Houston Thyroid & Endocrine Specialists

This doctors office gets a one star only because Dr Elhaj is very knowledgeable and good with patients. The office itself is the most disorganized group of nurses and staff. Their web site us one of the worst site to use. The «live chat» may or may not know what you are asking and they give you misinformation and say the nurse told them this. Of course you cannot talk to a nurse even though they can «talk» with the live chat person. It takes them 3 to 5 days to fill a prescription. And they lie to you when you ask questions. The patient portal may work or not. I have used to send a full medical history that was «lost». So I had to send it again. Forget it when you forget your password. Even trying to check in the office for an appointment, their check in computer may or may not work. I check in by giving my name and DOB and was told that I wasn’t a patient. The receptionist had to came out and find one that worked. Needless to say the saving of time was greatly offset by the inefficient computer system they set up. I could on but there isn’t enough space.

Just terrible. Cold and have a placid demeanor. Would rather drag things out and order tests months out, than actually provide treatment. If you express any concern you might get a lecture about medical costs in the United States and how if everyone blah blah blah
Dr.: Ok, we’ll do a test now, and then in 3 months do another to get a baseline, with you continuing to take no medicine. Sound good?
~3 months later
Dr: Ok, your results are all low, and sure, it’s been over 6 months since you’ve taken any medicine for your «condition». But these results could be due to reasons. I mean, who’s to say what «low» is. If you were 90 years old, these results would be fine. Also, it could take a year, maybe more, to see what your actual hormonal levels are at. Who knows? We’ll schedule a follow-​up in 3 to 6 months and see where you’re at then.
**cancels appointment and finds new doctor**

I would give the practice itself a 4 star rating, but unfortunately I find their reliance on a computerized patient portal to interface with patients to be really a drawback and that is what moved me to write and to give only a 3 rating.
i have seen both Dr. Jogi and Dr. Juarez, and have found both to be friendly and knowledgeable. Dr. J is very personable. I had done some reading about T3 and T4 medications and suggested to him that we try a certain med – after hearing the ins and outs, he agreed to give it a go. I appreciated him taking me and my level of research seriously. This must be a constant source of frustration for doctors whose life work is in this area, and the patient comes along after having spent 5 hours online and thinks they know what’s going on. So I really do appreciate the time he takes to hear my queries, fill in the missing information, and explain. He is straight about what he finds effective in terms of treatment options, and in particular his lack of confidence in alternative therapies and nutritional supplements. I myself am very big into non-​allopathic modalities of healing, but even still, I have stuck with Dr. J anyway for the last 4 years or so, so that says a lot!
However, I would not recommend this office if person-​to-​person responsiveness by the staff is important to you. When I first started as a patient, before the «patient portal» came into use, I would have given the office a 3.5 out of 5. Pretty good most of the time with getting back to you, etc. But they have transitioned to this computerized system and now require you to go thru the PP to do everything. It is both impersonal and much less convenient. I am fine with having my lab results available to me online – that’s actually a pretty great use of technology. But for someone with a busy schedule, the last thing i want to have to do when i need to get through to my doctor or the staff is learn a whole new computer system just to communicate on basic things.
I am not computer-​illiterate by any means. But I pity any patients who are less confident in navigating this stuff. If you are not technologically savvy, you will not want to get involved with this. The system cannot understand nuances or help with a quick problem-​solve. It takes many steps just to schedule an appointment; you have to fill in a number of fields and when it asks you for preferred days and then «preferred times» on those days but the only option you can choose is «8am to 430pm», how is that going to help? I spent time to put in in all the day and time preferences, and to increase the chance of them booking me for a time I can actually get there, I wrote a little note as well to detail my availability (i.e., not available between 12 and 2 on Tuesday…) The reply I get back is that the dr. is not in on any of those days. Why doesn’t «the system» have that factored in? That’s just lame and a waste of everyone’s time. My acupuncturist has a computerized appointment system that gives only appointment time options that are actually open –e.g. it clearly shows that Monday 3 to 3:45 or 4:30 to 5:15 are the available appts – you pick one and you are done. I am now on my third email over a span of 3 days of just trying to schedule an appointment, which could have been accomplished in one 3 minute phone call. Is it really saving the staff time? Oh, and to find out if you actually got scheduled, you have to keep going back to the PP and logging in just to see the response– it’s not like it will send you an email to your own email address. So frustrating, this reliance on a system rather than on humans, and not a very user-​friendly system at that.

