Psychiatric Centers At San Diego

«Mismanaged» is the perfect word to describe the front office of PCSD.

I have been seeing Sarah Kovats Pai in the Encinitas office now for about two years. I first met her in the La Jolla office which unfortunately they closed down. She then went to the Encinitas office which was a bit out of my way but I wanted to continue seeing her. She is wonderful and very caring. She is the only person who has really listened to what I had to say and has helped me with my anxiety issues. She helped me through one of the my most difficult times when I had a bad bout of anxiety. She is trust worthy and always returns my call in a timely manner. Too bad she will be leaving the Encinitas office soon but I will still see her in her new office even if I have to pay cash. I would highly recommend her.

I have been coming here for a while now, and with a couple of not so great experiences at first, I can say that as of now I am satisfied with the service. The first couple of times I came in the scheduling was an issue. However I now see that most of those instances were out of their hands.
One time, I came in right at my appointment time and waited in line for 10 minutes because this woman was taking FOREVER to talk about her copay. She wasnt even in line, I was in line and she was sitting in the waiting room, and when the lady in front of me was done this woman sitting jumped in front for a «quick chat» which took forever. By the time I got to the front, it was 5 minutes past my appointment and they asked me to reschedule. I was kind of upset but they are very punctual now, which I can’t complain about since the long wait was my initial complaint. They see everyone on time now you just need to make sure you give yourself sometime, I suggest getting there at least 15 minutes early in case you have an experience like I did.
They ended up charging me a no show fee for that appointment, which of course I was upset about, but I explained to them what happened, and explained it to my doctor and they totally understood and waived the charge. I had some hesitation about my doctor at first but now that I’ve seen her a few times I really like her. I have always liked the staff here as well.

My child has unfortunately been seen at PCSD for several years. I have never had a pleasant experience with the office staff and feel they have such ambivalence about those they are supposed to be helping. I would never recommend this office.

I called because I had to cancel my appointment. It was twenty three hours before. The receptionist explained I would be charged $ 60. I explained the reason I was cancelling was because I couldn’t afford the appointment as I am uninsured. She told me it wasn’t twenty four hours so I would incur the fee. I asked if I could push it back and she said I could but I would still receive a $ 60 fee. I told her I have been unemployed and that it was embarrassing for me to have to offer an inability to pay as my reason for cancelling. It didn’t make a difference. I asked to speak to the customer advocate and she gave me the number, reminding me again I was going to be charged a penalty. At this point I became very angry because I felt a calloused indifference to my situation by her asking if I was sure I wanted to cancel, as if I was really holding out on her. She added that SHE would be reporting ME to the customer advocate for being so upset, like the customer advocate existed to judge patients who are in an unfortunate circumstance. I have never been more insulted by the way she handled my situation.

Their billing practices need to be reviewed and the staff can be less than personable, although I have had a couple of nice greets the entire 8 or so months of going there. Have had a completely different experience since I left. My paid credits haven’t been properly applied and they are more than happy to charge fees for whatever they choose. Too bad we can’t charge a fee when they make you wait 30 – 45 minutes to be seen. More often than not you wait to see certain doctors.

Like most of the people reviewing, this office is mismanaged or something is very wrong. I have a great therapist here. The office staff is something else. I agree that you can not cancel an appt because they won’t answer or they say they’ll cancel but don’t and then you get to pay $ 70.00. I have been charged $ 70. for being late. Late because I had to wait while the women in the office pick their nails, bite their nails, mess with their hair for up to 10 minutes. They are so very rude. Beyond rude. No personality. NOTHING. I have been coming here for years. I would leave but as I said, my therapist is super terrific. I have considered leaving though. The disfunction of this office is so bad. Any worse and I am gone.

Dr. Kwiatkowski has been my doctor for nearly 9 years now and I am quite happy with my relationship with him. I will echo what I read from others regarding office staff being so busy and preoccupied. There are long wait times when calling and there seems to be no follow-​up with regard to my pharmacy requests when the insurance randomly requires a prior authorization. I don’t attribute this to them; I attribute this to a continual understaffing of the front desk.

