UCSF Imaging Center at China Basin

Just finished my MRI, hanging out in the pleasant and comfortable waiting rm while having complimentary tea and water. Staff is v professional and kind and considerate. Everyone knew what they were doing, and had excellent pt interaction skills. My IV poke was painless. My rad tech, Alvin, made me feel completely relaxed. Everyone wanted me to be as comfortable as possible. I’ve have too many MRIs to count over the past 13 years; this was the best!

Went here on a weekend for an MRI. Easy to get to by public transportation. Reception desk staff was pleasant. Although I arrived early I was still not seen until 25 minutes after my scheduled appointment.
One downside is that the waiting area is quiet (that’s good) and so it is easy to hear personal conversations of the staff at the reception desk (not good).
The MRI tech Michelle was friendly, informative and efficient! She made me very comfortable during the test.

Friendly and wonderful staff. Made a scary visit for a first MRI go quickly and easily.

We recently traveled to San Francisco for a PET Scan for my husband at the China Basin facility. We had a very nice experience, our nurse explained the PET scan process to my husband in a pleasant Irish brogue, in language which was easy to understand and definitely placed him at ease.
While the hubster had his scan, I hung out in the interior waiting area, and had a chance to appreciate the interaction of the medical staff with several other patients, and what I observed were very high levels of empathy and patience. We spend a great deal of time in the company of medical professionals, and this was definitely on the scale for thoughtfulness and respect for the patient. We were very pleased and would use this facility again.

Experience with technicians, doctors, and rest of staff is excellent. The problem is with their billing department. They don’t care about the patient or the family of the patient. They had a doctor order in January and did not send the request to insurance for approval until two days before the can and then called to cancel the scans due to a Medical issue !! Really? We just went through 24 months of chemo, radiation, bone marrow transplant, antibody treatment. All to get to a place where we need to scan every quarter and pray there is no relapse. Then to have hem lie to cover up their mistake with a lie that causes serious anxiety on the patient and the family. Unreal. The one star would be five if it were not for the incredibly incompetent and thoroughly rude billing department.

Amazing facility and medical staff. Never had a problem with them until now…
BEWARE OF THE BILLING DEPARTMENT, we had scans scheduled since January and have private, very good insurance. China Basin billing didn’t send the authorization request to my insurance until FRIDAY AFTERNOON WHEN SCANS WERE SCHEDULED TO BEGIN THE FOLLOWING TUESDAY! China Basin called me to cancel the scans (which by the way are for a TEEN WITH CANCER). I was told the reason for cancellation was a «medical issue» NOT THE TRUTH which is they FORGOT to send it to insurance!!! This patient has had scans here with the same insurance for the past year and a half!
Rude, rude management in billing. We were offered to keep the appointments and sign a waiver stating we would be responsible for the charges if insurance didn’t pay. Really? So your GROSS ERROR is not only putting a cancer patient in jeopardy by putting off SCHEDULED scans, but now we are to pay for your mistake. UNREAL!!!
You would think a facility with such wonderful, skilled employees would train their billing department to know PUTTING OFF CANCER SCANS EVEN A WEEK CAN MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE IF SOMETHING SHOWS UP! Can you imagine our private cost for a CT scan, Injection and MIBG scan if we had to pay? We have filed a formal complaint with patient relations at UCSF and are waiting the outcome. Scans will be done on time, due to my five hours of calling the insurance company. I will post the outcome of my complaint.

If you have to get imaged, this is a good place to do it. Friendly, clean, and proffesional.

Great and friendly staff; from the front desk to the professional blood-​letters, very detailed. Nice digs too. Vastly superior to Parnassus Campus.

Super nice staff and facility! We parked in a handicap zone on the street which was right in front of the ramp that led straight to Lobby 6 (their front door!) .
We came from out of town and arrived really early because we didn’t run into any of the anticipated traffic issues. They got me registered and started anyway. I did not get the procedure until the scheduled time but somehow the wait didn’t seem that long here.
The lumbar puncture went very well. I have had one elsewhere that a nerve was touched and it is not a comfortable feeling. This was perfect. No issues at all. They talked to me each step of the way so I wasn’t wondering what was going to happen next. (Sorry Dr. I can only remember LAG? I remember your face!) We were able to laugh and joke a little after. I was really pleased with this appointment.
THANKS UCSF CHINA BASIN!

Great facilities! I like the free parking downstairs (validated if you have an appointment), though the tiny parking spots are really hard to maneuver.
They recently added free wifi, which is great for guests like me to be able to get work done while in the waiting room. Facilities are clean, and the staff are all friendly.
Why why why doesn’t this place have a laboratory? I end up having to drive over to Mt Zion to get blood tests done first, before coming here. (In certain cases, a Creatinine is required before a CT scan)
I once spoke to the Chief Technologist of Nuclear Medicine and PET to get a radiology scan covered by a government sponsored research study; she was helpful at first but with once things got complicated (insurance needed to pre-​authorize scan for the government study to pay for the scan; however insurance wouldn’t pre-​authorize it because it was not covered under insurance — duh!), she pushed off the issue to the billing department who was unhelpful. Ah, the stupid bureaucracy (government, hospital, and insurance) that makes life so hard.
EDIT: just wanted to add that they can test for Creatinine levels here! saves me a drive to a UCSF lab! (see comment for more details)

this is without a doubt in my mind the best imaging center of all of ucsf. they have 3T MRI, 1.5T MRI, 7T MRI, DEXA, PET, CT, nursing station, nuclear imaging… and much more.
they have a high resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography scanner with the ability to scan at 82 microns. simply amazing. steve job should take notes.
the staff are excellent and very attractive, especially the research associates.

Visited this UCSF facility for an MRI. Parking was free after validation and located underground. Comfortable, open spaces from waiting to dressing rooms. Technologists and front counter staff were polite and courteous throughout, showing concern and consideration for my comfort during the MRI procedure.
They quickly provided a copy of the images upon my request, then days later faxed me the radiologist’s report. Overall, excellent service and facility, although the location in the midst of a heavily trafficked China Basin area is a bit tricky when driving here.
Note the MRI machines here are 1.5T, thus may be suboptimal for, say, orthopedic purposes compared to the current 3T gold standard