Roxanne Fiscella, MD

I have been unimpressed by Dr. Fiscella, but her physician’s assistant Sheila is the best there is. She is able to explain things to me that doctors haven’t; she is always engaged and seems to err on the side of caution in terms of making sure you are getting what you need. Plus she has an incredibly vibrant personality that always puts me at ease.

Dr Roxanne Fiscella has been my GP for nearly 30 years ! She is the best. She is exceptionally astute and listens carefully; and I feel my health is her priority. I am always amazed how well she understands what I am trying to say. I am forever grateful an urgent care doctor passed on the referral because I was not happy with the doctor I found on my own. Through back injury and when I was very stressed from work and life changes Dr Fiscella was open minded and supportive when I wanted to seek additional advice and treatment through alternative medicine. She was the pillar for my medical care, helping me sort through options and move through this very difficult phase until it passed. I have been able to see her when needed. Occasionally I have seen the NP’s. I had been away for several years and coming back I gave Sheila Durlester a try for my annual physical and found her very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. She was extraordinarily thorough, we discussed some borderline numbers with thyroid, liver and blood sugar and she helped me understand more clearly some of the correlations with diet and weight. Six month later, I was able to come back with healthy numbers. I credit her careful listening and suggestions as well as my own effort. The administrative staff have been excellent. I do miss Ida she’s one of those unique people who remembers you and makes you feel special. Dr. Fiscella’s office is often a busy hub because they provide great care in a comfy way, I would happily wait, but have always found they are very well managed and run in a timely fashion. That’s amazing when you think of it — great care and well managed for 30 years ! I have moved to the South Bay but continue to drive up for my care. I know there are great doctors out there, but Dr. Fiscella is hard to beat. I trust her — her judgment, her choices, who she chooses to work with and how she manages her practice. I love her can do attitude. I once asked her how she is managing given the changes in healthcare delivery over the years. Her answer was it’s easy, we can work with it (the system). She’s born to be a doctor.

I recently changed employment and went from 20 years of Kaiser to the HMO system, and had selected Dr. Fiscella as my G.P. To be honest, I have not yet met Dr. Fiscella. However, when I had some issues with my back that needed immediate attention, I met with NP Sheila.
Simply stated, she had terrible bed-​side manner, insulting my birthname during introductions and providing unprofessional commentary on other matters. I left the visit with mixed feelings, wanting to meet Dr. Fiscella but having no interest in working with Sheila in the future. I have decided to go elsewhere, which is unfortunate– I prefer to support female doctors, reviews are generally positive, and her office is close to our home.

So, I was looking for a good dr in the east bay, having come from an amazing dr in Monterey and in Miami, and had a long struggle. Once I found the reviews on Unilocal and WebMD for dr Fiscella, I was happy to find her, and very saddened to hear that she accepts new patient, but she is booked for months, on end and only her nursing assistants can see us. I saw tom and he was god, but I am going to the office to see a DR not an R/​LNP. I will eventually look for another doctor because I feel Tom is capable, he is not a DR, and that’s what we are paying for. If anyone has any good reco of a GOOD family general dr in east bay, please let me know.
Office staff is also very good, and they reply to voicemails very diligently, but hold times on phone is usually 5+ minutes. (and they use patient fusion for records and reminders, but don’t take emails, fax only. GRRR)

My wife and I have been seeing Dr. Fiscella for 25 years. She’s outstanding in every way. I have no idea why she, Sheila her PA, or her staff have any reviews of less than 4 stars – maybe you just can’t please everyone. I would highly recommend her to anyone, and if my Mom lived in the Bay Area I’d take her there myself!

This review is from my experience yesterday — I am a new patient, and it was my first ever appointment at the office, and I knew I would be seeing a PA. The night before my appointment, I came down with what I thought was terrible food poisoning. I called to cancel my initial visit the next morning. Yvette answered the phone and was so absolutely wonderful — encouraged me to reconsider, said that they could still do the appointment, and the PA could assess my symptoms I was experiencing as well — adding, you don’t want to go into the weekend with this and possibly end up in urgent care. She was fabulous. I decided to keep my appointment. I had positive experiences with both Padma and Tom. Tom the PA was extremely thorough, and did a great combo of introducing me to the practice as well as assessing my situation. He was very conscious of the recommendations he was making in terms of what our insurance would cover, and ensured we were comfortable with what he proposed. I felt I received exceptional care — and I am so pleased to have found this practice. On my way out I introduced myself to Yvette to say thanks — she asked how I was, and then gave me a hug. It’s rare to find that kind of compassion. I look forward to meeting Roxanne.

