General Medicine in San Francisco

February 12, 2009 9:16 AM

General medicine in San Francisco: I'm in need of a basic checkup and a few tests, but the UCSF system is no longer accepting patients. Where else can I see a doctor and have any necessary tests done in the same place? I've a PPO inaurance plan, so I believe I can go anywhere but Kaiser. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
posted by aladfar to health & fitness (6 comments total)

The CPMC doctors are usually a little easier to get into than UCSF.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 9:25 AM on February 12

Also, I don't know if she's accepting patients but I know someone who sees Anita Demas at CPMC (in Pac Heights) and seems satisfied with her.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 9:29 AM on February 12

I recently signed up with the Metropolitan Medical Group. They have two offices downtown. Their thing is you pay $100 / year to be a member (insurance won't cover) and then you can get an appointment quickly, usually in the next day.
posted by Nelson at 10:15 AM on February 12

Thanks for the advice. As for Metropolitan, I paid the fee and went there last year. While the doctors I saw were excellent and I was able to get an immediate appointment, every test I needed required a separate trip to a lab. It meant making another appointment and going to a different place. That's what I'm trying to avoid.

So, I've made an appointment with CPMC.
posted by aladfar at 9:10 AM on February 13

I should add, that rarely, except with the Kaiser system, will you find that all the lab work and other referrals will be in the exact same place as the doctor's appointment. UCSF isn't like that either. The lab is a specific location (nearby) but you'd still need to make a separate visit to get your lab work done. They try to make it as convenient as possible but the provision of healthcare is such that the functions of lab work and clinical care generally are separate in a system as big as UCSF or CPMC.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 10:22 AM on February 13

Follow up: I had no trouble getting an appointment at CPMC, and was pleased to see that their lab is not only in the same building, but across the hall from the examination rooms. I was able to get everything sorted out in one visit and all is well.

However - despite multiple calls, I was never able to follow up with my doctor. Messages left on voicemail and with the receptionist went unanswered for days. After my test results arrived in the mail, I stopped trying.
posted by aladfar at 12:49 PM on March 14