Kaiser Permanente Reston Medical Center

I came in today dreading my visit, as I’d looked on Unilocal prior to showing up, and I’m new to Kaiser… well, my company completely screwed up my health insurance, so my dread was justified… but not towards Kaiser! Kaiser was excellent, they sent me upstairs to someone named Tina who set up my account how it was supposed to be (At least until my company gets their effing paperwork done) and then I was sent back downstairs, got my prescription after a little more waiting, and was on my way. I can’t speak to any other aspect of the place as I’m brand new to Kaiser, but this is definitely a really good start. Thank you!

Besides my gyno, who is super nice and has been helpful, Kaiser is the worst. After being on my dad’s insurance as a teen (Highmark Blue Cross), Kaiser is a nightmare! First, they offer «urgent care» appointments so I call and tell a nurse that I have an issue and would like antibiotics. They ask general questions and come to conclusion that it does in fact sound like I have this issue (shock! gasp!). I’m told A doctor (doubtful that it’s mine) will review this and call in a prescription. Fifteen minutes later, I am called back and told by the nurse that the doctor is concerned and wants me to come in because of X symptom that I mentioned, which I explained that my gyno already knows about and is not a problem, but it doesn’t matter. So now, I either make an appointment and come in, which if it’s one of these «urgent» matters, I’m told online I don’t have to do OR I wait for the nurse to send a message (not even place a CALL) to my gyno to talk with the doctor and mayyyybe convince them to call in a prescription for me. which could take up to TWO days. How did my urgent care issue turn into such an «ehhh» issue by the end of this exchange??! This is not the first you’ve done me dirty, Kaiser, and I doubt it’s the last. guess I’ll just be here, waiting for my problem to resolve itself. or Kaiser to call…

I feel compelled to expand on my earlier review because I only mentioned two of the problems we encountered; I strongly believe that Kaiser’s services are substandard and a danger to the health and well-​being of children and adults. I truly urge any federal employee to NOT USE KAISER.
#1 — KAISER WANTS CHILDREN TO BE IN PAIN FOR A WEEK RATHER THAN SEE SOMEONE OTHER THAN THEIR PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN.
Very first time I called Kaiser, my son had an ear infection. With our previous care providers, we simply took our son directly to their office. (We didn’t even need to make an appointment-​they had ‘open hours’ every morning between 7am and 11am for ‘sick children’.) With Kaiser, I had to call and speak to a ‘receptionist’ who is not a trained health professional, and BEG them to give me an appointment. The conversations went like this…
ME — «My son has an ear infection and is in a lot of pain. I’d like to get him in to see a doctor asap.»
KAISER: «We prefer our patients see their primary care physician and your son’s primary care physician doesn’t have an opening until next week.» (dead silence)
ME — «So, what are you saying? We can’t get in to see a doctor until next week?»
KAISER: «Well, we do prefer our patients see their primary care physician.»
ME: «You have got to be kidding me. What is my son supposed to do? Writhe in pain for a week while his infection gets worse until he can see his primary care physician?»
KAISER: (with hesitation) «Well, I guess I could make you an appointment with another doctor.»
ME: «YES — do that.» (WTF? I mean they really want your kids to suffer for several days before you can see a doctor because it’s policy?)
#2 — THEY ASSIGN YOU A DOCTOR WITHOUT KNOWING YOUR MEDICAL HISTORY, PREFERENCES, OR NEEDS
Our enrollment got messed up when we initially signed up with Kaiser, so until my husband’s government agency and Kaiser got the address correct in the system, we were not allowed to go online and research and enroll with a primary care physician. Kaiser only gives you a month from the start date of your enrollment to get a PCP. Unfortunately, this is the Federal government and it’s no surprise that the corrections took more than a month to get fixed in the system. However, in the interim, because we couldn’t login online and pick our own PCP, Kaiser did it for us. Now, you may not think this is a problem, but I do. My daughter and I received a letter from the head Mid Atlantic physician, telling us he had ‘assigned’ us our OB/​GYNs. Now, this ‘head physician’ is an ophthalmologist — YES AN EYE DOCTOR. And he is choosing our OB/​GYN for us. He doesn’t know our medical history, he doesn’t know our preferences, he doesn’t even have a degree for God’s sake in a field that focuses on women’s health — he’s an eye doctor and he’s telling you which OB/​GYN to go to. (Personally, this sufficiently creeped me out to NEVER want to have anything to do with any doctor at KAISER). To insult us even further, the person he picks for my daughter and I is a MAN who has his medical degree from a university in a 3^rd world middle eastern country that has a TERRIBLE HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD AGAINST WOMEN!!! I have no issue whatsoever with doctors from the middle east and have had some very good doctors from this region. However, I draw the line at a MALE OB/​GYN with degrees from a 3^rd world country that is on HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH LISTS FOR THEIR TREATMENT OF WOMEN, assigned to me by an eye doctor, with no knowledge or background on my medical history!!!
#3 — THEIR PHARMACY PRODUCTS ARE SUBSTANDARD
Due to a serious bacterial infection I was given antibiotics and a skin cream. I followed the course of treatment and took all the drugs. The antibiotic course was for two weeks. Typically on antibiotics you feel better after a few days. But this never happened. (I think the infection cleared up of its own accord after 2 weeks and the supposed ‘antibiotic’ did nothing.) The skin ointment NEVER WORKED (and it was supposed to be a ‘super’ strong version of something you could buy over the counter.) After the prescription ointment did nothing, I purchased an over-​the-​counter version of the drug (from a name-​brand maker) and it IMMEDIATELY made a difference. Not sure which is the worst thought here — KAISER is selling substandard drugs or the doctors that don’t know which drugs to prescribe.
#4 — KIDS IN COLLEGE CAN’T USE KAISER
We have a college-​age child and because Kaiser is only located in the DC area, she can only use Kaiser when she is at home. God forbid she has an emergency and has to call and try to get permission to even see a doctor. We have decided we are not going to put her through having to BEG Kaiser to let her see a doctor if she has health concerns.
Bottom line, IMHO the Kaiser model is truly a danger people’s health and well being. DUMP KAISER!!!

