SimonMed Imaging

USE THIS FACILITY AT YOUR WALLET’S RISK! I would never go back to SimonMed under any circumstance because they (frankly) lie about their prices.
I checked with all the local MRI centers to compare prices and picked SimonMed because they were the most reasonably priced for my type of MRI. I was told that the estimate for my MRI was $ 435.00 and once they received my doctor’s order I could get the actual price.
So, I called back after they received the order and was told that the exact amount that my insurance company (they had all my insurance information at the time) would be billed was $ 540.77. This was still the most economical quote I got, so I had the MRI done at the Monterey facility.
They ACTUALLY billed my insurance company $ 1128.20. I was appalled. I called the number for the billing office and was told that I should not have been given a quote because those people don’t even know the actual amount that gets billed. I was told I should contact the person who gave me that quote and try to get them to honor that amount.
I called the office and was put on hold. The person just left me there holding. I was determined not to hang up, put the phone on speaker and kept on working. After OVER an hour I finally had to leave and hung up.
Called back the next day and was put on hold again — with no end. I called back and was told that the person would research my bill and get back with me in about an hour. That was a week ago.
It makes me furious that I was told this bogus information, because the amount they actually charged me was MORE than any other facility I called. Please save yourself a lot of grief and DO NOT TRUST THESE PEOPLE!
By the way, I have been on Unilocal for years and this is only the second time I have ever posted a review. It takes a whole lot to get me upset enough to go to the trouble of posting on here, but I will do it when I feel that people need to be warned!

My experience here was great.
I called and scheduled a diagnostic test and they had room for me a day or so later. My appointment was on time and both the technician and front desk lady were very nice.
The best part about my experience was the cost. The prices were fantastic. The charges for the diagnostic procedure here were about a third of what they cost at CHOMP and less than a quarter of what they charge at Salinas valley.
I realize other people on here have had some bad experiences but my experience was great!

I was extremely disappointed by both the manager of the facility and the receptionist. All went well with the check in process until the technician came out to say she was behind. The receptionist told me that my appointment would be delayed until 3:00 which would not have been a problem had I not been taking antibiotics for the past three days and could not eat that morning after 8:30 am according to the form my doctor gave me when he scheduled the ultrasound. When I told the receptionist I had not eaten and was a bit disappointed by the delay she told me to go and get some food. I explained to her that she shouldn’t be telling people to get food when clear instructions were provided not to eat or drink anything after 8:30 that morning.
When I asked to speak to the manager she told me the manager was at the bank and she would tell her I wanted to speak to her when she came in. I was still waiting to be called in for my ultrasound when the manager walked in but the receptionist made no mention to her that I wished to speak to her. I then asked the receptionist if that was the manager who had walked in and she said in a very snooty way that she was waiting to tell her I wanted to talk to her until she settled in. At that point I was called in but did speak to the manager after my ultrasound. The manager was no more courteous than her receptionist and saw nothing wrong with the offer for food she had given me and then told me that she heard two sides of the story and found nothing wrong with the way the receptionist had spoken to me and her offer of food.
I am perturbed by the fact that a receptionist felt she could play doctor and in the process compromise the outcome of the ultrasound and by the way I was spoken to. Luckily, there are other facilities to go to for ultrasound and imaging. I will not return here again.
The technician, however, was extremely professional and knowledgable and had a great bedside manner. Based on another review of this facility I do hope I get my results in a timely manner.

My child had a left knee MRI for a torn MCL. Report indicated that left femur showed a fracture. Our physician was unable to give more information because it took CCDR 4 business days to put the CD with the image in the mail. Terrible service.

