Pauline J Jose, MD

This review doesn’t really matter much now because Dr. Jose just closed her practice, but I’m going to leave one anyways. First off, the office was fine. Not amazing, but no awful experiences. I loved it at first, but I soon discovered how difficult it was to actually get a hold of someone there. Anyways, I just called to get my prescription refilled only to find out, like I said, she closed down her practice! Are you kidding me? No phone call? No letter? No e-​mail? Nothing? So unbelievably unprofessional, it’s ridiculous.

Hi everyone. I just wanted to let you know that Doctor Jose has stopped practicing medicine. I was her patient for over ten years. She’s a great lady. Although, she had so many patients that in order to see her personally, I always had to make an appointment three months in advance for my regular annual check-​up. To her credit, she made up for it by being available via email, if I ever needed anything that couldn’t wait. I only saw her once a year because I am healthy (knock on wood) and never needed to go except for my annual exam. With that said, This year 2015, I made an appointment back in August for a November appointment for my annual exam, and just a week before, I received a call from her office cancelling my appointment and they told me that she is no longer seeing patients nor practicing medicine anymore and that her office at Cedars would only be open until the end of this month (November) to tidy up any billing issues. The timing couldn’t be worse because now I have to find a new doctor, it’s the end of the year and renewal time, so now I have wait to find a doctor who will take my insurance/​policy that I don’t even know I will have until after the renewal in January. So it looks like I won’t be getting an annual check-​up this year and will have to wait until next year to lock in the new annual policy, and find a doctor based on that, and then, make a new appointment as a new patient. Not looking forward to that. I only wished she would have informed me of that when I made my appointment instead making me wait three months before calling to cancel.

Had to wait a long time after my appointment time to see the nurse practitioner.

I came in for my first appointment and wasn’t even able to see Dr Jose. Instead I was seen by a nurse practitioner who was awful! Performed the quickest physical ever, rushed through all the questions I had, was not attentive to my concerns, and handed out prescriptions like it was candy instead of getting to know my medical history. Then to even get a call back from the Doctor or nurse is impossible! They just leave notes for when the patient calls in and the receptionist reads whatever notes is left. Uhhh… what happened to a call back?!! I requested Dr Jose as my doctor for a reason but what is the point if I am never able to see her? Definitely do not recommend and definitely going to change my primary care doctor asap.

I have been seeing Dr. Jose for about four years now. She has always taken the time to talk with me and really listens to my concerns, and is always respectful and patient in answering my questions. Yes, I sometimes have to wait for my appointment and sometimes the pharmacy has to call a few times to get prescriptions refilled, but the value of having a great doctor certainly outweighs the irritation over administrative issues for me.

I had a great experience at Dr. Jose’s office. I originally had an appointment for later in the week with their NP, Don. At the last minute I called and spoke with their receptionist to see if they could fit me in that same day. The woman I spoke with was very pleasant. She was able to schedule me an appointment for later that afternoon.
I honestly can’t say enough about NP, Don. I found him to be very professional and knowledgable. He has a wonderful personality. Don, explained every lab to me that he would be running. He answered all my questions… I definitely didn’t feel rushed. He than called me directly with my lab results two days later. Teresa, was great as well. I felt very comfortable in their care.
The only downside to Dr. Jose’s office is their phone system. It sometimes takes multiple phone calls to speak with a receptionist.

Dr. Pauline Jose is a good doctor. And currently they got a new person in name Rochalle and she actually… returns vm and answers you calls. Complete change from even a few months ago to the WAY BETTER!!!
The nurse practitioner Leonardo Legaspi FNP is compassionate and have a good knowledge of medicine. I have endometriosis and he understood immediately the pain I go through. Usually I have to explain to doctors what my issues are.
Also Teresa? has been very sweet and painless when drawing blood. Three vials and I didn’t even feel it.
Dr. Jose’s staff and office has done a 180 and I was initially considering to go elsewhere for care due to the awful management of the office before… I’ve decided to stick around with the new changes. I am VERY happy with their services and speed and compassion and attention to detail.
The NP is amazing. I don’t feel rushed. I feel comfortable.

I recently switched health insurances and was glad to see Dr. Jose was on my plan. It had been a while since my last visit so I recently went in for a checkup. I was so pleasantly surprised to see how things have improved since my last visit. The office staff seems really organized and friendly. No more chaos. I think there’s one lady who strictly handles the health insurance stuff and she even communicates via email. They answer the phone every time I call and return calls as promised. Dr. Jose is only in on Thursdays but they have a really great NP, Don who is there on other days. So grateful for Dr. Jose and her staff.

