Place To Call Home A

Called to get an appointment with my family doctor and was informed that she no longer accepts my insurance so she won’t see me. I do not understand how medical professionals can just do anything they want. Now, while not well. I have to find a new doctor and pay twice as much to be seen as I’m curious about my heart. Really? I’m infuriated at how these doctors just see us a numbers and not people!

Terrible service! I made an apt. for an annual physical wich is a no co-​pay appointment. When I showed up, the receptionist said I had to pay to «establish care» then make another appointment to have a physical. When I said that I thought they were trying to rip me off, the receptionist came back from speaking to the doctor and said Dr. Hart did not want me as a patient. Yeah, she fired me before I even saw her. She’s terrible, do not go here!

Got a call from Dr. Hart because her online scheduling service quadruple booked a confirmed appointment I’ve had scheduled over a month. She tried her best to make it look like it was my fault and acted like she was doing me a favor by re-​scheduling me for another appointment. I reminded her that it was her screw up and course in true Dr. Hart fashion she took no responsibility and got all fired up. I had my doubts about her and her practice, but, this behavior just reinforced my decision to go elsewhere.

I have been coming to Dr. Hart for a few years. My very first visit to her office I was impressed when I walked in, and found that I felt as though I was walking into kind of a spa-​like place vs. A clinical office, which made me feel like, wow, okay, nice… I was impressed.
I will definitely admit that at first I was completely turned off by my wait time, I waited, and waited, and waited and waited a bit more. The wait was ridiculous. And I am a person who is exceptionally prompt! And I absolutely despise tardiness! Then I got in to see Dr. Hart she took the time to get actually get to know me as a person, what I was looking for in a Dr. I left that visit really feeling a sense of finding someone great. And i realized thats why her appt wait time gets backed up, she gets in with her patients and is so personable, and she’s not some pill pusher! Which I LOVE! She believes in the same things I do about medication, once you start taking it, you have to then take something else and them something else, etc etc.
To alleviate the wait issue just be her FIRST appt!
Anytime I have gone to see Dr. Hart she has been nothing but professional and personable!

This was the worst experience ever. I sat in the waiting room for 45 min and the front office staff was extremely rude. When i finally got into the room, Dr. Hart acted like she was in a rush and didn’t even know my name. She did not have my chart, and had no idea what my existing medical conditions were. She was completely unprofessional and I will not be returning to her office. I would never recommend this office.

She completely overbooks. Staff is not professional. Dr. is dismissive when under pressure of being extremely busy. high turnover rate of MA’s.

If I could give NO STARS, I would!
There aren’t any good things to say about the doctor or the staff. The office is comfy and not «stiff» like others can be but believe me when I type… That is where the comfort ends.
The staff is a sickening combination of unprofessional and rude and after dealing with Dr. Hart for 35 seconds of my life that I will never get back, I understand why and how. Dr. Hart is just plain _____________(you can fill in your most unpleasant vocab).
I will never give this place access to my mind, body, time and or money ever. My entire household were patients; no longer!!! Sucks for her because we are pretty cool people!

Where do I start? This person, can’t say a lady, who claims to be a Doctor is the epitome of a bad joke. I’ve only encountered her on three occasions, and each and every time I had to wait 30 min.-1 hr out past my appointment to just hear her diagnose me wrong, talk about my purse the first visit and how its made by little Indian children. How bad men are and crap that had nothing to do with my medical care. This last visit (thank God it is the last) was for a physical. I was scheduled for 10:30, wasn’t seen until 11 and some change and wasn’t done until 12:15. So called cheap computer problems. She had to change lap tops cause the one she was using ran out of juice so she says. WTH? Her unprofessional mannerisms are far to be desired. I was sent a letter the very next day that she would no longer be treating me as a patient. Ok, but you could have told me that in the office, and not took my $ 20– for the visit. Why waste 47 cents when I’m sitting right in front of your face. No explanation as to why I got cut off after only 3 visits. She did me a favor really. I should have took heed when another potential patient and I chatted for a long while, while she waited to be seen for an appt an hour before I got there. I should have listened. This crazy women is out there and I whole hardheartedly DO NOT RECOMMEND HER OR
ANYTHING THAT REPRESENTS HER!!!

«A Place to call home» because you’ll sit in their homey lobby for hours watching the TV and waiting for your name to be called. I waited 1 hour and 45 minutes for my first appointment. It’s true you can not talk to a live person, when calling the office and will be lucky to get a call back in a few days. I won’t be going back and am switching doctors. I should have went to Unilocal first as the other sites must have friends and family writing the reviews. I waited almost 2 hours and she spent maybe 15 minutes with me. As I talked Dr. Karen Hart didn’t crack a smile. In fact, she had a really bad expression on her face. She wrote a few referrals and that was it. I had to ask for her to look at my ear and throat. No Thanks! I’ve experienced much more professionalism in the past from other doctor’s &/​or offices and won’t be going back to this. Not to mention, I was late getting back to work and put my coworkers in a vulnerable position in my absence. I can’t take this kind of risk in the future so I opted to change doctors right away.
Good bye to a place to call home… I have a better home and your home sucks!

