David L. Austin, MD

Dr. Austin is a superb doctor. I feel heard and well cared for upon each visit. My experience with his staff has been good, no problems there. I have had tangles with doctors who want a one-​way communication stream with me but being in my 40’s I have learned to push back and be «heard». Fortunately Dr. Austin has always given me free range to discuss all my issues and concerns. This doctor is notch… go see him.

I took a risk coming here when I saw the mixed reviews. My hubby had previously gone to him, so I followed suit.
The check-​up started poorly when I was charged a co-​pay for my annual physical. Luckily I spoke to my hubby while waiting and realized that I should not be charged. Annuals are free with my PPO. I spoke to the lady up front. She claimed that she did not know it was my annual, that she did not have access to that info. When I met Dr. Austin, I asked him about it. He told me straight up that it was clearly coded as an annual and that she obviously made a mistake. I was refunded my co-​pay at the end of the appointment. If I did not catch it, I would be out that money.
Dr. Austin has great bedside manner. I actually really like him… BUT here is where my review goes really down south:
I received an automated email at 9pm on a Thursday night that some medical tests had come in. I logged on to find a note from Dr. Austin telling me to see a specialist, and he did not know what to say about my results. When I Googled, I discovered I had an 56% rate of cancer/​pre-​cancer needing IMMEDIATE follow up. I did NOT sleep the whole night. I was scared to death. I almost missed the e-​mail in the first place because it completely looked like spam. I was literally about to delete it, when I happened to see my name in the first sentence.
Anyways, all is well. I had several biopsies. After over a week of sleeping pills and high anxiety, I was deemed in the clear. I cannot forgive that kind of callous behavior. I could have easily missed that e-​mail. It warranted a phone call. I will not have a Dr. who won’t even pick up the phone. If I did have cancer and missed that e-​mail, it could have had fatal results.
By sharp contrast, the specialist called me several times to follow up with my results and went out of his way to make sure I was okay. He also consulted with an oncologist colleague to go over my case to get a second opinion. He believes that Dr. Austin’s lab either interpreted my results wrong or that they MIXED up my slide with someone else’s. I sincerely hope if that is the case, that that person is okay.
That whole thing cost me $ 1100! So if Dr. A did mix up the slides, I am super pissed!!!
Also, we had to dispute a $ 400+ bill for an annual. The insurance settled it, but it took a three way call to Dr. Austin’s office despite our insurance repeatedly sending in payment.
On top of all of this, Dr. Austin wrote me the wrong prescription for Retin A immediately after asking me what strength I wanted. I answered, and he still gave me the weakest strength one when I asked for medium. I filled the prescription without checking and used it. I noticed it did not feel like anything. I realized my mistake, but Target would not take it back since it was what the prescription said. This cost me $ 76!
Going to this Dr has cost me about $ 1200 and a lot of stress and strain. I will never go back! I have put off this review because thinking about this practice makes me cringe.

I am going on 10 years now having UCLA and Dr. Austin. It has been a privilege. The quality of the care, the thoroughness and promptness of the staff, and the overall empathy and ethics of everyone involved are still top notch.

My husband has been going to Dr Austin as he has a very nice bedside manner and we are both UCLA alumni. However, we continue to get HUGE bills from very basic well-​visits for any tests they run. On the other hand, I am yet to have one bill outside our coverage from my primary physician. Something is very fishy with the billing here!

I have to admit that most of the reviews are right on point. Dr. David Austin is simply the best doc I have found in two decades, however the staff is just horrible. That being said, they got on board recently a new guy by the name of Chris and along with Dr. Austin being so good, he is probably the reason I have not switched to someone else.

Best doctor ever.

A few years ago after believing that doctors and medical personnel no longer care about patients, a coworker recommended Dr. David Austin. I soon became a patient of Dr. Austin and I have been happy ever since. First, making an appointment takes some waiting on the phone, but I am happy that I can always get into see the doctor within one week.
When I get to my appointment, check in is easy and I end up waiting a short time in the waiting room before a pleasant nurse calls me back. She checks my vitals promptly and efficiently and states that the doctor will be in shortly. A few minutes later, Dr. Austin shows up. He is friendly, caring, warm, and always concerned about any issues I may have. He makes his recommendations and sends me away sometimes with a specialist contact or prescription. Total time spent at the doctor’s office is usually 15 to 20 minutes. For a full physical exam, 30 – 45 minutes. I can also communicate with him through email.
One caveat: The person assisting with scheduling appointments is not very professional or even courteous and most often is abrupt and abrasive. This one person will not sour my opinion about all the other staff members nor will it overshadow the many positive experiences I have had with this medical group and Dr. David Austin. I hope that his supervisor gets wind of this note and acts to remedy his inappropriate conduct. He should not be employed by a professional organization such as UCLA Medical Group.
Yet still, I will stand by my 5 star rating.

I love Dr. Austin. He is ALWAYS on time which is huge to me. And he listens to everything and does additionally testing if needed. I’ve had to come in a couple of times on kinda emergency (my back going out) and I call and he always squeezes me in. I do understand the frustration of being on hold for a long time, although I never had to hold longer than 10 minutes, but you have to take the good with the bad. I did not have a primary care physician for years because I couldn’t find one that wasn’t always making me wait in the waiting room for 2 hours and then barely even make eye contact with me during my visit. Also, regarding his office, sometimes I will call with a question for him and they take the question I have for him over the phone and then they get back to me in a couple of hours with the answer.

