Mike A Uyeki, MD

I first saw him when he was at UCLA Health in Culver city in 2003.
I don’t visit doctor’s office regularly, but I consider him as my primary care doctor and he’s the best of all the doctors I’ve seen.
Every single visit to Dr Uyeki’s office is great.
He’s such an awesome doctor! He’s very caring, energizing, funny and definitely skilled/​experienced. He always follows up with blood/​urine test result by the end of the same day of my visit with detailed explanations.
He’s fluent in Japanese, one of the receptionists and the nurse lady are Japanese, so this is a perfect place for Japanese speaking people like myself:)
His staff are very nice and helpful, the friendly nurse lady is skilled! I HATE needles but it’s never been painful when she draws blood from me and she’s quick! The receptionists kindly call you a few days in advance to your appointment for confirmation. Everyone in this office is polite, friendly, well trained and very professional. Office is very clean.
Parking…They don’t validate and daily rates are $ ³⁄₁₅ mins, max $ 18.
I usually park on the street and walk to the building.
Be sure to reschedule/​cancel your appointment at least 24 hours in advance or you will be charged $ 150 (they will have the paper for you to sign on your first visit).

Good primary care doctor in Santa Monica area that I’ve been going to for around 2 years. Dr. Mike Uyeki speaks Japanese fluently that is helpful for Japanese clients he also seems to have good experience and will refer you to awesome doctors in your network for issues he cannot tackle on his own.
NOTE: Parking is expensive in the building no validation you must find street parking and walk to his office.
UPDATE: I’m dropping the rating here to a 3 stars based on Dr. Uyeki’s nurse staff and way she handles herself. My last 3 visits to Dr. Uyeki’s office with his older nurse staff lady was not very good. The older women that checks your blood pressure and draws blood from you for a regular check up will tell you that she does not make any mistakes and cannot be wrong since she does this job all day when infact she will sometimes draw blood and it will be painful and she has you squeeze a small ball numerous times asking you to keep squeezing it over and over again just so she can find your vain this can be very stressful leading to a higher than normal blood pressure check since she might need to re-​do your blood pressure check a second time. Another thing is the office has an old pump valve and gauge blood pressure checker that is only depending on the person counting and listening for noise on the other end. How accurate can this be is a question especially when you’re dealing with an over confident boarding cocky older nurse. It’s a shame Dr. Uyeki used to have younger staff that would draw blood and check blood pressure very well but now it’s a different story.

I’ve never met a doctor as happy, energetic, passionate, and upbeat as Dr. Uyeki. So happy I switched from HMO to PPO. Thanks for the referral, Unilocal

I work in Santa Monica and I needed a new Primary Doctor and I was so glad to come across Dr. Uyeki. He’s thorough, personal and very caring… And he has a certain wit about him that is appealing… He doesn’t leave any stone unturned, I went there for my physical and it was more than your average blood tests, both Dr. Uyeki and his staff take there time and answer every question you have… Plus how often do you have a doctor call you back about your results. Highly recommend him…
Thank you Dr. Uyeki…

I needed a new primary care physician in Los Angeles, so I went to Unilocal to see what was good. I looked for someone near work and found a great office. Dr. Mike A. Uyeki and staff were not only timely, pleasant and welcoming but highly efficient.
I was welcomed with a warm smile by the receptionist and some paperwork to fill out. She was clear and helpful with her instructions. Shortly after I was seen with Dr. Uyeki, right on time, for a small consult before our exam. He asked the usual questions along with some extras just to get to know me. Friendly, putting me at ease immediately.
I was taken to an exam room to have my usual measurements taken by an extremely kind nurse. They even measured my heart rate with an EKG, a new one for me… I was very impressed on how much data they collected for a simple physical. I spent some more time with Dr. Uyeki. He addressed my concerns and let me know they’d be in touch with blood work results.
Within a handful of hours I received a call from Dr. Uyeki, with some of my lab results. I was stunned by the speed at which I was getting information. There were more test to be done and he’d call if anything was out of the norm within the week.
I highly recommend Dr. Mike A. Uyeki and staff. They made the doctor visit painless, fun and easy. Thanks!