I had my first round of labs done on Friday June 12. Dr. Juarez told me that I would be contacted with results within two weeks, or by June 26. I wait until about a week after June 26 and used the patient portal to follow up, and I got a prompt response from Dr. Juarez along with my results.
I was extremely disappointed to see on the labs that Dr. Juarez had received the results on June 15, or just THREE DAYS after they had been ordered, and they just sat there until I asked about them. That is UNACCEPTABLE and is a reflection on Dr. Juarez. I get that people get busy, but if you’re a doctor that is too busy to forward some results to a patient, then stop taking new patients!
I had another test done on July 6 (I didn’t see Dr. Juarez, just the nurse) and received those just fine. However, I was not happy with Dr. Juarez’s conclusions. She suggested putting me on one medication, and after a little research, I learned that there was a different medication that I could take that is much more effective. I asked her if I could take the medication I learned about in addition to the one she suggested and she agreed. Dr. Juarez said I have very aggressive PCOS, so I was disappointed when she put me on a very low dosage and scheduled a follow up in 6 months.
The thing that bothers me the most about my experience with Dr. Juarez is how little face time we have had. I only saw her for 15 – 20 mins during my first visit, and that’s it! My initial test results (from my GP) showed DHEA-​sulfate levels at 867, when normal range at my age is approximately 40 – 380. Several reputable, medical websites and journals say that DHEA-​sulfate levels above 600 or 700 STRONGLY INDICATE THE PRESENCE OF AN ADRENAL OR OVARIAN TUMOR. I had levels almost at 900!
I had a suppression test done around October of last year (with GP) that brought the level down to the high 400s, but my levels have been creeping up since then. The DHEA-​s tests that Dr. Juarez has performed reflects this (I’m at 600 now). To me, this says that my DHEA is eventually going to reach really high levels again. Did Dr. Juarez suggest ordering any imaging to check for the presence of a tumor? No. She simply put me on medication and told me to go back in 6 months. I’m getting a second opinion with a different endocrinologist (with much better ratings) next week.
That’s enough about my experience with Dr. Juarez. Now about my experience with HTE itself.
For my first visit on June 12 visit, I paid out of pocket because I had not received my insurance card yet. My insurance started on June 1, so I was covered and would have to submit a claim to be reimbursed. I waited to submit a claim for this visit until after I received my insurance information, which was at the end of June. I faxed a claim form to HTE on June 30. I chatted with the office on their website to confirm that they received the fax, and they had. She said they would send it to my insurance once they had filled out the physician’s portion.
I visited HTE again on July 6 for another test. Days later, I checked my claims on my insurance’s website. There was a claim submitted by Dr. Juarez for my July 6 visit, but none for my June 12 visit. I called to ask about this but couldn’t get through to billing. I then chatted online with the office and they told me that HTE’s billing department would get back to me shortly. I heard nothing. I sent several emails and never got a response.
Today (August 14) I finally found some time to call the office during business hours. I spoke with Linda from billing to ask why a claim was submitted for my July visit but not for my June visit. She pulled up the form I faxed and informed me that HTE could only file a claim for the office visit, but not for the labs, because those were performed by LabCorp. Even though I paid HTE, NOT LabCorp, for the labs, Linda insisted that my insurance would reject HTE’s claim for the labs and that I had to talk to LabCorp. Long story short, I had to call LabCorp, they told me I needed to talk to HTE, called HTE back, and now HTE will submit the claim. We’ll see what happens once my insurance processes it.
I asked Linda if there was any reason why the claim form that I faxed to them on June 30 had not been processed. I sent it to them a month and a half ago. She said she didn’t have an explanation for why the form had just been sitting there. She offered no apology. The issue here, aside from them just letting things sit around, is that my insurance will not accept claims 90 days after the service was performed. September 12 would have been the 90 day mark. I paid $ 552 out of pocket for June 12 visit and would have lost a good chunk of that if I had not called (after several chat sessions and emails regarding the issue).
I DO NOT RECOMMEND HTE OR DR. JUAREZ. Neither seem to care enough about patients or about dealing with paperwork in a timely fashion. You’ve been warned!

