Great Hills ENT

This ENT office is by far one of the busiest Specialist office’s I have seen and used by far! I am extremely satisfied with all the care and attention to detail that this staff, front office and back office as well as providers pay to me. I’m greeted by my first or last name, (maybe cause I’m here quite a bit or because they just have it together and I love it.) They young women at the front are kind and courteous and always on the phone scheduling an appointment or giving directions. The back office staff greets me kindly and my office visit continues. Like clock work the medical assistants are friendly, knowledgeable, and GENUINELY concerned with what has brought me in to the office every time. I think other patients just don’t have patience. Our society has some how changed to a You owe me something or I want it and want it now. I do work in the medical field and it’s extremely important that Great Hills ENT isn’t a primary care doctors office, they are a SPECIALISTS office. I’m EXTREMELY satisfied with all areas of this office. I recommend it to everyone, The team of Dr.‘s here are talented and have so much to offer if just given a chance.
In reference to others posts: When did waiting on hold ever kill somebody, and when did waiting for a week or so for an appointment with a SPECIALIST office become so bad? In my experience getting in sooner than a month or two months is GREAT! Businesses grow, and availability changes all the time.

Dr. Brown is great… IF you can ever get an appointment. I don’t think the office has ever picked up the phone or called me back. It’s extremely painful. The front office is rude and doesn’t take ownership of their issues.
The is just a dysfunctional office, and we’re disappointed to have to find another ENT. I’ve had recurrent sinus infections for over a year, and every time I call they can’t get me in until weeks later. I end up going to an urgent care clinic or my family physician to get medications for relief. One time, Dr. Brown’s office even told me to just go to my regular PCP. So, my cycle of taking antibiotics continues with no solution to my sinus problems.

I wish I could give 0 stars for this establishment. Nothing negative to say about the ENTs but the billing department here is egregious to say the least. They do not file claims and do not seem to have any sense of urgency for their customers. Long wait times, sometimes no answer at all and will go days without even calling you back when you leave a message. In reference to a previous review, these providers blame insurance companies saying they are slow, how about having some accountability towards the people who are putting money in your pockets and food in your kids mouth. This business will take your money from you upfront in advance for services that haven’t even been rendered and then have you sign a form that gets them off the hook for not having to refund any pro fees, just in case you find out how unacceptable there business practices are and would like to take your business elsewhere. Please don’t make a big mistake by taking your loved ones here and if you want to avoid a big headache and pain in the a** with your insurance company and these pieces of work steer clear!!!

This ENT is by far the worst! Was on hold for over 20 min waiting to get scheduled for an appointment, when the front desk finally got back to me they had told me it takes 2 – 3 business days to receive a referral. So finally they had got the referral and i booked an appointment, went it front desk was rude and had no communication. I called back two weeks after the appointment to see when my son was getting scheduled for his surgery for his tubes, the front desk told me they didn’t know and that the doctor is out alot. Needless to say after almost 4 weeks waiting and still not hearing back, we decided to go else where. I would not recommend this place to anyone with young children that have bad ear infections and need tubes because you will not get helped at all. Very disappointed

Thank you, Great Hills ENT!
I went in for a second opinion after being diagnosed with «sudden hearing loss» from an ENT in Lakeway. I was on a high dose of steroids, antibiotic and I was experiencing high anxiety.
The staff was able to get me in the same day I called (apparently sudden hearing loss needs immediate treatment). I met with Paige Peterson and Barry Casteneda. They had the BEST bedside manner and I felt like they really cared about helping me out. They listened to everything that I was experiencing, asked the right questions, and did the right tests. They were able to conclude that I was experiencing eustachian tube dysfunction and told me that it could easily be corrected with nose spray (not steroids). After 24 – 48 hours, the sounds in my ear and the popping sensations has cleared up and I feel so much better.
Only if I went to them in the first place… forever a patient! Thank you!

Really wanted to try this ENT out, but waited on hold to make an appointment for 13 minutes. 45 seconds of that was the front desk associate talking to me. When I told her I was a new patient wanting an appointment she put me on hold for another 6 minutes.
This review is solely based on that – but that was enough to make me not want to use this establishment.

