Srividya Venkataraman, MD

Not only have I entrusted my health care but I also have recommended her to others and brought my family to her practice. She listens, she talks to you and she does not rush you. You are not a number in her practice. She is very competent and knowledgable and I appreciate her excellent service and advice. Her staff has been great to me and always acknowledge me when I come in or call. If I wait a few minutes while Dr V. Is with another patient I can accept that. I have had no problems with this kind Dr. And her caring staff.

My first appointment with Dr. V was yesterday after a referral from a neighbor. I was looking for a doctor who would listen carefully, be thorough, understanding and motivating and help me manage my health. I have to say that Dr. V exceeded my expectations in all ways. Additionally, the office staff was professional, friendly, and very accommodating. They faxed over Dr. V’s referrals to specialists before I even got out of the exam room! (No more waiting 2 weeks like I have had to do with the larger medical groups!) This practice does family medicine so she sees all ages. I am going to move the rest of my family to Dr. V because I was so happy and impressed yesterday. Side note, I did eat at the small café on my way out because the food smells in the lobby were so good but I did not realize that the café was connected to Dr. V until I just read the other Unilocal reviews. And, I agree with the other reviewer that the food was delicious. I don’t really understand the bad reviews about the office staff because they were lovely to me. They did their jobs efficiently and treated me with respect. Couldn’t ask for anything more. Very pleased with my experience.

This is the absolute worst doctors office imaginable. The wait time to see this doctor is 1.5 hours on average at least. What is the point of making an appointment?

Dr. Venkataraman was my daughter’s doctor and my daughter really liked her because she is professional, efficient and friendly. Unfortunately, her staff is TERRIBLE. They are incompetent, incapable and rude. Read all the other reviews and they echo the same sentiment. It’s the staff that drives patients away but the fault also lies with Dr. V. since she has control over who is hired.
My daughter had a bad eye infection and she called the office to make an appointment and they accommodated her with an appointment the next day. They have an office policy that says you have 24 hours to cancel. Given that the appointment was within 24 hours, while I was on speakerphone, my daughter clearly asked the person making the appointment if she would be penalized if she canceled the day of the appointment and she was told she would not. Her eye got so bad that we ended up going to urgent care instead that afternoon, no longer requiring the appointment the next day. We called the doctor’s office the day of the appointment to cancel and was told she would be penalized! When she contested, she was told she wouldn’t be charged, the woman put her on hold, consulted with whoever individual and came back on the phone and told my daughter that she wouldn’t be charged.
The following day, my daughter gets a phone call charging the $ 25 no-​show fee. I call the office back, a woman answers and states the policy as I am attempting to tell her what we were told. The woman put me on hold and after a few minutes, someone hangs up on me. When I call back, the woman doesn’t acknowledge that I was hung up on and asks me what’s the issue as if I hadn’t just been placed on hold and hung up on for the last 8 or so minutes. She then states, «I’m the one who made your daughter’s appointment and that’s not what I told her. There’s nothing I can tell you. I just started this job and I am only doing my job by telling you the policy». She was very unprofessional and even though I told her I clearly heard what she said when my daughter made the appointment, she began to huff and puff and was clearly agitated. There were no apologies for any miscommunication. Apparently, she should not be in customer service if she doesn’t know how to have a conversation with people. When she provided me the office manager’s information, she provided me with initials, «V.R.». I asked her to elaborate but I doubt she understood what I was asking, much less anything else.
We have opened up a claim with our health insurance to contest the $ 25 fee so thank you to all the other reviews on here that support our claim of this staff’s incompetence!
Also, there is clearly a fake review or two on here in attempt to offset the unfavorable reviews. Nice try but no cigar.

If I could give 0 stars, I would.
I am writing this review for my husband who just had his 2^nd and FINAL appointment here.
If you plan on ever having to reschedule your appointment on the same day, be prepared to pay $ 25. And don’t worry, they won’t tell you that they are charging you, just send you a bill. So when my husbands job schedule changed hours before his appointment and he called them to let them know and pick a new date, the office staff never bothered to inform him of their policy. Instead when he went to argue the TWO charges (he had to reschedule twice) they defended their policy stating that they «have a sign posted in their office.» Because he was supposed to know that, that? Or have MAYBE saw the sign last year at his first appointment and remembered a year later? Good business etiquette would be to inform your patients of things like this if they valued them. Clearly they don’t.

Total in competent staff… rude…
Beware of billing too, they charge if you use a debit/​credit card… What? are they in the stone age?
They charge you for physical even if your insurance allows a free one once a year, they know how to milk money from the innocent.
Don’t recommend this doctor, as one of the reviewers said you are better off going to Tijuana to see a doctor.
If they get rid of their current staff, the scores can improve.