Do not see Dr. Juarez.
My first appointment was fine. She answered questions diagnosed me. Fine.
I call back about 6 weeks later because I wasn’t feeling well, she told me it wasn’t the medication. I call back two weeks later to say I think I’m having a reaction to the meds. She tells me to stop taking it. At my follow up appointment, I said I did some research and there was an inactive ingredient in the meds that I was allergic to. She shrugged it off and said there’s no way she could have known that. After speaking to me about new medication, I mentioned that I was concerned about my weight. I’m not fat, but i work out everyday for at least 45 minutes, rode in the MS150, and have a pretty active lifestyle, but I couldn’t lose weight. Even after following strict eating habits, nothing. She looked me in the eye and said that there’s no direct correlation between weight gain and thyroid problems, and that if I was really concerned, she could give me diet pills. She also said that maybe I was eating too much and needed to eat less. I’m sitting here genuinely concerned about my health and this woman offers me diet pills. I’m not a doctor, but I’m educated enough and have done a ton of research and know plenty of people with thyroid problems, to know that there is a relationship between thyroid and weight gain.
From the reviews, it seems like Dr. Jogi is pretty good. Unfortunately I will not be returning. I’m still looking for a half decent doctor.

I think it’s easy to write bad reviews of physicians and medical professionals. If I had written this review 6 months ago while I was still feeling quite ill, I might have left a bad review. However, if you’re a patient patient and you give your doctor a chance to find the appropriate treatment for your ailment, the results can be excellent.
I came to HT&ES seeking help for a number of unpleasant symptoms relating to what I suspected to be untreated Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (two direct family members also have it). The other doctors I had seen over the years discounted my overt symptoms of hypothyroidism due to the fact that I was young and not overweight. Dr. Juarez listened to me and took my symptoms seriously. She performed the tests that other doctors had refused me, made the diagnosis of Hashimoto’s, and immediately started me on treatment. Almost a year later, I am feeling like myself again.
Dr. Juarez didn’t brush me off or discount my symptoms. She listened when so many others hadn’t, and I’m much healthier and happier for it. Additionally, the office staff and nurses are efficient and kind, the waiting and exam rooms are clean, and I’ve always seen the doctor within 30 minutes of my appointment.

I have been a patient of Dr. Jogi for a few years. He is an outstanding doctor and has always been helpful to me. I would definitely recommend this practice and him to anyone who is in need of an Endocrinologist!

Unimpressed.
My endocrinologist retired and I knew all the meds he prescribed and felt better taking them. All I got was one of the scripts. As a 51 year old adult, I know my body. I am very well educated (2 advanced degrees) and I do my research. If I say this is what I took and I felt better I am serious and I expect to be treated seriously and not like I have no clue what I am talking about.
When the results were in, the doctor totally brushed me off.
Trust me, I will find a doctor that will listen to me and address my issues and not tell me to go to a primary doctor and just watch my diet and exercise. Granted I may need to do that, but that is not all. I need the scripts my former doctor prescribed because HELLO I felt better on them and I feel like crap now. Does not take a genius to put 2 and 2 together.
Do yourself a favor and skip this place. There are other doctors in Houston. If you sling a cat (which I never would) you will hit half a dozen.
Waste of time and effort making an appointment here to be dismissed.
Halley puppy refuses to participate.

So often those of us needing treatment and consultation for an illness find ourselves in front of a physician that is focused primarily on treating the symptoms, and moving on to the next exam room as soon as humanly possible. Happily, I have found Dr. Jogi who is about as far away from the aforementioned description as is humanly possible. The degree of study that he has put into my medical history in search of progressions or patterns is extremely refreshing, and unfortunately is not something I’ve found with any of the Endocrinologists I have seen in the past. I drive from San Antonio to see him, and frankly would drive further if need be. He restores my faith in the medical community that there are still physicians out there that care about doing the best for their patients, even if it requires a bit more investigational detail and patient interaction to do so.

This was my first time here but I saw a previous doctor from another practice. I’ve seen Dr. Juarez in Friendswood a few years ago. When she moved to the medical center, that was just a little far from where I live and work. Having thyroid issues recently and not feeling comfortable with just any doctor, I decided to see Dr. Juarez again. I’m so glad I did! Dr. Juarez is so compassionate, friendly, and takes the time to go over everything. I feel so comfortable with her and I would recommend her to anyone!
I parked next door and took the elevator to the sky bridge. I had to walk down the hall to take the escalator down then around the corner to another set of elevators to take me to the 22 floor. I did notice that I could have valeted right in front of where I needed to be. I might do that next time. But the walk from the garage was not bad at all. Took all of 4 minutes.
When you arrive you sign in at an «iPad station». Then you swipe your credit card for your co-​pay.
The nurse/​aid was pretty friendly.
I had a 2:30 appointment and arrived at 2. I was seen right at 2:30.

