Anthony Yin, MD

I used to be a big fan of Anthony Yin. No more.
I started seeing him soon after he completed his training and found him to be exceptionally personable. I have been seeing him the entire time he has been in practice in the Bay Area.
Dr. Yin surprised me when he hit me up for a Unilocal review – but I wrote him a glowing one nonetheless. Little did I realize he was apparently focusing on maximizing his billings.
However, I recently had to reschedule an appointment due to forces beyond my control, and the word I got back from his office was that he could not possibly see me before November – and this is early May (!!!)
Excuse me? Six-​plus months to schedule a appointment for a long-​term patient, furthermore one with some rather worrisome issues?
Maybe I got lucky. I have had the feeling for a couple of years now that I was just another insurance billing to be cranked through the Sutter system as quickly as possible. Since I last saw him, another doctor discovered quite serious side effects associated with the meds Dr. Yin had prescribed. Although I described the disturbing symptoms to him a year ago, he made no mention that they might be caused by the drugs he was prescribing. Doing my own research, I find that the side effects which have made my life miserable are actually extremely common with the drugs Yin was prescribing. He definitely should have:
1.) Warned me of the possible ill consequences
2.) Acted when I described the symptoms causing me accute distress
Dr. Yin did neither.
So all things considered, perhaps this is a useful wake-​up call. I’d had the feeling he wasn’t really paying attention anymore, or doing much of anything actually, and turns out I was right. He had also referred me to another physician who was laughably incompetent.
I see others here have also remarked on the overbooking. Apparently he has (finally!) stopped adding new patients, but if you are already seeing Yin and having your doubts, be aware others have found him not as conscientious as he would first have one believe.

Dr. Yin is very through, polite, and conscientious. He is helping me get my diabetes under control. Since under his care, I feel more confident about my numbers. I Wish I would have had him as my Endocrinologist long ago!

Was referred to Dr. Yin for follow up on a thyroid nodule (which turned out to be benign and likely a minor inflammation). Dr Yin went through the entire procedure in a knowledgeable and methodical manner, and even as he mentored a new resident through the process. As a patient, I found his approach and expertise in the field to be extremely reassuring!

Dr Yin is outstanding!
His fine tuning of my meds for my condition has contributed to me losing weight and seeing a positive turn in my numbers.
Courteous with a great bedside manner! A++

Dr. Yin came recommended by a highly regarded East Bay physician, after I was diagnosed with thyroid nodules
I travel 24miles round trip, pay $ 5.00 toll and parking fees to see Dr. Yin. Why? He is kind, competent and responsive. I’m thankful I made the choice and appreciative of his care
I’ve had two biopsies (not the most pleasant experience but better than a dental visit); he has twice given me very quick responses to the results (nothing worse than sitting around for days wondering, while results are sitting on the physicians desk)
I have email access to him, and every email I’ve sent has been promptly replied to-​by Dr Yin. Yes, there is a wait to receive an appt. but its not an unreasonable time. Besides I don’t want to call a physician specialist to schedule an appt and find out they have 6 available appts the following day-​I would not call that convenient, I’d call it a warning sign.
.
BTW did I mention gas is 3.93 a gallon? You know Dr Yin must be awesome!

Dr Yin was attentive and thorough and I felt very comfortable with his care and confident of his diagnosis. He addressed all my questions and I never felt rushed like with so many health care providers these days. He also followed up with an e-​mail to explain my test results, which I really appreciated very much, rather than my trying to understand their significance myself.
I would give him 5 stars except I did have to wait months to get an appointment, by which time I almost forgot what it was I was to see him for!

I initially saw Dr. Yin about two years ago, when I knew that my thyroid was acting weird again (had previous hypothyroid with levoxyl many years before). So I saw my pcp first, and she put me on some drug after my TSH turned out to be high.
Anyway, after many referrals to endocrinologists in East Bay, none of which materialized for me, I took things into my own hands and found this practice in San Francisco, and chose Dr. Yin to book a visit with. He was worth the wait.
Yes, it is a long wait to get an appointment, true, but I don’t blame him for that. He is a fantastic doctor, who is clearly super bright, compassionate, empathic, and patient. I am an anxious person, so going to see a doctor who is this way, truly makes a difference for me in how I feel about my health care, and that I am in good hands.
I had a biopsy last year in his office, which although it hurt quite a bit, he did his best to make it tolerable for me and apologized the whole time for it hurting so much. What other doctor does that?
Yesterday, I went in for a thyroid scan, which was after a year had gone by, and it went well. He was training a young woman doctor, which he also had done during a prior visit. I agreed to let her be in the room each time. He is a great instructor for the new doctors, patient and informative, just like he is with his patients.
I don’t have to go in for three years now — but I will miss seeing him, because he is just so nice to talk with and I do feel lucky to have him as my endocrinologist.
As everyone else has said, I concur that he is also very fast with answering written messages. I really like that too. I am not a fan of picking up the phone, so it works for me. One last thing — he shows his personality by wearing colorful socks — which I think is pretty cool.

