Anita N Demas, MD

Dr Demas clearly is not suited to be a physician or any other professional that requires empathy or compassion.
Due to some severe flu symptoms about an hour after the office had closed I called the answering service to speak with the on call physician. I was told that Dr Demas was the person on call and since she is my physician I asked to speak with her.
She was available but refused to speak with me. She never asked what my symptoms were. She passed a message thru the person at the answering service’.Have her set up an apt tomorrow’
If Dr Demas had spent two minutes on the phone to find out my symptoms and to let me tell her that I thought I was too sick to get in to the office and to get some advice, it would have made a huge difference.
It is apparent that Dr Demas hasn’t learned from feedback from the other reviews nor does she care.

I would give her zero stars if I could. The other low reviews are right. She is soul-​less and cares only about her pocketbook. I had been going to her for 8 years and never had anything more than an annual physical, which she palmed off on to her NP, just coming in for the requisite 3 minutes. I never had any health issues, so it was adequate. Then my last appt, she came in saying, «Oh, I got a letter from your insurance about you.» I asked her what it was and she said it was just a standard letter. I get the bill for the annual physical a month later, and it was billed ENTIRELY to me, not to my insurance, and when I called, her office said I wasn’t insured for three weeks when I switched to an individual plan and so I am now liable for the entire ridiculous over-​priced bill. After hours on the phone with insurance, they claimed they had informed my doctor to inform me, which was the letter that Dr. Demas dismissed. So finally I called her office and asked that they reduce the bill or help me out since they should have told me I wasn’t covered by a fluke for 3 weeks — I would have rescheduled my damn non-​urgent physical then! They said, and this is a quote, «It is not our responsibility to know when an insurance is contracted with us or not.» Really? I was speaking to the «Benefits Manager» — what IS her job, if not to know who is contracted with her office??? I then left a message for Dr. Demas that I was going to leave her practice after 8 years if something was not rectified. She called back in FIVE MINUTES! All the times I was home with a nasty flu or pnuemonia and she can wait 2 – 3 days to call back, but when losing a paying client is on the line, she can call back immediately? After I told her the situation, she said the same bullshit line as her Benefits Manager, that she doesn’t know which insurance is contracted with her own practice! She then goes on to say she can’t do anything and can’t reduce her over-​priced bill for seeing me for 3 minutes and ordering routine labs, even after I’ve given her my business for 8 years. I asked her if losing a patient’s trust and business of 8 years is worth her gaining a one-​time payment, and she said yes it was. End of story. I hung up, ordered my records from her office and switched to Kaiser. Happier for it – bye bye stingy bitch who couldn’t give a shit about her patients!

I should have read the reviews so I would have had a warning of the exact experience I had with this ‘GOD HELP HER’ physician. Actually Dr Demas would be better suited with her personality working in a hospital morgue. Similar to a review posted on Unilocal,Dr Demas walked into the exam room 15 – 20 minutes late without any apology — strike one. She sat down and as mentioned in the listed reviews, this woman’s personality needs help — she was cold, haughty and unimpressive. Most people become physicians to help others with a caring heart. She had a ‘could care-​less/​heart-​less’ aire about her in her speaking tone and in her opinions of healthcare (she mentioned she does not practice any integrative approaches to healthcare — only western medicine, Stanford trained, science based practices /​ie closed minded) — strike two. Lastly, I want a physician that is 100% supportive and 100% passionate about all there is in their field to help their patients — Dr Demas, to me, did NOT exude any support or passion, only an un-​professionally rude, ‘do as I say without question’ attitude and a warning that she is extreme on the medical practice spectrum of care — strike three. I couldn’t get out of the office fast enough. Please, heed this free advice, I am in the medical field and have sold medical devices to physicians for the last 20 years +, do some more research in finding another doctor. Your health and whose hands you have to help you heal deserve a heart and a smile :)

Dr. Demas is great. She is caring and thorough. She also refers-​on to specialists when she feels that additional follow-​up is needed.
I’ve seen her for 10 years, and can assure anyone that she is excellent. The front-​desk situation is much improved, and though she books out, in an emergency you well get seen.
If you want hand-​holding, then perhaps she is not your cup-​of-​tea but for clinical excellence, she is terrific.

