Nelson John R MD

I first saw Dr. Nelson when I was 6 – 7 months pregnant with my second child. Dr Nelson took all measures to make sure that my heart was healthy and that I wasn’t having any problems. After having my son in May of 2012 I decided to continue seeing Dr. Nelson on a regular basis for preventative care. My father died from heart disease at 57 (not a patient of Dr Nelsons) and I absolutely do not want that to happen to me. I feel very confident that with Dr Nelsons care I will not suffer any heart disease in my lifetime.

I felt obliged to write his review after running across the only other review of Dr. Nelson in this website. I have been a Dr. Nelson patient for well over 10 years and very little in the previous review by“Kristen S,” rings true with me.
I usually arrive about 5 – 10 minutes before my appointment time and can not remember waiting more than 10 – 12 minutes (I used to keep track!) and that included a whole lot more appointments than Kristen S experienced!
Once inside, I have always been dealt with by friendly and competent staff in a professional manner for whatever the test of the day is (EKG, meds review, etc.
That is usually followed by about a 5 minute wait to see the real live Dr. Nelson. Initially, I saw Dr, Nelson for every appointment. When I got to the point where I was doing 3 and then 6 month follow up appointments I was never scheduled to see one of his (also very competent) Physician’s Assistants (PAs) without first being asked if I would rather see Dr. Nelson.
As far as care, I feel quite comfortable saying that I do not believe there is any better care available outside an inpatient setting in a hospital specializing in cardiology and lipid control. Of course, Dr. Nelsons specialty is lipid control and he is a recognized authority on that subject worldwide. Besides being Board Certified in internal medicine and Cardiovascular Disease, he is also Board Certified in Nuclear Cardiology, Cardiovascular Computed Tomography and Echocardiography. More to the point (at least for me) he was THE FIRST doctor to be certified as an expert in lipidology by the American Board of Clinical Lipidology! He is also a part-​time Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, one of the finest teaching hospitals on the West Coast. He regularly trains other physicians in lipidology and related cardiac issues.
I have found the several PAs that have worked with Dr. Nelson to be professional, more than competent and better equipped than most physicians to deal with lipid control issues.
I know that Dr. Nelsons reserves a large part of his Friday schedule to review the files of each and every patient seen by a PA during that week. He has called me to ask a question or two as a follow up on occasion.
Kristen S’s case may be unusual as, apparently, she only saw Dr. Nelson for initial testing. If she needed follow up care in the lipid control area, I feel sure she has not found anyone more effective in that practice than Dr. Nelson.
My only issue in well over 10 years of being a patient was an initial issue with an Office Manager who didn’t want to be bothered with dealing with my particular insurance and Dr. Nelson cleared that up as soon as I mentioned it to him. The only issue Kristen S brought up that I can agree with is that perhaps Dr. Nelson’s office should at least accept credit cards and/​or debit cards — even if they have to add a surcharge to cover whatever fees the credit card companies charge him. I can understand not accepting checks.
Something that Dr. Nelson doesn’t know is that, although I am now retired, I was a law enforcement officer for 36 years and for about the last 13 years of that time I was part of a Federally sponsored drug task force where I specialized in doing criminal cases on various medically related «professionals» — doctors, dentists, chiropractors, PA’s, nurses, pharmacists and others. I don’t go to doctors without researching their backgrounds and qualifications beforehand. While the internet makes that chore a bit easier, it also makes it easier for someone to make statements that are not factual and allows opinions to be stated in such a way it misrepresents reality to others. Perhaps Kristen S’s experience was what really happened to her, but it certainly is not representative of what usually happens in Dr. Nelson’s office, based on my many, many personal experiences.

As far as a doctor goes, he’s alright. Complains alot about the what government is making him do. As far as his business though, I will never go back. I’ve been there 4 times. My initial appointment, an appointment for an echo and a heart monitor, an appointment to have the monitor removed, and the final appointment to be told the findings. Not once, was I seen anywhere close to my appointment time. We’re talking minimum was 45 minutes. This last appointment, it was a full hour and a half AFTER my appointment time before being seen. I always arrive early to appointments. So I was there an extra 15 minutes, but for fairness I will only count from my appointment time. Which in total… was an hour and 28 minutes. Totally unacceptable. What is the point of a scheduling system if you really get seen whenever? Also, they do not take cards. Cash or check. Huge inconvenience in this day and age. So my last appointment, waited an hour and a half to be told I’m fine. Thanks. Next time, take two seconds out of your day to call me and tell me that. It wasn’t even the doctor, it was his PA. In conclusion… if I ever need another cardiologist, I will go elsewhere.