Alicja Steiner, MD

Faithful and good patient until I finally got an order from a neurologist for Dr. Steiner to perform a nerve block. Her horrible office staff and fax machine black hole claims to never receive the multiple attempts by the neurologist to get her the order to submit to the insurance. I now realize she lacks the capacity to execute such an order and her office exists simply to push pills and procedures like trigger point injections never solving the underlying problem; at this she excels. If you go to this office, be prepared to have a visit duration of anywhere between 2 – 4 hours as it seems there is no limit to the number of patients her office will accept. AVOID AT ALL COSTS IF YOU WANT TO GET WELL AGAIN.

If you have been referred to this Dr get a new referral right away! Thus office is horrible! The wait is a minimum of 1&½ hours to be seen past your appt, some days it’s 3 hours. Time and the staff is rude and uncompassionate. The dr. Herself is so overbooked because she is only in it to make money she doesn’t listen to your concerns she is just going to give you a standard answer that doesn’t fix your pain or help to actually heal you. Trust me and stay away. Find a dr. That cares.

***AVOID THIS «DOCTOR» AT ALL COSTS***. Having worked at one of the highest rated medical establishments in SD I suppose I was expecting this physician who is supposedly so «sought after» to be professional, knowledgeable and organized. I don’t even know where to begin when explaining how bad this practice is. I can’t believe she hasn’t been investigated by the DEA, AMA, etc.
(1) They said to expect to be there 2 – 3 hours on your 1^st visit. BS! My 1^st appt was 6 hours long. It was scheduled for 8 – 830 am so I foolishly thought I would make it to work on time when I had to be there at 430PM. I was late for work. No joke. They book ALL the 1^st time appts at the same time and hope that 50−75% don’t show up. The one receptionist, Sonjia, said she was shocked that we all showed up and couldn’t give estimates of time delays and such. UNREAL! So back to the 1^st appointment… you’ll see like 4 – 5 other clinicians for some reason and then spend a whopping 30 – 45 seconds with the Queen and all her infinite wisdom if you’re lucky. I saw four people, each about an hour apart, each who asked 2 – 4 questions prior to seeing Steiner. I have NO idea why any medical professional worth a lick would want to work at this McNugget factory like office.
(2) Queen Steiner is so unprofessional that I can’t even gather the words to explain. It must be seen in person. All over the office there are notices posted about how she is SO important in the medical community and there is such a demand (I’m being VERY sarcastic) for her «help» so make sure your a** is there on time or they’ll charge you $ 50.
(2.5) On my last (and thank God for that) appointment with this woman I arrived at 730 for a 745 appointment. Another woman was waiting in the hallway who had a 730 appointment scheduled so we both started to get concerned. At 745 we began knocking on the door. One of the factory workers (aka MA) opened it and was shocked to see us there as the office was not set to open for another 90 minutes. We explained that we had appointments scheduled for this time so. wtf?! She looked them up and sure as sh*t we were right. One of the (smart) doctors jumped ship and apparently they changed their office hours but chose not to (A) tell the patients and (B) re-​schedule us for the new hours. So we sit in the lobby as more patients begin arriving with no knowledge of WTH is going on just like us. I’m good and angry at this point and then I find out that the Queen Bee isn’t even going to respect us as patients (or walking $$$) to show up to her own practice even remotely on time. I’m good and steamed at this point because not only did they fail to inform us of the new office hours but this broad isn’t even there and the staff have NO FRICKING IDEA if/​when she’ll be showing up. Around 1030 I finally demand to be re-​scheduled for that afternoon as I was already late for another appointment.
(3) The «office manager» is the dimmest bulb I’ve ever seen and can’t seem to get it through her thick skull why I’m angry. If I, as a patient, decided to show up 3 – 4 hours late for an appointment they wouldn’t see me AND would charge me for their precious time. I simply asked if we were all going to leave with $ 50 checks in-​hand as the doctor was now HOURS late. I mean seriously… how beyond inconsiderate is this chick? I can’t even call her a doctor because on no planet does she deserve the respect that automatically goes with the title. I come back at 130 and after waiting another 45 – 1 hour her royal highness finally saunters in. First thing she does is had me this letter to sign stating that this will be my last appointment and I’m being referred back to my PCP. SHE screws up, is HOURS late but I’m the b*tch?! I try to ask her how she would feel if she was me but she completely ignores the question. She states that if I don’t like the way her office is run that this isn’t the place for me. MORE RIGHT SHE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN! She takes ZERO responsibility for her own f*ck up and instead blames the patients? How does that make any sense? She dolls out controlled medicine like everyday is Halloween, without any investigation into what is or isn’t working, possibly trying some other pain relieving measures, etc. Nope… she just keeps writing scripts for very addictive, expensive, potentially dangerous medication with no thought about whether this is what is actually good for the patients. As long as the insurance companies keep dolling out the less than accurate claims that are submitted that’s all she cares about.
I have never met a physician who so blatantly DOES NOT CARE AT ALL ABOUT THE PATIENTS BEING TREATED! She is a legend in her own mind and is so arrogant in her own belief that she is doing mankind a favor by «treating» people that its actually funny. PLS DO NOT feed her bank account and ego by making the mistake of being seen there. You will regret it!