Like so many other reviewers here, I wish I could give this horrible place zero stars. I too have been subjected to the 2 hour wait times, the completely unnecessary tests, the inappropriate bedside banter as she goes on and on about how terrible and dishonest men are and relationships won’t last so don’t spend a lot on your wedding, and office staff that you cannot get a hold of no matter how many voicemails you leave. I was willing to put up with all of this because finding another doctor who was close geographically, in my network, and accepting patients was a lot of work. Well… sticking with Dr. Hart’s office really paid off for me since I got a letter in the mail telling me she can no longer treat me, with a $ 40 bill for a no show attached. I have the no show conversation often with this place because no one answers their phone or checks their messages, so if you call to reschedule, even days before, no one notices and you get accused of no-​showing. Apparently her new policy is to just drop you as a patient if you no-​show. So you put up with excessive wait times, unprofessional bedside manner, repeated failure to refill prescriptions after numerous requests, and complete lack of communication (good luck getting test results ever btw) and in return, if you ever cancel same day or no-​show according to them, you will get an impersonal form letter telling you to find another doctor. Great business model, Dr. From the looks of all these extraordinarily negative reviews, maybe Dr. Hart shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss patients who are actually willing to come back after one awful visit at this place.
Do yourself a favor and keep looking for another doctor.

Short version: makes you wait too long, poor demeanor, never calls in prescriptions — I would rather be seen in a RESIDENCY program than by Dr. Hart.
She’s an absolute freaking joke. No seriously. Go to Dr. Hart if you’d like some bitter, unwanted advice on your love life. Or, more awkwardly, your sex life. OR if you like a doctor who doesn’t do her job and is never on time. In my first appointment with Dr. Hart, I had to wait over an hour past my appointment time and I was 15 minutes early. That was just to get in the back where I waited another 20 minutes. This happened both times I saw her as you can see in the other reviews.
What makes mine special? The advice. As a first time patient, Dr. Hart asked me about my sexual past. Fair enough. «You can’t just sleep with anyone who buys you Burger King.» What? Who said anything about cheeseburgers? Dr. Hart, it’s not like that. «Well, you know, if you don’t stay home with your kids you’ll regret it. You need to find a man to support you.» Uhh. To buy my cheeseburgers? To buy my kids cheeseburgers? Wait, I don’t even have kids. «Don’t marry for love, marry for money, love doesn’t pay the bills.» That’s true. Neither do IOUs as I’ve found out and I’m sure spending money on cheeseburgers won’t help. Dr. Hart, I have higher standards than Burger King, although I now question yours.
I called her office recently because I had a recurring problem. The receptionist answers and asks «Is this for a follow-​up or a physical?» Well, uh, none of the above? I mean, I guess you could count it as a physical, I mean it’s a physical problem with my physical being. «What is it exactly?» I tell her, I can hear her asking Dr. Hart. «Take this over the counter medicine and if it doesn’t help, we can schedule a same day appointment.» So, it’s already recurring… Obviously the over the counter medicine isn’t working… I’m sorry, why do I have to connect these dots for you? Don’t you have some sort of medical training? Okay, have a nice day.
If you don’t want to do Primary Care work, take yourself off of all of the insurance and healthcare provider sites where it has you listed that way!

This place is a nightmare. I, too, got involved because it’s close to my house. I’ve never waited less than an hour – one time 2 hours – and, the first thing they should do is get rid of that endless video loop of nonsense. «A place to call home???» Ha. Must have sounded good at the brainstorming meeting. Dr. Hart spent a lot of my first visit telling me I needed to lose weight – like I don’t have a mirror at home. She told me all about how she lost weight – hey good for you! Thing is, I’m a 55 year old woman who’s gained and lost the same 35 lbs at least 5 times. I know how it goes. My last straw was when Dr. Hart had a medical student shadowing her. Dr. Hart treated this young woman like crap. Also they never call you back. I’ve been waiting for a referral call for 3 days now. I’ve called every day. Do yourself a favor, keep looking.

