California Head & Neck Specialists

The short version:
I saw Dr. Cheng — She was good. Other than that — TERRIBLE! The office staff have no clue what is going on… Horrible attitudes, horrible customer service & zero follow up. Be prepared to call them to BEG for anything that you need.
The detailed version:
Late-​October 2015: I needed to get a procedure done and I personally informed the office staff that my insurance will be changing in 2016 and I would like them to get a pre-​authorization from my insurance as soon as possible so that I can get everything done before my insurance changes. They said that they would get on it and let me know once they hear from the insurance.
November 2015: Since I did not hear from them at all — I called the office and asked what the progress was. The staff was clueless and they finally started the paperwork once I called. They assured me that they will get to it and will call the keep me in the loop. Well… that never happened! I had to keep calling the office asking if the paperwork was sent and if they heard back from my insurance. Their issues were :
«Oh we are waiting for a form from the insurance its been multiple days» I then requested them to follow up with my insurance if there was a delay on that end. They transferred me to the pre-​authorization department — I then left a voicemail for a lady named Alisha. The voicemail said that calls will be returned in 24 hours… Well thats a lie. Then I called again — got her voicemail again so I went ahead and left another message. Again no response. After a few days I called the front office and inquired what the status was… She stated that she has emailed Alisha — Also the form had come in from my insurance but someone made an error on the form so they had to re-​do it. I was very frustrated by then as days were just going by. I then requested to file a formal grievance. She directed me to the office manager Shelly. Well she was not any better — totally denied that there was any error on the form and just said that they are doing the best that they can. She stated that the insurance was the hold up. She apologized on the lack of follow up from Alisha and stated she would get Alisha to call back. Well… I never got a call back.
December 2015: I called my insurance and discussed the status of my case — they stated that it has already been approved!!! Then I called Alisha (AGAIN) to ask her to see if she got my pre-​auth. She miraculously answered the call and her response was «Well the pre-​auth came on the 12^th and I was out as out of the office.» Well isnt there anyone else that could cover??? She quoted me a estimate of $ 6,347.59 for the entire procedure. At this point I would not trust anything that they said so I requested for a email to be written out with this quote. She then said that they don’t usually do that but he office manager Shelly might be able to help… she said that she would email Shelly and request for the written estimate. Well 1.5 days went by and I never got the written estimate — So I called AGAIN requesting for this information. Shelly emailed me back and this time the estimate had DOUBLED… why?! Well per Shelly, since this procedure had to be done bilaterally — the cost had doubled. WHY WOULDN’T THEY TELL ME THAT WHEN I ASKED MULTIPLE TIMES BEFORE WHAT THE TOTAL COST WOULD BE?!?

i agree with most of the post that I liked the doctor. The doctor did a above average exam. My issue is the office staff and billing department as other people said. It like the no one known what going on. They never send documentation to insurance company. You have to follow up multiple times to send the docs to insurance. I had to spend 30 hrs on phone with customer care to process the claims. So far they haven’t sent proper documentations to insurance company. It was almost 10 months. I was really frustrated. One lesson i learned is never pay the deductible amount upfront to this Doctor. else you end up on phone with customer care for very long time.

Good luck trying to make an appointment. First time they put me on hold and never came back. Tried the online system and no one called me back. Called again and they hung up on me and then the answering service kicked in for lunch hour. Amazingly unprofessional for someone who seems to have a good reputation. ..

By far the worst, most unprofessional office I have been to. While waiting in the waiting room I can hear everything that is going on in the back and what I was hearing was very unpleasant and unprofessional. I was waiting 30 minutes past my appointment time and was not even recognized or offered any water. I finally went up to the lady at the front «horrible attitude «and asked her how much longer the wait is and she tells me «I don’t know sorry». Also, I left so many messages to speak with Candy and I NEVER got a returned phone call every time I was told I was being transferred it went to voicemail and I left at least over 5 voicemails. What does it take to get a call back at this place? Crazy! This place needs a whole new staff.

