to fill out paperwork as the nurse immediately pulled me in to take vitals. After my examination with Dr. Mericondo, the phlebotomist took my blood. She was reserved at first, but after talking to her she became very personable and was quite kind. My advice is to go for the doctor, not the practice. Go to Spruce to see Dr. Melissa Mericondo. She's good! read more

I liked my doctor but the administration is terrible. They are in the dark ages and will not use the My Penn Medicine system (the doctor will use it for communication that's it, and the staff doesn't use it at all). You either have to go there in person to get a lab order, or they will snail mail it to you. All my other doctors just post lab orders through the online system. I have been waiting 2 weeks for a simple order for lab work. The doctor never forwarded it to staff; staff said they would mail it and didn't; I called back and had to go through the whole thing all over again and the second staff person says they have to talk to someone in medical records or something just to be able to know what to do to mail it out. It shouldn't be so difficult to get labwork done because of something so seemingly trivial: delivering the order. I am leaving this practice. read more

I have been seeing Dr. King for over 10 years. I don't think that there is a more thorough and competent doctor in the city. She spends at least 45 minutes with me during exams, listens carefully and follows up on any potential issues. The practice also does routine Gyn care in the office, which I find very convenient. The only issue I have is the phone service. They are a busy practice and you can be placed on hold for long periods of time. That being said, I have never felt rushed during my appointments. read more

I have seen Dr. Maracanod and Dr. Masotti. One was great. The other the pits. Their names are so sliminar I can't recall which is which. One actually listened and gave thoughtful information. The other, when I asked questions she did not know the answer to, rather than offer to take a pause and do a little bit of research, instead said "I'm not sure but.." and proceeded to answer with information which, when I checked with the Mayo Clinic web site and a friend who is an internal medicine doc in the west, turned out to be majorly inaccurate. read more

Check WebMD this doctors office has really declined. I used to love Dr. Nizen but now it's like a clinic the front staff is rude. Even the lab text and the nurses are disgusted. They're all looking for other employment. read more

They added a new service where you can sign up online to do prescription refills and even email with your doctor! This makes it so convenient to get a hold of your doctor for small things without making an appointment. I love Spruce, I have practically converted my entire office building to them. read more

I love my doctor Kathleen King, she is thorough and kind and attentive and I could not ask for more. I HATE the office protocol. This morning I could not get through to any voice on the phone until 1pm, and then I had to wait on hold for 25 minutes. I am writing hoping that someone in the office sees it and at least attempts to fix an impossible situation. read more

Fast service and harmless staff. The lab draw area is in the same building so that's not too bad. As far as going to the doctor goes, I would go here again if needed. read more

Dr. Maria Mazzotti was the worst doctor experience I have ever had. She was very brief and didn't listen to my needs. I asked her specific question and received vague answers. This was a first visit and will be the last visit. I would recommend that if anyone is thinking of going to her DON'T if you want a doctor that listens. read more

I usually write reviews about some of the nicer (and not so nice) restaurants I've been to - on other services like this one. And have never thought about writing a review about anything but a nice meal, or a movie. Until now. In fact, I signed up here so I could do that. I recently scheduled a routine appointment here - the constant change in weather left me with a persistent cough I couldn't shake. I was given an appointment with Dr. Elizabeth Fung. My usual complaint about visits to doctor offices is how long you have to wait beyond your scheduled appointment time. That didn't happen with Dr. Fung. She was on time, very pleasant and very compassionate. By nature, doctor's have to tell you what to do - after all, you are there with a problem unless the visit is a routine check up. But Dr. Fung was not lecturing - instead, she made it clear we would beat this cough together. I liked that team approach - I didn't feel like a car being serviced in a garage. I believe she is fairly new to the practice. But it won't be long before she builds a big book of patients. You should make an appointment with Dr. Fung while she is still accepting patients. read more

The times I have been here I have had no problems. The wait times have been fine and everyone is friendly. Today I went in for a last-minute appointment for a cold. This time everyone was downright kind! I have never seen so many smiling faces and happy people. It was a pleasure to be there. I saw a new doctor, Dr. Wolf, and she was wonderful. I felt at ease with her immediately. She was warm and knowledgeable. I would recommend getting an appt with her before she gets too popular to accept new patients. :) read more