Pretty standard visit to Kaiser. Patiently wait to spend half NY check on medications that my heart requires. Apparently myocardial infarctions are bad on the heart AND the wallet. *dead & defibrillated* Zach (k?) at the pharmacy was great.

I’ve been a member of Kaiser for nearly 10 years in NoVa. We moved further away from Reston and tried the Manassas campus, much to our disappointment. While it’s still a 25 mile hike, we found the service in Reston much better than the service in Manassas. Dr. Thibodeaux has cared for my son, Dr. Salvatore has nurtured my daughter and we’ve recently switched doctors for my last baby to have Dr. Thibodeaux as his pediatrician. The appointment check in is smooth and rarely do I wait in the waiting room (for an unreasonable period of time). Given Obamacare and copayments are currently hurting my coworkers immensely, Kaiser has been a steady resource for medical assistance while maintaining a reasonable financial price. I would recommend this facility to friends and neighbors.

The facility and medical staff are all helpful and almost always available. I have never had a negative experience with them over my five years using this facility and doctors

Like many other reviews on here we had a miserable experience in the radiology dept for our Ultrasound.
Customer service doesn’t seem to be something they strive for here. If you want to be treated like a human and not just a number, pay extra for a PPO where people actually put in an effort to please and retain their patients.

This facility is so unorganized. We had a appointment at 6:00 pm and we were called in at 6:30 still in room waiting for doctor more thank 30 min. The staff at reception is not professional. Still the doctor is not here. I would never recommend kaiser at any point for the services they provide. It’s very disappointing.

My 1^st visit (besides emergency 2 nights ago), having 5 appointments, so seeing a lot of diff departments. The doctors & techs I’ve visited have been great, though many staff seem disorganized, like this is their first day. One person was trying to take personal info in the hallway & I had to ask to move into a consulting room. Loud construction work going on in the bldg during my visit… and I’m on crutches. I came late at night for emergency, & it was as if I was the first person to do that. No one even operated wheelchair correctly (though doctor was attentive & good). TVs in every waiting room are obnoxious. Can’t we just rest, read, or meditate, rather than have distracting junk & commercials blaring? Many of us are tired & sick, & need calm & quiet. I hope the analysis of test results lives up to my expectations of the doctors. While I’m grateful to get so much done at once, I’m overall disappointed. Oh, visited pharmacy twice: they were very good – efficient, timely, helpful, nice!

Yuk. Only make an appointment at this center of you are wanting to kill your day. I am waiting still for an appointment that was schedule for almost an hour ago. My time is as important theirs.