IMPORTANT regarding health insurance coverage change with Dr. Uyeki:
On March 20, 2014, Dr. Uyeki published a letter regarding coverage under Blue Cross and Blue Shield under the new Affordable Health Care Act.
He is NOT enrolling in the Covered California or Insurance Exchange Plans under the Affordable Care Act that was effective January 1, 2014. Additionally, he is not an «In-​Network» provider for people with Individual Coverage and maybe some large and small group plans too after Jan 1, 2014.
You need to check first with your insurance company to make sure that his services are covered In-​Network! If he is not considered ‘In-​Network” then any preventative care services will not be covered by your insurance either because insurance requires «In-​Network» for preventative care.
Otherwise:
He writes that in the event that he is not an In-​Network provider for your insurance going forward, he is OK with you continuing to see him and paying him Cash and he will discount his fees. Also, if he is not In-​Network for your insurance, you will be required to pay him Cash upfront at the time of your exam, and he will be happy to bill your insurance afterwards to see if they reimburse you for anything.
I checked with my insurer and thus far they are telling me that Dr. Uyeki is not a contracted in-​network doctor anymore under my plan for any services.

Honestly the best doctor experience I’ve ever had in my life. Polite and clean office, he’s very personable with his time and evaluation and extremely knowledgable.
As a guy, I don’t go to the doctor too often, but it is nice to have found one that I can stay with and that will know my history instead of bouncing around as most of us, as I have, done in the past.

I was looking for a primary care physician after I moved to west LA and got really Lucky with Dr Uyeki. all other reviews are spot on. There has never been a wait time in his office (where as my previous doctor had a two hour wait even with an appointment). The staff is friendly and helpful always smiling.
The Dr himself is a joy to talk to. Takes his time and the appointment is never rushed

Nearly six years later I’m happy to report Dr. Uyeki is still the best doctor I’ve had.
My partner needed emergency care on a weekend awhile back. We called his doctor for advice (NOT Dr. Uyeki) and waited and waited. He never called back. I called Dr. Uyeki and he called back immediately and gave us the information we needed and we headed to the ER. The other doctor? He called us back on Monday. Douche.
Parking in the building is stupid expensive, so I’ve found parking on Barrington Ave and just walked. Feeding a meter only costs a couple bucks.

Really glad to have found this great doctor who treated me for bronchitis. He is so personable and does a thorough history. He even called the next day to check how I was doing. A rarity these days!

Dr. Uyeki is an honest and very funny internist. Makes an effort to get to know you and your lifestyle and puts you at ease when he’s with you. He is the only doctor that I know that will call you the same day or following business day to discuss your lab results over the phone. Now that’s first class service and not the norm in the industry, albeit much appreciated. His office staff is also very good, they usually get everything right the first time and are also quite friendly. Probably the best internist in West LA and I happily recommend my clients to go to him.

So lucky to have found Dr. Uyeki! He is warm, personable, caring, has a great sense of humor and most of all is really effective. The staff is also super nice and caring. I have been seeing Dr. Uyeki for the past 6 years and am still pleasantly surprised every time when he personally calls me the same day to discuss test results with me or follows up the next day to see how I am doing. I just read another review as I am writing mine and it is so sad that somone going through an obviously difficult time personally would rate someone so excellent so poorly. I so highly reccommend him, my husband and sister became his patients as well; both were also pleasantly surprised to have found such an amazing doctor.
Feel really blessed to be Dr. Uyeki’s patient!