I have been a patient here for years - I've gone through quite a few physicians as they've come and go, but I've never had a complaint about any. I'm currently seeing Dr. Nizen, who I really like. The new location is clean and bright, with beautiful views from the waiting room. I can always get an appointment quickly (if it's an emergency appointment, they will put you in with whichever doctor is first available). When I came down with the flu, they saw me that day and were able to get me Tamiflu right away, drastically reducing the length of my illness. I've never had the issues that many here complain about - even wait times on the phone have drastically reduced lately. Highly recommended. read more

It's not the doctors who are a problem but their billing department. My wife had a flu shot that is covered by our insurance. But Spruce filed the claim using an incorrect name name and an incorrect SSN. After a year, when my wife visited the office, they discovered their error and refiled the claim. This time with the wrong insurance carrier. After another office visit this mistake was discovered. The clerk commented that it would take some time to correct as the claim was so old! The next we heard was from a bill collection agency where the outstanding amount, which should be covered by insurance, had been sent for collection. We are pursuing a claim through the Better Business Bureau, but meanwhile have a debt sent for collection on our credit rating. We have now changed doctors offices. read more

I visited Spruce Internal Medicine for an appointment with Dr. Elizabeth Fung. Dr. Fung was awful (read my review of her on Yelp for details), and I refuse to see her again, but I will definitely give Spruce Internal Medicine another chance. Everyone in this office was fantastic, welcoming, and kind, from the front desk staff to the patient care coordinator to the phlebotomist. I was anxious about getting blood drawn, especially after my terrible visit with Dr. Fung, but Iris Perez, the phlebotomist, was so sweet and took great care of me. She did everything she could to make my experience more positive, and had lots of great suggestions to make the blood draw easier. The office itself is clean, bright, and nicely decorated, and located in a beautiful old building that also conveniently houses several specialists. They sent me a new patient packet in the mail, so I didn't have to sit in the waiting room and fill it out. My wait was very short, less than 10 minutes, even though I arrived early. I would definitely recommend this practice to anyone looking for a new primary care physician. read more

This practice is very good. My husband and I have been going to them for 14 years. They take time to talk to you and listen. They go way beyond just doing test and writing scripts. If you do not like this group; you will not like any group. read more

I totally disagree with these reviews. After having a difficult time finding a good doc in Philly (new to the area), I saw Dr. Mazzotti and was really pleased. I went to see her for a physical. Yes, you wait for ages on hold to reach the office, but that's been my experience with every doctor's appointment I've had in the city. Once I arrived, the front desk staff - two guys - were really friendly and helpful. The waiting room was comfy and they were screening Avatar, which made the wait seem not very long. Her nursing staff was also very friendly and listened very carefully to my concerns. Dr. Mazzotti is frank, honest, and listens carefully as well. She went through my entire history with me, and suggested things other doctors had not even mentioned before. I liked her so much, I promptly scheduled an OBGYN appointment with her because she does those too. Once, I had to reschedule an appointment at the last minute because I got really sick the morning of, and her staff were friendly, and hassle-free during the entire rescheduling process. I like a doctor who is a no BS kind of person. I don't need a doctor to be my friend - I need them to be competent. Dr. Mazzotti is great. read more

I really like the doctors here, but like most everyone else says, getting through to the office is outrageous. The staff is very nice, and I don't think it's really their fault. I think it's an issue of protocol and poor workflow. The online system has gotten better in the few years I have been going here, and so refills and appointments are easy to make -- but you still cannot get a person on the phone. I really much prefer the online interaction...most of the time....but there are enough times that I've wanted to just call and wrap things up quickly. read more

Dr. Robert Rudenstein is as good as it gets! He is engaging, asks questions, and gives you plenty of great bedside manner. I notice that he will even remind me to tend to physical matters I try to avoid. The receptionist are great and always accommodating to meet my hectic schedule. The phlebotomist are excellent, and always comfort me when blood has to be drawn. Receptionist are there to help you with appointment, and if they are terse, try to imagine someone trying to keep an appointment they are already 30 minutes late for. So do not let someone who is trying to help you, because they were not as pleasant as we would like them to be. I am not downplaying how anyone feels because it is important! But I will trade nice exchanges for competent care anytime!! Spruce Internal, keep up the good work!!! Glenn G. read more

