Austin Ear Nose & Throat Associates

Dr. Peter Scholl is wonderful ENT doctor. I respect him and his medical opinion. He has an awesome bedside manner. I have only positive things to say about him. I do have concerns with his staff and billing procedures. I was called a long time after my appointment saying I owed money. I asked why as I had already paid my copay. Had I known there would be additional charges I would likely have not made the appointment as it was for a second opinion. I never received a bill for a balance. This news blind sided me. The billing representative double checked her records and found an incorrect address had been entered into their system by their staff which explained why I never got a bill. I stated that I would need to make payments as this was a completely unexpected expense and not in the budget. We agreed on a payment plan and I made the first payment on the phone. Long story short– I did not receive any further statements in the mail nor a phone call or an email requesting the balance. (email would have been a great addition to their billing procedure) I waited for a statement, life got really busy and I lost track of time which was a mistake. No statement ever came but I did receive a letter from collections and I took care of that immediately. My insurance provider has been made aware of this and there is a case number for my complaint. Lessons learned– make sure you get them to tell you how much your appointment is going to cost before agreeing to schedule. As a back up– Ask the Dr. before he does each and every procedure if this is covered by the co-​pay. Even if you think everything is taken care of with a –0– balance, remember to call his office a few times to confirm. Be your own advocate and don’t expect any empathy. Other than those hiccups I had a great experience with Dr. Scholl.

NEVER AGAIN! Dr. Nowlin is horrible. He was 60 minutes late for my appointment. After telling him I had recurring sinus infections he yelled at me to take better care of my self, that I needed allergy shots and an antibiotic. Then said, well I’m in a really bad mood today. I responded saying I was too as he was 1 hour late. He then lectured me that he has to stack his appointments every 15 minutes or else he doesnt make any money. I said, well, I really need to get out of here since I am taking time off work to meet with him. He said fine, ran out of the room and ordered me a CT scan then refused to give me the antibiotics he told me I needed for my current sinus infection. I told the nurse I was never dealing with him again, she just said ok and I paid my co-​pay and left. Now have to go to the ARC to get a prescription that DR ASSSHO! E refused to write.
Sad, after dealing with recurrent sinus infections this year, I thought I would go another route and see an ENT to fix what ever obstruction I might have… NEVER WITH THIS CLINICAL GROUP!

My husband has been having bad ear pain for about a week and we went to see Dr. Austin. This is the same doctor who my husband saw a week before for a hearing test.
We waited 30 minutes past our appointment time but that’s not a big deal. I know how busy doctors’ offices can be. When we did see the doctor, he spent less than 5 minutes with my husband. He looked in each ear and said «It’s not your ears». I asked what it might be if it wasn’t his ears. The doctor just said «I don’t know». I asked what doctor we should go to next since my husband has been in pain for a week. He said «I don’t know».
He asked my husband if he had done anything with his ears since the last visit. My husband said nothing but the hearing test. Dr. Austin got defensive and immediately said «This has nothing to do with the hearing test.» So he doesn’t know anything about what’s going on with my husband’s ears but he does know it wasn’t anything having to do with a procedure at his clinic? I’m not saying the hearing test has anything to do with the pain. I was just taken aback by this reaction, and honestly, I was offended by his response.
That was it. There is no embellishment here because our appointment was that short. This was all the information we got from the doctor. My husband hates going to the doctor so it took a lot of courage for him to make this appointment. I’m livid by the way my husband was treated, like he and his pain were a nuisance and not worth looking into.
I called the clinic and the practice manager was very nice. She said Dr. Austin was gone for the day but offered a recheck with Dr. Ratcliff. My husband declined.

Dr Peter scholl is amazing. He performed surgery for me, and when some complications popped up that no one could have anticipated he was super supportive. The sign of a great doctor is how they stand by you, and let me tell you — dr scholl called me first thing in the morning at the end of the day, and often in between while I was getting through the thick of it including on his days off and trips out of town. This guy is a tremendous doctor and person and I can’t recommend him enough.
To top it off his office staff were all kind, supportive, prompt, and on top of everything.
Great group of folks in my opinion.

Be Very careful about the paperwork you sign when you visit Austin ENT. I went in to see Dr. Austin for allergies and he visually inspected my nose for literally 2 mins and wrote me a prescription for a nasal spray. A couple weeks later I received a bill in the mail from Austin ENT in the amount of $ 200. I immediately called them to find out why I was being billed this amount and they said it was disclosed in the paperwork I signed. They essentially coded my visit as «surgery» for insurance purposes so that they could get more money and left me to pay this ridiculous amount. The billing manager and staff are rude and disrespectful. SHADY BILLING PRACTICES! AVOID THIS PLACE!

MA repeatedly mistook «had» for «has» giving Dr. Newlin incorrect information. MA also repeatedly talked over me to give this incorrect information. When I raised my voice to be heard, MA started crying. Dr. Newlin then got on the phone and yelled at me for making the MA cry, not allowing a word in edgewise.
The issue being addressed at the core was life-​threatening to my daughter.
If there were a way to give negative stars on here, this practice would have them.