I was very excited to schedule my first appointment with Dr. Uyeki after reading all of the great reviews here. Don’t let this small sample of good reviews fool you – Dr. Uyeki is not worth your time or money.
Unfortunately, I had to cancel my first appointment on short notice because my partner is being treated for cancer and I had to unexpectedly be with him at the hospital on the day of my appointment. The receptionist was very accommodating at the time and told me that the cancellation would not be a problem.
Flash forward a couple of weeks: when I called to reschedule the appointment today, I was told by the receptionist (Keiko) that Dr. Uyeki had left a note specifying that I am no longer allowed to make an appointment. She explained that I’ve been unceremoniously dismissed by his office because I cancelled. Again, when I originally cancelled my appointment, I was not warned that this was his policy or that it would be a problem. The receptionist at the time was perfectly accommodating and made it sound as if it wasn’t a problem at all.
I am incredibly upset with the way this was handled for 2 reasons, both of which by themselves would be reason enough to find another doctor:
1) Dr. Uyeki’s office handled this situation in a shockingly unprofessional manner. If his policy is to disown patients who cancel, the patient should be warned when he is canceling the appointment. If he is not warned when canceling, a dismissive note written by the doctor is not the proper way to inform him when he calls to reschedule. In any other business, this sort of inflexible self-​righteousness would not be tolerated – medicine should not be an exception.
2) Dr. Uyeki apparently lacks any sort of empathetic imagination. Sure, he didn’t know that my partner had to go to the hospital due to complications with his chemotherapy on the day of my appointment, but perhaps he should give people the benefit of the doubt. Of all people, a doctor should be able to show a little empathy, or at least have the decency to ask a few questions before giving a patient the ax.
In the end, I’m glad that this happened. If Dr. Uyeki is this unprofessional, curt and passive aggressive before meeting with a patient, I don’t care to find out how he behaves once he’s actually treating one.

I couldn’t be happier !
Great Dr, Great office staff.
Finally a Dr’s office caring and efficient

One word Amazing. He actually cares, is above kind, and understands very well. ⁵⁄₅ Would reccomend to anyone who is nervous about going to the doctor. He has a great humor as well, nevertheless, best doctor I’ve been to in my 00 years of living. He took his time and didn’t rush whatsoever.
Ramon

He his very detailed and follows up in a timely manner! He is also the only one who can keep me in check!
Love Dr. Uyeki!

Both of my parents were patients of Dr Mike. I’ve NEVER met a more respectful, considerate and caring physician than Dr Mike. I’ve been to many «great» doctors, widely known how good they are but I switched to Dr Mike because I don’t wait a half hour in the waiting room, a half hour or MORE in the exam room with Dr. Mike.

Other Unilocalers here are absolutely correct.
Dr. Uyeki is a warm, casual but sincere man who I feel good trusting my health issues with.
All the things people have mentioned here about him making personal follow-​up calls are true.
If you’re into fishing, he can consult with you about that, too, btw. Check out his photo albums when you have a chance.
I just hope he doesn’t become too popular…

Dr. Uyeki rocks.
Yes — in addition to being a Bruin (always a good sign) — Dr. Uyeki is an intuitive, down-​to-​earth guy who listens to his patients and will do whatever he can to help.
He doesn’t rush through appointments and makes you feel comfortable but he’s also a real person who realizes what insurance does and doesn’t cover, and he makes an effort to be aware of it.
I concur with one of the other reviewers that it is tough to find a doc you really like. Dr. Uyeki has ended my quest — I highly recommend him!

Everyone’s review here is spot on. I recently moved up to W. LA so I had to find a new primary care doctor. I lucked out with Dr. Uyeki cause I literally just chose him out of the list of in-​network doctors. He is very friendly, efficient, and thorough. My girlfriend thinks he is TOO thorough (i recommended her to him) because he will take a full battery of tests, but personally I prefer it that way. I think her gripe with all the tests is that her insurance sucks balls and so she pays an arm and a leg for all the tests.
The only thing thats kinda bleh is the parking sucks around the area (not his fault, its W. LA) and he must be a popular doctor because it is often difficult to get an appointment on short notice. That being said, even when he cant see you, he will follow up to make sure everything is OK. There was one time when I was having extreme stomach pains, so I called to make an appointment. Unfortunately they were unable to fit me in for 2 days. Dr. Mike called me back later that day to try and do an over the phone diagnosis and recommended that I not wait the 2 days and go check into the ER. Even over the phone he was spot on with his diagnosis (appendicitis). Luckily I went in before my appendix burst so they were able to get the surgery done quick and easy. Good thing I didn’t wait the 2 days.
Only other thing is he never seems to remember me (not that i see him that often, maybe one or twice a year) until he sees my chart. Then he always asks «you still smokin that pot?» and chastises me about it. Funny thing is, he doesn’t say that its bad for my health or my lungs, the point he always brings up is that «you never know how its processed and if its dried incorrectly it can develop mold which can be harmful if ingested or smoked»
Spot on doctor. Hopefully he doesnt take on too many patients. I hate waiting as it is.