Tower Saint John’s Imaging

I had to get an open MRI as clausterphobic so chose Tower Imaging. Its a hard thing for me to be in a machine so I brought my sister for support. The first tech came in and was funny and nice helping with the nervous aspect. Then another tech joined asking if we needed anything. My sister was allowed in the room and as I was rather nervous one of the techs offered to stay in room with me and my sister. They had a lot of compassion for my situation and were very comforting and nice. As one of my worst fears to be in MRI machines they made it the best they could by being kind and compassionate. I loved the experience from front desk to the moment we left. What more can a person ask for?

I had to deal with two schedulers over the phone, in a fairly stressful situation. They were both compassionate and made it work. I’m grateful!

I wish i would have look here before going there. I had appointment for 10 oclock i was there 9:40 to sign in. 9.50 i am done. Second floor waiting now is 10. 10.05 sir how long i have to wait pssed 10. He is with patient shortly. Ok. 10.15 sir could u just tol me how many more minutes i have to wait. Reply i dont know. DONT GO HERE. DONT GO NEVER.

My one star relates to a mammogram that I had done yesterday, the technician bruised my chest and I have been in pain since. I have had several mammograms done as and have never experienced this type of pain after the mammogram. I will find another place next year, it was completed yesterday and I can only hope I dont have permanent damage. I would not recommend this place.

My dr. retired and I DREAD seeing someone new for my annual mammogram/​ultra sound. However, this place was so pleasant, a light, airy space, with a free valet, every one friendly, helpful and smiling.
The techs are gentle and kind. I do miss seeing the dr. in person and speaking directly with him (and immediate results), but this is a great office overall. Will return.

I had a Mammogram. In and out quickly and as painless as possible.

The radiology techs were fine even though the wait was relatively long. But their billing practices are horrible first they didn’t bill my insurance properly, then they told me they would and they would get back to me in a couple of weeks. Today I get a phone call, a computer-​generated phone call, where I end up on a phone tree for several minutes and then in order to speak to someone they put me on hold. Can you believe that they call you and put you on hold what kind of arrogant jerks are these? Basically if you’re going to call someone, talk to them right away don’t put them on hold for 10 minutes and then act like you don’t know why they’re calling. I wasn’t calling you, you were calling me. So I expect you should have the information at hand. So for your billing practices I give you a zero and I’d like to make a note that the bill comes out of Colorado even though the procedure was done in Santa Monica.

The people here were VERY nice and did an amazing job scheduling me at the last minute.
That being said, I will try to avoid having an MRI here again. Here is why:
1) I had multiple MRI’s done in the «open MRI» scanner and had to have ALL of them re-​done at UCLA hospital because later when I ended up at the hospital the top notch doctors said they were poor quality and were unusable.
2) The «open MRI» scanner is not very open in my opinion and I actually felt worse in that machine than I did in the regular MRI. When I had the MRI’s re-​done at UCLA, the technician talked to me throughout the entire process and told me how much time I had left, how much time each sequence was, etc. When I did the «open MRI» here, nobody talked to me. I had no clue how much time had passed and I had to be in the machine for nearly an hour. It was traumatizing.
3)The MRI’s here were very expensive and my insurance only covered a portion. Even after insurance, it was still VERY expensive. It could have been just my insurance or that their pricing is high. Regardless, double check with your insurance how much it will cost you because it sure is painful looking at my bills right now from Tower St. Johns.
I wouldn’t necessarily mind coming here again if it was affordable for me and for a regular, closed MRI (assuming that the regular MRI machine is good quality and that someone can talk to me throughout the process) because the staff was so nice and helpful and the facility (waiting area) is pleasant. I would still prefer to go to UCLA, though.

DO NOT USE THEM!!! These people are criminals and con artists!
First, I arrived on time, but I had to wait well over an hour before they took me in. That alone was VERY unprofessional. Would it have killed them to call me and let me know they were running extremely late?
MUCH WORSE: before having my MRI, they gave me a written estimate telling me that if my insurance did not cover the scan, I would have to pay $ 500. I agreed and signed their paperwork.
THEN, I GOT A BILL FOR $ 1200 FROM THEM!!!
DO NOT USE THIS FACILITY!
They will lie to you and give you an extremely cheap estimate for what the scan will cost, and then slam you with a bill for a ALMOST THREE TIMES THEIR ESTIMATE.
There was NO medical reason AT ALL for the extra charge; the technician even complemented me on what a compliant and easy patient I was.
I hope that these criminals get shut down; if I had knows it would cost me thousands of dollars to get a simple MRI scan, I NEVER would have done it.