Today I looked at Unilocal for the office’s zip code, wishing to send an update thankyou to Dr. Fiscella for her choice in a recent medication. Reading down the reviews, I decided to write one to share.
Dr. Fiscella and Nurse P. Sheila Durlester have been my go to team for more than a decade. The office staff was terrific, then superwoman office manager Ada retired. New staff came on and for a while I was disappointed with their follow throughs and manners. That has changed satisfactorily. This might be the source of the lesser reviews. Other aspects may be because of bedside manner style. Some prefer one, some another.
I find Dr. Fiscella quick to understand, efficient and astute. She’s fast and can give the appearance of not listening but that is incorrect. Perhaps that might be improved with allowing for some pauses where a patient gathers themselves but I’ve never seen her make an error. She understands character; both of myself and of those I have had to speak about. A sentence or two and she’s got it and got it right. She listens very carefully, then speaks only exactly what needs to be said, rarely giving speculations and never straying off topic. Several times she has said something about my personal life that has shifted my understandings after later reflection. One needs to listen in order to appreciate this highly unusual gift.
Dr. Fiscella particularily understands relationships with borderline personalities. And grief. She asks trigger questions, then makes an observation that helps. She will act as an advocate for when another medical service lags in services. Her referrals have been stellar. In my case that’s an operation (that internist reminded me of a top in the world medical specialist in my family), physical therapy, and testing services. In short, her bedside manner is brisk and to the point, which might be or not be to one’s taste. I like it and prefer to have my physicals with her.
NP Durlester is warmer in tone, lower key, willing to listen without distilling immediately; allowing a person to self discover what they want to say over a longer period of time. Helpful, her recommendations have been for the other kinds of things I’ve been there for. Her knowledge is impressive.
I think that the two of them make for a full service, great team.
As for the desk staff, when I recently inquired about getting a shingles vaccine, they told me the cost, then recommended a less expensive option of going through a drug store. Since this is part of the Kaiser network (I am not a Kaiser insurance client), I rather imagine prices are assigned by that organization? The office staff is pleasant and encouraging, businesslike and professional. Appointments are not impossible to get and are timed according to what is descibed when you call. Sound like you need help sooner? Somehow an appointment is available.
I’m an older woman, mid-60’s, with experiences with many doctors due to geographical moves. I’m an artist, so I appreciate when a medical office regards me kindly, liking some eccentricities. I find everything very clean, with warm touches in all the areas this office occupies. I wish Dr. Fiscella a longer life than mine so I can keep being one of her many patients. Oh, while I think on it, I’ve never had to wait a long time for my appointment to begin.

I was not sure what to expect based on the reviews on various sites.
The Dr. was perfect for me. Direct, clear communication, friendly and just overall awesome. We had a nice chat during my exam. I highly recommend Dr. Fiscella. The whole office is great and the NP is pretty awesome too.

I have been a patient at Dr. Fiscella’s office for the past two years. I have had excellent care and service each time I have visited the office. Sheila Durlester is my Nurse Practitioner and the only professional I have needed to see. Sheila is the BEST! She’s experienced, compassionate, practical, caring, intelligent, has great common sense, and is very easy to talk with. She has provided excellent care, and I recommend her very highly. I have also had excellent care from the nurses, and the office staff is very nice and competent. Thanks to all of you at Dr. Fiscella’s office!

I’ve been very satisfied with my care here over the last several years. I have had probably dozens of visits but have only seen Dr. Fiscella twice; I almost always see Sheila, her NP. I can’t really speak to Dr. Fiscella’s care or expertise but Sheila is personable and very experienced.

I’ve been going to Dr. Fiscella for many, many years. I think she is great. On my yearly checkups, she remembers all of our prior conversations. She is knowledgeable and very straight forward. She doesn’t over prescribe, which I appreciate. I was recently diagnosed with cancer. Dr. Fixcalla made sure I got early help from specialists (and they caught it early), but she has been great support throughout the process. I have always found her staff to be efficient and very friendly.