I really like Dr. Jose. This is my second check up and the second time a nurse practitioner did the exam, which I was leery with at first but the practitioner was cool and Dr. Jose did come in after for the consult.
I can say that I am back here now to redo my labs because the lab didn’t have enough of a specimen to complete test!!! I never heard such a thing, but OK. That’s gonna definitely lower my review today. Also, I had to call and follow twice for the lab results. Although, they did call immediately regarding my initial blood labs, so maybe the other situation was a fluke. My only other complaint it that they are on the 11^th floor and I have an elevator phobia. Yes, I do walk the 11 flights!!! Lol. At least there is stair access. They also do not validate parking. All these are negatives when I have to come back because of an error.
So the doctor is good, and The staff of always pleasant, but there are some other factors working against them.

Dr. Jose ‘may be’ a good doctor, but her office management including appointment time synchronizing is ‘extremely’ disorganized! I definitely agree with most other reviewers here in Unilocal!
I had to wait for 2 additional hours after my appointment time when I arrived at her office 1 hour prior to my appointment time. With multiple back and forth for various tests, Dr. Jose came by to see me for ONLY ONE MINUTE,… yes, hard to believe. I waited 3+ hours, whereas doctor spared 1 precious minute to me. SHOCKING!
Unprofessional and unethical services don’t stop there; Dr. Jose told me my referrals would follow in two weeks, but it was more than a month passed by and STILL WAITING to receive those. How can a doctor FORGET/​OVERLOOK such follow ups?
I WILL NOT GO BACK EVER AGAIN TO HER AND recommend others to find a different place before you pass out while waiting to hear back from her office.

Dr. Jose is a good doctor but be prepared to wait 45 min after your appointment time to even be called in.

I agree with the other people on here stating that Dr. Jose’s office staff is absolutely inept, incompetent, and unprofessional. My mother waited on a referral for over two months… calling several times and NEVER getting a return call. When the referral finally arrived it was wrong. She has now been waiting over a month for a second referral. We are switching to another provider, not because of Dr. Jose, but because she has the worst staff in the business. DO NOT GO TO THIS OFFICE! You will not receive the medical care that you deserve. Obviously this office does not care about their patients.

Anyone on this page giving Dr. Jose a high review has no idea of what is like to actually need treatment. We had the horrible experience of waiting on her staff to send an authorization request to our medical group.
I understand that everyone is busy and sometimes things might take a little long. Dr. Jose’s office makes no apologies for making you wait over a month for an authorization (no matter how much pain and suffering the patient complains). In fact we called their office 6 times within the last two weeks, leaving all kinds of messages. It does not matter what option you press when you call her office, you will always get a recorded message.
They have NEVER returned our calls. Never even had the decency to even acknowledge our calls. NOTHING
If you have an HMO plan, be aware that Dr. Jose’s office is extremely incompetent.
When we finally received one of the authorizations (meanwhile pain and symptoms do not go away), the incompetent staff (i believe her name is Brenda) did it wrong. So now we are still waiting for these people to somehow, someday correct the authorization request and have the mercy to do it again.
Dr. Jose’s office is like buying cheap auto insurance, it is all good and great as long as you don’t get in a accident. Then you find out the awful mistake you have made because you realize that they are worthless.

Dr. Jose’s staff is absolutely the worst around. No returned calls, as everyone here notes. Empty promises, impossible responses and complete disorganization. I was told my chart «could not be found,» and have been trying for more than three weeks to simply get them to fax results. No more. I’d advise anyone looking for a new PCP to look elsewhere, even though Pauline herself is a decent doctor.

Such a nice doctor. wait time could be better but what do you expect from a doctor’s office?

Dr Jose is an amazing doctor and should have 5 stars, but her staff is horrible and deserves no stars and heres why:
— they schedule mutiple appointments at the same time, which means you wait for an hour past your app time to actually see the doctor.
— they never call back when you leave a message… or mutiple messages
— it took 4 weeks to get them to submit a referral request, just the request. I had to wait another week to recieve the actual referral.
— i requested my medical records 4 weeks ago and still have not received them
— they are rude and unproffesional
I could go on, but i think you get the point.
Again, Dr Jose is an amazing doctor and i wish i could have kept her as my PCP, but her staff has made it clear that they DO NOT respect their patients and they DO NOT take their patient medical care seriously.
You have been forewarned — Good Luck.