I have been a patient here for about two years. I am very satisfied with the level of service I receive. My doctor is very nice and professional. She really listens to my concerns and doesn’t just rule things out. I went two 3 other doctors before coming here. All of the other doctors made me feel like I was crazy. The facility is always so nice and clean. The parking is easy and I hardly ever have to wait in the waiting room before seeing my doctor. One time they called me saying they were behind schedule and j could reschedule or come in later. It was nice they gave me a heads up so I didn’t just have to wait forever in the waiting room.
I also really enjoy the online portal. If I have a concern with my medication or appointments I can email my doctor or reschedule through the portal. Very convenient!
Overall, I am so glad I decided to come here! I have yet to be disappointed.

I must say this medical specialist centre is so organized. (Very Informative, fancy website with online chat team available, parking instruction is given, 2 different medical centre’s location maps are given). I’m a new patient, so to fill up the few pages new patient form wasn’t a big concern for me as I understand they must have this policy to facilitate the services. I looked up couple endocrinologist specialist but all are either fully booking or they doesn’t accept new patient. So, I guess I was lucky enough because of one of their patient cancelled today’s appointment and this how I get scheduled so quick without wait until the next availability which is in mid Jan.
I printed out the location map and parking instruction (just in case I get lost in Downtown), and my appointment is schedule at 09:00am and I reached the clinic suite at 08:30am. Parking is not as bad as I though it was because they mentioned parking are really difficult to find in that building. Well, I missed the self-​parking entry and I went for valet (which is ok & reasonable $ 14). Upon enter to the clinic, greeted by their receptionist with smile and Christmas jazz music atmosphere, I was totally feel relief and easy feeling. (Trust me, I been to few clinics and medical centers here and what I see was only miserable face and doesn’t bother to say Hi to you. Even though when they said «how you doing?». I personally fell like this is part of their job but not from their heart).
I went in for blood pressure measuring, vitals checking before 09:00, and Dr Elhaj came in at 09:20. I’m happy with Dr Elhaj, he seem so friendly and humorous type of Dr, spent his time to explain the cause and referring me the to-do’s suggestion.
I had consultation, checking, ultrasound, bloodworms and biopsy done in less than 2 hours, I must said I’m very impressed and appreciate their efficiency during this visit. Everything was excellent except the blood works, she look a bit rushy, rough and when she pulled out the needle, she scratches my arm. Is not serious, but I hope she can be gentle and make patient feel comfortable while doing the blood works.
At last, I hope their excellent service is consistency and I’m looking forward to see Dr. Elhaj when the result is ready in 2 – 3 weeks later.
Thank you Dr Elhaj and the nurses for the excellent hospitality service.

I am new to Houston, work in Greenway, near the Medical Center I’ve heard lots of positive things about. I am Type 1, late diagnosis (6 yrs ago) and had been seen at Joslin in Boston since diagnosis.
During the move, my insulin and levemir levels have run down and it was about time I saw an endo and established a routine down in Houston. My A1C’s have always been around 6.0 but it was about time to move on from the great Joslin. We chose this office due to good reviews and proximity.
Started with no availability for a month or so (going back a couple weeks) so I said, «thank you but no thank you, I need medicine /​prescriptions» (why do they run out every year or so??). Anyway, the assistant told me to hold and found a slot for me weeks and weeks earlier all of a sudden (odd…).
Couple weeks go by and I head over to office. Being fair I was 5 – 10 minutes late for the apt (not used to Houston traffic just yet!). Waited in the waiting room about 20 – 25 min and then was told by assistant, «the Doctor would like you to come back another day… please go get blood work done and come back later».
What if I need medicine stat?
What if I had a job that was not flexible? To that end, imagine I took ½ a day or the entire day OFF for this office visit?
Anyway, I’ve rambled too much.
1-​star. Really zero.
Zero as I never met the doctors, but it was the assistant’s exact words, «Dr. Juarez would like you to make another apt and come back another day».
Must be nice for her to just tell folks c’mon back another time, that are literally sitting in her lobby with an appointment.
WAY TOO MANY ENDOCRINOLOGISTS in the area. I wouldn’t waste time here. I feel I was skewed by the fancy website and polished smiling pictures, too.