I went to Dr Sara Mattson after I had been experiencing Tinnitus for about 3 months. It was very loud and unbearable at times. She conducted very thorough test and gave me a full list of treatments that I could try. The thing is that she herself suffers from Tinnitus so she knows and can empathize with what her patients are going through.
Before going to her I had tried a variety of treatments including very expensive TMJ treatments and nothing had really worked. She explained to me both the physical and mental aspects of Tinnitus and how they affect each other. She was refreshingly interested in helping me solve the issue without pushing any treatment on me. In fact she spent a lot of her personal time sending me articles and materials. I think she just does this work because she wants to help people like herself.
So my assessment is this: If you are in San Diego or the surrounding area, Sara Mattson is the foremost expert on all things related to Tinnitus. If you can see her she will help you treat the problem. I immediately saw dramatic results after going to her. She helped me habituate the Tinnitus and now I only notice it about 5% or less of my time during the day. I can’t say everyone will achieve the same results since it really depends on each person what they hear and what they perceive. The only thing I can say is that I started to improve my situation right after going to her.

I’m going to start by saying that I have only just started being treated with my diagnosed problem at this location, so technically I have yet to see what the results will be, but it looks promising. That said, I have been here for the first time, two days in a row, just last week, due to a primary doctor’s referral to the California Hearing & Balance Center (my doctor apparently incorrectly called it the California Ear Institute). The condition I already knew I was diagnosed with is hyperacusis in one ear. It is so bad that I could not work anymore until it is fixed. I also have significant prior hearing loss in both ears and tinnitus in one ear. My doctor suggested that I see a Dr Sara Mattson. It is something that remains to be seen if I am reimbursed by my insurance as I was told that it is usually NOT covered by insurance, at least the kind initial visit I had, so they dont deal with insurance there. That said, I can actually say it was $ 250 «well spent». Not only was it a two hour appointment, but everyone I have talked to on the phone (at least three times) prior to the visit was nothing but very friendly and professional. When I actually was there, this impression was definitely extended once I met Dr Mattson. She started the visit very friendly, casual and conversational and wanted to know «what my life has been like recently». She actually LISTENED to me, seemed CARING and gave the impression of being extremely knowledgeable in the whole field and that I wanted to try whatever she would suggest to try to resolve my ear problems. She eventually asked me to rank in importance of being resolved to work out solutions the hyperacusis, hearing loss and tinnitus (in my case it was ranked in that order with hyperacusis the main issue despite significant hearing loss. I had been informed by an audiologist elsewhere that Dr Mattson is very well trained in the Neuromonics TRT (tinnitus retraining therapy) which is sometimes used to help hyperacusis as well. Dr Mattson suggested something entirely different in my case. I didnt mention that I have already worn a hearing aid in the most severe hearing loss ear (right side) but it was quite a few years old and I wasnt telling the difference from it nearly as much as I used to. Dr Mattson decided to see me a second day for a hearing test and we discovered that my hearing in my hyperacusis ear (the LEFT side!) was, although not as bad as the right side, still quite significant. She suggested trying not only a new hearing aid but TWO of them this time. This is not only for the hearing loss but the newer demo one I am trying has a feature to have constant white noise in the background to try to see if it works with the hyperacusis problem. Although yes that remains to be seen, she said it was @80% chance she felt it would help my situation. At the very least, I can actually hear things BALANCED instead of more or less on one side AND crystal clear. I cannot tell you how much it improves the quality of life and all the little background sounds and crispness that I didnt even KNOW I was missing. ALthough it remains to be seen if I ultimately keep these (being a demo right now), if they work w hyperacusis and if I can get my insurance to cover anything whatsoever in hearing aids as usually Ive heard they are not (crazy and should be illegal in this country to not cover a basic sense, huh?!), I can say from my experience so far anyway you would be in excellent top notch hands to see Dr Mattson or, I presume, ANYONE in this office and it would be well worth your time and even out of pocket expense for at least one visit if not more.