My first visit to Caduceus was this past Saturday. Yes - a Saturday....definitely a bonus of being a patient with Caduceus. I was very anxious and frazzled. I was forced to change insurance in the middle of some testing and labwork so I did have a lot on my mind. None of my current doctors would accept CalOptima although my former family doctor will agree to see me as a cash patient. Caduceus is a reputable, classy, and distinguished medical facility that didn't treat me as a second class citizen just because of an insurance change. The Laguna Beach location is very intimate, clean and warm with beautiful art work right by the beach off of PCH. The receptionist was incredibly friendly, patient, professional, welcoming and upbeat. All of Dr. Penkoff's staff had a great personality. I believe his PA's name is Tina and I was seen shortly after I arrived. She was very thorough in her intake interview and very personable. I thought I had prepared as much as possible but forgot to complete the new patient forms on-line. But Tina didn't make me wait or feel bad about any paperwork and she provided the information about the Mousecalls, on-line prescriptions refill requests and the ability to Skype future appointments so I knew the support I would receive as a patient there. I didn't expect to see Dr. Penkoff at all since it was a Saturday. I thought Saturday's would be left to techs and physician's assistants; but Dr. Penkoff shortly came in to speak with me, review my medical history, medications and lab reports. He is a mature, seasoned and knowledgeable physician who was very easy to talk to, spent quality time with me and alleviated many of my concerns about my current health challenges. He was able to identify some other health alerts to address rapidly without sending me for more costly repetitive blood work. Of course, as I drove home, a multitude of questions that I should have asked emerged. I arrived home about a 45 minutes after my appointment and submitted my questions via the MouseCall function. His office has already responded twice in 24 hours. My appointment was Saturday morning - it is now Sunday morning. I even had the opportunity to review the general website. They provide patient education, tweets on current medical occurrences and Samme's Corner with articles on relevant medical topics. The On-line Concierge provides a breakdown of the on-line services and the diverse services the offices provide, at multiple locations throughout Orange County for convenience, like immunizations, acupuncture and optometry ! The article on, and support the physicians provide to Friendship Shelter in Laguna Beach is just heartwarming and the fact that these physicians are so dedicated to not only benefitting from their community, but giving back to their community, is rare, unique, endearing and special. It gives you insight into who they are as people. Definitely a credit to their profession. But, what can you expect - Dr. Penkoff is a USC Keck School of Medicine graduate. Fight On !
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