Being a service member in Monterey, this is the place my primary medical care sent me to have an MRI done in September 2012, to have some images taken of my chronically problematic knee. For the 3 months prior to my visit, I had noticed swelling and a slight grinding sensation in my knee when walking up and down stairs. After my visit to Central Coast Diagnostic Radiology, the diagnostic imaging report written by Dr. Dan Braslau indicated a possible retorn meniscus as the only injury.
I have a relative on the east coast who is a radiologist, so I obtained a copy of the images and sent them to her as well. She looked thoroughly at my images and noted a focal injury to my articular cartilage, and mentioned that she was surprised that this went unnoticed in my report by Dr. Braslau.
Once my relative told me about the cartilage injury, I tried to contact Dr. Braslau at Central Coast Diagnostic to ask him to take another look at the images, and even had the specific image numbers for him to review. I really just wanted him to look and see if he concurred with what she saw, in order to get the cartilage defect officially denoted in his report, for my military medical record. However, upon calling the office, the receptionist informed me there was no way I could communicate with Dr. Braslau. I asked if I could write a letter to him at the office, and she said even if I did, it would not get to him. I explained that it was important to me and I just wanted him to reevaluate some images – she said I would have to first call my doctor, and the two doctors could communicate but there was no direct patient-​to-​doctor communication allowed. That was incredibly frustrating. Central Coast Diagnostic gets big business from the military members stationed in Monterey and it is a shame that they could not take a couple minutes to relay a message from one of the patients being treated there.
I’m so thankful that I had another radiologist take a look at my images, because had my orthopaedic surgeon just gone off of Dr. Braslau’s report, there would have been no evidence of cartilage injury and there is a great probability my orthopaedic surgeon would not have performed the microfracture surgery to treat my knee. The surgeon said when he opened me up, he saw the cartilage was worn down completely to the bone in one area. I had the surgery in February 2013 and 5 months later I’m feeling much better, no more grinding sensations. During one of my post-​op appointments with the surgeon I asked him what would have happened without the surgery, and he said the cartilage would have continued to deteriorate (because I would have maintained my moderately active lifestyle without knowing I had a cartilage injury). I asked him if the cartilage defect was something that should have been noticed in my initial MRI report, and he agreed that yes this definitely should have been noticed in my MRI images.
I don’t know what happened as to why this critical injury was not observed in my report, maybe the doc (s) were too inundated with work and just went through the images quickly and missed it. However I think it ridiculous that I wasn’t able to request the doctor reevaluate my case. With the M.D. degree comes responsibility and professionalism, and I was deeply disappointed by the service rendered to me at Central Coast Diagnostic. If you are having medical images taken here and the results just don’t seem to fit your symptoms, I would highly suggest getting a second opinion; for me this made a dramatic difference to my health and quality of life.

Overall, I found my experience here pleasant.
I only had to wait about a week or so after my doctor’s referral to get an appointment here, so that was pretty quick. When I went in for my appointment, everything was very quick and easy. There was plenty of parking not too far from the office (I went around 3:00). Both of the receptionists were very friendly and helpful. I was in and out within an hour which was pretty awesome as the MRI itself was about 40 minutes (plus filling out forms and changing… there wasn’t much wait time at all). During the MRI, I was given ear plugs and a headset to put over my ears. The noise of the machine was not bothersome at all!
After the MRI, I got the results really quickly which was awesome! I got the MRI on Monday, and had the results by Wednesday afternoon including the films for my MRI to show another doctor. The receptionists I talk to in order to get my results were friendly, patient, and amazingly helpful. I really wish that every medical office I went to had receptionists this good!
I’m a little skeptical of the results as my MRI was all normal despite the issues I’ve been having, but I have two different orthopedic surgeons who can review it for me as well. I will post later on that regarding their findings.
Very professional, friendly, and helpful service. Definitely refreshing after some bad experiences with other treatment facilities.

My doc is in Monterey, so he gave me a choice of going to Salinas Valley Imaging or to Central Coast Imaging. After a de-​humanizing, humiliating experience at Salinas Valley Imaging, I opted to try Central Coast Imaging.
The worst part of coming to this facility is the parking. There’s a huge lot, but it services four other doctors’ office and an out-​patient surgical facility. I parked across the street at China Garden, and then had lunch there.
Folks, I kid you not, but while I was filling out the forms, a staff person came out and offered the patients in the waiting room fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and fresh coffee with real cream. OMG!!!
First, though, I was greeted formally by my last name when I popped through the door. The reception staff looked me in the eye. They smiled and were welcoming.
Once I was checked in, I was shown the room to change and securely stow my personal items. Unlike other changing rooms, this one was well lit, cheerful, and with plenty of room to sit down. Further, there was even a mirror and tissues to check your appearance before you emerged after your procedure.
My tech came to fetch me from the changing room. He introduced himself as Dave. Talk about cute as a button! Friendly, but not too friendly. He found something we had in common and we talked a bit, but not too much. He explained the MRI procedure to me all with a sparkle in his eye. Dave was a total professional.
The MRI itself was done in an enclosed unit. I had researched the procedure on line. Most women wrote that it was a much better experience if you wore your own metal– free clothes rather than a hospital gown. I bought a special bra, the Spanx Bra-​llelujah, for the procedure. It kept me comfortable and feeling more modest, but I won’t be using it again unless I have to have another MRI, or I can’t do a reach-​around, so to speak.
If you ever flew in a World Airways DC-​10 in the early 80’s, the clanging, and banging will seem very familiar. If you haven’t had this experience, the MRI is like being in an extremely loud Euro techno-​pop disco. I had a headache afterwards, but overall, it wasn’t unpleasant.
When I left, not only did Dave say good by, but the reception staff looked me in the eye, thanked me for coming, and said good by.