Nao Medical - Astoria Urgent Care — Attraction in New York

Not so good. I went here on a Wednesday afternoon because I had been feeling sick with a sore throat and severe nausea for a few days. The wait time itself wasn't terrible; however, I had some concerns about most of the staff members I interacted with.

The receptionist didn't seem all there. I asked a question about the terms and conditions you must agree to for service, specifically regarding the promotional text messages - she said I would not receive any promotional messages. I didn't quite understand why that was on the agreement if she claimed that they would not be sent.

The next person I interacted with was the nurse in the back room that asked the reason I came in and recorded my blood pressure and O2 stats. I tried to explain my symptoms in detail, but she kind of cut me off before I could finish. She was the individual who later performed a rapid strep throat test - it was by far the most unpleasant strep test I've ever had to go through (the part when they swab the back of your throat). I can only guess that she doesn't have much experience with this because she left the swab back there for an unusual period of time. My reaction was to grab her wrist to stop her because it was so unpleasant. Upon doing this, she told me that it "wasn't going to work if I grabbed her" rather than acknowledging the fact that it made me uncomfortable, apologizing and asking to try again, as every other professional health care provider has done in the past. She displayed no sense of compassion or sympathy.

Before going into my interaction with the doctor, please note that sounds travels extremely well between the rooms here. I clearly heard two different patient-doctor interactions from the next room over while I was waiting in my exam room. I noticed that this happened because the window in my exam room was shared with the room next to mine and the wall was not extended to the window to close that gap. If you're concerned about privacy, look elsewhere. Additionally, my exam room door was never closed - it was open either slightly or almost fully the entire time I was there. Again, privacy doesn't appear to be a priority here.

In terms of the doctor - she was relatively difficult to understand and did not speak English very well. Basically, she stated I have a virus that entered through my mouth/nose and was just working its way through my body, now affecting my intestines. I don't really know what it is or when I should expect it to go away. The only plus was that she prescribed me anti-nausea medication, which I have not tried yet, but hopefully it will help if the feeling returns.

Overall, each employee I interacted with did seem to be in a bit of a rush, trying to get through things as quickly as possible, rather than making sure it was a high quality experience. I did not get a sense that the employees cared significantly about my well being, especially the nurse I interacted with.

If you're looking for a good urgent care location in Astoria, I would recommend CityMD on Steinway Street. I went there several months ago and had a relatively positive experience. The facility was much nicer, I didn't overhear any other doctor-patient interactions and the staff seemed...

I cannot stress enough how difficult my experiences have been with Nao Medical at both this location and the 36 ave location.

The 36 ave location entered the wrong insurance information, even after being corrected on it more than once. The person who came into the exam room to take my vitals left the computer logged in and I could see privileged information for other patients. This happened on TWO separate visits. Both times I asked them about it. Both times, they locked the station, but could not log back in because they’re using someone else’s login… the login for the lady who could not figure out what insurance I had while staring right at the card.

I was referred to this location on 23 ave after those visits, the doctor telling me they’re a bit more put together.

The staff was nicer than 36 ave, though everyone was learning something. It seems only two people knew how to use the systems and were teaching everyone else.

This location got the insurance right, and I like Dr Chahal. A nice man and will explain things and listens to you.

One of the medications I was prescribed “needed” to go to a pharmacy they used. I went with it because they were particularly insistent about it. I had two other prescriptions that were supposed to go to my regular pharmacy. All three went to the regular pharmacy.

I called Nao Medical’s number and it’s a central office. You will encounter an automated system meant to keep you from speaking to someone. They will not give you the direct phone number to the location. The man I spoke to asked me the same question three times. I had explained the problem to him three times. He still did not understand. I told him I wasn’t explaining it anymore, he’s heard it three times already. He put me on hold and comes back about 5 minutes later after speaking to the office and the problem was fixed. Their system required them to change my primary pharmacy to theirs to do the order correctly.

For what it’s worth, the pharmacy has been a good experience.

I was also required to have an appointment with a nutritionist. The receptionist at the office told me it’s telemedicine and that’s done from 4pm-6pm. Great, I’m available after 4pm.

I get an appointment confirmation for 12:20pm.

I called today to get this addressed and find out the nutritionist only works until 4pm only. There is ONE nutritionist for all of their locations. I asked the man to transfer me to the office and they refused. The telemedicine department will contact me back.

It’s insulting. If you’re the one who made the mistake, you should be the one to tell me and fix it. Don’t hide behind your call center. It’s going to make in person interactions difficult when I can’t trust you to give correct...

(10/27/2020) Yesterday I was asked for and paid a $65 co-pay before COVID testing. I had no other test or procedure performed. At no time, did anyone at Statcare explain to me or anyone else that I could overhear that this co-payment should be reimbursed or what that process was for that. Under the FFCRA, insurance plans must provide this coverage without imposing any cost-sharing requirements including copayments. I am insured and have confirmed with my insurance that they cover testing 100% in or out of network. Other Google reviewers are equally confused as to why they were charged for a COVID test that we keep hearing on the news is free of charge.

I called Statcare's billing dept and they stated that once my insurance pays, maybe in about 3 weeks for all the paperwork to make its way, I should follow up and call them back for reimbursement.

While I am able to advocate for myself and make all these inquiries, what about others? A senior or newly arrived immigrant? It is not clear to me that Statcare is automatically processing reimbursements, it seems the process needs to be triggered by the patient following up. In a moment when you need a COVID test, you're just going to pay the co-pay like I did. And if you don't have that money, what will that person do? Very likely not get tested or try to find another facility, further exposing others if they're positive. These are very real barriers to healthcare and to managing the pandemic.

The test itself was administered quickly and painlessly, and the 5 person max in the waiting room was carefully monitored, but this practice of charging a co-pay made me amend my review.

(2018) I have been here twice for dental emergencies (infections) when my dental office has been closed. Attentive, professional front desk staff and I was in and out in under an hour. The medical staff made me feel heard and I received what I needed (antibiotics and prescription ibuprofen) to tide me over until my dentist could see me. I even got a message the next day to check in if i was doing better. Convenient location to where I live. I am glad to have them close by and highly...