Lawrence Chao, MD

Amazing doctor & staff!!!
Dr Chao is always patient and never in a hurry. He takes the time to explain things in terms I can understand. He never rushes me and let’s NE ask plenty if questions. I love the fact that he turns away from the computer and file to talk to me face to face. He isn’t someone who just writes a script to get rid of you, he is always looking out for my best interest.
Willa is a real angel. She is patient beyond words and is always pleasant and helpful.
I always leave my appointments feeling completely satisfied.
Everyone is the office is top notch!

Doctor Chao have been my primary doctor for 15+ years! Even I have moved to the East Bay for years, I’m still seeing doctor Chao because he is patient and always can provide medical solutions! He is the doctor that I trust! Thank you, doctor, Chao!

This used to be a very nice and quiet office. It was very easy to get an appt. to be seen on the same day. I left them due to insurance changed and recently switched back. It was a mistake! Now, they have tons of patients and hard to get an appt. Doctor seems to be overwhelmed by this craziness and I feel like I was not getting any care under him. I had to request for specific lab test done instead being told to. Very disappointed!

Update: I recently saw Dr. Chao again for another round of accupuncture for my headaches and pain. He doesn’t take the American route of prescribing more and more painkillers because accupuncture does indeed help a lot!
During my sessions he was friendly and careful and made it quite relaxing to visit the doctor (not many people would say that!)
I was referred to him by a family friend months ago and I’m very much grateful for that. Excellent quality doctor!
Sometimes their staff is a little overbooked, but he is a popular doctor in my family so they probably take a lot of the open dates too.
Definitely give him a visit! I recommend him by far

Dr Chao is a very good doctor. He answered all my questions, location ia easy to find and there is plenty of parking space.
appointment is easy to make as well.

it’s better you change facility and doctor,
the place always smell like food and not sanitized, it;s overbooked some time there are 7 to 8 people waiting in the reception.
I asked the doctor to prescribe me a test he told me to ask another doctor I had to wait 3 week later and ask my allergologist and they find me a disease thank you doctor lawrence to make me wait, so my health got worst.
never see me again, one time even went to the office to obtain a copy of a blood test and they told me the doctor need to see you and charge for the visit , you only think about money not caring for the sick people that came to your office. over all I just need a copy of the test.

Do yourselves a favor and do not come here. The scheduling staff is clueless and the doctor is overbooked. My appointment is at 3:30pm. Despite the fact of being there early, 3 people that came in after MY appointment time got taken in first.
It is 50 minutes in and I’m still outside.
The specimen bin is also in the waiting area. Wtf?

Dr. Chao is always a trusted doctor for myself and my family for years. He’s very experienced and he’s attentive to his patience’s concerns. He works with his patience to make sure both their physical and mental health are taken care of. I know i am in good hands when I have Dr Chao diagnosing and treating my problems.
So why not a 5 stars? Well, one of his receptionists is pretty terrible to deal with. First, she always gives people a mean and impatient look. And in fact, for 3 times, she told me the wrong date/​time or she had the wrong one written down in their record and she won’t admit it. Frankly, I am really shocked to see someone with such impatient and hostile attitude be working in the medical industry. I can’t blame Dr. Chao for this but it definitely docks points off for my overall experience with the clinic.

One star Unilocal rating is a «compliment» for this quack.
I saw him once and never went back — one of the best decisions I have made in my life!!!
This quack is not even US educated. He graduated from some med school in Guangdong, China in the 1980s.
No one in his office, including him, seems to care about any of the patients. They keep you waiting forever, yet they will spend only couple of seconds with you. «Everything seems fine, give me your $ 20 copay, see ya!»

I saw Dr. Chao today for a few headaches I’ve been getting. I waited for 20minutes in the waiting room and got a chance to speak w/​Dr. Chao for 20minutes.
He explained everything that was going on and I had a great experience.
I highly recommend Dr. Chao.
thanks!

I haven’t written many reviews on Unilocal,but this is one that I feel compelled to write. I was assigned Dr. Chao by my insurance company when the medical group that my doctor belonged to was dropped. Wow, what a horrid point in my medical history that was.
Dr. Chao is nice enough, but I never got the feeling that I was being listened to. The staff consists entirely of English learners, and I often had to repeat myself or ask them to repeat themselves to get points across. Their behavior was cold if professional, and I never got the feeling that I was anything beyond something to «process».
The nail in the coffin came this weekend, when I realized that I would have to reschedule a Monday morning appointment. Their «answering service» would not pick up the phone after the greeting message, until this morning at about 8:15AM. I explained that I would not be able to make the appointment, and that I’d have to reschedule. He said (in a thick Chinese accent), «I don’t know what you want me to do.» I said, «I want to leave a message that I won’t be in for this morning’s appointment. That’s what an answering service does, right?» He then went off on a tirade, saying that he was going to ignore my call, and that I, «should complain to the office.»
Well, I’m not going to complain. I’m going to drop this quackery like a hot potato and find a doctor with a real practice. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!

I normally don’t write reviews and didn’t have a Unilocal account either. I just signed up for a Unilocal account a couple minutes ago b/​c I wanted to share my experience with this doc.
I’m a very healthy guy who had not been to the doc for 10+ years prior to Jan 2009. I scheduled a regular body checkup and wanted him to take a look at my recent hair loss issue.
Jan 2009 — He sat from his seat, several feet away, took a quick look at me and after saying «look at me, I’ve lost quite some hair too.» (very funny), he wrote me a prescription for propecia w/​o further examination. «Come back in 3 months.»
Apr 2009 — I asked the lady who took my blood pressure why I had to come back. (My number of visits to doctors’ offices and medical-​related experience is very limited.) She told me since I had a blood test last time and a tetanus shot, the doc had to follow-​up with me. After waiting a long time, the doc finally came in and said «How are you? Another year huh?» I naturally replied, «Yea, yea.» Then I thought for a moment and asked him, «What do you mean another year?» He said «Oh, when was the last time I saw you?» He mentioned nothing about the last visit but gave me a prescription for my allergies instead. I asked him about the wart on my thumb and was told that a lot of ppl have it. It’s no big deal he said. «Come back in a month.» I asked, «What about my wart?» He said, «We need to order something for that.»
May 2009 — After waiting over 40 minutes in the room, the doc came in. I reminded him about the wart. He dug out a can of liquid nitrogen from the cabinet, which certainly didn’t look new to me! Had to order it? He sprayed it on my thumb. «Come back in 3 months»
That was my 3^rd visit and I’m really healthy. I asked him, «Again??» He then said, «Come back in 6 months then?» I had enough. «I’ve been here 3 times this year already. Isn’t it supposed to be once a year?» «Call me again in a year then.»
That’s it. I’m switching doctor.

He’s my primary care physician, but I think I’m going to change doctors. He’s not very thorough with his disagnose of the patients and doesn’t really explain much. However, on the plus side, he’ll give you the meds if you ask and also he’ll check with your insurance for coverage before he begins.
I don’t know what happened to his receiptionist Cathleen because she was really the only reason that kept me coming back, even though some of Dr. Chao’s practice was a little questionable. He gives me what I want and a nice staff meant me coming back, but he isn’t very knowledged and now his good staff manager is gone. That just means it’s time for me to move on.

It is my opinion that the office was dirty, cramped, and generally run down.
It is my opinion that there was a significant language barrier with many of the staff, many of whom appeared to not have a very good grasp on the English language, and one of whom asked if I was menstruating. (I am male, by the way.)
It is my opinion that Dr. Chao himself seemed very nice and friendly and is probably an excellent doctor, but I would not return to this medical provider unless requested to do so by my insurance company.