Significant hearing loss is what took me to Dr. Austin. After waiting 45 minutes to see him after my scheduled time, he was short and rude in the exam room, and said it was «most likely a brain tumor on my nerve behind my ear.» he referred me to get a CT scan which i did that day. the CT place told me they’d have my results in 2 days. i called dr austin after 2 days, nothing, i called back nearly every day and left a message asking for them to call me with my results. i never spoke to anyone until 13 days after my CT scan when a nurse finally said she’d have another doctor review my test results and get back to me. nothing. 3 days later (now 16 days after my CT scan) Dr. Austin finally calls me back, he tells ME that i «most likely have a brain tumor, but i wont share your results with you because you’ve been badgering my staff. i was out on vacation!!» WHAT THE *$&%^$%#%!!! I was badgering his staff? I only spoke to someone ONCE. He should be apologizing to me!!! For the last two weeks I’ve been worried sick thinking i have a brain tumor/​cancer and the mother effer doesn’t apologize to me once for leaving me in the dark or misleading me! He needs to get is head out of his ass and think about improving his patient care/​customer service. i fully plan to write a letter to the medical board. for a DR to be so flippant and care SO little about my health in a matter as serious as brain tumor/​cancer is UNACCEPTABLE. i know of someone in Houston that found out she had cancer and died a week later. he should know what he says/​diagnoses/​finds could heave life threatening consequences.

OK, what follows is absolutely true. I have embellished nothing. I went to this place because I had a cricopharyngeal spasm. It made me feel like a piece of popcorn was stuck in my throat. Since I have suffered from this malady, in the past, I knew exactly what was wrong with me but I wanted an MD to scope me to confirm the same. I wrote up a detailed history for the doc. When I arrived for my appointment I had a seat in the waiting room. In a few minutes this ultra-​hot looking detail gal came out of the back office. She was a Nexium rep, and had her bag and samples with her. She was dressed in a super short, super tight, dark mini dress, heels and a lighter colored top. She had jewelry to the nines, with perfect nails, perfect hair, etc. I was called in as she was leaving. I had previously handed my detailed patient history to the receptionist to give to the doc. I was seen by a doc who will remain nameless. He was the youngest guy with the practice, at the time. He came into the examination room, took one look at me and said, «You have acid reflux. I’ll just write you up a prescription for Nexium.» «WHAT???» I yelled. «Have you even taken a look at the history I wrote up? I have no symptoms that are consistent with acid reflux symptomology. ZERO!» He gave the history a glance and then read it. «OK, I’ll get the scope and take a look.» He scoped me, confirmed my own diagnosis and sent me on my way. Now, just what do you think Ms. Nexium Hottie promised this idiot if he wrote a Nexium script in the next ten minutes? He was so anxious to get the Nexium into me, one can only imagine. Would you trust this guy? I NEVER will, again! Another note: For scoping me for three minutes, total, I got a bill for «Surgical Procedure,» to the tune of $ 450! When I called to protest as a self-​insured patient, my bill miraculously came down to $ 150. Stay away from this place!

I would give this place one star, but I want to point out that the doctor I saw was really nice. I saw him for five minutes, he looked at a swollen lymph node I had, and confirmed that it wasn’t something that I should be concerned about since I’ve had it for so long. He gave me a few options, and sent me on my way.
But that’s just it: I saw him for five minutes only to be told that I was fine. I didn’t realize that, when I went to check out at the nurse’s station, that they were going to charge me almost $ 200 in a co-​pay that day and then bill my insurance for almost $ 500 on top of that, all because it was a routine office visit and I was a new patient. I don’t care how good the doctor was, I refuse to come back to a clinic that’s going to rob me blind after telling me that I’m healthy. I’ve paid a new patient fee before, obviously, but never anything that expensive. There are plenty of other ENTs in Austin, this one was just convenient. I’ll definitely be going somewhere else.

The week before Christmas, I got park of a soft silicone earplug stuck in my ear. Awkward. I called around to office after office and Austin ENT Associates was the only one that answered. The earliest available appointment was a week later with Dr. Ratcliff, but I waited it out and off I went.
No muss, no fuss, and best of all — no judgement. He asked what was in my ear and whisked me away to the surgical microscope to remove it. He warned me it would hurt and let me know we could take a break any time if I needed too. I didn’t, but appreciated the courtesy.

I saw Dr. Austin when my ears were clogged with wax. He was rude. He stuck a thin metal object in my ear and did not stop pressing even when I said it hurt. He prescribed a «cure» that would leave me with clogged ears — and no hearing — for 5 days. He obviously did not care about my problem. The next day I managed to get in to my regular GP. He flushed my ears with warm water and I was immediately fine. I’ll never go back to Dr. Austin!