I’m not going to write a long review. I only saw Dr Brown this morning. I’ve been to about a zillion ENTs in my life. Some good. Some not so much. Today Dr Brown set the scale way up there. His office staff was great. His MA Angelica (?) was personable and knowledgeable. I had an issue with someone in the waiting room who smoked and totally stunk up the office. I am really sensitive to lots of smells but tobacco is about the worst. When I mentioned this to the receptionist she in turn mentioned it to Angelica and I was put in an exam room within minutes. I so much appreciated that. Dr Brown came in the room and introduced himself to me and asked about my history. Then he did an exam of my nose and throat. Through the exam Dr Brown told me what he was doing so there was nothing unexpected. After the exam we talked a bit and it was decided that I need a CT scan. I’ll have that soon and will know if I need to continue with Dr Brown or an allergist. Dr Brown not only kind and polite and very personable, he was also very knowledgable and able to communicate my issues with me without using medical jargon.
I LOVE Dr Brown. He is by far the best ENT I’ve eve seen. I highly recommend him and his staff.

Our son had trouble latching on because he was tongue-​tied and wasn’t eating. Dr. Brown was recommended to us by our pediatrician. Our little guy was 8 days old and we were terrified to have this procedure done but we knew it would be best for our son. We were up the whole night worrying. Dr. Brown made us feel very comfortable. He is very personable. He let us know that this procedure hurts us way more than it does him and he would only be startled by something in his mouth, he gave him a local anesthetic to numb his tongue. I had to wait outside while my husband held our baby, I just couldn’t do it! And just like that, it was quick and easy. By the time I got him back in my arms, he stopped crying. We all had a good chuckle and my husband and I left feeling really great about this office and the way Dr. Brown handled two very worried parents with tons of questions. We got home and I fed my little dude. He latched on immediately and drank like I’d never seen him drink before. Thanks Dr. B!

Why are there so many unrecommended reviews for this business?
I had a similar problem to another person who wrote a well-​thought review. I hope my review counts since I’m going to spend plenty of time writing this and I always put lots of thought into my reviews. Not bragging– well. kind of.
Office is incredibly dysfunctional. I phoned over 5times trying to find out if my insurance covered deviated septum surgery. Every time I was placed on hold before I even got to ask for Heather, the billing person.
Dr. Brown told me after my initial consultation that his office would let me know in about a week if my insurance covered the surgery. It took a month and a half to get that information from Heather. I have Blue Cross Blue Shield– the most used insurer in Texas.
Heather and Dr. Brown need to agree on how long this information should take to provide to clients. I found out a week and a half before surgery that I was covered– and only by pushing Heather several days in a row. I planned surgery in between Thanksgiving and Christmas to allow for recovery. This would have totally ruined my holiday planning (non-​refundable plane tickets or pay out of pocket) and would have meant no gifts for anyone. I needed answers fast as flight prices were increasing every day while I was waiting for an incompetent billing person to verify my coverage.
The surgery center called me two days before my surgery to tell me to stop taking certain medications a week in advance, which of course I could not do, two days before surgery. When I asked the surgery center why they were calling me so late they told me Dr. Brown’s office scheduled the surgery the day before they were calling me.
I hesitated to tell Dr. Brown about Heather, his billing person. When I mentioned my problems, he told me that insurance companies were so slow. I informed him that I used to do insurance billing for a living– including supervision of others who did insurance billing. Verification is not that complicated. He didn’t seem particularly interested in hearing that or assuring me that the situation would be improved for any future clients.
For medical– I give Dr. Brown — 5 stars. I think he did a great job while I was under.
For his administrative supervision/​hiring I give two stars. For Heather, I give her the boot. She should be terminated or given proper instruction on how to run a billing operation.

