Washington Hospital Center – Washington

The program took two weeks to correct five years of suffering. They diagnosed me correctly, they gave me the correct meds, and they gave me lots of understanding and coping skills to be successful for the rest of my… life. Thanks so much for this well put together program. Thank u Sarika! Thanks for properly medicating me Dr. Smith. He believed my symptoms and did not play about correctly treating me, and thanks Rory for being the best case manager and pointing me in the right direction to be successful. After five years of searching and begging Docs for correct meds, this program actually listened and actually treated my issues. I would recommend this program 100%. I feel mentally stable after five years!

Sometimes it can take a long time to get an appointment, but I've always found the staff to be very helpful and responsive. And Dr. Tabaja is truly incredible - she is a very caring and attentive physician who truly… wants the best for her patients. I felt well cared for here.

The staff do not properly check insurance coverage and don't properly inform patients of financial responsibility prior to appointments, resulting in exorbitant unexpected charges. I was referred here by my PCP and had… three appointments at this facility: an intake appointment, a psychiatry appointment, and a therapy session. Despite providing my insurance information multiple times and specifically asking about costs before my visits, I was later charged approximately $1,000 for the intake appointment, around $900 for psychiatry, and roughly $600 for therapy. After my intake appointment, I went to the front desk to pay and was told: “I’m not going to charge you today. They may come for you later, but I won’t charge you today.” This lady then proceeded to schedule me with a psychiatrist and approximately 12 therapy sessions. I was later billed nearly $1,000 for that intake appointment. If staff could see the charges and knew the appointments would generate charges this high, why was this never disclosed to me before continuing to schedule treatment? After receiving these bills, I spent weeks calling the facility, billing department, and insurance representatives trying to understand the charges, and patient responsibility for my upcoming appointments. No one could provide clear answers. I also updated the facility with new insurance information after changing insurance plans, and staff confirmed they had the updated information on file. Despite this, my old insurance was still billed and I later received notices stating claims had not processed correctly. Eventually, after working with a case manager, I was informed that the behavioral health services were considered out-of-network under my plan. This was never clearly communicated to me despite my repeated attempts to verify coverage and ask about co-pays before treatment. This is especially frustrating because other MedStar facilities I have visited have always been diligent about checking insurance coverage, matching me with in-network providers, and explaining costs beforehand. My experience at this behavioral health facility was the complete opposite. Patients seeking behavioral health care deserve transparency regarding insurance coverage and costs. Unfortunately, that was not my experience here

I went to this location expecting to see a doctor for my first visit and they stated this was just the intake. I agreed and I deeply regret it. The person that did my intake was very kind and we spoke for about 45… minutes. He then proceeded to tell me that it will take about 3-4 months to see a doctor. I was completely taken aback because I had already waited 3 months for this appointment. I was already struggling with my mental health. I am just glad I was not going to through a crisis. I CANNOT imagine someone actually going through a crisis and having to deal with everything I have. After the visit, I received my bill for $400. I was completely taken aback because once again I never met with a doctor. I went on a payment plan because I could not afford to pay it all off in one time. Then this past week, I received a notice of an unpaid bill and after doing more digging I figured out it was from that same visit for $600. I called customer care and they said it was the facility fee. However, this is an outpatient clinic and I NEVER saw a doctor. I continue to do more digging and found my summary of care notes and noticed that this "doctor" admitted me on the 11/04 and discharged me on 11/30. However, I never met this man ever. I am beyond deeply disappointed in this clinic and MedStar. Note: the totals were after insurance. I will never recommend MedStar to anyone. Do not go here.

Dr. Tabaja is the best!! I was in bad shape mentally and she helped me every step of the way. She is very caring and actually listens to my concerns. Her treatment plan has helped me so much and I’m very appreciative of… her help. She is by far one of the best physicians I’ve come across. Thank you for helping me Dr. Tabaja!

Get this awful place out of our neighborhood. They fill up the entire parking lot and put cones in empty spaces, they take all the street parking and they’ve got a huge lot on the other side of the building just for… them. Not a DC plate in sight. I guess they don’t have “behavioral health” in Maryland or Virginia because they all seem to come here. This places schedules all their appointments at the same times until it’s MedStar pandemonium all the way down Michigan Ave. I live around the corner and when I try to spend money at the nice Halal place or the corner store on the way home these jerks make it impossible.

Tried scheduling with this place, called, emailed, and my wife even spoke to the director, Mollie, but I could still not get a call back to schedule for their IOP. Terrible experience. I could only imagine for people in… crisis, they would fall through the cracks and end up a statistic. Check out other programs, mainly in the VA area in order to find a responsive treatment program, as I did.

Great staff! Very attentive and kind with directions.

The lady at the front desk on the 2nd floor is extremely rude! Her delivery is horrible. She should not be the front facing of your business as she is aggressive in her tone and is not friendly at all. She needs an… etiquette class or choose another career choice as customer service is not it! I feel sorry for the older patients that have to communicate with her!

