Lucia Tuffanelli, MD

Like like like.
Dr. Tuffanelli is my kind of doctor. I’ve had an annoying (and painful) dark spot on my face for several months, so I pinged my coworkers asking for a rec and Dr. Tuffanelli’s name came up. I was a little weary at first due to mixed Unilocal reviews, but i have to say that I LOVED Dr. Tuffanelli on first (dry) joke.
Her staff is competent, and although there was a bit of a wait to see her when we spoke, she was never rushed and answered every single one of my incessant questions. Knowing that I had her full attention, and that other patients had the same made her more than worth the moderate wait. I’ll wait for great doctors, because it gives me a lot of solace that knowing when I really need their attention, they won’t rush me OR their work.
That annoying, dark painful bump (which was just a poorly popped pimple, damnit) is already healing after she drained it, and I wouldn’t hesitate to see her again. She also prescribed me some meds for my serious sun damage, and I’m already seeing more beautiful, clear skin.
Thanks Dr. Tuffanelli! You have a patient in me :)

I have NEVER written a bad review for any business on Unilocal,and I don’t do it lightly now. I have written many happy, positive reviews for all types of businesses. But, this bad review really needs to be written. I would give Dr. Tuffanelli negative 1,000,000 stars if I could! In my opinion, this is the worst doctor of any type of doctor that my family has ever seen. Honestly, run as fast as you can away from this doctor.
You should be very worried that she will do serious harm to your face — even if the patient is a child. On top of all the damage done, this doctor literally said to me: «Your daughter isn’t going to be an actress or a model anyway.» I can’t speak to whether this is all because of incompetence, ignorance, just plain carelessness, or something even worse. But, I do know that the Hippocratic oath specifically says «First, do no harm.»
Thanks for the scars on my daughter’s face, Dr. Tuffanelli. Thanks also for all the emotional misery for a child, as well as the expensive $$ that I now have to spend for a competent dermatologist to try to fix my daughter’s face.
Also, know that this practice is NOT up to date on acne treatments. I now know that practically every other dermatology practice knows to prescribe Aczone and Epiduo. These are basically the only things that work on acne these days. Well, before all the serious nightmare trouble that I had with this practice, I had to research on my own to discover Aczone and Epiduo, basically figure this out myself and then ASK to have this prescribed for my daughter. This was never recommended or discussed with me at all by this practice. Pretty pathetic really. This should have been my first red flag, but this doctor was recommended by our pediatrician, so I felt like she would be OK. You can imagine that I had a word with our pediatrician after all this and updated her. Our pediatrician was horrified. The pediatrician also said that any competent dermatologist should know acne — that for a dermatologist, acne is «pretty basic.»
Note also, that in looking through her Unilocal reviews, at least one patient said that Dr. Tuffanelli missed a melanoma, that luckily another doctor caught in time later on – now that’s a REALLY SERIOUS mistake. I’m sure everyone knows how serious that is, as in you can die serious. Melanoma is the most deadly cancer if not caught early. Something else to consider as well, and extremely frightening.
Lastly, a nightmare billing department who couldn’t have been more rude and horrible to me about it, vicious really. Certainly no apologies, or «I’m sorry about your daughter.» So, awful customer service on top of all the other horrors. They cancelled my bill though, and sent me a statement of $ 0 balance — seemed to me like they were seasoned at handling these complaints, and likely get loads of them. The billing manager certainly seemed experienced at fielding horrendous complaints. Just an average day for her probably.

I’m not sure why the other reviewers rate this practice so poorly. I’ve been twice in the past 10 days and have seen 2 different doctors. Both highly professional and knowledgable in their field.
Longest I’ve waited for my appointment is 5 minutes. Totally satisfied and will continue to be a patient.
BTW, I’m usually never 5 star satisfied.

They are very rude and unprofessional. You get a 5 mins session, being examined with… chopsticks. Then nothing happens unless they perform a «biopsy» and they charge you 150 $ for that.
Looks like they’re only interested in taking your money.