The Good:
I love Dr. Jose as a doctor — she will call you back (if you can leave a message with her staff), give advice over the phone, and is knowledgable and helpful. Her office is in a great location near Cedars, too. She really cares about her patients and is a great listener.
I’m a woman in my 20’s and I don’t have any serious medical problems.
The bad:
I’m giving up and finding another doctor because it’s impossible to schedule an appointment with Dr. Jose. I have an unpredictable schedule and I’ve never successfully made a last-​minute appointment with Dr. Jose. Not because she doesn’t have them — but because 99% of the time I call I can’t get through to anyone or leave a voicemail for an appointment. Oh and just FYI: Dr. Jose does not make any weekend appointments or early morning appointments — I think her earliest appt is 10a most days.
In December I had an urgent problem and left a voicemail in the «urgent» mailbox and was never called back. I was later told the doctor was out of town. I think it’s a little weird that the voicemail box didn’t say she was out of town or leave another number for a doctor her patients could call in an emergency. So I guess «no on-​call doctor» might be a deterrent for someone with kids, pregnant or with more serious health issues.
All of the problems I have with Dr. Jose are related to her phone system — no answer, no voicemail, etc. I hope one day she gets it together and changes that system, then she would be the ideal doctor!

Dr. Jose might be a nice woman, but a good Dr. she is NOT! Everyone is blaming her staff, but her staff is hired by her.
My first problem is that you have to wait 4 to 5 weeks to see her. When you are sick that is just not good enough.
The second problem is the time you have to wait to see her once you get to her office. the wait time ranges from 45 minutes to over an hour and a half.
The third problem is that she does not take notes on your chart and often makes mistakes. I had a thyroid test and it came back abnornal. She offered to prescribe thyroid medication, but I told her I wanted to redo the test just in case it was wrong. During the time that I was waiting for the test results, she called me to ask if I needed to increase the dose. This is after talking to her and explaining why I am not going to use the prescription until the second test results arrive. Anyway, the test results finally came and my thyroid was just fine. A couple of months later Dr. Jose leaves me a message asking if I needed her to increase the dose and renew the prescription.
Finally, I have called Dr. Jose and left a few messages over the year. She never returned any of my phone calls.
In general, I don’t like to leave negative comments. In fact this is the only one that I have left. However, I want new patients to be aware of these issues and let them decide whether they want to take the chance or run.
Unilocal has buried my comments in the past and I would not be surprised if they do so again. In fact, ignoring all other negative comments, she has managed to have close to 5 stars. That is why I don’t trust Unilocal when I want to find out about people or places.

I really liked Dr Jose, but have always had issues with her staff and their lack of customer service, poor response times. I’ve even showed up there with a really bad eye infection, almost unable to see and have been turned away!
The next time i had an appointment Dr Jose was appalled that her staff would turn me away if i was actually there, and severely apologized and even mentioned that she’d since done some restructuring to get rid of the negative people.
Things like that kept me coming back, she was easy to talk to and genuinely concerned about my health, asked about my boyfriend and more.
However, trying to get a recent appointment — took forever. their line was different (without much notice to patients), the new one was busy and the staff never bothered to return calls. After scheduling an appointment a month and a half out, i recently started having lower abdomen pains and asked to be put on a short list in case their were any cancellations. The front desk didnt even care, bother to ask questions or return my calls. After the 4^th try i finally got a response but it wasnt even from Dr Jose — telling me to take aleve, and if my symptoms persist go to the emergency. She didnt even try to squeeze me in.
I think that was the last straw for me. Bad service, hard to find parking, and now feeling not cared for. i’ve cancelled my appointment and found what i hope will be a better experience (and has been thus far, just from setting an appointment on the phone — such a major difference), with my upcoming appointment on Monday. THey would have fit me in today if possible. Go figure
My lesson learned is, if you’re not truly satisfied, you dont have to just sit there and take it. Find a doctor and a staff (which is very much apart of the well-​being experience) who make you feel comfortable — after all that’s what you’re there for.

Pro:
I called with an emergency and needed an appointment within 24 hours and Dr. Jose’s office was gracious enough to set one up for me. I was feeling a sharp pain and leaving town 2 days later, so I wanted this checked out before I went. I had never been to her office before, so I was a new patient.
Con:
Wrong phone numbers. Since the office was just moving they did not have the right phone number listed anywhere. So if you did not store the right one when you got it, it was nearly impossible to find it again.
Timing. Fast forward to the visit. I showed up on time but ended up waiting for 45 minutes before Dr. Jose was able to see me. If you are hoping to go during your lunch hour, good luck, this visit can take a while.
Environment. The «new» office was dingy, old, smelled weird and Dr. Jose’s white coat had strange stains on it.
Medical expertise. Dr. Jose had no clue what was wrong with me. So she did some tests. I was anxiously awaiting the results which were supposed to be given to me within 24 – 72 hours. I did not hear back from her for 6 weeks! It was unreal. In fact, I was the one that called her office to demand an explanation. After calling several times, she finally returned my call apologetic. She said she had seen something alarming and wanted to go for further testing and will send me info and prescription for further tests. 3 weeks later, I had not heard from her. After some phone calls, it took over 2 months to get that prescription. At that point, I was done. This is not a responsible medical professional.
She is a nice lady, she means well, but when you are going in to see a doc for a problem you should not be chasing her for lab results.