Ob-Gyn Associates

Do NOT go to Ob-​Gyn Associates of Silver Spring if you could possibly have any problem with your pregnancy. This practice is not thorough and they do not care. I LOST MY BABY and it could have been prevented if I went to a better practice.
My experience was with Dr. Kleinman and his nurse. Probably the worst I have been treated by anyone. He seems like a nice guy but not a good doctor (at least not to me). His nurse was awful to me. I have been going to this practice for 5 years, being seen mostly by Dr. Taubman before I got pregnant for the first time. My first trimester, I continued to be treated by Dr. Taubman who was very thorough and her nurse is very kind and always remembers me. But since she doesn’t deliver, I had to change doctors after the first trimester ended.
I started seeing Dr. Kleinman. I was having bad cramps so much that it kept me up at night so my supervisor told me to get a note so I can have a more flexible schedule and work from home when I want. I told Dr. Kleinman, he cut me off mid-​sentence and told me to get a note from the OB Coordinator.
The OB Coordinator said she would write it but when I went to pick it up, she didn’t have it and lost my information. She asked Dr. Kleinman’s nurse (since Dr. Kleinman went home) about the note and his nurse came into the office with me and my husband and said «that conversation with Dr. Kleinman NEVER happened!». Basically calling me a liar. I said «How can you tell ME it didn’t happen? You weren’t there.» She insisted that Dr. Kleinman tells her everything and he didn’t tell her that and that I HAVE an attitude. Nevermind her busting into the office, basically calling me a liar. And because Dr. Kleinman didn’t tell her, that means it must have never happened? Maybe he forgot, or wasn’t listening. He DID cut me off mid-​sentence.
Two days later I went to see Dr. Kleinman to talk about the incident with his nurse. He agreed that his nurse approached me inappropriately and we cleared up the matter with the note which ended up being a miscommunication between the OB Coordinator and the nurse. And Dr. Kleinman HAD forgotten about the convo.
I also told Dr. Kleinman that my cramps were getting much worse. HE CUT ME OFF MID-​SENTENCE AGAIN and said «That’s just normal pregnancy pain». «Welcome to pregnancy».
I almost felt stupid asking him.
The next day the cramps continued to get worse. That night, I called the ob emergency number several times and the CALLS DIDN’T GO THROUGH. Both my husband and I tried on our phones. Then My water broke. I ended up going to Howard County General Hospital, where they were really caring throughout the painful situation. Since I was only 17.5 weeks along, the baby didn’t survive.
So basically, Dr. Kleinman dismissed me and didn’t ask me any follow up questions to differentiate between really bad cramps and contractions. I was actually having other symptoms that showed I might be going into labor but he didnt ask questions and I didnt know those symptoms meant early labor. The contractions could have been stopped if he was a more thorough doctor.
When I went back for follow up after the delivery, his nurse didn’t say sorry for your loss or anything. She took my blood pressure and acted like she didn’t know me. Also to this day, I don’t believe Dr. Kleinman has taken responsibility for anything, saying «NO doctor would have forseen preterm labor». I disagree. A thorough doctor would have asked more questions and would have put the pieces together. It also didn’t help that his rude nurse was a distraction to the whole issue.
He said that the practice is too big to notice someone who has serious issues with their pregnancy. And because the practice is so big, it’s easy for miscommunication. Which makes me wonder, so what are doctors for, if not to catch problems???
I would not advise anyone to go to this practice. You don’t know if there might be a problem with your pregnancy and at this practice they WON’T notice it either.

Honestly not sure what all the complaints are about. I see Dr. Kleinman here and never have an issue. I usually show up early or on time for my appointments and I am seen almost immediately each time. The front office staff is pleasant and efficient. I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Kleinman, it is very obvious that he cares about patients and their well being. I had an issue arise on a Friday and he was able to get me in on Monday morning to see him.
I would recommend this office, and specifically Dr. Kleinman, to anyone.

I’m surprised by all of the negative reviews for Ob-​Gyn Associates. I’ve been here 2x now and had a great experience. My first visit was very long, which did annoy me a bit, but it wasn’t Ob-Gyn’s fault. I was referred to them by another place and my medical records were delayed getting to them, so I had to wait for them to come through. I saw Claudia Taubman and she was wonderful. She was very informative and followed up with me the next day. I saw her again yesterday for my annual pap. My appointment was at 4pm and I was out of there at 4:45pm. Dr. Taubman was knocking on the door as soon as I finished putting the infamous gown on. She’s funny, answered all of my questions (I had many), she even stopped so I could get my cell phone so I could jot down some stuff. The front desk staff were very nice. My parking was validated as soon as I signed in. At 4:53pm, I received an email from Advantia Health letting me know that my care summary was available on their patient portal. It had everything we discussed (even the notes I put in my cell phone during the visit). I will continue to see Claudia Taubman for all of my female needs. She’s great.

