Irvine Odyssey Medical Center

Dr. Mir is one of the BEST doctors I have ever been to! He was very kind and patient. He answered all of my questions and made me feel very comfortable. I highly recommend going to him.

I started going to this place in 2013 after reading glowing reviews of Dr Yaqoob. While I find Dr Yaqoob very friendly and competent and worth everyone of the positive reviews, after two years of dealing with the incompetent and discourteous staff, I finally just gave up on this place. Seriously, no doctor could be worth these many hassels. From being hung up on when I called to make appointments, to being billed incorrectly and pestered for months for a payment I already made, to not being called back with test results, not to mention being talked to ina condescending fashion, it just got too much to handle. I have finally moved on to another PCP who is not as competent but doesn’t make me dread my doctor visits!

I wish I could contact Dr. Mir or Dr. Yacoob directly, or wish that they read these reviews on Unilocal.They are one in a million doctors but their staff is making so many people leave! Honestly the best doctors I’ve ever met. Such a simple thing to fix, either fire their current staff or bring on more help, not worth unhappy patients that they are losing! I am so bummed but after a year or so of dealing with their horrible office staff (they are impossible to reach, ridiculously long hold times, they are not friendly, they are never in at 8am which is what time they’re supposed to be open, I usually wait til after 9am to call and sometimes the after hours answering service still picks up their calls and they are often closed for 2 hours for lunch, ugh!). I can never find a good time to call, and when I actually get them on the phone they are not helpful and rushed to get me off the phone. I know they accept walk ins, but I would just simply like to call ahead before driving 45 min to get there, dragging my two toddlers with me and waiting an hour or two to see the doctor. I’m more understanding about the waiting part since the doctors give such great care to their patients. I just can’t deal with the office staff anymore. I can’t tell you how many others have shown their frustration in the waiting room this past year.
I just found a doctor closer to home that has great customer service, they answered my call right away and had a pleasant tone (which is nice when you’re sick and have no energy), they have great ratings from long-​time patients, looks like another patient lost to Dr. Yacoob and Dr. Mir. I just don’t understand after spending all of those years in medical school and building such a great rapport with their patients, they are letting their office staff ruin their business that they devote so much of their life to. I feel sad for them and don’t understand how they are so blind-​sighted.

Doctor Mir is one of the best doctors you could ask for and his bedside manner is incomparable. He truly cares about his patients and that’s what truly matters.

Doctor Mir is the absolute best: Very intelligent, non-​intimidating, great bedside manner. Most of all you can tell he cares. At my age I have multiple health problems and Doctor Mir has been very helpful in resolving them all.

Dr. Monica Harms is probably thee worse doctor I’ve ever seen. I had chose to see her because I read some good reviews online, and I thought why not? I was anxious, but very excited to finally see a doctor for a problem I’ve been having for quite some time. It took me a while to be able to get time off of work and schedule an appointment to work with both mine and her busy schedules.
To my utter dismay, my experience at Irvine Odyssey Medical Center was horrendous. Dr. Harms did not listen to my problem at all, was rude, and condescending in her tone while speaking with me. I happily and patiently waiting for over 40 minutes for her to see me thinking I finally would get some answers to my problem, but in the mere 7 MINUTES she spent with me, the lack of compassion was all too apparent. I would never recommend this doctor to anyone. I really hope to find I doctor that takes the time to fully listen to the problem, assess the issues, and offer solutions. I whole heartedly believe everyone deserves a doctor with compassion towards others, and the heart to help people.
On top of all that, I got some blood work done at the end of my session with one of the nurses. The next day after be distraught the whole night thinking I wasted my time, money, and energy to go to this doctor, I get a voicemail message at work from their office saying «So, I don’t know what happened, but you’ll need to come in again to redo your bloodwork»…I gave you three viles of blood and you’re telling me you LOST EVERYTHING? I tried calling back 4 times since then and was unable to reach anyone, nor did I get the call back I requested.
Overall, I would give my experience at Irvine Odyssey Medical Center less than a star, if Unilocal let me. I feel bad for the nurses and doctors I didn’t come in contact with, and I do not wish this review to reflect negatively on them. But Dr. Harms and office administration and staff, get your act together please. Working full time to get by, I lost money taking time off to see her, and I lost money for a doctor’s appointment I got absolutely nothing out of. I still have the problem I had that I went in to see her.

Well, I guess this is goodbye. I’ve given this place well over a year to establish an overall
better rapport with their patients and appointment booking after following Dr. Yacoob with her move, but it’s not worth the hassle any longer. I love Dr. Yacoob but hate this new office with a burning passion. it’s nearly impossible to get an appointment and when you can actually reach the staff, they either put you on hold for 20 min, or are unable to get you in for another 2 – 3 weeks. God forbid you actually get sick and want to see your normal Doctor, there’s not a chance in hell at this place. Thank you Dr. Yacoob for all your years of amazing bedside manner. Don’t worry, it’s not you… it’s them. I just wish you could duplicate yourself!!!

