Ballin Darryl J MD

My first and only visit to Dr. Ballin was a new patient visit. I scheduled it nearly 3 weeks before… because new patients are given much more time. This was frustrating. Once in the office, the staff was friendly and helpful. I waited about 30 minutes.
Dr. Ballin was friendly enough. He uses a tablet to make notes. He stops often to make notes so he doesn’t forget things. He dictates the information while you sit there with questions and he doesn’t like to be interrupted. I mean, he was clearly finished with one note and I started to ask a question. He stopped me and said he had to finish or he would forget. He would forget. That was interesting. Forget what? So, I listened carefully to his next note. It was my treatment plan. He would forget my treatment plan. This made me nervous. Also, he did forget to attend to a few issues I had inquired about during our discussion. He clearly is disgusted with insurance in general. He mentioned this a few times in response to my comments. I was not that impressed with Dr. Ballin.
Since he was the third doctor I was trying in the Encino area, I decided to ignore this and see how he cared for myself and my husband.
My husband won’t be going. When I called to add my husband to my appointment date, I was told he could not be added because he would be a new patient. The first available new patient appointment was 3 weeks after the phone call. I asked the girl «What if my husband has concerns that are not an emergency or don’t even need urgent care? What is he supposed to do?» Response: «If you don’t like the scheduling, you can always find another doctor.»
Your advice was taken! We found a new doctor.

DR Ballin is by far the best Dr I have had. If you want a Dr that doesn’t just treat your symptoms, but looks for the underlying cause, he’s your Dr. He thinks outside the box, and is very thorough and smart. He treats both my husband and I.

Really sad to hear Melissa is gone. She was the best medical assistant I have come across in my 73 years of existence. She cared for me and made sure everything was A-​OK! Kristen is the biggest **** face I have ever met, what a Fat***! Dr. Ballin is for sure a 5-​star doctor but his current staff isn’t!

For those of you new & old pts looking at Ballin’s review, the one from Sam H. is a fake & was done by Kristen who works at his office. For some reason she did not like Melissa, maybe because she was very unhappy with herself & had some major weight issues. Melissa was a stunning beautiful lady who ran the office smoothly, she was on top of everything from accommodating pt’s, prescription refills & any urgent matters, shes was there not only for me but for my entire family who goes there as well as my in-​laws & cousins. All the pt’s loved Melissa & are very upset to see her not there anymore. Dr. Ballin is a great Dr. but the office itself will never run the same again. The new receptionist has a horrible phone manner & can’t even understand what she says most of the time & Kristen walks around like shes the thing… with that being said, all the negative reviews were done from an inside job, poor Dr. Ballin is getting a bad rep because of Kristen. I’m not sure how to get a hold of Melissa but if I ever see her I will give her the biggest hug EVER! Hopefully one day Dr. B will finally see the light & get rid of nurse ratchet, she’s rude, short & has no compassion! I am writing this because she has given false & untrue info about Melissa, i’ve known her for over 10 yrs & adore her!

I was unhappy with my current doctor and switched to Dr, Ballin. He is very thorough, very nice and knowledgeable. I will definitely recommend him to the rest of my family. My only complaint is his office staff, very unaccommodating. Very sad to have someone that does not match the kindness of the rest of the staff.

I never write reviews but felt the need this time. Dr Ballin is an amazing doctor, he takes his time with you and is extremely knowledgeable. He is very down to earth. He also has a wonderful back office girl Kristin she always has a smile on her face she is so nice and very very funny. I have the worst veins and she get my blood 1^st try every time.
That being said I made the hard decision to find a new Dr. Because of Dr Ballin’s front desk person Melissa she is the rudest person I think I have ever met. It seems she has the worst life and brings it all to work. She doesn’t even try to fake being nice. I would tell this to dr ballin and he seemed not to care. I found out that is his sister. I wondered how on earth she could continue to work. Now I know. Good news though I became sick and reluctantly went in to see Dr. Ballin. The office is now peaceful Dr Ballin told me Melissa is gone!!. They have a new front office girl I don’t remember her name but she is very nice and helpful a little hard to understand on the phone but I can deal with anything as long as Melissa is no longer there. I advise anyone needing a primary care dr to see Dr ballin.

I’ve been a patient of Dr. Ballin now for about 7 years.
I have never felt rushed or improperly cared for, and I am the worst kind of patient who usually calls last minute, for a walk-​in appointment when something is really bad (once every other year or so)
Now that I am turning 40, and playing the back 9, I promised my wife I’d go in for annual physicals.
He is a 5 star doctor.
That being said, I miss the office staff he once had. Josie his current receptionist has a dismissive and condescending attitude for which I docked one star.

The individuals at the front desk are extremely rude. They treat you very poorly. I read other reviews about this doctors office that were unfavorable but I thought I would go to the office and see for myself first hand. I would stay away from this office. This was my experience and hopefully this will help others making a decision to have this doctor as their doctor or not. I am staying away!!!

I have been a patient of Dr. Ballin for almost 15 years and have had nothing but excellent and attentive care. I concur with the other reviewer that for a GP he has a very broad range of knowledge in all areas and he has an outstanding network of specialists. Over the years his office has referred an opthamologist, chiropractor, ear/​nose/​throat doctor, and I’ve been pleased with every one. Dr. Ballin has a friendly, low-​key demeanor and has always had the time to be thorough and answer any of my questions.

For a general practitioner, Dr. Ballin knows more than most specialists and I recommend him without hesitation. My son and I each sustained concussions in separate hockey games and the treatment provided by Dr. Ballin was better than that given by the neurologists we consulted. Dr. Ballin is skilled, competent, thoughtful and caring.

I was a patient of Dr. Ballin’s for several years (about 3). I was somewhat satisfied with his service — not thrilled, not dissatisfied. I generally just have to go in once a year for a check up. I finally got fed up with the horrible treatment from his front office staff. They are uncaring, at best.
I called one day and left a message because I was running out of my thyroid medication that I must take daily. I asked for a return call that day (Friday). No one called back. I called again on Monday and got a machine. No one called back. When I finally got a hold of someone on Tuesday, she didn’t apologize for not calling me back — I was told they were «busy.» There’s more to this story, but in an nutshell, I wasn’t particularly pleased with Dr. Ballin, but I wasn’t displeased enough to go through the hassle of finding another doctor — but his front office staff (specifically Melissa) is rude and uncaring. I drew the line when they didn’t call me back when I had an emergency, and then didn’t seem to think it was a big deal that they failed to do so. If you are looking for a doctor, why settle for THIS? Keep looking!
I found Dr. Gold at Cedars– Sinai. Sure, it’s a bit of a drive for me from the valley, but he’s NICE and accessible and experienced and his staff was exceptional — worth the drive!
Dr. Richard Gold
8631 W. 3^rd Street #815E
Los Angeles, CA
(310) 657‑9277

My boss recommended him and i’m glad he did. Hes very attentive and caring and the girls are super nice. I’m very happy here being that is the first actual REAL doctor i’ve ever been to since I now have insurance (: HE’S GREAT