Randall R Starkey, MD

This office ceases to amaze me. I have a follow-​up for tomorrow and they told me today that they decided to cancel it because they didn’t follow through with asking university health services for a follow-​up appointment. So does that mean I now have to wait to see the doctor even longer than three months? This doctor really needs to fire his secretary who is rude, impatient and just plain mean in person and on the phone.

$ 25 to get your medical records??? Complete joke. Keep Nickle-​and-​diming your patients.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE! Complete joke from the time you make the appointment with the rude receptionist, to the hour and a half wait to be seen, to the bill you receive for not being covered. To no one answering the phone or returning your calls for days… I am a registered nurse who works for Sutter. Dr Starkey is a Sutter doc who doesn’t take Sutter insurance? Ridiculous … 350 dollars later for 20 minutes of nothing, thanks doc…

Dr. Starkey is an insensitive, incompetent neurologist who does not care about the health of his patients. I first saw Dr. Starkey two years ago for crippling pain I was experiencing in my head, neck, arm and shoulder. After explaining my symptoms, he looked me up and down and determined I was being «creative» and diagnosed me with migraines. If I had listened to his so called professional advice, I wouldn’t have found out that I have degenerative disc disease in my cervical spine. I suffered in pain for so long, and this doctor wrote me off with one glance. He didn’t listen to me or care about my symptoms. After being bounced from specialist to specialist, I was again sent to Dr. Starkey for a medication consult by Dr. Collins, a neurologist in the same clinic. I show up to the appointment on time, check in, pay my copay and wait for my name to be called. Dr. Starkey made me wait in the lobby for more than half an hour before having his secretary tell me that they scheduled a 15 minute consult but that the doctor needed 30 minutes with me so they have to reschedule. He tells this to his secretary in front of me without acknowledging me or apologizing or explaining himself to me. THIS IS AFTER MAKING ME WAIT MORE THAN HALF AN HOUR! He didn’t even have the courtesy to talk to me; he couldn’t even look me in the face. We are talking about 15 minutes extra time to the scheduled appointment and he still refused to see me. I am staying away from this doctor and I would advise all of you to do the same.

Maybe I should have reviewed this before I went in. TERRIBLE attitude from the receptionist. I can’t trust people like this with my health. Sorry. I am looking for a new doctor.

Well I wonder if the other reviews are out of date. The reception staff were perfectly friendly and respectful. I have no way of assessing the doctor’s medical opinion at this point, but he seemed reasonably thorough, considerate, and answered all my questions thoughtfully.

I have a severely disabled adult daughter who was having some very serious seizures. We took her to see Dr. Starkey several times. He is a very good doctor and was able to finally locate the cause of my daughter’s disability. No one was able to tell me for years what exactly was wrong with her. The problem showed up on an MRI that he ordered and this was the first time it showed up on any test she had before that.
All that being said, the sole reason we stopped going to see him was the absolutely rude, obnoxious, hostile, horrible and ridiculous behavior of his receptionist. I have never in my life had to put up with such nonsense from the front desk at a doctor’s office. It’s difficult enough to have to take a disabled adult to the doctor, let alone now take a load of abuse from the receptionist on top of it.
I wrote to Dr. Starkey about why exactly we were changing doctors and he completely ignored my letter. I guess we just weren’t important enough. The last straw was being charged for an appointment that we missed that the receptionist had scheduled for my daughter but neglected to inform us of. The office manager sided with the receptionist and that was it for me.
The receptionist is the first person of contact for any business. If that isn’t a good experience, you can expect to not remain in business for very long. People calling a doctor’s office are already sick and having to deal with this sort of hosility only makes people sicker.

Called today to make an appointment for my husband. Receptionist was incredibly rude and unprofessional. I won’t be sending my sick husband to an office staffed with such nasty people. Thankfully, we have choices. Appointment was made elsewhere by a very helpful person :)

I’ve only seen Dr. Starkey once for certain symptoms that everyone in my life (including my Optometrist and Primary Care Physician) was highly concerned about. When I first saw him, he spent a great deal of time with me, but at the end of the appointment, refused to order tests that I need done that three other doctors so far has told me I should have. His advice was to wait two and a half months then seem him again. My Optometrist told me that my loss (about 25%) of vision in one eye is NOT a vision/​glasses issue and combined with other symptoms, an MRI should be ordered ASAP.
When I called the office to get their fax number so that I can give it to my Op, the receptionist, was very rude asking me «who is this?!!» in a highly irritated tone like I just called her at home at 3:00AM. After I told her that I’m a patient of Dr. Starkey, she then told me that «we don’t give out fax numbers to patients» in a very rude, snarky tone.
Every doctor I have ever seen in my life (and I have seen a handful) lists their fax numbers on their business cards. I guess I understand their reason but she didn’t have to be so fricken nasty about it — damn! I dont think Ill ever know how great he really is. Looking for another doctor…
Update 1÷26÷09
So I saw a new Neurologist in my network a couple weeks later. He ordered all the tests I needed to get done and it turns out I have multiple sclerosis– with a sh*t load of lesions to boot. I wonder what would have happened had I not been proactive and found another doctor.