Pulmonary & Medical Associates Of Northern Virginia

Very frustrating, ever since the move to the new location things have seem to have gone down hill. I have been a patient with the group for over then years. When I first started with them I would of paid any amount to go see them. But now, it seems that they can’t be bothered, the customer service is very very basic. Problems range from billing, to having to correct my phone number numerous times, to doctors not returning calls, and to top it off, no notification that my doctor of over then years has left the practice. When I first started with them I believed this «PMA was established in 1961 and created roots as a small community based practice focusing on a strong and trusted relationships between patients and providers in addition to excellent clinical care.» That is a quote taken directly from their website, and I just dont see that caring anymore. :(

This is the most amazing medical practice! The doctors and PAs I’ve been to are top notch, their diagnosis is spot on and they take time to listen. I never feel rushed. I have been with the practice for many years and their newest location is even better than the Pentagon City previous location with more quality physicians and staff. Their staff is extremely efficient and knowledgeable,
Thanks to this practice, I have made the Virginia Hospital Center, my one-​stop shopping for physicians and this practices heads the list of favorites.

I’ll preface this review first with the fact that I’d give this practice (particularly the office at the Virginia Hospital Center) 5 stars, but Unilocal tends to toss 5 star reviews into their «not recommended» review pile for some reason or other.
I’m not entirely sure why this practice in general only has 2.5 stars and a slew of complaints about the degree of care and the staff. I cannot speak to my experience with the other physicians at the Falls Church practice, but I have been a patient of Dr. Stein’s since mid-​summer 2014. He and his staff at Pulmonary & Medical Associates of VA in the Virginia Hospital Center been nothing but professional, courteous and have gone above and beyond to offer me the highest standard of care. Dr. Stein is responsive, compassionate and makes time for his patients even after this office has closed for the evening.
There have been many times when I’ve had a concern or question and I would always receive a call back, no matter how trivial. For example, I had fractured my rib 4 weeks ago. As soon as Dr. Stein was made aware of the situation, he called me the following morning to check how I was doing and advised me on how to properly care for this injury over the next 4 – 6 weeks. When I had called his nurse the following week to ask for advice on how to manage the fracture while sleeping and how to minimize discomfort, Dr. Stein followed up that evening with a call. I cannot say that I know any other physician that would go above and beyond quite like that. To me, that is the sign of a compassionate physician who genuinely cares for his patients wellbeing.
The front desk staff is always courteous. Some of the desk staff are more helpful than others. It seems to depend on whom answers the phone when you call. I’ve never had to wait more than 10 minutes after my appointment time to be seen by the doctor. Dr. Stein’s bedside manner is exceptional — he is never cold or impersonal. He makes every effort to be sure that the patient understands every aspect of their condition and treatment while providing the best possible care… which means a better quality of life!
I absolutely look forward to the day when I no longer have to call the office to schedule appointments every month and make the 45 minute hike from Reston for each and every one, but until that day comes, I wouldn’t trust my heath or my care to anyone else.

If you ever get a physical done here DO NOT talk about anything pertaining to your physical well-​being and DO NOT answer any questions that might be considered outside the realm of your general health. Sounds like a weird concept but if you go in and discuss anything about your body they will bill you for an extra visit, along with the actual physical. This happened to me during my visit with Dr. John P. Tabacco.
I was going on a month long trip and needed to some immunization shots and needed to get a physical as well. Before going in for the physical you write down any prior surgeries you’ve had in the past, the usual stuff. I had an ACL repair years ago and during the physical we discussed the state of my knee and some of the discomfort I feel from time to time. Apparently during a physical you cannot talk about pain or discomfort associated with anything on your body. A physical, according to Privia Medical Group and/​or Dr. Tabacco, is this captured in this email message:
«I did in touch with the doctor’s office to get more clarification on your bill. According to the care center, you did complain about pain which is why you were billed for a separate office visit. As per the doctor’s office the routine physical is a basic body check and basic blood work. We did bill the insurance for the physical and it was 100% covered. However, since you complained about other symptoms like pain you were charged a separate office visit. This claim was sent and processed correctly and this balance is your responsibility. I hope this makes sense.»
What makes this irritating is that Dr. Tabacco is a fellowship trained sports medicine primary care physician, so why wouldn’t I talk to him about pain/​discomfort in my knee? He has the knowledge on the subject of sports related injuries so why wouldn’t I answer his questions about my knee? Even more irritating is that I could have gone to a specialist at Commonwealth Orthopedic — Virginia Hospital Center, which I have done in the past. In my opinion, this was an up-​sell, he was discussing some of the methods that are in practice these days.
My advise if you get a physical in the future just sit there, don’t say a word, if you do you will get billed and billed heavily. I had what was seemingly a regular conversation with a doctor during a PHYSICAL about a PHYSICAL CONCERN that in the end didn’t benefit me in any way.

My review is more of Physician Assistant Michael Jacobson than the actual organization itself. Two days ago was the first time that I visited this practice. I am very active and have had issues with various parts of my body due to wear and tear. I had Kaiser before and was utterly unimpressed with their ability to show any interest in or to diagnose my condition. My experience with Michael Jacobson was the complete opposite. He took the time to listen to me and my concerns and when it comes to my health, please believe me when I say I have a lot of questions. I also had a sample form from my nutritionist/​personal trainer that had hormone and vitamin evaluations that I should take. Jacobson meticulously broke down and explained the form for me so that I could understand. For that I was very appreciate. Michael Jacobson does great work and has a very positive attitude, which I can appreciate.

I’ve been a patient of Dr. Wyckoff since November of 2008. I have severe persistent asthma and I know many of the staff at the Virginia Hospital Center. They are a great office, and I’d highly recommend this office to anyone who has asthma.