I would have given this office 5 stars but I am still dealing with a billing problem from June. Dr Austin is very personable and I felt he cared about his patients. My visit was for a well checkup. Did I think he covered everything as some of doctors did in the past (in other well check ups)…no. I was dissapointed in the letter or say I should I say form stating my well condition. It was not very detailed nor personal. Billing has been a disaster. they want you to call three different #‘s to get a problem resolved that they created… very frustrating

Review is for the office, not the doctor.
I went to Dr. Austin several years ago and had a very positive experience. But as my employer tried to get the most out of its dollar, it switched insurance carriers and I was forced out to a lesser practice.
Now two years later, I’m back on the Cadillac plan and tried to get back in. Here’s my experience:
1) First call in September — waited on hold for 30 minutes, then was told Dr. Austin wasn’t accepting new patients. She curtly suggested I tried back later.
2) Second — Fourth calls in November/​December — no one answers the phone, even during office hours. I get «the office is closed» at 2pm on a Tuesday. Sometimes, I get a busy signal.
3) Fifth — sixth calls — busy signal
4) Seventh call in mid December — waited on hold for 20 minutes. Decided my seething frustration in trying to set up a doctor’s appointment was not good for my health. Promptly hung up.
Apparently, the stars won’t align for my call to get through — that, or the staff are too damn busy with other things.
Anyone know a good doctor?!

I honestly don’t know if he is good. But his office/​staff sure is horrible. I was on hold for 30 min to finally talk to a receptionist who told me that Dr. Austin is not taking new patients. WTF? I asked when he will accept new patients and she said it’s undetermined. Then I asked who he would refer and she referred 2 other doctors in the same office. All this makes no sense. Dr. Austin needs better staff who accepts new patients!

This review is for just his office.
I don’t have anything to say about Dr. Austin because I couldn’t get past the rude receptionist to even make an appointment. I was interested in making an appointment for my dad as a new patient there and the girl on the phone was rude and unhelpful. She made me feel rushed and she made my questions seem dumb and unimportant. I am still looking for a new family doctor for my family. If anyone has any recommendations please message me.

I’ve been going to Dr. Austin for about 8 years now and he is by far the best Dr. I’ve ever had. He is very friendly, professional, patient and highly skilled. If you live in the south bay Dr. Austin is the only physician you should ever go to. On another topic… when is MB/​HB going to build a small, local hospital? the closest hospital/​24hr ER is in Torrance???

Dr. Austin is awesome. Knowledgeable, doesn’t make you feel rushed and he listens.
The only negative is the office staff… I don;t know if they’re just too busy or what, but it takes several calls to get anything done. Worth the wait though, because Dr. Austin rocks.

Dr Austin is a very nice man and from my experience a good doctor.
Dealing with his office is HORRIBLE. It took 3 things to inspire me to go to Unilocal and write a review.
1– On my first and only visit, I did not bring my insurance card. They said it was not a problem and I could fax it later that day. I did that and called to verify that they got the fax. They said that they did, yet it was never submitted to my insurance. Had to spend 2 hours making phone calls to clear that up.
2– I was on my honeymoon in Hawaii and had some type of heat rash, called the Dr Austin’s office, the person on the phone was rude and said they would call back. I didn’t hear anything for 12 hours, so I called back again. Same response and I NEVER got a call back from them.
3– I went to get an Rx refilled, the pharmacy had to fax a confirmation request to the doctor. They didn’t respond until I called them (Dr Austin’s office). The person on the phone told me that they would call me back to confirm. I got a call from the pharmacy later that day saying that the request was denied. I NEVER got a call back from Dr. Austin’s office. My wife called to follow up and request that they call me back. They still have not called back.
Summary:
Dr Austin seems to be a good doctor and is a very nice person.
Dr Austin’s office might as well not have a phone number. If you are looking for an accessible doctor, go somewhere else.
I wish I could give less than one star.

My first time to him, and I felt as if everything I needed covered was covered. He was thorough, friendly, informative and calming. I couldn’t ask for anything else in a doctor, and I’m excited for a long relationship.

Dr. Austin continued to be my rescuer. When I could not shake off my stubborn cold last week, I called the office in the morning — of course, there was no appointment available, but he accommodated to squeeze me in around lunch time on the same day.
He is friendly and shows how much he cares as always!
I also add the receptionists are friendly, too.

Dr Austin is really great. I’ve been going to him for a little under a decade and have never had anything but excellent service. Dr Austin is extremely knowledgeable and he never seems rushed to get you out the door.
He is really personable and good natured, listens to what you have to say, and is great at explain whatever is going on in clear layman’s terms.
I originally found him through a recommendation from a friend and have since recommended him numerous times and everyone has been really impressed. Can’t go wrong with Dr. Austin!

I am giving this doctor 2 stars because I got blood work done, my cholesterol came back off the chart, and he never called me.
In fact, the way that I found out was that I received a letter in the mail, over 2 weeks later, with chicken scratch, basically telling me I am a ticking time bomb.
The *most* important thing a doctor does is to help you get better. Where is my help? Where is my suggestion? No call, nothing. Just here is your bad news, on a piece of paper written in crayons… GOOD LUCK!!!
That is the definition of a factory doctor… pull your number off the wall, wait in line, go in for your 15 mins… cough/​spit/​pee in a cup… and «NEXT!!!»

Dr. Austin is my favorite doctor. I referred him to my brother and other friends and they all love him. He’s very personable and also very thorough when examining you. He is easy to talk to and it helps when you have a lot of questions. Even though I live in the Bay Area now, I still email him when I have health related questions and he is always quick to respond, usually on the same day.
They have a wonderful staff in the Manhattan Beach location. I visit their office at least 3 times a year for blood tests and the phlebotomist hasn’t missed a vein yet!
I love that they remember that I no longer live in So-​Cal and they are still so accommodating. If anyone can recommend a doctor they love in SF, I’d love to meet them. It’s not easy finding a great doctor.