My experience with Dr Yin and his office was top notch. Dr Yin addressed my concerns, was thorough and a good listener. He referred me out to another professional when it was appropriate and took the time to send me a letter with names and phone #s. I never felt rushed and always felt like I was important. From the receptionist to the phlebotomist to the doctor this office is what health care should be a place where you feel taken care of.

I have been a patient of Dr Yin for a little over a year now, primarily to treat uncontrolled diabetes. I see Dr Yin in Novato. He is an amazing physician who devotes all the time I need to have my questions answered and even to address medical questions that are not directly related to my visit. I particularly like how responsive he is to electronic messaging on Sutter My Health Online website. I usually get a response within a few hours of my inquiries. I would recommend Dr Yin to anyone looking for a caring competent Endocrinologist. My only complaint is that he works in Novato only 1 day per week. I know you can’t fault a physician for being so busy, but I wish he could devote a little more time to the Novato office as he is one of the very few Endocrinologists that my medical insurance covers.

My experience is entirely consistent with others: (A) Dr Yin is great, spent plenty of time with me, is flexible and open to designing treatment that works for me. (B) It is almost impossible to get in to see him. The first time I was referred to him, I called in early Feb and was informed first appt in July. I never would have seen him had it not been for intervention by my internist.
I will comment that he is very responsive via email and my treatment has substantially improved my quality of life.

Dr. Yin is the best of the best. His dedication to customizing an approach based on ongoing blood-​work and analysis to ensure any changes are operating safely and effectively with the overall system is impressive. He explains things very clearly and really cares about his patients as people. Very empathetic. Very responsive via email. He worked with me on thyroid and testosterone supplementation.

Overall, I’ve had a great experience with Dr. Yin and his office staff. Dr. Yin is very down to earth and easy to talk with. More importantly, he is very responsive to messages I send him through the MyHealth web portal, typically responding within a few hours, and rarely later than end of the day. My only real complaint is that I had to do blood/​urine tests and other lab work offsite, and nothing to do with the care that I received through Dr. Yin.

I will start off by saying that the other Unilocalers on here were correct. Doctor Yin «at first» was very caring and compassionate and seemed overall interested in helping my case. I was diagnosed with a nodule on my right side of my thyroid, which after two very painful biopsies, I was recommended for surgery by Dr. Yin. I then went to my surgeon, who did a fantastic job, and overall has been the only person I have seen for a followup.
Why would I only go to the surgeon for a followup? Mostly because Dr. Yin’s office is now too busy to get me in for a followup, and prefers that I email him. So, do the best to understand where I am coming from– I have had half of a vital organ that controls several parts of your overall daily function, removed. But yet, my doctor who sent me for this surgery, can only be reached by email? I am also told that it is a 5 month waiting time frame before I can get in (was told this on two different occasions)?? What the?
Needless to say– from my primary care physicians down to the specialists who have been seeing me from a slew of issues that have occurred over the last year, I am switching physicians.
I wish Dr. Yin the best with his practice, but he shouldn’t have bitten off more than he can chew by accepting too many patients.
I appreciate the fact that for the last year I have been almost completely out of commission from a variety of illnesses that have plagued me. I’ve never been this sick in my entire life, but sure– I’ll just do some more blood work and EMAIL you.
Good luck with getting an appointment!

My insurance covers Dr. Yin, and that is how I first located him in Novato. I was at first upset that insurance wouldn’t cover a doctor I like who is just a block away from where I live. But I have been seeing Dr. Yin regularly now for almost two years for my diabetes care. What I like best is that he is totally available through the Sutter Health online system, and he is always very responsive. Any question, any medication adjustments, and any concern I have, he will respond right away and even follow up. He’s very competent, professional, and easy to talk to.