Very disorganized, not hospitable front office staff. Arrived today for Dr. Tufanelli. I was on time for the appointment and the receptionist spent an inordinate amount of time with the woman in front of me who had arrived 15 minutes late, trying to see if she could get squeezed in. Other receptionists (or people behind the desk) got up and walked right by me. Also, while getting examined one of these office people interrupted my visit (knocked on the door) to ask the physician a question. I would not go back here. I had not read any reviews prior to the appointment so I think my assessment is fair– doctors employ the lowest level personnel to run the front office, which is just wrong. Physician care seemed adequate.

Dr. Tuffanelli is great. Been going to her for 15 years. She’s always been spot on with her diagnosis and treatment on every occasion and she’s extremely helpful with best vendors for low cost scrips and clearing hurdles with insurance coverage. Highly recommend.

Based on the reviews, I told myself that I was crazy to arrive 15 minutes early. I waited 10 minutes, and was shown into the examination room 5 minutes BEFORE my scheduled appointment. With any medical practice, it’s not unreasonable to think that there are good days and bad days. I guess I lucked out.
It’s a busy office so I don’t fault them the business-​like approach. The office visit was not any longer than it needed to be (no extended hand holding), but it was thorough. I appreciated Dr. Tuffanelli’s professionalism, and she answered every single question I asked.
I like décor as much as the next person, but a doctor’s expertise is WAY more important. If you need to satisfy your artistic leanings, spend a few extra minutes in the lobby. The 450 Sutter building is San Francisco’s premier art deco high rise. We don’t have a lot of them here, but this one holds its own even when compared to similar buildings in New York or Chicago.

My review is not of dr Tuffanelli and her tough straightforward nature — that I can deal with. It is more concerning the receptionist and the dr/​nurse that does prescriptions. It took me 3 weeks to get a prescription refill sent to my local pharmacy — and those three weeks were filled with numerous phone calls to the office in which I received nothing but attitude and aggression in return. There seemed to be zero communication between the receptions and the doctors and I could not have been more frustrated… Until I finally went to get my prescription and they had sent over the script for the super high end version of my medicine which my insurance does not cover and would cost $ 1200 for 20 pills. This is simple medicine, nothing of life or death importance. Needless to say I did not buy medicine and the pharmacy called in a request (3 times) for a more generic version of the medicine. Well it has been another entire week (now 4 weeks in total) and I still don’t have medicine and I just got another rude and dismissive response from Lisa — the doctor that fills prescriptions– stating she had no knowledge of the request for generic meds. Absolutely no communication at that office.

I visited the Classic Dermatology office twice for an acute skin condition that suddenly appeared, having been referred by Golden Gate Urgent Care. I couldn’t be happier with the level of competent, professional care I received from the doctors in this office. Apparently my case was a bit unusual: Dr. Tuffanelli invited both Drs. Epstein into the examination for consultation, and my follow-​up was with Dr. Beverly Epstein. Together they diagnosed and treated me with utmost efficiency and care.
Before my visit, the number of 1-​star reviews on this site gave me pause, but a closer examination shows that most of these poor reviews are for waiting time and the décor in the waiting room (?!). For my first appointment, I was seen about half-​an-​hour after my appointment time. For my second appointment, I was seen 10 minutes after my appointment time, and the appointment itself lasted less than 10 minutes. True, none of the doctors hung around to chat — but is that what you’re looking for in a doctor? The receptionists in the front office are equally professional and efficient. In my opinion, the Drs «bedside manner» is also unimpeachable.
I would not hesitate to visit this office again. It is a privilege to be able to access expert care by such experienced doctors.

I really don’t understand the negative reviews. I found Dr. Tuffanelli to be very engaging, friendly, and professional. My first visit was for a mole removal. I had an average-​length wait and very efficient and good service. In fact, we were having such an enjoyable conversation that I didn’t even realize she had performed the procedure until she announced it was done. I was pleasantly surprised and will definitely return.