I’ve had several bad experiences here so I finally decided to write something up. While most of the doctors there are friendly and competent (except for Dr. Patel, who is neither), the rude and incompetent staff destroy any chance of this practice being worthy of recommendation. Here’s an example of their most recent unprofessionalism:
–the office staff often messes up appointments, and then they blame you for it. When this happens and you show up for an appointment you think you have, the doctor (Dr. Patel) refuses to see you. When you tell them you only need 10 minutes to check your cervix and investigate a rash that’s torturing you, you still get rejected and sent home. That same rash was seen by that same doctor a week before and her diagnosis was «it could be anything». Google was more help. If my baby wasn’t due in two weeks and this office wasn’t two blocks from my house, I would attempt to find a new office. It’s a good thing I don’t plan on having anymore children.

I received several months of prenatal care from OBGYN Associates before deciding to switch to the midwife practice at Medstar WHC. OBGYN is a huge, busy practice and, as others have said, it feels like a conveyor belt — you get your weight /​blood pressure taken in the corridor etc. On the whole, I never had any real problems with the medical care, but there isn’t time for personal niceties here (the exceptions are the women in sonogram dept. who are really friendly). My doctor (Dr Behram) made little effort to get to know me personally. We never discussed the sort of birth I was hoping for, the things I was concerned about, the sort of preparatory class I was interested in, etc. I realize now that I should have switched much sooner than I did. We never had a conversation about labor, pain medication and what to expect from Holy Cross etc. When I finally raised these things (around week 32) I was told that almost all women get epidurals (which she followed up with a slightly sarcastic «and most women who want to try naturally get them too.») The skepticism that anyone would be keen to hold out on the epidural, try to keep moving in labor, to feel confident that they might actually be able to cope was really disappointing. I met with the same skepticism when I asked about birth classes and raised hypnobirthing as one option for relaxation. It soon became clear that, in my doctor’s eyes, there was one (heavily medicalized) way to give birth and anyone looking for a range of options or alternative information was to be the recipient of eye-​rolling. The thought of facing the same skepticism whilst in labor confirmed that I had to move (requesting medical records for this move was a nightmare — they charge you per sheet and took weeks. From friends at other practices, the charging per sheet is not standard.)
In contrast, in my first meeting with my midwife we discussed everything, from my general concerns to the process of labor to all pain management options available. We discussed the epidural as an option, and she made it clear that it would be there if I needed it, but that the midwife would also be able to support me if I opted to go without. I was encouraged to be confident in my body and to feel like I actually had choices about the birth. From my experience, this was an open-​minded approach I had never encountered at OBGYN. Bottom line: if you’re 100% sure you’ll want the epidural and don’t mind the whole conveyor-​belt feel, then OBGYN will be fine for you. If you think you might want some choice and a more personal approach, look elsewhere.
(For fellow Brits reading this — definitely seek out a midwife practice over OBGYN Associates. If you’ve had any experience with the NHS and its full range of options, you will be very sorely disappointed by what this place, and HC in general, has to offer.)

Awful staff and I mean awful. While as another commentator made mention that the doctors are the main focal point, it’s hard to even make mention of that with such awful staff. I’m appalled that great doctors would even have staff like that. They’re very rude and unwilling to help with anything. You’re put on hold for a very long time for something very simple and basic. I really wanted to see Dr. Wilson, but unfortunately I had such a bad experience with the front desk, I’ve now started looking elsewhere. Part of the whole doctor’s experience is the just that, the whole experience and that includes the office staff. If they don’t value the way their customers are treated surely they don’t truly value me as a patient.

While I agree with the below review that the doctors are more important than the staff, if the staff is incompetent, you will never get to see the doctor!!!
Last week, I made an appointment to see Dr. Wilson via the app ZocDoc. I was contacted by a young woman who asked that my records need to be sent to the office. A few days later, I called the OB coordinator and left a message asking if the records had arrived and for a returned call if not. Not only did I not receive a call back (even though they promise one within 24 hours), I also received a confirmation from Ob-​Gyn Associates (not ZocDoc, but Ob-​Gyn Associates) confirming my appointment more than 24 hours after leaving the original message.
Today, I received an urgent call from the OB coordinator saying that my appointment for TOMORROW was cancelled because she has not received my records. My greatest issue is that the young lady seemed to be blaming me although I left a message for her and she NEVER returned my call and I received a confirmation although I should not have.
Now I am past due for an appointment because of the negligence of their employee and apparent problems with their scheduling system. In addition, my attempts to file a complaint with the office manager failed due to her lack of availability and full mailbox –_–

I had to relocate to this area midway through a pregnancy. I have been trying to establish myself as a patient with this practice (and others) for months. Although everyone is cordial when I call, no one has ever called me back or said whether or not I can be accepted as a patient. I feel I’ve wasted my time having my records sent twice and following up. I’ve finally given up on delivering at the hospital closest to my home– a good OB practice in DC instantly accepted me as a patient! The whole process has been really stressful.

