UC San Diego Health System Fourth & Lewis Medical Offices

This is a typical HMO clinic model. PCPs bounce from patient to patient and spend more time looking at the computer screen than at the patient. If you have a complicated medical condition, please find a qualified integrative doctor who listens to the patient and takes a holistic approach. Resident Kylee Finn is green and unfit to diagnose complex health problems. Ken Griffiths, the more experienced doc, isn’t much better and becomes uncomfortable when asked probing questions (Griffiths left the clinic). Griffiths actually told me that it was OK if my condition deteriorated since Big Pharma had a pharmaceutical solution! Veteran PCP Gene Kallenberg is a fossil and lacks appreciation for integrative medicine. Their diagnostic process is slow, they’re inept in determining the root cause of an illness, and referrals to a specialist may take up to three months. Finally, if you call the clinic on a Monday, you’ll likely be on a perpetual hold.

I had to change health insurance from Kaiser to Anthem Blue Cross and did so with much angst. I am glad I did. I needed referrals for routine procedures and the family medicine clinic saw me right away and everything was accomplished within a month. If I had stayed with Kaiser, I would have waited 5 months for one of the procedures. Sadly, none of the physicians are accepting new patients so I have to see whoever will take me. Minor inconvenience because I’m healthy.

It’s been a year since I was the 1^st person hit in a 5car pile up. From the get go, acupuncture helped like magic! Nothing else. Medicine can help lessen the pain but Aaron Cook’s acupunture & technique continues to be the only real help. It’s actually more like MAGIC! That’s how I put it to anyone that asks too. I get instant relief after an hour and it lasts for a couple days. Once Aaron places the points, I get an hour of what feels like relief flooding in waves through my body. It’s stress AND pain relieving. Thank YOU Aaron!

Dr. Miguel Casillas is my PCP and he’s very attentive and informative. I’d recommend him in a heartbeart, no pun intended. Oh wait he’s Family Medicine not Cardiology :) His nurse, I think her name is Natasha (sorry if I got it wrong) is great too. The only negative I would have to add is that he’s always booked solid so getting to see him in a hurry is basically out of the question. Guess that’s a testament to how good (and busy) he is. Well at least in my humble opinion. The facility itself has always been clean and organized, no complaints.

I have had the best experiences with the doctors at the Family Medicine clinic on Lewis Street, where I go for primary care. I mean, DRASTICALLY different from almost any other doctor I have been to. The doctors really take their time with you, I never feel rushed, all of my questions are thoroughly answered, I have never felt condescended to. The facilities are nice, updated and clean. Parking is free.
While I have seen other doctors, most recently I saw Dr. Allred who was awesome. Though, no matter which doctor I see my experience has been consistent, which points to the fact that the level of treatment provided is a core value, and not varying depending on which doctor you see.
Another reviewer mentioned the answering system, and I have to agree that it’s not the best. Be prepared to wait on hold for awhile. The line does scheduling for several locations. HOWEVER, when you get somebody on the line, they will be friendly and take their time with you. The person I spoke with was personally knowledgeable about the doctors and made a great recommendation of a doctor for me. You’re trading hold times for fantastic service. Put your phone on speaker, be patient, and trust that the wait is worth it.

Dr. Lindeman is the BEST doctor I have ever had. He has been my doctor for 3 years. When I first went, he was truly concerned about the issue I was having. He guessed what was going on with me and ran some blood tests– well, he was right. That was a few years ago and now I have never felt better! He never rushes through an appointment.
Making an appointment can be hard if the phones are busy, but I had such a great doctor I didn’t care.

I have been going to the UCSD family medicine practice for several years. Generally the medical care is good, a little *too* thorough in my opinion but they get the job done.
What is bad about UCSD medical is their phone system and their billing department.
Calling to make an appointment is likely to take 15 – 30 minutes, they don’t offer any appointments on Wed afternoons, and if you want to see your ‘primary’ physician instead of a resident you will have to wait 2 weeks. Not that there’s anything wrong with the residents, it just would be nice to the same doctor more than once.
Billing is a whole different kettle of fish. Did you know that an exam at 8 weeks pregnant to check out spotting is NOT a prenatal or a preconception visit? Because I wasn’t diagnosed pregnant by one of their doctors, they refused to bill my insurance company properly, resulting in $ 75 of copay charges. Not the end of the world, I paid. But the reason the Billing dept lady kept repeating? «Well, it was an exam to confirm pregnancy and it doesn’t count as either.» It wasn’t confirming the pregnancy, I was pregnant, there was no question as to that. According to my insurance, this should have been a prenatal visit, but don’t tell UCSD that! I may receive a refund because my insurance is contacting UCSD about the charges, but not because UCSD is in any way customer orientated.