Shes so UNPROFESSIONAL.
Like the posts below, similar story. Waited 30+ minutes for a 5 min session. Didn’t apologize for the wait and had a very grouchy attitude from the get go. Then she asked where I work and I told her and she ROLLED HER EYES. I work for a health tech comp and she probably thought our products are bs but that’s her opinion, keep it to yourself DR.
Terrible office and I wouldn’t recommend her to anyone. Save your time and money and see a real physician who cares about you.

If you look at the other reviews, you will see a lot of complaints about long wait times in the office. This can be true. Take something to occupy your time. My experience in the late afternoon is ½ to 1 hour after the appt time until I actually see her. Plus, the women in her front office can be a bit brusk and English is not their first language.
The office is dated, but I don’t rate a doctor based on how modern and flashy their office is.
I think that she knows what she is doing and I trust her. I have had 3 skin cancers removed in the last couple of years and she recommended the appropriate course for each one. One, squamous growth she did in her office. For two other carcinoma patches, she immediately recommended Mohs surgery (outpatient, done over at Bush & Divisadero).
Regarding bedside manner, she is efficient and business like. She is not a real warm & fuzzy doc who takes time to shoot the breeze (do any of them anymore?), but is caring and has warmth. She has usually taken the time when needed and explained what and why she was recommending a course of action.
I go to her every 6 months for a check of the sun damage that I have and to make sure that nothing gets out of hand.
I think she’s good, but if you want a real warm & fuzzy experience, you might want to look elsewhere.

This review is based on the front office. I had seen Dr, Tuffanelli in the past and called to schedule an appointment. I asked the person on the phone if I needed a new referral and was told that I did not. I arrived for my appointment later that week, and was told by the lady at the front desk that my referral wasn’t good. I explained to her my phone call with the scheduling desk. She told me in a very snide way that her staff wasn’t knowledgeable about these things and I was responsible for this information. She was very aggressive. I decided that this wasn’t the office for me. I didn’t need to deal with her hateful attitude. Not my monkeys, Not my circus.

I wish that I could give a review of the doctor, but the only experience I have had with this office is waiting. I waited a half hour to even get a receptionist to make my initial appointment. At my actual appointment, I waited for 45 minutes and then told the receptionist I had to leave. She directed me to an individual waiting room and then told me it would be another «5 – 10 minutes.» Considering I came on my lunch break, I couldn’t wait any longer and had to cancel the appointment. Total waste of a cab ride there and back.

Dr. Lucia Tuffanelli is the best! I visited her office on 450 Sutter after being referred to her by my Primary Doctor for what he and I thought might be a cyst on my nose. She gave it a look and concluded it was a mole and 5 days later she took that mole and another one off my nose. It is now one week later and I can’t even tell where the thing was… No scarring whatsoever. The staff at the office was busy and straightforward (exactly the way I like healthcare professionals to act).
I was nervous before having this surgery and these 1 and 2 star ratings mentioning: «I had to wait at a doctor’s office…» or «I don’t like the décor…» say nothing about the actual doctors doing damn fine work.
If you need a mole removed on your face, let alone your nose, I have no reservations in recommending Lucia Tuffanelli.

I am so upset that other dermatologists came me up when I type in the address on Unilocal.I was under the impression I would be seeing a doctor I Unilocaled with 4 and a half stars. After coming home and getting my bill for $ 154 for a 5 minute look at a mole, I realized this dermatologist was horrible. I Unilocaled her and I see all the bad reviews and now I realize I went to the same doctor.
She looked at a mole that I already had removed by a different dermatologist. I was in and out in 5 minutes and I thought my insurance covered it. Then I get this bill for what? I paid her around $ 30 a minute for her time. All for her to tell me what I already knew. What a joke, our system is so corrupt. Doctor’s are not out there to help they just want customers.