Dr. Fiscella is a SUPERB, experienced physician who does her part to keep me in good health. I have been Dr Fiscella’s patient for nearly 20 years and I am grateful every day for her professional care and kindness. Each office visit has been excellent in terms of punctuality, diagnosis, treatment, follow-​up, and/​or referrals to specialists. Dr, Fiscella spends quality time listening to my health concerns, diagnosing the problem, and determining the best medical treatment. I consider myself very fortunate to have Dr. Fiscella as my primary care Physician. I also want to compliment Dr. Fiscella’s medical support staff for running a very well-​organized, clean, and efficient office. Dr. Fiscella’s medical office is a jewel of a find in Berkeley!
Thank you Dr. Fiscella for 20 years of outstanding medical care and advice
and making sure I do my part to get and stay healthy.

The PA, Shiela I highly reccommend. The staff in general is fair.
I am looking for a new physician, preferably, an internist. I do not reccomend Roxanne Fiscella for anyone with chronic disability or illness, especially over the age of 50.
Her referral base is very limited and she is a not a good diagnostician. She lacks basic knowledge in appropriate test referrals. I find her arrogant and elitest. Lacking in bedside manner. Unfortunate, as I like to support both women and lesbian physicians.
She is consistently late with getting needed physician information to other doctors or medical auxiliary practices.
This practice might suit younger people that do not have existing medical conditions.
She takes so many vacations, I wonder if she is really interested in practicing medicine any longer. Her PA’s are really the ones practicing.
It is difficult to find a primary care physician in the Bay Area, especially women, but, the honest truth is I don’t trust Dr Fiscella’s competence and do not want to ever have to be hospitalized with her as my attending physician.

I quite like this office. I have met both with Sheila and Roxanne, and found them to be professional, warm, competent, and responsive. They seem well organized, thorough, and efficient, as well as down to earth. I am fairly new, so we’ll see how it goes, but so far, so good.

Absolute wonderful doctor! 100%, an 90% on her nurse practitioners. There was a bumpy time with the clerical staff but that seems to have passed. I have been going to Roxanne for over 20 years. My husband did too. Not only is she a great doctor with a caring and straight forward personality she gives top notch recommendations to specialists — between me and my husband we have seen gotten a few ;) and that alone is worth its weight in gold.
With me Roxanne has a consultative style which is exactly what I want.

The staff is unprofessional and absolutely useless when it comes to providing sound medical advice. I’ve made three visits to this office and not once have I seen the actual doctor. Roxanne is always «on vacation.» The nurse practitioners are rude and have never diagnosed me properly. They can’t even refer me to a good specialist. I’m so upset with the level of care at Roxanne’s office that I’m filing an official complaint with my insurance.
Don’t waste your time.

well, it took me 4 years, but i finally returned to the dr. :)
This time I saw the woman herself: Dr Fiscella. Let me tell you: this woman is AWESOME. Kind, personable, knowledgeable. No fat shaming or «know it all» doctor bullshit. She even convinced me to get a physical and pap. Impressive given I haven’t had a physical in 10 years.
The staff were kind and personable as well. I feel insanely grateful to have found a nice, down to earth, respectful doctor because they are about as hard to come by as magic mushrooms

I truly don’t understand why people have had such a bad experience. Everyone has been super friendly and I felt like my overall care was considered by both the Nurse Practitioner and the Doctor. Of course, I’m always friendly to people so I usually have positive interactions with others. I also have not had huge wait times and they’ve been efficient.

The physician folks here are just fine — but it’s the office staff that’s causing me to switch doctors. Phone calls are never returned, referrals are never made, and you have to beg them in order to get your prescriptions right. It really pisses me off.

Horrible! If you are thinking of going to this Dr. office you will be very disappointed with the condition of the waiting room, the personalities of the staff, and the big fat bill that comes after they decide to run tests on you without your knowledge. Pee in a cup for only $ 800! When I tried to contact the office about the fact that I was never informed that they were going to run multiple unnecessary tests without my permission and that I am now being BILLED by a lab… They basically said, sorry! Thats just what we do!
They have open appointment availability because they do no have return patients.