Dr Anthony Yin is a great doctor — caring and highly competent.
He’s easy to talk to, explains things really well, and makes me feel like we are joint partners in my care.
He has been treating me for type 2 diabetes for about the last year or so, and I am very happy with him.
Here are some really amazing things about him
1) He responds right away to my emails when I have questions. Through email exchange we were able to adjust the dosage on one of my medications based on my blood sugar levels.
2) He emails me a detailed list of the important instructions he has told me during my visit. This way i can pay attention to what he’s saying while he is talking, without worrying that i need to write stuff down.
3) He has gone through hoops filling out paperwork for insurance companies and my work.
Does your doctor do this?
I couldn’t be happier with my care

My appointment with Dr. Yin was good, he took the time to get to know me as a patient and understand my condition. Net-​net, though, he did what every other endocrinologist I’ve ever had does — take a look at the blood work, and make a decision about whether to move my synthroid medication one dose up the scale or keep it the same. Pretty basic hypothyroidism decision making, something my general practitioner or gynecologist has had no problem doing in the past. I was a specialist this time only because my new gynecologist wanted me to see someone more familiar with the drug and my general practitioner… that’s a story for another review, but basically I felt I should at least be seing a real medical professional for this prescription.
Unfortunately, all that time Dr. Yin took asking me basic questions was padding for my bill. If I could redo the experience, I would have questioned the need for the doctor to spend any more than 15 minutes with me, and lesson learned, I will always keep a stopwatch with me for future appointments. When I got the bill in the mail, total $ 542, my portion $ 238.70 (obviously my insurance decided this was pretty ridiculous too and passed a good portion of the cost to me) I called in expecting this to have been some sort of clerical mistake.
I called in on 4 separate occasions, taking time away from my 10 – 14 hour workday to take care of this since no one ever called me back — very professional Sutter! Each time I was told me appointment was under review for proper «coding» and I would be notified when a decision was made. I was also told I shouldn’t pay the bill, and that these bills never went to collections. Fortunately, I didn’t believe that and I eventually did pay the bill because I don’t see why my credit report should suffer because this billing department can’t get their act together. Unfortunately, my account still got sent to collections! When I checked my account, I received the collections letter a full two weeks after my check was cashed.
I called for the final time today, and they said the coding decision came back and that my appointment apparently lasted for 60 minutes! In one of my previous calls the claim was 35 minutes. Besides being untrue, what doctor would ever spend 60 minutes with a healthy 25-​year-​old woman who simply needs a slightly higher dose on synthroid? If, when I was booking the appointment, someone had told me they wanted the doctor to spend an hour with me and it was going to cost 4 times a normal appointment accordingly, do you think I would have ever gone? Absolutely not.
I continue to be absolutely shocked by the medical profession. As a consultant, I’m in the service industry and there is not such thing as sending a humungous bill for services already rendered and just saying, «Oh you disagree? Well after only 3 months of thinking about it our coding department says this is right, so too bad.» Also, in previous cities where I have had this same appointment, including Barnes Jewish hospital in St. Louis (one of the top in the nation) this type of appointment has run me closer to $ 100-​$ 150 before the insurance is applied. Seriously, suddenly it’s $ 542? If I had gotten a normal bill, my review for Dr. Yin would have been 4 or 5 stars, but it wasn’t a normal bill. I would like to see doctors taking some responsibility for what happens to their patients as part of their overall experience, not just what their blood work looks like next time.
What I learned from this experience:
— Avoid Sutter at all cost
— Ask for an estimate for any medical appointment before going
— Bring a stopwatch to appointments and walk out after 15
— Stalk the billing department — you cannot assume after asking them 4 times to call you back that they will call you back
— Don’t go to the doctor, even when you need to

I could not be more pleased with Dr. Yin. I have been seeing him for about six months for a pesky thyroid problem that seems to have morphed into cancer. I feel I would be walking around unaware of this condition without his close attention to me and his urging more and more tests until the root of my problem was discovered. At times I thought it was overkill because I haven’t had any symptoms, but sure enough, his persistence is probably life-​saving. I cannot rate him highly enough. He is thorough, patient, kind and his personality is very endearing.

I love Dr Yin! He is really nice and caring and makes you feel at ease but at the same time is capable of explaining what can go wrong without alarming you. I love his honesty and the fact that he is very, very sweet.
I have been hypothyroid for years, but I am normally controlled by my general doctor and had never been to an endocrinologist in the Bay Area. After I got pregnant with my first child and my labs didn’t go so well, my general doctor recommended me to just see a specialist. I called around and, in true Bay Area spirit, every time I said «new patient» they would tell me the next available apt was a month from now. At Sutter Pacific they were so nice and understanding (a month of unchecked Thyroid in a 9 month pregnancy is a lot!) and gave me an apt the next week.
Dr Yin was wonderful, he was super informative, he listened to all my rambling and fears and he was so nice to me.
Not only that, a couple of months later my OBGYN recommended me to check with a high risk pregnancy OBGYN and the Dr told me that my endocrinologist had wrote him a really nice and knowledgeable letter about my case and that I should stick with him because it was obvious that he knew what he was doing.