East Bay Pediatrics

Dr Damon markets her alternative private practice during East Bay Pediatric office hours

EBP is a small network of pediatricians who run offices out of both Berkeley and Orinda.
The doctors are okay. My kids have seen a few doctors at the Orinda office. I think they are relatively decent to treat run of the mill problems such as flus, colds, etc. However, for items that require specialty, they are less apt. My child should have seen a specialist after the 1^st visit. But, I was told to wait it out (after having «waiting it out» before deciding to go see a doc). No meds given or helpful suggestions at the 1^st appt. Then we returned a 2^nd time, this time med prescribed. Only to have read the box labels and it states NOT to use it in certain areas. One of which, is an area that my child needed treatment. Dr. then says, «Come back and see me if it doesn’t heal». Sorry docs, but you didn’t solve my poor child’s condition twice now– and really should have put your pride aside and recommended me to a specialist.
Another instance, doc takes a specialized q-​tip and digs into my newborn’s ears cuz she can’t see the eardrum. No other pediatrician I have come across does that without taking pause. She should have told me that she wanted to that first. I was taken aback. Ear drums are super sensitive and not something to mess with. Other pediatricians have NEVER done this to my kids. Each doc has his/​her own philosophies on care, but this just isn’t working for me.
So, this leads me to think a few things:
1. Docs are trying to maximize office visits and procedures so they can bill the insurance.
2. $ 10 extra charge for not bringing in paperwork that might need to get filled out for school on the day of the exam. Really? Nickle and diming?
3. A pediatrician is only as good as it’s medical group. Chances are likely that you WON’T get to see your primary when your kids are sick. So, the quality/​philosophy of the other’s doctors is really important to understand.
4. Lack of extended hours on weekends (only open Sat morning) at each location. Hhhmmm… kids do get sick on weekends and holidays.
5. Limited infrastructure to handle late night /​on-​call calls. Docs might not be very happy with you. Again, kids do get sick at 3am.
My previous medical group was huge. Large infrastructure and large network. With that said, this just isn’t my type of medical group. I need to know that the docs are more than willing and happy to help me when my family needs it. And, I need to know for sure that my docs are not just financially motivated. Check the hubris at the door, please.

My kids have been going to East Bay Pediatrics since they were born. Their first doctor was Dr. Rhea, the BEST EVER. I so miss that wonderful gentleman. He had the best bedside manner and was wise, patient and always pleasant. Since Dr. Rhea retired, my son has been seeing Dr. Abbott and my daughter Dr. Vo, both excellent doctors as well. We have no complaints with the doctors in the office.
Having said that, I’ve not had any experience using the on-​call doctors because luckily, my kids have never had any late-​night emergencies to warrant a call after hours. I’ve heard from some of my friends that when they called the on-​call doctor, they’ve not been received with the kindest greeting and sometimes whoever the doctor is can be rude. We’ve had one experience recently with an advice nurse who had a gross patronizing manner on the phone and was not helpful at all. Her responses were condescending and argumentative. I don’t think she is an ideal candidate for an advice nurse who has to deal with parents who maybe worried about the condition of their children. Whatever happened to Mary or Nancy, the advices nurses who used to always answer the phone??? Did they retire also? They were so great… sigh.
Anyway, 5+ stars for the doctors, 3 or less stars for the new nursing staff, which amounts to 4 stars average. Wish I could give them 5 stars…

Dr. Juliana Damon has been my sons’ doctor since the first one was a few weeks old. The boys both love Dr. Julie, and my husband and I are both comfortable with Dr. Julie and definitely reccommend her to everyone. We’ve seen four of the other doctors in the practice for walk in illness appointments are are quite satisfied with the whole group. They even helped me not be too embarrased with my «screaming bloody murder, afraid of shots» son at vaccination time. They were wonderfully patient with him. We have easy insurance and almost always well kids, so we usually just see the doctor once a year, with maybe 5 walk ins in the last 8 years. We give the whole practice 2 thumbs up — for both the Orinda & Berkeley locations!

My daughter has been a patient of East Bay Ped since she was born. She sees Juliana Damon regularly and the care she receieves is great. Dr. Damon is awesome with kids, they love her. Her advice is always well balanced and she has a great respect for people who have their own ideas about how they want to approach the healcare of their child. In my daughter’s first year we used the advice nurse hotline quite alot as usual. They were generally nice and almost always very patient with a new father/​mother. The wait for a scheduled appointment is usually less than 5 minutes which is nice when you have a toddler. They are very flexible, as they have to be, with unscheduled appointments. Their website is always useful and up to date with information about their practice and general health information. Overall a very good experience. The only con to date was missing 2 vaccinations that the school subsequently caught. An honest mistake that was corrected in her next visit.

It’s the old story — good doctors, but a front-​office that isn’t at the same level. Unfortunately, the quality of care depends on both, and that’s why I have to give East Bay a two-​star rating.
Pros — Good pediatricians, both of the ones we’ve seen here were attentive and careful, and we would follow them to another office in a heartbeat.
Cons — the staff messed up prescription paperwork; they said they would file a preauthorization but failed to. The confusion from this resulted in a week-​long delay in getting medicine.
Also, if you aren’t on one of East Bay’s supported insurance plans, they demand payment at the time of the visit, even if you’re on a PPO with generous coverage for out-​of-​plan doctors.
I get 30 days net terms from every other out-​of-​plan doctor I’ve used, so I think East Bay’s pay-​up-​front policy is bogus.
Five stars for the docs, minus two for the payment policy, minus one for the paperwork foulup that affected treatment.