So far I’ve had two negative experiences at this location.
The first «incident» (and yes, I’d call it an «incident») was at my 9 week pregnancy checkup with Dr. Rosenthal, OBGYN. I was stunned by this doctor’s blatant disrespect for all of my questions and concerns. This is my second pregnancy and I’m opting for a less invasive experience. Meaning, I’ve decided to only do one sonogram at 20 weeks to confirm the gender and am declining all genetic testing. These decisions were met with hostility from Rosenthal in addition to copious amounts of eye rolling. I was also told from the «doctor» that if I decided not to do additional sonograms after 20 weeks that I should realize that QUOTE, «my baby might not ever make it to Harvard.» Yep, she said that. Needless to say, I did not continue with the exam and left immediately after our exchange.
Yesterday I completed my 20 week ultrasound at the Reston Center. I was unprepared for how little information I’d receive. The technician did not provide any information throughout the exam, and was even hesitant to simply tell me what she was doing. At the end of the scan she said I could clean up while she confirmed the gender with the radiologist. When she came back she said she had to take additional pictures… and of course would not say why. This was disconcerting to say the least. When I called my OBGYN’s office that afternoon to find out when I’d learn the results of the exam, I was told that I’d probably hear something by Wednesday. What? Four working days to get the results?! With my first pregnancy everything was immediate and the scan only lasted about 30 minutes. Badly, sorely, desperately miss my old insurance.

I have had only great service at this Kaiser location. My doctor, Ommar Win, takes her time when she’s seeing me and does not rush me out the door. The pharmacy is pretty efficient as well. The shining star are the phlebotomists. Nothing is worse than a bad phlebotomist, and I have never had a problem here. The gentleman that usually works there (I do not know his name) is by far the best I’ve ever had. He never bruises my arm. He’s simply amazing. I am fortunate that I do not have a chronic medical issue as I’m sure (as with many medical institutions) there are frustrations with how things are handled, but for regular doctor visits I have never been disappointed.

Awful! I love Kaiser– but this location is so bad! Rude receptionist at OBGYN area — then you have the radiology department oh my so awful! The sonogram tech was rude — she will not talk the whole time and she kept chewing her gum loud. She also kept sighing for no reason. My husband asked some questions, she did not respond right away & made us feel as we were being a bother. She didn’t give us any info on what she was doing — we had to pretty much ask her for the baby’s gender & she goes «it looks like a girl» & then she didn’t go back to it or even typed it on pic. The Radiology doctor came in cuz she must have missed some things. She had to re-​do some of the scans. She wasn’t any better. She didn’t introduce herself of talked to us like we’re patients — she ignored us and did what she had to then left. I feel bad for 1^st time parents — they will not get a good experience here. If given a choice — go to another kaiser for ultrasound. I’m glad we had a good one in Springfield for our 1^st born– we were treated better & got more info and nice images. I will not go back to this location eventhough it’s close to my work. HORRIBLE experience — i still don’t even believe her on my baby’s gender i do love my home kaiser which is Fairoaks! Everyone is so much nicer!!! Boooooooo Reston!!! Those employees need to go to a customer service training to learn some basics.

I do not know where else to turn, after having written the Virginia Insurance Commissioner and having received a favorable response from the State, but nearly 6 weeks after my first attempts to resolve with Kaiser, still not a word of correspondence from Kaiser. All I was trying to do was switch plans within Kaiser to one with a low deductible and co-​pay before my policy renewed. (However, the only thing for which I have used them was wellness care.) Kaiser instead issued me a policy of their choosing – with a high deductible and very high co-​pay. The multiple calls totaling over an hour on the phone and multiple emails were all time I kissed goodbye and for which I received nothing in return. Kaiser’s website was also useless in this process. If I wasn’t stuck with Kaiser (now that the new «Affordable» Healthcare Law only allows you to switch plans during open enrollment or when there is a life event,) I would switch in a heartbeat. They have the lousiest customer service, hands down, of any company with which I have ever done business.

I wish I could give these criminals a zero. As everyone says, Kaiser is fine if you only have routine issues (flu, stomach virus, etc), but they’re HORRIBLE if you actually have a chronic condition.
I have a chronic thyroid condition and I’ve been having flare-​ups even though my lab results have been normal. These idiots won’t even give me a referral to see ANYONE else. He said everything was completely normal.
Meanwhile, my flare-​ups have involved heart palpitations, dizziness, shortness of breath, and blackness appearing to close in on me from the sides. The doctor said it was an anxiety attack, but it’s prompted by heat (it happens, without fail, every time I’m outside for more than 3 minutes when it’s above 85 degrees), not anxiety!
I am preparing to threaten legal action against them and I am NOT one to do that lightly.
By the way, the internist I saw was Dr. Thomas Bruce. Never go see him. The man should be sued for malpractice.

Personally, I think Kaiser is great, and the RESTON location is the best. As a single mom of a kid who seems to pick up every bug and virus out there, I love that I can see a doctor at 9 pm, get him tested for Strep, pick up his perscription and be out of there by 9:45. Great service!

I’ve had a difficult time connecting with my OB/​GYN, Dr. Rosenthal, and am looking for a doctor who at least does not rush out of the room. The health care program over all has been great.