I’m glad I waiting until my second visit for the review. My first visit went great and smoothly. Dr. Harms is truly an amazing doctor and has great bed side manners. She was very informative and took her time with me during my exam.
Now, the reason for the 2 star. Their front office staff is CLUELESS! I had 2 different people call me on 2 different days to tell me I needed to see Dr. Harms about irregular test results. I tried to explain to the second person I already had an appointment scheduled with Dr. Harms. She was extremely confused. Day of appointment, I was running a few minutes late so I gave them a courtesy call. Since I am in the health care field as well I know how annoying late patients could be. I was told my appointment was dropped because I was 5 minutes late. I was baffled at their «policy» since 5 minutes shouldn’t be terms for dropping a patients appointment (again, I work in healthcare where I provide patient care and run on 1 hour appointments). I felt that my health was no longer a priority and was treated as if I were a habitual tardy patient. For me, dealing with front office staff that is incompetent is enough to find a new primary provider.

My primary care physician is part of the medical team here (Dr. Mir) and he is an excellent Doctor. Unfortunately he is surrounded by incompetent staff. They are continuously overwhelmed with simple tasks. Won’t call you when there are important lab results that need your attention. When you call they will transfer you back and forth and act annoyed at simple requests. It’s a shame really.

The staff is friendly and the Dr’s are very nice although I’ve only seen Dr. Mir he is fantastic, he takes his time with you and makes sure that you understand what he’s trying to convey to you completely. The place is clean and in a clean building I’d recommend this place to friends.

As most people who gave this place one star stated here, I too have no problem with doctors at this place. My Dr. Yacoob is amazing and I wouldn’t replace her even for this clinic’s shitty operation.
Odyssey’s office employees lacks basic skills and awareness. If they work at any restaurants you will probably not going get a glass of water or a menu – yeah that level.
One things their office worker can promise is the consistency. They are consistent when it comes to have you wait for long time whether you have an appointment or not. That’s why they charge you co-​pay as soon as you walk into the office.
Here’s some tips if you are still going to take a chance with them despite of all the current patients’ advice. They are not going to change so you should be prepared.
1. You have to be proactive. If you have blood work or any health check up here, I suggest you should be the one to make a call to them for the result.
2. Don’t try to go there for your lunch break. You are not going to make it back to work on time. Unless your work for government or something nobody has long enough lunch break to schedule a doctor’s visit at Odyssey during lunch.
3. Bring a book or even two to kill time. Their magazine selection sucks for the long wait they impose on you. You may wanna bring work with you if you insist to do it during lunch hour. Just remember — I told you so.
4. If you are scheduling for more than two test results such as mammogram and a blood work, you need to tell them to make one appointment for both at the same time. If not they will have you come in for two separate consultations. THAT MEANS YOU HAVE TO WAIT IN THEIR OFFICE TWICE!!!
5. Remember, this clinic requires you to agree to binding arbitration. The way they run their office I’m not surprised but still wired. Just remember, no matter how shitty they treat you you cannot sue them.
Now that I finished this long review I’m going to read a book until they call my name.

I love Dr. Yacoob, but the office overall is SUPER disorganized and really not paying attention to what they’re doing. The lady at the front desk first couldn’t find my type of insurance, then let me sit waiting for her to copy my card and I had to ask her if I had to pay my copay. After she asked what my name was for the third time. It was written on the sign-​in right in front of her. The nurse was calling my name while I was paying my copay, 40 minutes after I had been there. Then I had to ask for my debit card back. There were 3 others in the waiting room, even the girl who came in after me got in about 10 minutes before I did.
The nurse that took me into the office was short with me and quite snarky. I’m not sure why she was acting that way. I forgot to ask Dr. Yacoob for a referral to a dermatologist and she said she’d send her a note. Hopefully she remembers.
Needless to say, after more than 10 years of going to Dr. Yacoob, I’m going to seek out another primary care doctor because of the lack of organization of the office and how I was treated by the other staff. I know there are better offices out there and customer service should be a priority for all businesses.

I’ve been coming here for years because my doctor practices here. Now that she’s left, I have no attachment here anymore.
Why you ask? Because the front office staff is not very organized or friendly. Because they lost my lab work and still attempted to charge me for it and it took hoops and hurdles with their billing department which escalated to their medical director to get that corrected. Because while I was working abroad, trying to deal with their billing department along with the billing department of the lab they subcontract to was an utter nightmare due to lack of follow up on their part.
To note this most recent incident — I had scheduled an appointment months ago, wrote down the correct time on my calendar, received a confirmation call yesterday and was told my appointment was an hour earlier. Today I show up for the appointment time they confirmed yesterday only to find out I was scheduled an hour later at my original scheduled time. I mentioned it to one of the techs when she took my vitals and she did say it had happened to other patients as well. What a waste of time.
Please get your office organized!

