Medstar Physician

I have been a pt of Dr hear for many years. Also my husband. We knew her from another practice and when she went to establish her practice we followed. We were happy with Dr hear but never with her office staff. They are rude, abrupt, and do not follow through on prescription renewals. This is the only md office that I go to that can never manage to call, fax, electronically send an 3^rd or refill properly or promptly. I unfortunately have many different docs that I see a few times a year but ALL the others get my rx s to pharmacy without a hitch.
I’m not sure how long ago this sick appt policy began, but I know I encountered this once before, but, if you are sick, the only way to get an appt is to make sure that you call in at 8am on same day and wait on hold to pray you get an appt that day. If you don’t then you get up again next day for 8am call in!!! That is ludicris. The office staff told me to go to urgent care or to ER. Really, I thought healthcare reform doesn’t want us to use ER for cough, bronchitis, etc when you have insurance and a primary care md. Will be looking for new primary care md.

Would never go back. Terrible service and very expensive. There are so many better choices.
I decided to visit the Urgent Care because the nurse at my Primary Care doctor (who is with Medstar) said my doctor didn’t have any appointments available for a few days and she mentioned that if I went to a MedStar Clinic they would be able to transfer the records seamlessly. I showed up one morning maybe 9 am. There is one other patient in the waiting room. Good sign, I think, I will get in and out. WRONG. First they keep me waiting in the waiting room for over an hour. WTH? Then after they call me back and put me in a room I wait another 30 minutes until finally I go to find some one to see what the heck is going on.
The doctor finally comes and she is impersonal and rude. Seriously, made me feel like I was keeping her from something far more important. She essentially tells me to «buck up» its just a cold (even though I have been sick for nearly 2 weeks). Finally, she grudgingly gives me a Rx.
The cherry on top of the visit is that it cost me over $ 235 even with my insurance. It would have been way cheaper (and far more pleasant) to go to the very efficient (and very friendly) Target Clinic in Silver Spring.

Dr. Dhar used to be my primary care doctor because she was close to my house and I wanted a female doctor who accepted my insurance. Let’s start with the positives: she does a very thorough exam, she diagnosed a skin condition I had immediately, and she saw me as a walk-​in one day when I was feeling sick.
Another thing that differentiates her is that she doesn’t overprescribe medication like other doctors. However, when I came to her complaining of seasonal allergies and sinusitis, I asked her if I could try a prescription version of Claritin my dad takes because I couldn’t afford the over-​the-​counter stuff and she refused without any real explanation.
Her bedside manner could use some work too but my main complaint is about the office. They’re often pretty abrasive when you call and once I needed vaccines as a requirement for enrolling in graduate school. I called the office and asked to make an appointment to get them done and I was told that they don’t do vaccines there. What kind of doctor doesn’t do vaccines? Even worse, they didn’t even direct me to a realistic alternative. They told me that I can call «travel clinics» who don’t accept any insurance (something I found out by calling them as Dr Dhar’s office didn’t even know that) and require out-​of-​pocket payments of $ 100 – 200 per vaccine. Instead of treating me or helping me navigate services they don’t provide, this doctors office left me on my own so I’ll never go back.

I saw Dr Dhar for the first time for a meeting and to discuss arthritis medications. She seemed straight forward and knowledgeable. I had decided to have her be my primary but the office staff is deplorable. Calls do not get returned. I have tried for 3 weeks to get my synthroid renewed and am blocked at each turn. They won’t respond to vm which is how you request renewals. I decide to pay for an office appointment to go get renewals for bp and other meds but can’t get appointment for 3 weeks. Dr Dhar is a away and when she comes back will only see pts on same day. I said what is this you have to call by 8am and first comers get the appointment. This is terrible, if they were apart of the VA system it would be news. And I can’t see anyone else in the office becasue I saw the other doc once. A really bad and uncaring place. I am a nurse and this is bad business.

Clean location. Nice waiting area. Never like going to the doctor’s office but if you are going to have to go, it’s nice to see a clean place.

I met with Dr. Dhar this week. I had a cold that had not gotten better in nearly a week. I did not have to wait long in the waiting room and was seen pretty close to on time.
Dr. Dhar had a very «business only» attitude, but she was thorough. She also was not quick to write me a prescription like many doctors are. She explained the pros and cons of taking antibiotics and suggested I wait before taking them. Overall, I was satisfied. The visit was quick, but I didn’t feel like I was being shoved out the door so the next patient could get in the room.

I don’t have much information to base this review upon, but as my doctor has not been reviewed yet, I felt it was necessary to provide a review. I visited for the first time in October and had a routine physical. The wait wasn’t long for a 9:30 appointment and the check-​in process was pretty smooth.
My doctor is Dr. Dhar; the other two doctors (Bisk and Saavedra) do not accept new patients — all the doctors are female. I would have to state Dr. Dhar’s «bedside manner» as neutral. The doctor’s office uses a computer-​based system to run through patient questions, so my appointment lasted as long as it took to go through all the screens and different basic physical tests. So for a first impression — it was okay, but I was not «wow“ed. Just a typical doctor doing what must be done.
I also returned about a month later to have bloodwork performed without an appointment and had no problem getting in and out.