?I would not recommend this doctor to anyone. What a scam, she over books paitients so that means you will be there for hours. She takes personal phone calls on your dime she takes tea breaks. . so after waitting for hours you may see her for 5 minutes. I was a Firefigher/​Paramedic for 25 years and was appalled that she allows dogs into the rooms. FiFi is not going to drop dead if you leave it at home for a couple of hours. When you are in pain 2 hours can feel like an eternity. granted I saw her only twice but that was two times to many, I finally saw her associate DR.KASENDORF. Now he is a true physician, he looks at you when he talks to you and listens. He gives you a plan on how he is going to treat your pain. He is what you want in a doctor. and she fired him because she didn’t like way he charted. Thank God I can see him at his La Jolla office. Also she discharged her Cancer paitients which I have stage 3 metastic breast cancer. The only good thing about this is I have an excellent Doctor. now which is what all paitients want. The only other thing about DR. Steiner and her practice is if the Fire Marshall should up one day her office would be shut down or fined. Because of over crowding, ‘.The waing room is so small, every seat is taken, people are standing up against the wall and in the hallway. Sincerley Jeanne Winslow

This Dr. is rude, not child-​friendly and very unprofessional. I would definitely NOT recommend her. She was not attentive during our visit because she was so overbooked she had no time to spend with me. Every time I’ve been there (3 or 4 times) I’ve had to wait 1 – 2 hours while I sit there in pain. I would rather seek another referral to a different doctor who wants to be attentive to my needs. I’ve seen other pain management doctors, and she has been the absolute worst! Then, she wants to drug test you every visit — who’s making the profit on these tests??? There is no need to test me, as I’m disabled and in constant pain! She also was discriminating against my family who gave me a ride there. My advice — FIND A DIFFERENT DOCTOR!

My mom is very sick and has Parkinson’s disease, she was going to see this lady for pain management. This lady made my mom drug test to make sure she’s taking what they gave her. She had to wait 2 hours to be seen and the lady told my mom she couldn’t have her grandson in the room because he was «too loud». This lady is very rude and disrespectful and had no respect for kids. I don’t understand why she is still aloud to work there. I’m very disappointed

I would NOT RECOMMEND this person to anyone seeking medical advice.
After a single consultation. she had only one piece of advice: return for ANOTHER consultation, when the administrative staff was incapable of processing the proper
Billing after being provided with full & complete information… SHE /​STAFF SUBMITTED A SINGLE OFFICE VISIT BILL FOR… GET THIS: $ 1409.90
To ALL 3 CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES… NEGATIVELY EFFECTING MY CREDIT RATING FOR 7 years… no treatment-​Only erroneous billing practices.
***Beware***IMHO Did more harm than good.

Do not go to this «doctor». All she cares about is taking as much money from you as possible. There is no care or compassion you would expect from someone in the health care industry. You should also be ready for a 3+ hour wait every visit as she will over book every single day.

i find it hard to believe Dr. Steiner is allowed to practice medicine in the state of california. i went to see her about chronic headaches. after waiting for 2.5 hours i was finally led into a room to provide a urine sample. after waiting another hour with no human contact or promise of being seen in the near or distant future i went to the front desk and canceled my ‘appointment’ for that day and left. i subsequently received a bill for $ 300 for a drug test! WTF! i called many times to inquire why i was charged for anything but i was put off to someone else until they wore me out. they reported the unpaid bill to my credit report until i was forced to pay the bill for ‘nothing’.
i would not recommend this doctor to my pet hamster! her office and medical practice is a shame to the AMA.

I am really happy to be back in Sd. I love Dr. Steiner and her staff. I have been with her for over 3 years. I even flew from Monterey to see her for my appts. She is that good. Yes. Sometimes you may have to wait but she is very thorough with her patients. I would rather have a doctor like that than one who rushes you in and out and doesn’t care about your needs. Thank you Dr Steiner for all that you do for me and I look forward to coming back to see you real soon.
Tina

Dr. Steiner herself is a very kind and nice doctor. However, the frontdesk girls were not very friendly and smiling. The staff that was taking my blood pressure was actually very nice. It was such a mixed experience. Some staff were very friendly people and some where not. My first visit was horrible. I had to wait 2.5 hours before I can be seen. After that, it was constant waiting. They move you around to separate rooms and tell you that the doctor will be right with you but we ended up waiting some more. I was there for the total of 3 hours.
The following visits to her office was better, I guess it was just the first comers that had to experience the dreadful wait. Usually I wait for about 20 – 30 minutes before I can be seen. Overall, I like Dr. Steiner, but the service was just mundane.

Dr Steiner helps manage the pain from my Rhumetoid Arthiritis. You usually have to wait past your appt time but that’s because she spends a lot of time per patient. If you suffer from chronic pain I would definately recommend her.