I had a 4:15 MRI and was called at 5:20 for the procedure.
A man in hospital blues came into the women’s changing room while I was dressing to leave and wouldn’t go away. He said the room was also a prep area, he had an IV to set up for a patient. Bizarre.
The tech that performed my MRI told me it would be a week for the results to be ready, yet the next afternoon my surgeon called me to discuss the the written report. Why lie?
No CD was sent to my doctor yet, he told me «we have to work to get the CD’s delivered from Tower Saint John». His nurse suggested it would be fastest if I picked it up.
Disrespectful of patient’s time and privacy. Gave me the impression of a third world facility.
There are other, more professional, places in town.

Came in for an ultrasound, was told to drink 32ounces of water, the ultrasound was to be done with a full bladder and guess what, I waited for almost 45 minutes!!! Can you imagine holding your pee for that long!!! Excruciating!!! Why can’t they be on time for tests like this? I understand 5 – 10 minutes wait, even 15! But holding your pee that long is just painful!!! I dare these people that works here to hold their pee for 45 minutes and see how fun it is!!! Not even worthy of 1 star!!! Pssshhhh some BS!

I didn’t have a appt and they squeezed me in at 8:30. I was in and out within the hour and managed to get my results the same day! Outstanding service. I was impressed they have open MRIs too.

Now I understand why this place has such bad reviews, my bf had an apt time for 2pm arrived at 1:50pm at 2:25 he was informed it would be another 5min. 2:30 came and still nothing went to ask again and then they said it would be another 20 min. What’s the point of making an apt if you won’t be seen until an hour after the apt time. The wait time is ridiculous will never come back. 5 patients got here after us and were all seen before. The only nice thing about this was the complimentary valet still not worth the wait though.

Wow! They were great. Complimentary valet parking, courteous staff, and I was out within 15 minutes. After reading all the negative reviews, I was expecting the worst and got the best. My appointment was in the morning. Maybe that is the best time to schedule. I did not have to wait.

I’m kind of shocked by all the poor reviews. I had a great experience. I had been to see my doctor across the street, and wandered across afterwards just to check and see if Tower took my insurance so I could return for the imaging I needed. Turns out, they did take my insurance, and because it was late afternoon, they told me there was no wait and I could go upstairs and get it done immediately. Everyone was super nice and friendly, and I was in and out pretty fast.

My experience with an MRI Arthrogram and X-​Ray today was excellent. I was seen promptly and didn’t have to wait more than 5 minutes. Rigo did my X-​ray and prepped my MRI. He was so sweet and polite and explained everything so well. Dr. Hanlin did the injection for my MRI and he was very thorough and professional. James did my MRI and was so kind and wonderful. This is the third or fourth time I’ve been here and each time has been great!

Fast, nice valet feature. Exam room was a bit messy with some chemicals laying around.

I Wish there was an option for no stars. This place sets up appointments for a check in time a half hour before the procedure. However, when your appointment time comes, it’s another 30 – 40 min wait in the waiting room. I had to leave because I would have been late for a client and didn’t even get the imaging needed done! Avoid this place and find another option of at all possible. Or, ignore the check in time and just show up at your procedure time, that way, you won’t be waiting an extra half hour.

I give this place 5 stars for complimentary valet parking, easy access and having a clean facility, but a 1 for everything else. I was told to arrive 15 minutes before my appointment, which I did. I was told when I scheduled the appointment that it would take about 20 minutes. An hour after I arrived (45 minutes after scheduled appointment) I was finally called in, no apologies for being late. Someone who walked in (no appt) arrived 20 minutes after me and was seen immediately after me. The front desk apologized and said Oct-​Dec is their busy time of year, and I said they should relay that to patients when scheduling appointments. Instead of saying it would take 20 min, they should say it’s a busy time of year and wait time could be up to an hour.
Second, the technician who operated the x-​ray was trying to act like a doctor. I was there for neck pain, and wanted to look at the x-​ray. He started to tell me that some people with neck pain just «slept wrong» and that it «eventually goes away» and they don’t need anything. I think he assumed that because I told him an accident wasn’t the cause of my neck pain, that it wasn’t real or that it wasn’t something that required treatment. The last blow was that as I left, he said «I’ll fax this to your doctor and HE will get in touch with you.» My doctor is a woman. I won’t be back here again.

I thought I was losing my mind from dealing with this place, then I read the reviews here and realized it’s not just me! The first time it took 4 weeks for my doctors office to receive my images, with my constant phone calls. I had to delay a very important follow up appointment several times. But for some reason I went back for my next round of images. They never got the order that my doctors office faxed them multiple times over one week. I finally had my doctor fax it to Staples just down the street, and have it to them personally.
The two technicians I had were very nice, but I will not be back. As all patients here, I have a major medical condition (obviously). Their organization is absurdly bad, and their delays compromise medical care.