Some of the reviews here seem to be focused on the office staff. As important as the office staff is to carrying out the business aspect, I think it’s more important to focus on the doctors. I have met three of the doctors and I will share my experience with all three down below:
Dr. Bradford Kleinman:
I was most hesitant to see a male ob/​gyn. I was scheduled to see Dr. Prust but the morning of my appointment, the office contacted me saying she had to go in for an emergency surgery. I was mortified that no other female doctor was available for the day! I figured I could walk in and convince a reception to let me see a female ob/​gyn. But that didn’t happen. Not even after all the begging and pleading. I finally gave in and met Dr. Kleinman. O.EMM.GGG! I am so thankful that I had kept that appointment and gone in to see him! Dr. Kleinman is the fifth ob/​gyn I have met. And let’s just say within minutes after I met him, he made it on my list of most favorite docs! He has a fantastic personality and despite all the worries and concerns I had going in, I felt absolutely at ease during my visit. He definitely took all the time to answer my questions, to put my mind at ease, and to calm my nerves. Forget lady docs, I want me some of Dr. Kleinman! Plus — I love me my fellow Terps; Dr. Kleinman and I bonded… because you’re always a Terp, at heart. It was a really really good visit. And ladies — male ob/gyn’s are a blessing, they don’t even bite! :)
Dr. Juliette Prust:
I ended up seeing Dr. Prust for an emergency visit because Dr. Kator was all booked. Dr. Prust was very easy to talk to, and she answered all my questions. I had contacted her using the Advantia Patient Portal, and I received responses back from her in a timely manner. I was more or less pleased.
Dr. Nancy Kator:
Dr. Kator seemed really nice. I wish I had written a review immediately after my visit. In any case, I would say she knows her stuff really well. I felt comfortable to share all sorts of relevant details pertaining to my visit to her office. I wish she had taken a bit more time than she did during my appointment — I felt like it was one of those in and out in a jiffy visits. We started discussing a preventative vaccine but she didn’t go much into detail. A bit more conversation would have made me a tad bit more happier.

I would like to commend the staff for their excellent Customer Service. I visited the the Holy Cross location (Silver Spring, MD.) on 7÷15÷15. I called the day before and made an appointment. The appointment department were very kind and made the process of making an appointment easy. Upon arriving at the office, Sheryle at the front desk greeted me. She was professional, yet very comforting to me as I shared with her that I was a bit nervous. She was so wonderful and helped to relieve the apprehensions I was feeling. Mia, Doctor Proust assistant was equally comforting and kind. She was very patient as we walked thru my medical history form. Dr. Proust actually listened to my concerns and was very reassuring in how we would address my concerns. What a great doctors visit. Kudos to these staff members. That’s how a doctors visit is supposed to be!!! Thanks again. Velonta Adams

Ok I’m going to weigh in now that I’ve been here 10+ times.
First the shorthand:
–located in Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring, on the 5^th floor.
–they DO validate parking
–there’s a labcorp located in this office which is really convenient
–there’s a 4D sonogram here
–everything is electronic so easy appts, billing, etc
–mostly female docs that deliver if that matters to you
–they have DO’s here too
–usually prompt in the mornings, wait times for doctors longer for afternoon appts
Background:
I transferred here from my OB in Hawaii and let me tell you, at first it was the hugest headache EVER. It was so difficult to get anyone on the phone and when I did, I was met with a lot of attitude, which isn’t what you want to deal with when you’re pregnant. After waiting on hold yet again for almost an hour to talk to anyone, I hung up in tears and vowed to find another ob.
And then they went electronic.
Their entire system: scheduling, test results, bills, even messaging the doctors and nurses. They email you with appointment reminders and when doctors message you back (which they have all been prompt on doing). So I can’t say whoever is answering the phone has improved since I don’t bother calling ever, but i can say I’m getting what I need and it totally works for me!
Regarding the doctors, I love that it’s mostly women that will do the deliveries but that’s just my own quirk-​I feel like female doctors have a much better bedside manner. I’ve seen Dr. Lundberg, Dr. Kator, Dr. Patel, and Dr. Kleinman, Dr. Wilson and Dr. Prust. All have been super friendly, competent, and I feel confident if they were the ones to deliver my baby (Dr. Kleinman doesn’t do deliveries) I have yet to meet Dr. Behram whom I’m told occasionally does deliveries.
The nurses have been hit or miss. All friendly but some are much more competent than others. I love Julie. She’s fantastic and a pro at giving shots (I hate shots :/​)
The lab located in the office, where you do your blood work, is awesome. The older lady in there is so nice and really good with inserting the needle with minimal pain.
The ladies doing sonograms are super super nice (I think because they have a super fun job seeing the babies but that’s just my guess).
Lastly, Nurse Judy holds a prenatal class that you can sign up for. It’s $ 185 for 7 weeks (once a week for 45 – 60 mins at 6:15 or 7:15pm) and she’s FANTASTIC. She’s so knowledgeable and puts our mind at ease with the whole process. She’s helped me feel confident about a natural birth, the scary episiotomies and any other random questions I have. She gives you her cell phone number and she is responsive which is great.
I’d definitely recommend this office. I love that it’s located in the hospital itself and the convenience of the extra services (blood work, classes). The doctors are competent and with the electronic system, it’s very efficient for me.