Wow! This was such a refreshing experience. I love the way the office is decorated. The staff were nice but some of them seemed a little frazzled. The one receptionist who called me up first was trying to help me and be on the phone at the same time. She was very matter of fact. I think it would help new patients feel more welcome if the receptionist had a more friendly disposition, was focused on one patient at a time, and would smile at the patients when they walked in the door.
I did love the medical assistant. She was friendlier and willing to answer questions. For example how they take your vitals. They check your pulse, blood pressure, and your oxygen intake. I’ve never had all three done before. I thought that was interesting. I’m a fairly healthy young adult, but I imagine for older patients that added info. would be critical to your overall health. They also encourage patients to get a Advance Care Directive done. I thought that was really helpful of their office to copy all the paperwork for it. My mom passed away at age 48, so I know these things can become important at any age, not just older patients. I’m going to try to get mine done as soon as possible.
As far as the actual appt. goes: yes, it was a long wait to see the doc. I can confirm that. But it was so worth the wait. Dr. Karen Hart is sharp, insightful, and totally willing to talk about whatever your issues are. Do you know how difficult it is to find a doctor like that?! I’ve seen many doctors through the Kaiser, Sutter Foundation, and Mercy Medical group over the years. A lot of doctors are smart but have no people skills. Or they’re nice but not knowledgeable. Only a handful stand out in my mind. Dr. Hart would be one of them. I felt she was very genuine and I was intrigued with the information she shared with me on my specific needs. I also know things might take longer to get done because she’s only one doctor in this office. But I feel like she’s truly a professional, and is very good at what she does. I’m looking forward to calling this doctor my PCP for quite awhile.

This is a dysfunctional office.
It was tolerable, albeit far from good, prior to the office switching over to a full time relay service. Now it is impossible to contact the office directly. You used to be able to contact the office, the receptionist could look into your file, and advise you accordingly.
Now 100% of their in-​going phone calls go to relay. The office never gets the fax requests from my specialist. So I call my specialist to have them re-​fax it. I then have to call the relay to ask them to have the office call me to see if it was received. The relay (unable to simply check into the computer system) sends a message to the office to call me back (usually leaving a message, since I am at work). This has gone on for 3 months. I have called them 6 times– just to get an allergy test scheduled (as recommended by my gastroenterologist). The last 3 times I called I asked the relay to have the office call my specialist directly (since for whatever reason, the office is not receiving the faxes from them). Rather than the office calling my specialist like requested in my messages, they simply call me back and leave me a message to call them back… only for me to call again get the relay. THIS HAS BEEN SUCH A FRUSTRATING EXPERIENCE.
Prior to the massive irritation with the relay and lost faxes, the office was only mediocre. I used to think the blue walls and oversize crush velvet curtains that bunched up on the floor desperately in need of being hemmed, was eccentric, even cute. I thought it was strange that the office also offers massages. But worst of all is that Dr Hart actually sells her own products. On more than one occasion I have come in with a medical problem, and her solution was for me to buy her face wash, or take the new vitamin line that she is selling.
She even tested my anti oxidant level once (when I came in for some unrelated issue). The test was done by holding a blue light up to my hand, then a graph was constructed on the screen and I was advised I would benefit from a health supplement (which they conveniently carried!) to improve my overall health.
When a physician starts selling patients «products» which happens to increase her own revenue, that is a conflict of interest.
One the bright side, whenever I have needed an appointment quickly, they have gotten me in right away. I did appreciate that.

My experience with Dr. Hart has been good. very good. She has always taken time to spend with me and Ifeel that my care has been fantastic. I am surprised by the other posts as I have never had anything but great care from Dr. Hart. I even got a call on a weekend to double check the milligrams on the mediciations I had been presecribed by Kaiser, because she did she changed the meds to a more appropriate strength. I have recommended this fine Doctor to everyone I know and am grateful that I have her for my physican.

Sure, the décor is a fairly tacky flamboyant chic, but isn’t quality more important than presentation when it comes to medical care? I have no clue why we were recommended here for a g.p. for our son, the doctor obviously not enthused to have him as a patient. It seems likely that the decorative flair is intended to make up for a complete lack of interpersonal skills.

1^st and LAST time patient. I will agree that the office was really nice. I felt like I was getting ready to go get a massage… although I left feeling more like I just had a smack to the face.
The staff was great… although appeared very hurried and stressed.
After 1 hour and 20 minutes staring at the women’s health loop on the flat screen in the lobby, I was finally brought back into a room and the front desk staff told me I would have to wait to get my vitals because the medical assistant went to lunch… god forbid a doctor would actually have to take someone’s temp and blood pressure… another 15 minutes later the med asst. came and took my vitals, she was actually the only really pleasant thing about this office!
Upon meeting the doctor I could tell right away there was a problem because she did not even look at my chart info and delved right into my weight without even asking why I made the appt in the first place… did I mention they never even weighed me?
The slam dunk was that Dr. Hart told me that I am overweight (duh), but then she added… wait for it… «at least it’s not HEROIN».
2 hours of my life to be compared to a heroin addict… really?!