Worse psychiatric center and doctors! Always a 45min wait for a 15min aptmt to see a rude and proud doctor who seems to not care for their patients. Always issues with communication with pharmacies and doctors. HORRIBLE service, should be reported. ⁰⁄₅ Stars.

I’m just writing this review in solidarity with the others who have said, basically: «How can you cancel an appointment when you can’t get someone on the phone?»
And: «Wait, now I owe you $ 70 for the appointment that I couldn’t cancel because you don’t answer your phone?»
Annnnd now it’s on my credit report. F you, PCSD,

wooowwww!!!
so i use to be a patient here, and recently stopped attending here on january 2014 since my doc left, i was thinking of coming back so looked on line for the number and came across Unilocal and seen all the crapy reviews, i couldn’t believe it i said no no way. well yeah, was i sure wrong! i mean im even sitting here an extra few min at work on a friday night just to inform everyone about the shitty service and whoever answers the dam lines
management really needs to fix this problem this is patient care i dont not know what they’re use to as costumer service but my god i cant believe the rudness i got in a matter of 5 min and most of that time i was waiting, next appointment wasn’t until oct. 2014, as i was in the middle of my sentence and she didnt even let me finish, she cuts me off and says hold on, she didnt even wait for me to reply, clicks to whatever other thing shes doing. then i get rerouted once again through the whole beginning, she answers again i believe her name was maria and then she acts as if she couldnt hear me say hello and hung up in seconds…
it so sad, people come here for help and some are even more emotional then others. i myself am in the medical field at ucsd hopsital im sure if i treated her mother like that she’d maybe then consider doing her j.o.b differently w/​compassionate care.
–bullshit
I DONT CARE WHAT DAY OR TIME IT IS, COSTUMER SERVICE FIRST

Well if they answred the phone without hanging up on you after being on hold for 10 minutes, I might be able to give a better review. For now, I do not recommend this highly unprofessional place! (I am a mental health provider and would not ever treat potential or current clients in this manner, it is wrong!).

Technically, my review is for Dr. Redburn, but I will also say a few things about the front desk staff & after hours answering service first.
I like the people at the front desk for the most part, although, they seem a little preoccupied, but my assumption is they are just really busy most of the time.
I did have to call the answering service on a Saturday because I needed to know if there was anyway I could leave a message for my psychiatrist to call in a refill on my anxiety meds. I was completely out and unfortunately, the answering service was not able to contact anyone to help me & made no recommendation as to what I should do in my circumstance. I acknowledge that it was my fault I didn’t refill my rx during office hrs, but I got absolutely no help from the after hours answering service.
But… As far as Dr. Redburn goes, I have been seeing her now for a little while & she makes me feel at ease. I feel very comfortable being open with her about my symptoms & other personal issues. The other thing is, she isn’t one of those psychiatrist’s who just wants to ask you a few vague questions, medicate you, & send you out the door like you’re on some kind of mental health assembly line. She is personable, understanding & I completely trust her judgement.

Terrible dosen’t come close to defining this group. If you have to set up an appointment over the phone, be prepared to wait 10 minutes on average to even get a person. Over and beyond setting appointments, once you walk into one of their locations it is a very «sterile» atmosphere. We had a family member that was in a crisis situation and they wouldn’t return our phone calls and were more concerend with «their liability» and what they can and can’t say instead of helping the patient.

If I could rate this place with no stars, I would.
It took almost a month to get my bf in for his first appointment, both with a psychologist and a psychiatrist.
The psychologist was a nutjob; actually had the gall to suggest that he could be «cured» with medication and with seeing her for only a month.
Which would be nice, if he could actually get in for a visit with the doctor in the time that they recommend. After his appointment he tried to schedule an appointment for the next week, and was told that the soonest available appointment was a month and a half out.
You DO NOT tell someone with depression that they can’t see you in a timely manner.
Same thing happened today with the psychiatrist. Because of what happened on Friday, before his appointment even started he and the doctor went to the front desk to schedule his follow-​up.
Soonest time? Three fucking months.
YOU CANNOT PRESCRIBE ANTIDEPRESSANTS TO SOMEONE AND NOT SEE THEM FOR THREE MONTHS.
This place is ridiculous.

