Brent Michael, MD

Reviews 4

AB

Aby Kam

**** PLEASE DO NOT VISIT THIS DOCTOR ****** My experience has been horrible at this place. This guy is arrogant and over smart. They have some pretty bad practice going on here to cheat patients and make money. To top of it, his staff Anita (nurse) and Christian (billing person) want to dupe you and cheat you out of money. They dont have any sense of how to talk to patients/ customers - horrible people I have dealt in my life, especially Christian. I had gone for a treatment for a boil on my thigh. The doctor comes and inspects it and I told him that I used a fungal powder on it. He started his degrading talk of how I shouldnt have done that if I didnt know anything about it and how big mistake I have done - I saw arrogance at his best! Then his nurse, Anita asked me if I want to do medical check up such as chest xray, blood test, urine etc. I told her I am not here for that. She said its free and covered by insurance. I said ok. After a month I get a call from billing agent for huge amount for all the tests. I told her this should have covered by insurance and she said no - this is what i owe. I told her, first of all I had not visited doctor for all the tests they billed me for. I only agreed to do the tests because the nurse Anita told me that they are free and covered by insurance. Christian then told me to resolve it with my insurance. I called up my insurance and they told me that the medical office has done wrong bill coding and they need to correct it. I passed on this message to Grace, office manager, (only nice person in that office) and she said she will take care of it. After that I set up a reminder to call the every week diligently to follow up if the insurance took care of it. After a month, I get bill from the hospital for small amount which I paid online. I then called up Grace to check if that was the final amount I owed and she said yes. I was happy that it was over, but to my surprise I get a call from Christian saying that I still owe them the original amount and if I dont pay it will go to collections. She was rude and giving me threat on the phone to pay or get hit with credit score. I called up the insurance and got on conference with her. The insurance asked her to rebill it and she said no, I have to pay that amount! I called her back many times but Christian kept hanging up on me saying that she doesnt want to talk to me. SCAM TO SUCK UP MY MONEY! I am not going to let this go easily. I am going to sue them and complain to medical association about the malpractice this doctors office follows to cheat people!

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J Jacobs

I went to Dr. Brent Michael for a routine annual exam, on 3/25/13. My internist of 18 years had retired, and I needed to find a new doctor. A work colleague recommended Dr. Michael. The exam experience was okay. They performed a bone density exam, which I had never had done before, so it was nice to get the results of that. However, they performed 7 lab tests (mostly all related to thyroid, such as TSH) on blood drawn for what I thought would be routine blood analysis. When I received a very large bill for this blood work-up, I called my insurance company because my annual exams are covered 100% (no co-pay or any out-of-pocket). Blue Cross told me that thyroid lab tests are not preventative and therefore not covered. Dr. Michael also recommended that I return to his office the next day for a carotid ultrasound. Because my prior internist had never done a carotid ultrasound, I asked my boyfriend (a tenured professor at the UCLA School of Medicine), who informed me that this test is very controversial, and because Im very healthy (Im a runner w/ low cholesterol, low BP, low heart rate) this test isnt indicated for me. So, I cancelled this exam. However, for a year and a half Dr. Michaels office has been harassing me for payment of the thyroid tests, despite two letters written by me explaining that they should never been ordered because I dont have thyroid problems and they are not preventative and therefore not indicated in a routine annual exam. Dr. Michaels office ignored my letters; continued to call me on a monthly basis; and then sold the debt to a debt collections company. The debt collections company called today; I explained the situation; they agreed thyroid tests should not be ordered unless indicated; but nevertheless said they would report me to all the credit reporting agencies today if I didnt pay today. All in all, this has been the worst physician visit of my entire 49 years. A true nightmare. I DO NOT RECOMMEND DR. MICHAEL. I THINK HIS ORDERING OF TESTS THAT WERE NOT INDICATED IS TANATMOUNT TO FRAUD.

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Kevin Stober

Office: The office was at St. Johns Hospital in Santa Monica which made me feel really comfortable and confidant because he holds his practice in a reputable medical building. I did have to pay for parking but that is expected anytime somebody visits a hospital-type building. Staff: Dr. Michaels staff were very sweet and helpful. They are welcoming and warm as soon as I step into the office. Wait Time: Ive been to his office twice and both times i was seen in under 10 minutes. Granted I did have a scheduled appointment for both visits. Not sure what the wait time would be if i was a walk-in. Dr. Michael: He was very kind and very knowledgeable. He gets right to the point and did a great job explaining what was wrong with me in terms I was able to understand. Usually when I go to a doctor visit the doctor will usually only spend a few minutes, tops, with me but that is not how Dr. Michael was. I was actually almost shocked on how much time and attention he gave me, individually, with my visit. Not use to that kind of experience with a doctor visit.. I would definitely recommend him to all my friends and family. If you are looking for a awesome GP in Santa Monica i found one, Dr. Brent Michael.

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A

A Private User

Based on internet reviews from different sites, I was expecting my initial visit to be great. I fasted 12 hrs for my physical at 11am (he was booked up for about a month and this was the earliest available appt. for the day). At 12:25, I was finally called in. A very distracted nurse took my BP/pulse, ushered me outside to collect my copayment, and sent me off to a lab a few blocks away to get my blood drawn. Thats right, Dr. Michael never made an appearance, let alone discuss my health concerns. After paying $12 in the first parking structure, I arrived at another expensive one with the lab at 12:50, but discovered that they were closed for lunch until 1:30. A small detail Dr. Michaels staff failed to mention to this deliriously starving person. Ill have to return to the lab another day. In conclusion, a Dr. whos too busy to meet new patients, unorganized/uninformed staff, bad parking, and a complete waste of time. Its possible that Dr. Michael is as talented as the reviews state, but if he doesnt even bother to meet with his patients, hes pretty much worthless to us.

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