I need to write this Dr. a prescription, a prescription for a new staff.
Is there medication for incompetence because this staff needs to be given the highest doseage and fast.
At Dr. Srividiya Venkataramen offices, it’s a disaster just waiting to happen. Don’t be surprised to see them headling BREAKING NEWS. Yes, it’s that bad.
When your dealing with a patients well being, there isn’t room for any errors or mistakes. By coming here, IMO your putting yourself at risk.
With a Medical staff that is completely unaware of basic procedures, provides patients with an «I guess «answer (This is not Jeopardy. There is no Alex Tribec), gives inaccurate/​misleading information, and employs staff that act «hood «Sorry, I don’t understand ghetto terminology.
Don’t waste your breath trying to make a complaint.
You have a greater chance of making contact with the dead than the Front desk manager.
I wouldn’t trust this staff to wash my car, let alone trust them with my life. You’re better off going to Tijuana for Medical care than here.

I gave 3 star because of Dr. V — She is really sweet and knowledgeable. As stated before by another reviewer, the office staff does sucks (generally — there is one very sweet newer nurse that I really liked). They are rude on the phone and don’t bother to look at you when you come into the office — no «hello» or «how are you.» Honestly, if you do not like working there please leave! Additionally the staff says they will call you back and they don’t, submit incorrect prescriptions after multiple phone calls on what is being requested (because they didn’t call me back)…on and on. I had a bit of a recent questionable experience with the doctor — very rushed, provided activities that did not make sense, stated she would give me a meal plan to follow to a T and then forgot to give to me (I could call but why put myself through that) and I didn’t feel that my condition was properly analyzed. I was just told to get «more» blood work and go from there. I’m tired and I want someone who will take their time with me and consider all avenues for improvement of my condition — natural or otherwise. When I just needed my annual physicals and little care, this office was good for me — now, not so much. I have made the decision (after 7 years of being at this office) to move on to another doctor’s office. Thank you Dr. V, but I think I need more care at this time.

Love her, love the staff. She is patient, she listens and she thinks outside of the box. I like the fact that she considers my opinion and thoughts. She doesn’t jump to the prescription pad for every thing. Because she takes her time with each patient, there have been times when I have had to wait 10 – 25 minutes for my appointment, but I dare you to find a dr that is always on time. And if you did, I wouldn’t want them. Watching the clock instead of listening to her patients — I think that is a bad bargain. The only complaint I might have is that the rooms are not sound proof, so confidentiality is compromised to some extent.

Worst experience with a doctor’s office so far… I was fully satisfied with the doctor … but then one day, I received a no-​show bill for an appointment I had never scheduled … when asked, I was told they tried to reach me, but couldn’t… so they scheduled the appt irrespective of not being able to reach me… no voice message or notifications either for the appt scheduled…
Then I had a critical hand injury and had to go for an immediate surgery… was trying to reach the doctor on the call before I was planned to go for the surgery, but the office staff wouldn’t let me talk to the doctor… after arguing for 5 – 10 mins, the doctor came on the phone and we discussed …
Then I visited the doctor and explained to her the no-​show charge situation earlier… and to my surprise, she, after checking some records, bluntly replied — «we tried to reach you»… this was early Feb… I questioned, but then I decided to pay off and stopped visiting the doctor.
Now, this is mid-​August and the reason I am writing this review today… to my surprise, my wife receives a no-​show bill!!! She had visited the doctor only once, and she was asked to get some blood work. done. she was told that they will call in to schedule an appt after the office receives the blood reports… no calls, no messages… and then yesterday, she receives a no-​show bill… again, a fictitious appt scheduled without any notifications to the patient…
I received my no-​show bill within a month of the self-​scheduled appt … and my wife receives her n-​show bill after 9 months!!! This itself tells the story what’s going on in this doctor’s office… so unethical on the doctor’s behalf and her staff…
The no-​show bills are only for $ 25… so can pay it off for my wife again … but debating whether or not this is the best thing to do or should I pose fraud charges against them… the backend history records can prove this. and my phone records can prove they never notified us for any of the appts scheduled.
I do not recommend this doctor.

Everything sucks. You wait around forever. The ladies that answer the phone are rude and never let you talk to the doctor. Forget about a call back! They make you come in just so they can charge you, even when you don’t need to come in for the paperwork or refill. The only reason I stayed here is that they were holding my records hostage. If you have a back injury they tell you it’s in your head!!! Even when the MRI shows damage. I stayed far too long, years too long. I left and am never looking back! They even refused refills on a long standing medication when the pharmacy called without prior notice. Unprofessional but sadly not surprising. My new doctor did more in one visit than she did in 3 years.

I’m not a fan of most doctors and their bedside manner but Dr. V is simply awesome. She spent a good 20 minutes getting to know me personally before my exam and I really appreciate that. I like the fact that besides western medicine she also approaches things holistically as well.
Dr. V’s office is in a 4 story building and after my appointment I was hungry so I went down stairs where there’s a small café. The café is vegetarian/​vegan and was friggin’ delicious! Come to find out Dr. V is co-​owner of the place.
All in all I got a really good vibe from her and I’m now keeping her as my doctor.