After looking for a new primary care physician for over a year, I selected Dr. Demas on the recommendation of a friend. My first visit with Dr. Demas found her to be professional, genuinely interested in what I had to say and a thorough and knowledgable care-​giver. I like her no-​nonsense, but quite personable and witty, approach and appreciated the amount of time she spent getting to know me. Not an easy thing to do given the pressures physicians are getting from insurance companies to get us «in-‘n-out» A strong recommendation for an excellent physician.

I moved to SF a couple of years ago and was referred by one of my neighbors who had wonderful things to say about doctor and this practice. However, I had to phone three times over a period of six months in order to get accepted into Dr’s «closed» practice. Her practice was «full». I’m glad I was able to be patient. (pun unintentional but more than appropriate) Dr. Demas is wonderful. She is caring and listens well, and I never feel rushed in her examining room. I’ve seen her 3 – 4 times and each experience has been positive and helpful.

Poor to fair is an understatement. First, let’s talk facilities. Imagine a beautiful top of the line medical space. Now picture the opposite of that. Ironically, I was referred to Dr. Demas so despite the horrible reviews on Unilocal about her, I went to see her. She was icy and cold. Compassionate? Hahaha. That’s a good one. I wouldn’t recommend her to anyone and when I mentioned my icy experience to the person who recommended me to her, this person said, «I had an awful experience with her and I am never going back!» Besides her, beyond artic demeanor, expect her to act as if she is inside your body and knows it better than you. Also her nurses must be in her posse because they were just as rude. I was, in fact, hung up on when I just said I would not be in need of her services anymore. Seriously, take a note out of my book, and everyone else’s and skip this. Let me sum up the appointment for you: ew, am I going to get a disease here; is this place clean; oh. Dr. Demas knows everything about everything from the weather to health. Honestly, I am writing this review so no one has to ever go through what and I and my friend had to go through.

Dr. Demas is great, I did read the negs, people if you pay with your own money for this biz you are not in the right game. Please this is where the Pacific Heights people go — no one expects to pay out of pocket with real money. This office mooches the insurance companies and IMHO that’s how it is supposed to be as long as you don’t pay anything out of pocket.
Now onto the office staff — of course you hire what the market would offer. Sad but true. Oh well.

This doctor really needs a refresher course or something. Or maybe a different job.
She told me that I would need to be hospitalized for a problem which another doctor was able to treat easily with oral prescription drugs.
When I asked if there might be alternatives to hospitalization she got irritated and hung up the phone quickly.
0 points for medical knowledge
0 points for professionalism

I’ve been a patient of Dr. Demas for over five years. I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who found her personality difficult to deal with. In my first visit she was thorough with her questions, but went too far. I don’t think knowing the number of times I have sex with my husband should matter when I’m not seeing her for a sex related matter. I was embarrassed. I also think she came off as judgmental. I haven’t actually seen her in a few years as the only way to have a reasonable bill is to see the nurse practitioner. The NP sent me unnecessarily to specialists twice, which cost me a ton of money (high deductible on my insurance). She could have saved me the trouble by simply consulting a physician on staff.
Another huge problem is the incompetence of the front desk staff. Once I was waiting to check in for over 10 minutes (I was 2 min late for my appt.). By the time I was in front to check in, they told me I was too late and would have to wait another 45 min. for the NP. The appt. was not necessary anyway — just to check my blood pressure, which I do at home. I told the receptionist that I didn’t have time to wait and that they better not bill me and that I didn’t want to make another appt. At least they didn’t bill me.
The last straw came when I called to have my blood pressure meds prescriptions renewed. The receptionist said that Dr. Demas would call me, but she never did. They also did not return numerous calls from my pharmacy. This is outrageous behavior. I’m supposed to be on these pills every day for the rest of my life. I’m through with this practice and am now scheduling an appt. with a new doctor.

Speakerphone, shuffling papers, one-​size-​fits all advice delivered in distracted and judgmental tone – if this is what you’re looking for in a health care provider, then, by all means, entrust your health to Dr. Demas.
She’s an ideal example (as is also Dr. Milligan in the same practice, who wins the if-​you-​obviously-​hate-​people-​so-​much-​why-​did-​you-​go-​into-​medicine-​you-​jackwagon award) of the dark consequences in making consumers more responsible for their health care. Normally, this is a good thing, at this office questions you come up with after researching issues get stares of ennui.
I have liked many of the nurse practitioners here, but this office churns through vast quantities of them. Maybe they don’t like the attitude either.