When you walk into this office, you will see a standard waiting room and a large counter where you check in. But instead of one sign-​in sheet, they have signs across the counter telling you to sign-​in here for [Doctor so-​and-​so], thus, there’s a separate clipboard for each Doctor. It’s not a big deal, but it seems inefficient. The reason I am giving a review, though, is because of what happens next. When you get called, you walk down the hallway and just before you reach the exam rooms they stop you to do weight and height, etc. This is in the hallway, so there is zero privacy. Yet they ask you if you are having any concerns you would like to talk to the doctor about. Even if I did, it was so open that I would have felt extremely uncomfortable sharing it with everyone nearby. Then they type your info into a laptop that is on a nearby counter, but the laptop is open facing the hallway, which would seem to compromise confidentiality since it didn’t seem all that hard to look over at the screen if I wanted. Oddly, this back office area is much more cluttered than in the front. Once you get into the exam room, it’s better, and the rooms are relatively clean, although someone should wipe down the walls near the trash can from time to time. I can only imagine what had splattered there, and all I could think about was how long it had been there and what else they missed when cleaning. Aside from these things, this office is completely normal. I’ve been a few times and see Dr. Kator, who is friendly and casual. I’d recommend her for sure. But the office oversights are why I’m only giving them 3 stars.

Once again they got me! This is the second time I have gone to their office and was told by the staff that there would be no additional charge for a certain service but yet here I am receiving a bill. Last year they somehow coerced me into getting a genetics test done to see if was more prone to a certain cancer since my mom was diagnosed at an early age with cancer. They thought it would be a good idea to get this blood test done even though it was really all that necessary. So I repeatedly asked whether or not there is any additional charge for the test and they said everything would be completely covered by my insurance. They assured me I was fine and said that they spoke with my insurance and there is no cost so I would be completely covered. But sure enough a couple weeks later I received a bill in the mail for $ 375 because I hadn’t met my deductible which they failed to mentioned…
So remembering what happened last year I was nervous and made sure to ask that I was completely covered (including that I met my deductible) before getting some additional scans done this most recent visit. They assured me over and over again that it was fine and I so I got the extra scans done, which once again weren’t really necessary but they said it was covered by insurance so why not. Lone and behold once again here I am with another bill and I am just livid. I feel like they try and deceive you to get more unnecessary services to «ensure» everything is fine but it’s all just a scam to get more money. It’s unprofessional to mislead or not properly research insurance before quoting patients. Research and proper communication is part of the teams job. I will not be returning to this office as these random additional costs are not worth it.

First off I would like to say that this was the most confusing office I’ve ever been to. Yes it was their first day transitioning into electric medical record. But they sure have some rude staff at their front desk. There was one African-​American older lady who wore glasses (I do not know her name) Who I witnessed going off on at least two patients who were simply asking questions. Her tone of voice was ridiculous and if she was talking to me like that I would have slapped her. But that’s not it. It took her two hours to check me in. So clearly I missed my appointment time which was canceled the day before by someone who never left their name on my answer machine after hours at that. When I called the following morning at their opening time 9 AM I did not get in touch with anyone until 930, which was my original appointment time just to find out that my appointment was not canceled (go figure?)So because I canceled my own patients to come to this appointment (something I wasn’t going to do again) which I told them they scheduled me for later in the afternoon. My new appointment time was for 1:45 PM. I didn’t go back to see anyone until almost 4 PM. They close at 4:30 so my appointment with now being rushed. The doctor that I did finally see Dr. Prust, which was not the one I was originally scheduled for was pleasant and I try to accommodate her with the least amount of questions. Since I knew I was running out of time and I have the Internet I can look up pretty much what I need to now but this is my first pregnancy and if I was someone else I would’ve freaked out. I’m giving them 2 stars only because the back staff was pleasant and the doctor was too but that front desk OMG somebody needs to be fired