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Help needed for DC based Pediatrician - looking for feedback
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Anonymous
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Hi, we are currently with Dr. Lang but are looking to switch to a new practice for a variety of factors. Wondering if anyone has any feedback (+ or -) on the following 3 practices or suggestions of others in downtown DC? Many thanks for you help!
1. George Washington Medical Faculty Association at 2150 Pennsylvania Ave NW (Drs. Cora-Bramble, Biernoff, and Weissman) 2. Children's Pediatricians & Associates LLC at 2141 K St NW (Drs. Ratner, Schoonover, Hamburger, Wagner, Kaplan 3. Pullman & Ariza at 2440 M St NW |
Anonymous
| I don't think that Cora-Bramble and Weissman are seeing patents. They are the administrators at Children's Hospital - and if they are seeing patients it is on a very limited basis. |
Anonymous
| For what it's worth, I had a negative experience at the K street practice. I found the staff to be curt and rude (and extremely long wait times on the phone to even get through to make an appointment). Also, I found the doctor we saw (Sepe) to be quite dismissive. We are actually going to try Dr. Lang next week!! I'm hoping that we'll like her! |
Anonymous
| We choose the 2141 K St. practice on the recommendation of a physician friend of ours who takes his child there. We have seen Dr Hamburger (3-4x) and Dr. Sepe (2x) and like the both a lot (prefer Dr. Hamburger). She is really wonderful. We have never waited too long (maybe 15 max) compared to waiting times in other dr offices (OB GYN, GP, etc.). Both docs seem very caring and are patient. We have plenty of time to ask questions and do not feel rushed. If you call the nurse triage line (non-emergency), you get a response within a few hours. We have not seen any of the other docs in the practice, but would certainly recommend either Hamburger or Sepe. |
Anonymous
| We go to Pullman & Ariza. I've seen a number of negative posts on this practice, but we've never had any problems with wait times, rude office staff, etc. We primarily see Dr. Valois who is awesome with our infant son. We'd follow her anywhere she went in the metro area. |
Anonymous
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Just wanted to chime in that I also left Dr. Lang's practice for a number of reasons, and one of the practices I was looking at was Dr. Hamburger's. When I called to find out when I could get an appointment and if they took my insurance, after clearly stating to the person who answered that I was a new patient, they left me on hold for 15, I am not exaggerating, minutes. I don't even know if they ever would have answered because I hung up. I realize this could have been a total fluke, but I was highly unimpressed and didn't call back.
I ended up going to Foxhall Pediatrics, which may not be convenient for you, but I love them. |
juliek
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| I'm pregnant with child #1. I was also interested in the 2141 K St. practice with Dr. Hamburger and called to set up an informational interview. I was told there would be a $90 charge just to have that brief meeting, which is not covered by insurance. I find that pretty appalling considering there is a potential that they could get almost 18 years of business out of me! Maybe they already have enough patients and don't really care to take on more new ones. I know this doesn't speak to the skills of the doctors or other aspects of the practice, but this single point was enough for me to forget about them as an option. |
Anonymous
| Not to hijack the thread, but just wondering, for those of you that left Dr. Lang's practice-- did you leave recently? I am about to switch to her practice b/c I had read (on this board) that there have recently been vast improvements there in terms of organization, wait times, etc. |
Anonymous
| We left Dr. Lang's practice in September of 2007. All I can say is do your research...you may want to go in and talk with them first...I like a couple of the clinicians, but overall my experience was very negative. |
Anonymous
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Re 2141 K St. practice, we take our son there. I didn't know upfront that only for the well-visits you see the doctor of your choice. For sick-visits, you are seen by any doctor who can fit you in his schedule, that was never our well-visit ped....
You may sometimes even be seen by residents if it's a sick visit. So in the transcourse of a year we have seen all of them and they are all okay. The nurse-triage always called me back within an hour and they usually schedule a same day visit if you want your child to be seen by A doctor (ANY of the many). The wait time is best, if you get the first app in the morning or after lunch. I wouldn't choose a group practice again. |
Anonymous
| We left Dr. Lang's practice in June 2006 as we were quite unhappy, switched to Foxhall Pediatrics where we were generally quite happy (recommend Dr. Sweeny), and for insurance reasons just switched again to Ariza and Pullman. We only have had one appointment but I was very pleased. Efficient front desk staff, not too long a wait, pleasant nurse practioner who administered immunization. Dr. Pullman seemed to have a pretty direct, no-nonsense style but she took her time, was thorough, professional and was great with my son. Good luck. |
Anonymous
| While not directly in DC, we are very happy with Capitol Medical Group in Chevy Chase. No long waiting times, efficient staff, and very open doctors. |
Anonymous
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My son is 18 months, and during that time we had seen Dr. Lang several times. I have noticed that the wait times have improved, what I like the most is that every time I call for sick visits the doctor accomodates my son the same day, sometimes the waits are 2 hours, but I was just there a few weeks ago, and I waited for 15 minutes at 7:00pm. I was just glad I did not have to go to the ER. I find that in my experience they are very personal and courteous. I have only met one of the new doctors and she is very nice.
From other posts, I have seen that all the practices have problems of waiting times at one time or another. It depends a lot on the time of day/day of week you go. So basically IMHO it all comes down on how you get along with the doctors and what kind of service you are confortable with. For me, the plus side of Dr. Lang is that I feel like they know my son and are very personal. I don't like to rotate doctors from the same practice. Fortunately my son has never had serious health problems, but recently I needed a referal for a sepcialist and got it the same day, as well as copies of the records. |
Anonymous
We go to 2141 K - The waits are bad sometimes- but try to schedule the first AM appointment or first apptmt after lunch. We actually choose to see one of the residents all the time now. We just love him - and get great care and attention because we're one of the few who WANTS to see a resident  He actually caught something that the more "experienced" docs didn't. Dr. Marks is his name. I really enjoy seeing residents - they spend much more time, are more thorough and haven't been jaded yet  GW is a teaching hospital, which some don't like, but I really do. The docs have to learn somehow! And, really, who cares (at a routine yearly physical) whether it's a resident or not?
I think ALL peds offices have the same wait problems. It's an insurance and demand issue - nothing they can really do about it, other than turn more people away - or maybe hire a few more nurses? |
Anonymous
| We love Dr. Pullman. |