My doctor is good, but every time I'm actually sick, even for a chronic condition that only requires a refill, dealing with their staff is a nightmare. I've been misdiagnosed by a PA, hung up on while a receptionist was fighting with her significant other on the phone for choosing the 'emergency' line during an emergency, and denied a prescription causing me needless suffering and multiple phone calls. If you aren't able to help me when I'm sick, why are you my doctor? read more

If you want a bad PCP, this place is for you. I have been a patient for years and tolerated their long waits, inability to properly diagnosis and rude staff. Today was the last straw. I spent over a week trying to get a simple referral and medical records to a specialist I am seeing. These people cannot get it right and when you call you cannot get anyone who can help you on the phone, ever. Oh and I cannot get an appointment with them for over a month! This practice is the definition of medical negligence and overall incompetence. Their inability to timely generate referrals and send records causes treatment delays that are wholly their fault. read more

My doctor (Mazzotti) was great - friendly, professional, and helpful. But the wait to see her was really long. I arrived at 12:20 for a 12:30 appointment and didn't see the doc until nearly 1:30. Might be better first thing in the morning - that's what I'm going to try next time. read more

I have been going to Dr. Nizen for years and she is the best doctor I have ever been to. She is a great doctor, helpful, easy to communicate with (via Penn Medicine contact your care team), and has a great bedside manner. I can't imagine going to another doctor. read more

Recently the practice hired a nurse practitioner. She's very good with phone help, and usually has a same day appointment when Dr Nizen is overbooked. I love NPs and Judy is a star. read more

Incredibly poor customer service. The issue is trying to get in touch with someone via the phone. Perhaps the phone system is broken, but they simply don't answer it. I've spent more than one week trying to get a prescription filled. The phone system has an extension specifically for leaving prescription refill messages. In the past it has worked well. But over the last week I left 3 messages with no response. Eventually I left messages on other extensions at the office and finally someone responded to me. They had my prescription filled but with the incorrect dosage. While I was at the office I asked if I could speak to someone about the problems I've been having. 10 minutes later no one had still come out to speak with me. I ended up leaving the office without my prescription. I've been going to this practice for at least 15 years, and I think my physician is terrific. I'm sorry to leave this review for his sake. But the office around him is simply so poorly run that I feel compelled to leave this review read more

I have previously been a patient with this office using Dr. Laura Tucker as my PCP. I am about to travel abroad and Dr. Tucker refused to write a prescription for a medication I need that is explicitly recommended by the CDC. Several of my friends are also going on this trip and had no issues getting the same prescription from their own doctors. Despite multiple calls to the office and requests to speak to Dr. Tucker I was unable to do so. All I got were very clipped messages telling me she would not write the script. One of the staff at her office told me she would have Dr. Tucker call me and she never did. Instead of prescribing the medicine I required she insisted I go to a different Penn office that didn't have any availability and would not have been covered by my insurance. I was ultimately forced to go to an urgent care clinic to get the medicine I needed. It is clear from this interaction that my health is not a priority to Dr. Tucker and I plan on finding a different primary care doctor in the future. read more

Hi. My name is Ioana and I have seeked dr. Mazzotti's help after experiencing chest pains.She was very short with me, told me it's just anxiety and gave me a medicine that didn't work.I called her office when the medication didn't do anything for me after a couple weeks and could never get a hold of her.She would call me back after a couple of days being short and never useful.She did not care about my symptoms or making it better.After 6 months,another doctor diagnosted me with a heart condition called mvp which created all the problems.My experience with dr Mazzotti was bad and if you want to get a correct diagnosis and a caring person, she is not the person to go to. read more

I also waited awhile on hold to speak to a representive. I asked I I was on so long and the represenative informed me that they only had two people answers their calls. She said they average over 800 calls a day which causing them to having people to wait extensively. Not to mention some of the patient coordinators are rude. There is one bright spot and her name is Denaja Robinson. She was very informative and assertive. I hating the other reps on the phone they are no help at all. I think they need to hire more staff for the phones along with replacing a couple of the bad seeds. read more