i too fell into the same trap as cyndi l. i also started going to dr. hart after finding her listed on my insurance provider list under family practice only to find out that she will not accept patients under the age of 10, but that is not what i had problems with. yes, i had the same problems with long wait times, hearing the doctor with another patient thru walls and on the phone while i waited. nurses were different every time i went. and i had staff walk into exam room without knocking during exam!!! take a deep breath and read the rest…
i had been going to dr hart for a few months when her and i discussed me trying for another baby. she referred me to an obgyn who i stopped going to after the second visit due to a sloppy lab inside doctors office. i was pregnant, went in for the official dr’s test to have the front desk staff announce my negative test results in front of waiting room. hippa, what? went back to dr harts the following day to report what had happened and take another pregnancy test to find out i really was pregnant. dr hart told me she had referred other patients who also had horror stories like mine… so why are you still sending patients?
during the next six months dr hart wanted me to go back for monthly follow-​ups. why? i do not know. i am a perfectly healthy 28 year old (at the time) female who was pregnant going to an obgyn i found on my own. during these check ups i was lectured about how i need to think about my future, how difficult it is/​was to birth and raise her twins on a single mother… that’s great-​why am i on monthly visits again? when i asked she said i should drive and drop my daughter off at an hourly day care in natomas so i could visit her in house esthetician to help with my problematic skin due to the pregnancy.
while pregnant, i was told that i had become diabetic during one of my monthly check-​ups. not what any pregnant woman wants to hear… after the shock went away i realized that i didn’t have any blood work done for her and that my obgyn should have informed me shortly after my glucose test. turned out that dr hart was reading the wrong chart from a woman with the same first name, but who was not even pregnant! okay, if you’re staff messes up and gives the the wrong chart that’s bad, but you’re sitting in the room asking how my pregnancy is going when you tell me someone else’s blood work?
then while i was 30 weeks pregnant i scheduled a dr’s appointment to get a pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination. appointment was made at 9 am only to find the office doesn’t open until 9 and schedules 5 other patients at the same time. so once the doors opened staffed seemed overwhelmed to say the least. they escorted patients into their own rooms then when tish (or maybe trish), the front desk staff, asked what i was in for i told her and asked if i was okay to get the shot. i was told i should make a doctors appointment and ask about it then b/​c the dr wasn’t coming in for another hour. seriously? where the heck was i!!!
that was the end of the line for me. i can over look the staff if the dr is great. i can overlook the dr if the staff is great. but the only good thing this place has going for it is it’s décor.

This medical facility provides a relaxing atmosphere to enjoy while you wait to be seen by Dr.Hart. There are no stark white walls or bright florescent lights, the interior here makes you feel comfortable and cozy.
The staff is very friendly and does their best to accommodate your needs, for appointment times, emergencies, etc.
Dr.Karen Hart is a wonderful physician. She takes time with you during your appointment to not only discuss whatever physical health problems/​concerns you may have, but also wants to know about what’s going on in your life. She treats you as a whole, not just part by part. She is curious to know about things that could be emotionally tied to your health, not just the physical symptoms. I really like her approach as a doctor to not always be swayed by mainstream medicine. She is knowledgeable about alternative medicine treatments. Basically not a pill pusher.
My only complaint about this practice is the wait time to be seen. It can be quite long. I’ve waited as long as an hour and a half past my appointment time before I was seen by the doctor.

This is the «spa, total care» office of Dr. Karen Hart.
I switched somewhat blindly because the doctor was listed as «family practice» by my insurance and the office was close to my house.
The office does have a much nicer, upscale spa feel, which is kind of nice. Leather sofas, adorable décor in the waiting room and patient rooms. But for me, that was the best part.
On my first visit, I was waiting for over an hour. Only one client was there before me and went in and for the rest of that time no one else came in. I was escorted to an exam room about 20 minutes into my wait and could hear the doctor through the wall with the other patient. I heard the other patient leave and then I spent a good half hour listening to the doctor make phone calls and talk to her staff.
Once she was with me, she hardly looked at me and seemed incredibly rushed. She saw me for about 5 minutes and then sent me away.
On my second visit, I specifically asked if I could expect another hour wait. Because I mentioned it, the staff did put a note on my chart and they saw me sooner, I was in and out within 30 minutes.
There are only two staff members, and they were incredibly nice but not especially efficient. Wait times on the phone were painfully long, and they didn’t seem to have their scheduling system really down.
I had to have a follow up visit because my first visit was to order x rays, but once that was done I immediately switched doctors. I can see this office being a good to place to go for retired folks or other people who don’t have jobs and who don’t have any major problems that need management.
If you need access to an advice nurse, need a doctor you can get appointments with quickly, or need a place where you can know you won’t waste an entire day there, I’d look elsewhere.