Stanford Kei Matsuno, MD

— — — Positives — — —
Very, very friendly.
Medical knowledge for a GP (from this layman’s POV) appears to be top-​notch. No obvious gaps or inconsistencies.
All of his past referrals to specialists (within, or outside, HealthCarePartners) have been terrific (good people who knew what they were doing & got me fixed).
— — — Negatives — — —
Handwriting is quite poor. If that can not improve, then it would be great if the HealthCarePartners IT people could revise their system to allow Doctor’s electronic notes to be quickly print-​able for the patient.
He does not listen (at least to me), and I find it infuriating. Examples:
a) I tell him I’m only interested in getting the appropriate blood pressure medication (and I choose to voluntarily roll the dice with regard to all other ailments), but he insists on talking to me about «other (potential) ailments» and demanding that I get $$$ tests to diagnose them (failure to comply = I don’t get my blood pressure meds).
b) He wants me to get my blood pressure measured more often in between visits with him. Ok, sounds reasonable to me. So I go to CVS Pharmacy religiously every week, take the measurements, put them in a spreadsheet, graph the results, put the spreadsheet in the public folder of my dropbox account, send the hyperlink to his PA (who confirms that it works), but Dr. Matsuno refuses to look at this spreadsheet, and mumbles vague excuses for not doing so when I tell him that’s where the data (he asked for) is. Instead, he expects me to qualitatively describe the data/​trends (like I’m drawing pictures on the walls of caves in France 40,000 years ago), when the exact data (and a beautiful chart of BP vs. time) is a mouse-​click away for him. This drives me up the wall.
c) Every visit, he & I go through the same Kabuki Theater: He asks about my diet & exercise regimen. I describe it to him, reminding him that it’s the same one I’ve been following for years, and that (1) it’s the best I can do with the other constraints in my life, (2) it will not change, and (3) I am willing to live with the attendant risks. Yet he continues to talk about improving my diet & exercise, mere SECONDS after I remind him (for the millionth time) that these are no longer variables in the equation and that (again) I am willing to live with the attendant risks.
Yes, I know that I am being obstinate, but I’ve fessed up to my obstinacy, and I repeatedly admit that I accept the consequences. At best, he & I together have a communication problem. At worst (and perhaps Dr. Matsuno is just protecting himself against malpractice), it appears that he chooses not to listen to the customer.
— — — Addendum 7 Feb 2014 — — —
In re-​reading the text above, it occurs to me that maybe some of these communication issues may stem from the fact that nobody (certainly not Dr. M himself, who’s too nice to do it) periodically reminds us of the large number of patients that each doctor is responsible for (i.e., They can’t remember all the words we say, and when we see them at the computer console during our appointment, they’re typing clinical medical notes, not our ‘personal health care philosophy’.) To that end, I’m going to prepare a few powerpoint charts that I will print out before each appointment with Dr. M in the future. That may seem impersonal, but if it keeps this patient from getting frustrated (that Dr. M hasn’t memorized my ‘personal health care philosophy’), then it’ll be win-​win.
— — — Addendum 25 July 2015 — — —
I’ve since moved on to another doctor, but in reflecting on my experience with Dr. Matsuno, I offer the following advice:
Let’s suppose you get diagnosed with three conditions: X, Y, and Z.
Let’s further suppose that your doctor says «Take medications X’, Y’, and Z’ to treat those conditions.»
If you’re the kind of patient who will gladly accept whatever your doctor’s recommendations are (you will take X’, Y’, and Z’ without question), then you may have a better probability of being compatible with Dr. Matsuno than the kind of patient who regards themself as having the final responsibility for their own health, and views their doctor’s recommendations as just that: recommendations (not commands). The patient who decides to take X’ and Y’, but not Z’ (for whatever reasons) could encounter troubles with Dr. Matsuno and might consider looking elsewhere. In my case, I chose not to take Z’, to which Dr. Matsuno responded by declining to renew my X’ and Y’ medications, forcing me to find a new doctor.
Some doctors are comfortable with patients treating their recommendations as a Smörgåsbord. Others are not. Legal/​Liability concerns may be only one of many possible variables. Lesson learned: talk to prospective doctors upfront about how much elasticity they’re agreeable to giving you.

I visited several doctors before I met Dr. Matsuno and I swear he’s the best doctor I’ve ever met. The first thing you’ll notice is that he always comes into the room and shakes your hand, sits down, and asks how are you doing. Not many doctors these days even want to sit down to discuss your symptoms (they just want to read the notes the physician’s assistant wrote when they took your vitals and make a diagnosis and move on).
Once Dr. Matsuno has discussed your symptoms, asked questions, and examined you, he writes down everything he recommends. Yes, that means you never have to guess if he said Tylenol is ok but not Advil. He tells you which over the counter meds to use and if antibiotics are warranted. He also always reviews your electronic patient record to see if you’ve experienced the issue in the past (I have had several colds and some of which turn into sinus infections), and then asks you how the previous treatment worked to ensure that if he prescribes it again that it will be effective. I’ve even had him call me around 7pm at night after the facility has closed because I left a message for him regarding follow-​up from a previous visit. Neither he nor his facility get paid for that call, but he makes it anyways. I think that says a lot about his character and dedication to his profession.
And finally, when you are ready to end your office visit, he always asks if you have any other questions about your treatment and tells you how long to wait for follow up if your symptoms don’t improve. I can’t believe that the office visit to him is only billed at $ 68 (that’s the insurance rate I see). If I had to pay cash to see him, I’d gladly pay double or triple his rates. He’s just that good.
Bottom line — he works at Healthcare Partners, and while their facility is nice, Dr. Matsuno is THE reason I’ll continue to go there and recommend any other person that’s looking for a doctor to see if you can get on his schedule (just don’t take my appointment windows!)