Lakeside Community Healthcare - Thousand Oaks

Very poor customer service/billing process. They told us we could see any of their doctors, but that they would only bill the authorized doctor listed on our insurance policy. Instead, they billed our insurance using the wrong doctor/tax ID and 6 months later we're still fighting/trying to correct the billing process. Today, I called them to explain their misbilling mistake ""again"" and they just hung up on me. I've since moved my family of four to another doctor/clinic (Jacob & Henein Inc) and am very happy. more

When I called on a Friday to make a routine appointment, I waited 10 minutes before a human picked up the call. When I asked for an appointment, the girl said Dr. XX was not in office today. I said no problem, anytime next week or the week after is fine. She said, WE ONLY SCHEDULE APPOINTMENTS FOR THE SAME WEEK.. I said, but today is Friday, how can I schedule an appointment for next week? She said WE DON'T DO THAT, ONLY FOR THE SAME WEEK. She said, we have a new system and we only schedule appointments for the same week. I asked is that the best you can do; I waited on hold for 10 minutes. She said I need to call next week and hung up. more

The doctors are competent and the nursing staff friendly. Office waits are generally 45 minutes. Referrals to specialists are good. That being said, you have to show up in person to get anything accomplished. The staff has absolutely no regard for telephone calls. Multiple voicemail messages usually go without any response. If you want to actually speak to a person over the phone, it can be a very frustrating, and sometimes impossible task. You are lucky if someone picks up the phone after hearing a recording for 10 - 15 minutes repeating, ""We apologize for the wait, your call is very important to us."" I recently was on hold for 20 minutes and no one ever came on the line. And, even if you're lucky enough to speak to one of the office staff, nothing usually happens in response -- again, you have to show up in person if you want to get anything accomplished. more

This is a reputable medical group with ties to good specialists and hospitals. I have been with them through several doctors since 2005. That being said, it is also a business. Support staff is shared and there is a medical records department (also shared) that as of recently doesn't even return calls. The reception staff is cordial and tries its best to squeeze you in if you are REALLY sick. As with many doctors these days, their hands are often tied by the Health Insurance companies' guidelines. But they and their support staff seem to try hard to overcome obstacles set before them by Health Insurance carriers.\r \r Unfortunately, this is a business and as such they have to balance the number of support staff with their income to make sure the bottom line has a positive number. They could difinitely use additional staff in their records department! The last 2 messages I left have gone unreturned. \r \r Appointments are relatively easy to schedule and if a doctor is out for any reason, there will be another staff doctor who can still see you. They also have long daytime hours to meet your needs if you are trying to see the doctor before or after work.\r \r For some reason, there seems to be a high turn-over in female physician staff. The last 2 female physicians I have had in the group have left, moving their practices to adjacent communities. Both were VERY GOOD DOCTORS!!! \r \r Bottom line, I would recommend this group, but if you need copies of your records, you may have to resort to showing up IN PERSON if you really want them. Pros: Quality medical care, convenient hours, waiting time isn't too long - within one hour Cons: Records department is understaffed, fair amount of doctor turn-over (female docs) more