STEER CLEER. I was GIVEN an order for A blood screen and without my knowledge the resident tested me for STD’s. Not only was I not informed, but the test pops up on UCSD «Mychart» as «KNOWN SYPHILIS PATENT. I was sick about this. It took them 3 days to respond. They fumbled around with plenty of excuses. It was a computer error, the resident forgot to tell me, I should be glad that I am getting? GOLD» care. It all stinks. They report that I DO NOT HAVE syphilis! Oh thank you… However for some strange and unexplainable reason they can’t remove the «KNOWN SYPHILIS PATENT» from my chart. Some nonsense about a computer «foot print». Do you want to trust them with your health? This review should make you think twice. I don’t care that they don’t think it was a” big deal”. They have crossed an ethical boundary and they won’t remove it. If this is the future of medical care/​or lack of medical care, then we are all in trouble. DO NOT USE UCSD MEDICAL CENTER.

This review is for the telephone answering system at this center, and not for the quality of medical care. Every time I call to set up an appointment, or worse, when I am seriously ill, I am placed on interminable hold. When you are ill, the last thing you want to do is hear a constant, «all our agents are busy with other patients» recording. The recording also tells you to call 911 if the situation is serious… yeah right, with all the charges one incurs with ambulance and emergency room fees!
I was with Kaiser Permanente for years, and was never once put on hold… there was always someone there to take my call. If UCSD could improve this frustrating problem, I would give them 5 stars.

I share the same concerns as Courtney H.
I went in for a routine physical and blood panel, which are fully covered by my insurance. A few weeks later, I was given a bill for nearly $ 500, despite having insurance. The office marked my visit as a medical diagnosis, rather than a routine physical. Though this should be easy to resolve, it most certainly is not. Everyone on the phone just disagrees with me, and of course a supervisor is not around. It is not my fault it was mis-​coded and not communicated to me, yet I am the one who is expected to foot the bill. I would have never done a «routine physical» if I knew it wouldn’t be coded as such.
UPDATE:
UCSD Patient Experience reached out to me, which was very nice. Though it seemed like they wanted to help, in the end it really just was my word against UCSD’s, and rather circular. Nothing was resolved, except for me now knowing not to bring up any concerns during the physical exam, for fear that it will be coded differently.
Also, I happened to speak to a friend who is a nurse at another UCSD facility. She said she has been asked to code patients’ office visits, without ever being taught how to properly code (and therefore bill) the patient. So, she says sometimes she is forced to guess the code, even though it could be wrong. She said this often happens with nurses coding the charts instead of someone who is trained to know the codes.

Hey when a gal can compliment my jewelry whilst poking a needle into my arm, thereby making me forget about said poke, she’s a keeper in my book.
Also free parking under the building… a rarity in that neighborhood!

Great staff, knowledgeable doctors and easy to access location. Very responsive and supportive to patients!

Always great service when I come to this location.

My primary care doctor is at the UCSD Lewis Street Family Medicine and I have had nothing but phenomenal care there. For fairly pressing but not exactly emergency health problems, I absolutely hate to end up waiting at the emergency room and clogging up services there, and so far I haven’t needed to do so. They have been so good about getting me short-​notice appointments (once the day that I called, and once the next day) that I couldn’t be happier with them. Of course to schedule a physical or other routine care, you’ll have to plan plenty in advance, but if you have something that needs to be seen right away they try really hard to get you in as quickly as possible, which is amazing.

I’m only reviewing this office as a driver and seat warmer. My mom injured her foot at work almost two months ago and she couldn’t drive, still can’t for long distances, so I bring her to her appointments 75% of the time. She’s never had to wait long and two times that I know of for sure, they took her back before her appointment time.
Since she was hurt at work, it’s a workers comp case and based on what she says and what I’ve seen, this is a good clinic to go. I know a lot of your care depends greatly on which ever insurance company your employer uses, but the doctors also need to know how to get WC to approve a procedure or treatment. My mom has had everything she’s needed in a timely manner; MRI, physical therapy, no problem making appointments.

Didn’t get the best help here when I broke my hand. I feel like they didn’t care because it wasn’t a major injury, or something exciting. Well I think my hand is pretty important, sorry for the inconvenience.