If you want to wait and wait and wait to get results from any tests done, hire this doctor! They are completely clueless and don’t care. It is amazing how disorganized a physician can be to take a bunch of tests and then never advise the patient even after patient called and called and called to find out the results. Then the doctor finally has a nonphysician call you and advise you what you need to do even when it is clear the nonphysician/​secretary doesn’t even know what she is reading, how to pronounce it or what it means. Most people dont’ want to get medical instructions or advice from a receptionist. Can’t be trusted to take care of physicians when that is how they do business.

Dr. Harms rocks! She actually listens to you and does a great job not making you feel uncomfortable and working together with you for the common goal (your health)! My wife and I both left Ross medical after Dr. Harms left and we are glad to be back with our Dr.

On October 16^th, the love of my life went for a physical with Dr. Monica Harms. After waiting well over an hour, we were finally taken into the exam room where we continued to wait for her arrival. She did an EKG and all of the other routine check-​ups of his heart, lungs, ears, nose, throat, etc. He was feeling terrific and she said he was in good health. The only issue he had was pain in his hip, so she scheduled and MRI for the following week.
By dinner time, he was complaining of feeling nauseous. Shortly later, he complained of chest pain. I gave him aspirin and urged him to let me take him to the ER, but he was burping and he reminded me that he had just been to the doctor that morning and she said he was fine and EKG was normal. Within moments, he was gone from a massive heart attack.
To further add to the loss and misery, Dr. Harms was the physician was was supposed to sign his death certificate. She neglected to sign it and went on vacation, delaying his cremation for 12 days.
Remembering back to how we joked that it was funny that a doctor would have the name «harms», now I realize how very appropriate her name is.

First, I waited over 1 hour to be seen. Next the doctor just wanted to prescribe me 3 different kinds of meds without a definite diagnosis. She was reluctant to do the work required to make a proper diagnosis. It’s been a week and a half they still have not returned my call to tell what the test said. A test that normally takes 2 – 3 days.
Do not go here.

Dr. Yacoob is awesome, but the overall experience here is terrible. Today is my 3^rd appt here, and the third time I’ve been told they are «short staffed» which is why they are running so late. I was here 10 minutes early for a 9:15 appt– it’s 10:15 am now and I’m still waiting. How do you get so far behind by 9:15 am?
The front desk staff actually asked me to repeat my name and who I’m here to see after 45 minutes. I’m the only one in the waiting room– did they just totally forget?
Once you get to see her, dr. Yacoob is great– but by then I’m usually so annoyed and late that I forget half the stuff I needed to ask.

I am writing in to give Dr. Monica Harms, a new partner in the Irvine Odyssey Medical Center, a 5 star rating, as I have followed her from her old office, and she is a blessing from God to me. Dr. Monica is not only a amazing doctor, she is AVAILABLE! I had an emergency & I sent her a facebook friend request, a Linked In request & twitter request immediately when it happened. My requests were promptly accepted and my message returned immediately with a Rx phoned in to my pharmacy STAT! How’s that for doctor service? I felt like it was UNHEARD of. It reminds me of the good ‘ol days when the doctor would come to your house! The world has changed so much, and I appreciate that technology brought the comfort of my INCREDIBLE doctor when I needed her the most.
Just a fun fact, Dr. Harms is also a personal trainer and a spiritual person. She is a not only a healer of the body, she is also a healer of the mind and spirit, who healed me!!! I love Dr. Monica Harms, & there are not enough words in the dictionary to express my gratitude.

Please note this review is for this office, not the doctor.
Dr. Yacoob is great, but the amount of bills I received to see her are ridiculous. I came in for an annual physical (free preventive care under my health plan and somehow the insurance only covered $ 250 of it and left me with $ 300 to pay… for a physical?!
WTF.
I know I have terrible insurance, but this office definitely doesn’t make it friendly to my wallet or time. Every time I needed a prescription filled, they insist the doctor needs to see me even though I came in just a month ago. Every time I step in, I’m charged another $ 100. Even for a 15 min follow up. Most doctors will let you consult over the phone if it’s just a 10 min conversation. The shortest time I have waited in the lobby is 30 min. On average it is 45 min. Currently I’ve been in the lobby for more than 70 min. Even though I made an appointment. I’m so peeved I will not be coming back. Appointments were made for a reason. Don’t make them if you can’t even provide service when you say you will.
Update: Just had to add that it’s been 1.5 hours now and am still waiting to be seen.