Today was my second time visiting dr. Tuffanelli, and yet, I still have no idea what she looks like. I’m not even sure she exists at this point.
The first time I tried to see her, she had been called to some skin related emergency at a local hospital and all her patients were backed up over 1.5 hours. Without any explanation (or warning, rather) they sent in a cold, lifeless man to throw unconscionably priced medications at me without even bothering to look at my eczema. My pharmacist who actually has eczema took one look at the prescription, threw it away and gave me something much more effective and cheaper instead. Good work, doctor.
Out of sheer desperation, what with another life inhibiting eczema outbreak under my belt (get it?) and having exceeded my prescription refills, I decided to give this office another chance. For christ’s sake all I needed was a prescription.
I get there 15 minutes before my appointment. 45 minutes everyone around me had been seen. people with an appointment one hour after me began to arrive. So I asked the nice lady at the counter if she knew how much longer it would be. She didn’t know. So I sit back down. 15 minutes later a man storms out of his room in his paper dress and shouts «does anyone even know I’m in here!?» Disturbing.
At this point I realized that I’d probably wait around for an hour just to have someone barely look at my skin for maybe 2 minutes. I go back to the nice lady at the desk and ask her for a refund of my copay –which they managed to charge within the first 10 seconds of arriving. She says, «sorry, the doctor’s not good with time.» No fucking shit.
Get it together, doctor. What kind of operation are you running here?

The good: Dr. Tuffanelli has a nice bed side manner. She takes time to explain things. She knows what she is doing. I had a rash, she prescribed some cream, and a few days later it was gone. So I’m happy.
As others said, the office isn’t the most stylish. If they were my interior designer I would be concerned. In a dermatologist office, I’m more concerned with how the skin of the staff looks, which seems fine. Staff was nice and professional. I was seen by the doctor within 15 minutes.

I used to see Dr. Denny Tuffanelli, who was a wonderful and kind doctor. Great sense of humor too. Solved my problem right away. It’s been several years since I went back to his office, and this time I saw his daughter, Dr. Lucia Tuffanelli (as Dr. Denny Tuffanelli has passed on). Great bedside manner runs in the family. She listened to me carefully without interrupting me or rushing me, then gave me a prescription, and gave comforting advice. As I left, she was nice enough to give me some cream samples to try out. Not sure why, but I felt like I’ve just visited a friend.
My only complain is if you schedule to see her, allow yourself some extra time cause the appointment ran late by about 40 minutes. The nurse upfront was friendly enough but did not give me a reason as to why the wait, but just told me there were two people ahead of me – but my appointment was 8 am in the morning.
Other than that, I highly recommend Dr. Lucia Tuffanelli. On another note, a few years ago, my husband had a rash on his leg for quite awhile, and his other doctor was not able to figure out the problem, so I told him to see Dr. Lucia Tuffnelli. She prescribed the right cream for him, and worked instantly. He was a happy camper, and so was I.

Sadly, Dr. Denny passed away over the weekend. RIP Dr. Denny T. I’m sure your treating everyone in Heaven with their skin ailments.

I used to think that visits were just fine, nothing special, but now my mind is officially changed. I arrived at my 1pm appointment slightly early to check in and sat down in the waiting area. 45 minutes later, slightly annoyed that people that came in after me got in before me, I asked how much longer I would have to wait. The receptionist asked if I was late for my appointment because she placed me behind the 1:30pm appointment. I was bumped up to before them and sat back down in the waiting area. Half an hour later, still waiting, I asked again how much longer and they lost my folder. Go figure. They went through all the patients rooms looking for it when finally I just decided to cancel my appointment. The whole experience was so frustrating and they were not at all accommodating. I will not ever go back to this office.
This is not a reflection of the doctors, just the office experience.

This was my first time at a dermatologist, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this visit to the doctor.
Dr. Lucia Tuffanelli really helped me out with this crazy, allergic reaction that would not go away and also helped ease my mind when I thought it was something worse than it actually was. She gave me a prescription and I was seeing results within a couple of days! The visit was short, and while I did wait long, I was really happy to get this taken care of.
This is a busy doctor’s office, in a busy building, so don’t expect to be in and out quickly. I do recommend Dr. Tuffanelli, she will listen to your concerns and prescribe you something that will definitely help you out!