For almost 2 years I have had chronic parotitis, and by chronic I mean it would get inflamed and swollen 3 times a week. My first doctor said that I could live with it and to drink lots of water and to massage it several times an hour. I did that for a good 17 months until one day the swelling didn’t go down. I took 30 days of antibiotics that didn’t work, had an MRI, CAT, and biopsy that all showed chronic inflammation of the parotid gland. I also had a duct dilation to see if we could get the gland to not get swollen, but that also failed. The only other option was to remove it. My first doctor said that he could remove it but didn’t feel comfortable about it. He was afraid I would not be happy with the scar (the scar would go in front of my ear, behind my ear and down my jaw line) and that I might suffer facial paralysis. He recommended me to get a second opinion and he recommended me going to see Dr. Brown. He trusted Dr Brown’s opinion and suggested that I go see him before making any decisions.
I decided why not go get a second opinion. Besides this is my face and facial nerve we are talking about. I was able to get an appointment within the next week. I had my medical records faxed over from my other doctor to this office. On appointment day, I was seen immediately, there was no waiting in the waiting room. After taking my vital signs Dr. Brown was in the room in about 5 minutes. We went thru my whole history. I explained how tired I was with this situation and knew that my only solution was surgery. Dr. Brown after examining me said that surgery would fix this. I told him I was afraid of the paralysis of the facial nerve and he said out of all the years he has done surgery, there has only been temporary facial nerve paralysis, but everyone has recovered. He also explained that the scar would be in a totally different location. Instead of it going down my jaw line, he was going to go down my ear lobe, behind my ear and down my hair line on the side of my head. We talked about the pros and cons and made sure I didn’t have any other illness that could of caused this. What I really liked is that he took the time to answer all my questions. He also said he would do the surgery if I wanted to do go thru with it.
I was sold with Dr. Brown. There was never a hesitation that he could not do the surgery and I felt confident that he could do the surgery. The day of the surgery I met with him before going into surgery, again he assured me that everything was going to be okay. 2.5 hours later I had a total parotidectomy and I had minimal facial nerve paralysis of my upper lip and my scar once I would put my hair down was not even noticeable. I had to stay overnight at the hospital but Dr. Brown was there early in the morning to greet me and again went over what had happened, what to expect and answered all my questions.
Overall, it has been two weeks after the surgery. I am still impressed at what an awesome job Dr. Brown did. I could not thank him enough. I no longer have the chronic inflammation and when I wear my hair down, you can’t even tell I had surgery on my face. Eventually my hair will grow out and cover the scar too. My facial paralysis has continued to improve and it is almost back to 100%. I am so thankful I had this second opinion and that a Dr. recommended me to Dr. Brown. I hope I never have to go back and see Dr. Brown, but if I do, he will be my first choice to go back to and I would recommend him to anyone who needs to see an ent specialist. There are not a lot of doctors out there like Dr. Brown. Dr. Brown listens to his patients and tries to help improve his patients lives. I know he has improved mine.

I’ve had various throat problems over the years and have found Great Hills ENT to be the best place in town to get them taken care of. Dr. Brown is a great guy when you are in pain! He knows his trade well, and takes good care of his patients. I haven’t had any issues with late appointments, over-​billing, or insurance problems. His staff is excellent at what they do.
I was so impressed with Great Hills ENT that my son and daughter have both had their tonsils and adnoids out when this became necessary. I suffered often as a child from Strep throat etc, and my kids don’t worry about that now.
The office is in a clean location, and I believe last time I was in, they mentioned they would be remodeling soon to add more capacity.
Just like with any physician, listen to what you are advised, and follow their directions, and you will love this place and the treatment they offer.

I’m rating these guys a 5 because of Dr. Brown, not his staff. If it were his staff, they’d have a 2 at best. However, Dr. Brown is amazing. I have been suffering from constant migraines and drainage from chronic sinusitis for years now. I had another physician, was on antibiotics for two years, and had an invasive surgery before giving up and deciding to learn to live with it. However, a nurse on my campus recommended I take one more chance and give Dr. Brown a visit. I’m glad I did. He’s not into this whole over medicating craze everyone else has fallen into. He’s clearly knowledgable on the subject of ENT and offered great advice, including actually saying that more antibiotic wouldn’t help (my other physician was trying to talk me into them). He ended up operating for me and it went really well. I had absolute confidence in him and will definitely return with future needs. After five long years, I feel great!

I snore. I know this because strangers living in an adjacent zip code have called to tell me so. A lung test has suggested sleep apnea, so I was sent here for an examination and a sleep study.
Small, friendly office with cheery staff and a very nice Doctor, Mark Brown. Dr. Brown was helpful, informative and pleasant, and took time to answer all the questions I had about apnea, sleep studies, possible results and possible treatments.
The sleep study itself was also here, like a late night sleepover. I arrived at 10pm, «checked in» with a helpful technician who attached dozens of wires and electrodes to several parts of my body and wished me a good night’s sleep. Oddly enough, I slept well in the comfortable bed with flat screen TV, ensuite bathroom and fluffy pillows despite looking like an early astronaut in training.
About as pleasant an experience as being wired, monitored and observed for 7 hours can be – these folks know their sleep. Part 2 of the study was scheduled for another center – more to come.