Pediatric Endocrinologists - Long Beach, CA

"Dr. Hicks saw us on short notice when another patient cancelled their appointment. I was thankful for that as we were very worried about our son's medical issues. Because it was short notice, we did not have an x-ray that was ordered by our pediatrician in hand when we went to the appointment so she asked us to drop it off at her office as soon as we could. Our appointment was on a Friday and we dropped the x-ray off the following Wednesday. We then waited 5 weeks and 6 days to hear back from Dr. Hicks - despite calling numerous times asking when she would be getting back to us with her analysis of the x-ray and advice on the next steps. By the time she called us we had already found another doctor. To make matters worse, we now owe $535 for the appointment - one hour in her office, answering questions while she typed on her computer, and a 5 minute physical exam of my son. No treatment, no tests, and they billed us $1,085 - thankfully the adjusted rate through insurance dropped it to $535 but it still feels incredibly overpriced especially considering the service we received. When I called to ask about the bill (Dr. Hicks is part of UCLA Health Physician Services), the billing department told me a typical new patient consultation at UCLA is $800-$1,300 so the bill is correct. The other doctor (same type of doctor as Dr. Hicks) billed $555 and after the insurance adjustment we owe $185. And this doctor (Dr. Mao) has been quick to respond and follow up as needed. So I guess this review is on UCLA Health as well - be warned they are expensive and in my opinion, we certainly did not get services worth what we paid."