Dr. Demas is extremely knowledgeable and thorough. She is exactly the kind of doctor I wanted. She is also exceptionally well trained and very experienced. Consider yourself lucky if Dr. Demas is taking care of you.

Saw Dr D for the first time today, much better than some of the other docs in the practice in terms of actually caring (or pretending to care). she referred me to a PT and Ortho, which was about the best she could do. I’d recommend her.

I am upping her to five stars as on my recent visits the front desk seems well run. Dr. Demas remains as capable and thorough as ever. She has given me excellent care.

Dr Demas is in a really busy office but she gives exceptional care. She always returns phone calls and seems to really care about her patients well-​being. I have gone to her for a few years and just recommended Dr Demas to a friend.

I would also give no stars, but it’s not possible. She acts like I’m holding her up for her next her appointment even though she JUST came into the examing room– and was late with no apology mind you! I agree with the other reviewers– very very cold, and horrible demeanor. When she was out on maternity– they had a sub– Jill Einstein– LOVE HER!!! but unfortunately, she was just subbing, and also told me she is not going to be working– and will be staying home to care for children instead. They have a new doctor at the practice– Jennifer Bowerman– she is GREAT! I didn’t know she had started there and saw her by accident because they double booked Dr. Demas for my appointment slot– so I had to see Dr. Bowerman– she is FRIENDLY– lets you ask all your questions and she explains things. See Dr. Bowerman-​Dr. Demas is horrible-​makes me feel stupid when I see her!

My encounters with Dr. Demas have been fine. She has been professional and capable when I’ve seen her. My issue is with her office. When you call her office you get a generic phone tree, even during business hours. «You have reached your doctor’s office. If this is an emergency hang up and call 911.» I tend to be stoic and I don’t make doctor’s appointments very often, but last week I had severe and sustained abdominal pain and nausea that really scared me. I called and chose the option to leave my name, number, and chief complaint and request an appointment. The office never returned my call. I called again and got the same result. That’s just plain unacceptable. Dr. Demus may be good, but that’s meaningless if her support staff don’t do their part.
UPDATE: A month has passed and they never did return my phone calls!

Dr. Demas is professional, efficient, and extremely knowledgeable. I’ve been seeing her for about a year and her advice and diagnoses have been bang-​on throughout. I appreciate that she doesn’t brook any nonsense and while it’s clear to me that she views her time as valuable it’s also clear to me that she feels the same way about my time. And I agree with the previous reviewer that, while she’s clearly there to work, she’s also quite friendly and willing to explain what’s what if you ask. All in all I couldn’t ask for more in a personal doctor and I recommend her without reservation.
Update ¹⁰⁄₂₀₀₇: Despite a couple of job changes on my part I’m still working with Dr. Demas and am still very pleased with her level of service and competency. Lately I have noticed that there are a bunch of new faces behind the counter at intake and I asked her about it… suffice it to say that she recently has been handed the reigns of the practice — several MDs share the front desk squad — and decided to do something about the quality of the people up front. «I didn’t work this hard in medical school to have [the people at the front desk] mess up my practice,» she said, «I have been well aware of the issues people have had trying to get through.»
So there it is. Aside from some long holds I’ve never had a big problem with intake since I started seeing Dr. Demas. Hopefully her changes in personnel will fix the issues that others have been having. I continue to recommend her without reservation, not only here, but to all my friends as well.

Dec. 2007: Anita Demas receiving one star from anyone says a lot more about the tweakers who use Unilocal than it does Dr. Demas. In my numerous encounters, she is unfailingly thoughtful, thorough, creative, accurate and prompt. She is also very very hilarious. I don’t know, maybe some folks expect a doctor to give out unicorns and foot massages and zero bad news at the end of each visit, but I’d prefer someone with a vast fund of knowledge, a sense of humor, clear recommendations and referrals and a natural curiosity concern about my health. Everything she’s ever diagnosed — orthopedia stuff, internal, whatever, is dead on. She’s smart as hell. Five stars ‘cuz you can’t put six.
PS. The phone situation and support staff are now up to speed.

This doctor would get no stars, but this anti-​recommendation wouldn’t post unless I gave her at least one. She was a terrible physician. Cold, mean and acted like I was bothering her. She wouldn’t return my phone calls or take the time to give me a real explanation regarding her diagnosis. When I needed some additional information about my prescription on a Friday afternoon, I was told I’d have to wait until Monday. She also charges $ 15 for prescription renewals.