Dr. Jogi is smart and a straight shooter. Don’t see him if you want tone in denial about your health.
I am really picky when it comes to doctors.
1. I need to be able to ask questions and get answers that I can understand but aren’t so simple that I cannot do any research myself. 2. The doctor has to be smart and knowledgeable. Duhh, you say? How many docs out there just know the cookie cutter stuff, don’t keep up with latest medical journals, etc?!
3. The doctor should really care about my health as be willing to think outside the box.
Sounds simple but it is really hard to find and Dr. Jogi met all of these requirements for me!
Highly recommend!

I have been treating a diagnosed thyroid disorder for over 15 years when I moved to Houston. I was searching for a specialist in the area and ended up seeing Dr. Juarez. She refused to put me on any medication and suggested that I just take a vitamin D supplement in lieu of the medication I had been prescribed for years. Upon my next visit, she proceeded to dissect all of my thyroid related symptoms as non-​related issues in a condescending manner and advised that apparently all of my problems could be solved with lifestyle changes. She then had the audacity to tell me that I should have never been prescribed any thyroid medication at all. I left her office so incredibly offended on many levels. I really wanted to find a specialist who would look at my symptoms for what they are instead of telling me that my levels are in the normal range and thus I AM CURED! Don’t waste your time.

My review is going to be prety much in line with that of «S T.» on 8÷14÷2013. I visited their office not long after she did and I left feeling pretty disappointed in the level of expertise the doctor had. I’m not saying that it’s a bad practice. I think they mean well, but they’re young and their knowledge is very narrow and limited. If you come in there with anything out of the ordinary, they simply don’t know what to do with you. This place is fine if you have a common, everyday problem like diabetes or a moderate thyroid problem. Otherwise, you’re better off going somewhere with more experienced docs who have the know-​how and confidence to handle a challenge. They’re nice people and all, but I think they prefer to keep things simple, get their paychecks and go home. They aren’t in the business of tackling complex issues.

I came to the doctors here and I was not helped. They were afraid to treat me with aggressive treatment which I needed and wanted. I was tired of being hypothyroid. The doctors seemed smug. I gave them 3 months to get my TSH down and that didn’t work so I moved elsewhere and within three months of seeing that doctor, I was better. I switched to Armour thyroid and it fixed me, This clinic doesn’t prescribe Armour.
They did not check my female hormones or my adrenal glands just like i asked. I really think doctors need to wake up. Patients are not stuck in the dark anymore. We can read things online and we know things. They should take the time for us to help but instead they do not. They just push their ideas on you treating you like an idiot.

I highly recommend Dr Jogi. He is very nice doctor. For 1 year, doctors were unable to get my thyriod regulated. I’ve been taking thyroid medication for 15 years. However, I started having problems with one of the T indicators being close to zero.
Dr Jogi identifed that I was drinking soy milk with my morning latte which was causing the thyroid not to absorb. After 6 months, he was able to get it sorted out and I’ve not had any problems since.

After being severely misdiagnosed for almost a year as having hypothyroidism by another endocrine «specialist», I made an appt. with Dr. Jogi. I only had to wait 5 minutes before being led to a private room and only 5 minutes after that, he entered. He was kind, attentive and had a very calm, soothing bedside manner.
He pulled up my records on the in-​room monitor (faxed from the other doctor) and showed me that I NEVER had hypothyroidism, my numbers had always been at perfect levels before AND DURING my very-​frequent visits to the other doctor. Dr. Jogi even pointed out that the other doctor had run a test on me that had been deemed inaccurate since 1975.
Dr. Jogi asked questions, listened to me, then said he would run his own blood tests and call me. The very next morning I got his call and he said all my thyroid levels were NORMAL and I didn’t have to return to him.
He is an excellent doctor: correctly diagnosing my condition and not causing harm for profit, like the other doctor did.

Dr. Jogi is awesome. He is very personable and knowledgeable. I really liked that he offered some holistic care options for my condition in addition to medications. I feel I can trust him to make good decisions about my care. He had a two week wait and I had a medical emergency. Even though I was a new patient, they double booked me and had Dr. Jogi see me at 7:20 a.m. Incredible service, nice new offices. I would highly recommend them.