Psychiatric Centers as a whole and Kearny Mesa
How can you possibly classify yourself as a place that helps people??? This place is HORRIBLE!!! I have a problem every time with canceling appointments if I miss the phone call reminder. Today was the last straw, I called for over 10 times in 3 hours. It was busy EVERYTIME didn’t even sound like the phone was working.
So I called another office in a different location they answered eventually however I was hung up on or «disconnected» 4 times before I finally was able to have them write a note to cancel my sons appointment for Monday to pass onto the Kearny Mesa office. Otherwise they love to charge you a nice FAT FEE for not canceling 24 business hours in advance. My son is suppose to get therapy but honestly after dealing with this for months now I need some therapy of my own. Considering going back to Military Doctors in Balboa. The doctors rotate but atleast I don’t have to deal with the stress each and every time. UUUGGGGGHHHHHHH!!! AVOID if you have any other options!!!

this is more specific to the kearney mesa location, but since they don’t have their own Unilocal page, this will have to do. first of all, places like this don’t really give a fuck, but i have to say my piece somewhere. they don’t give a fuck because people are pretty much assigned to these places based on their insurance, it’s not like a thai restaurant, you really don’t have any choices.
second of all, talking to these people and actually trying to get what you want, if it’s anything specific at all is near impossible. they have like 10 locations, and the front desk/​admin people just kind of pass you around like a baton. the lady at kearney mesa hung up on me twice, and was just terrible. after i called their main office line, i was able to speak to someone, who transferred me there again, to no avail. so i called the main office back, she said she would try to find someone else, and magically, the Kearney mesa front desk people are back. this is at 9:45am on a motherfucking thursday. they explained it to me as computer issues, whatever, maybe it is, but it’s still pretty ridiculous.
third of all, i assume most people just call and ask hey can i see someone, receptionist gives you one out of all randoms, and you call it a motherfucking day. as someone who has worked in mental health and hospitals, i am very particular about my caregivers, especially one who i may be in a deep and serious relationship with for the next 15 – 20 years. the admin people were not able to answer any questions, kept on referring me to the website, just shitty at their jobs.
fourth of all, like i said, i don’t think they care, and shit like this is pretty normal in medical offices. but this is a place for psych care, i’m not psychotic, nor am i suicidal. but for someone with serious needs, this is just terrible.
fifth, like i said, you are prolly assigned by your insurance, so you prolly don’t have a choice. but be warned, and i just really wanted to bitch

The most unprofessional office I have ever dealt with for any service. They never return phone calls or follow through with anything basic that I request. My son has spent the past 7 months in the this office, and in that time has only had 4 visits, and 2 of them were different doctors. I filed a complaint with Cassie Wilsie, and she didn’t do anything that she said she would. Our first doctor told my son «there was something wrong with him» before he was tested for autism. Now that he has autism, which took them 7 months to detect, we have no paperwork, no follow-​up with the doctor and no appointments for counseling or treatment moving forward. I would get better service at a gas station. unbelievable!!! and I have so much more to complain about, but I would rather not type it all. if you can avoid this place, do it.

Dr. Calabrese was wonderful, and I highly recommend working with her if she hadn’t recenlty left the practice to move up north. She recommended I transfer to Dr. Flagel, who is such a kind, compassionate man. I’m very happy with the medical side of services at PCSD. I’ve participated in a group for the past year, which has been very supportive; it just feels like we’re stagnating somehow. Maybe it’s me. The front office and administrative staff are polite and competent enough when you can get their attention, but from that perspective, it is not a very warm and welcoming, patient-​centered experience. The robot reminder calls were a good idea, but no one seems to know how to adjust for holidays or when the therapist is unavailable. Maybe the shift to EHR will bring them into the 21^st centure.

Dr. Kantor is a great doctor. She has been helpful to our situation.
However, I have to say the office staff leaves much to be desired. It is usually quite a long wait to actually talk to someone on the phone. Whenever I call, I am always placed on hold for quite some time. I have also been on hold before, disconnected and then received the recording that the office is closed… this was at 4:40 when the recording says the office closes at 5 PM. Once you actually get a hold of the receptionist, it is usually several weeks (4 – 6) to actually get an appointment. Despite being a current patient and me telling the receptionist it was an emergency situation, I was unable to get anything before 4 weeks.