Really horrible experience. They LOST my medical chart. Yes, flat out lost it. So they are unable to verify which vaccines I have and have not received. Now I have to get repeat several vaccinations. Not only painful but completely unnecessary. Not only are the staff rude but they are incredible unhelpful. I even spoke with the office manager and she was worse than the front desk staff. She intentionally hung up on me. Absolutely horrible customer service. I like Dr. Jacobson as a doctor butI will never return to this facility due to their incompetent staff. What a joke.

Dr. Wittig is a wonderful doctor but I had to call every day for 45 days to get an appointment. They only open up appointments for several months in advance and they won’t tell you what day new appointments will be opened.
I also have chronic billing problems that they will not fix. They billed my health insurance twice; once for a physical and separately for an office visit on the same day. The office visit was some made up condition I do not have. Their billing office was unresponsive to my calls and did not provide the information my insurer requested to respond to my inquiry. They did the same thing last year but the made up condition was different. They also do it when my friends and neighbors go for their physicals. So beware. Health insurance costs enough without providers playing the system to up their reimbursements. I am seriously thinking of switching doctors as it is not worth the hassle.

Just tried to get an appointment with my internist, Dr. Wittig, who I really like. They quoted me a minimum of a six month time frame. And I’m a current patient! The receptionist just said that if I «wanted I could try calling every morning to see if someone cancels.»
I like my doctor. It’s just too hard to get in to see her. As difficult as it is, I need to find a new provider I can get in to see.

While it can take a while to become a client here (my initial wait was several months from my recollection) this place does a great job taking care of you. I truly feed safe with my medical fate in these people’s hands.

These doctors have a solid reputation in the medical community (I’m a former nurse) and I think the office is run pretty smooth overall. The office is clean, the staff are usually pretty nice, and patients are seen in a timely manner.
I have 2 negatives, and this is why I took away a star. They have only 1 female doctor and as a woman, I would like to be seen by a female doctor. From time to time there are 2, but they usually end up leaving. They have 4 physician’s assistants on board, but a PA is NOT a doctor. I do not want a PA as a primary physician. My family member has some complex medical problems and they referred him to a PA for primary care. A PA does not have the required sciences that a doctor does, does not have the medical school years nor the hospital internship and residency requirements that a doctor has. In short, they do not have the experience that a resident has but they are given the same responsibilities. No problem with PAs for patients without complex medical issues, but they use them as doctors.

The doctors are wonderful, but the office staff are horrible. It takes multiple phone calls to schedule an appointment and the office staff are rude, patronizing, and condescending.
I had an appointment last month and tried to schedule the follow-​up procedure while I was there, but was told the scheduler would call me. The scheduler FINALLY called me after an entire month and tried to schedule an appointment for the following day (I received a voice mail at 2pm attempting to schedule for the following day). Instead of calling my cell phone or primary phone, the voice mail was left on my office phone number, but no voice mail was left on my cell phone or home phone. Also, instead of calling my cell phone, listed as the primary contact, the scheduler called my emergency contact in California, and attempted to make an appointment with him. It was extremely disorganized and it can’t be so difficult to call my primary contact rather than trying to schedule with my emergency contact person and causing him to worry.
In attempting to schedule a procedure, I was told I was required to obtain a ride home from someone. As I would be traveling somewhat far for the procedure, I said it would be too difficult to find someone to take the day off of work to give me a ride home. I asked what other people did in this situation and why I wasn’t permitted to take a cab or the Metro home. I thought I could just drive myself home and not tell anyone I was driving, but she said they have to personally escort you into a vehicle and it can’t be a cab or personal vehicle. I asked if she could recommend any alternatives and she said I should get some new friends who can drive me home. She spoke to me like I was a five year old and informed me that everyone else has friends who can give them a ride and repeatedly inferred in an incredibly rude tone and language that there was something wrong with me for not having someone to drive me home. I have never been treated so rudely and condescendingly in my life and I left the phone call feeling horrible. The treatment actually made me cry for half an hour following the phone conversation. I strongly encourage any individual to avoid this practice if at all possible.
I cannot recollect the name of the incredibly rude, insensitive, and distasteful individual, but her extension is 115 and I would strongly encourage that you attempt to schedule appointments with someone who knows how to speak to adults in a kind, respectful tone. This woman should not be working with the public, as she has no concept of how to treat people with respect.
I have decided that rather than getting a Bronchoscopy, I would rather just get sicker than deal with these cruel, heartless people again.
Please try to find someone else for your own mental health!

Office staff was great! Very helpful and professional, I don’t know what these other people were talking about, maybe they work for another doctor and are trying to lower the ranking of this facility? None of what they described have I seen. Great doctors and great staff!
«Eddie S.» apparently took my review as a review of him… don’t be so easily offended Eddie… although clicking on your profile reveals you to be a serial negative reviewer… that’s your problem however, i was satisfied (greatly) with PMA and didn’t see anything like what you described in my multiple trips there.

After calling my general practitioner to get a new referral, he called Dr. Lewis and she had their office get back to me for an appointment next week. I still don’t know why the scheduler I initially talked to said I couldn’t get in before September, but kudos to Dr. Lewis for resolving the situation. That said, it shouldn’t have had to take intervention by my general practitioner to get an appointment sooner than two months out.

If you don’t need a doctor, this is a great place to go!
If you need to see a doctor, find someplace else.
It’s a 2 – 3 month wait for an appointment.
Doctors seem to be OK; office staff is horrible.

Love this facility. The people are all about the patients and what is best for them. My doctor (Dr. Khalid Puthawala, M.D.) is someone that I completely trust for my health and well being. The office is full of bright, energetic and professional people.