I've been a Patient at MedStar BEHAVIORAL Health since 2013 I love my Psychiatrist and had her since 2014. I'm always worried about her leaving or having to see another Psychiatrist. Sometimes I feel 6 weeks. Is a good… space between visits. But when there is a need to make contact between that 6-8 week appointment I feel lost and afraid that I might react on an impulsive thought or decision, I feel helpless and hopeless Because I can't talk to my Dr. or if I reach out through the Patient Portal, I don't get a response until the urgency has passed and I have already acted or they tell you to go to Urgent Care or call 911. NO THANKS. I might Not Want to get SHOT DURING MY CRISIS. I want my Psychiatrist who knows me very well. Dr. FISHMAN

So the doctors here are good, I have no problem with them. This place is IMPOSSIBLE to contact. Nobody picks up the phone here, I literally spend 2-3 hours repeatedly calling til someone picks up. They take 2-3 days to… respond if you send a message via web portal. Having to facilitate communication between them and my insurance is a nightmare.

I’ve been been a patient of Dr. Andrew Radu, for nearly eight years. I’ve been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. He has given me the tools that I need to keep myself from having panic attacks and also the… coping mechanism to deal with grief and loss of my Mother. I also have several health issues and he really encourages me and calls me out on my sense of being in denial. He holds me accountable and for that I continue to meeting with him. I could continue but to wrap this comment up.Dr. Radu, is professional and very supportive. 👍🏼👍🏼

I highly recommend this location. The front desk staff initially had to book my appointment several weeks out, but called me back a few hours later when there was a cancelation and I was able to get in sooner. The… intake provider was kind and listened well, and my psychiatrist was exceptionally compassionate, intelligent, and thorough. I felt really optimistic leaving the appointment that my care was in good hands.

Worst experience with a mental health clinic. I have been on medication for 4 years now, and after moving to the area I decided to go with Medstar. This place is below subpar. They struggled to get me an appointment… with a psychiatrist. When I did finally connect with a doctor, we had a few decent appointments where she was able to refill my prescriptions. Out of the blue, I got a call saying she no longer works at the clinic and paired me with a random doctor. I have been trying to get prescriptions refilled and it is like pulling teeth. Called multiple times and they cannot seem to get it right. If you're looking for mental health help, go somewhere else.

I was referred here for IOP care from an out of state inpatient facility. They lost whatever they records they got from the inpatient care facility, weren't able to schedule an appointment in time after being onboarded… by a social worker 2-3 weeks after being released from the hospital to get my medication refilled, and then they sort of dissuaded me from utilizing IOP. My life has fallen apart, and now I'm being told by some else IOP is the way to go. Also, it was very difficult to schedule an appointment because no one picked up the phone.

Great doctor. Horrible scheduling and rude receptionist

I was a patient in the virtual IOP group for 4 months earlier this year, and then transitioned to a CBT coping skills group that met 1 hour per week. I have severe major depressive disorder and I improved for about 2… months in IOP before sliding downhill again. Unfortunately, I believe I got worse because both of the providers who ran IOP left between May and July 2022 and I just did not click with the new ones who were being slowly rotated in. I began to feel more detached from the group and more depressed. I lasted in the CBT group for about 2 months and then called it quits because I felt that the facilitator did not do a good job of time management - some people were allowed to “go on” more than the others and the time was so limited to begin with. The good: the phone system seems to be fixed now, but as others have said, it wasn’t working when I was trying to get care and it took my own [non MedStar] therapist to intervene and use her contacts to get a direct line to an intake person. Also, the facilitators were very timely about responding to emails and phone calls. My poor review probably says more about me than their services, but I can only speak about how I fared. From my experience, group therapy (especially IOP/PHP) is *so* difficult to find, so I would say to at least give them a try. If you get anything out of it at all, the bare minimum will at least be the fact that it will be a diverse group, you will learn a lot from the others, and it will become clear very quickly that you have absolutely no idea about just how much people are going through out there. I believe that the therapists that I actually liked did care about me and my welfare, but once they were gone, I felt lost. I don’t think I will try IOP ever again, I’m a lost cause.

I have DC health insurance, I am in a position where I am in a very high need of care with very limited resources. I have been to this program multiple times, not because I'm pleased with the services here but because… very simply, I HAVE NO WHERE ELSE TO GO!! Everyday I feel my challenges and obstacles become harder to bare. If for any reason you step out of the group, put your head down or ask to sit out an activity you will be chastised, taunted and told to leave. Like me, some of you may not have any other options aside from this program. Be prepared to have multiple therapist know you’re in a high risks situation and the therapist WILL TELL YOU TO LEAVE the group for not wanting to participate in art or needing to take additional time to yourself. This was said to me several times. Multiple groups members witness it and later told me how uncomfortable they were. That is absolutely ridiculous to me, some days you may not be able to give 100% but if you show up and do your best, just know that I am very proud of you and grateful that you are trying to get help. Asking for help is very difficult and it can be crushing when you feel like that help is only there if you comply or behave in a manner thats conducive to the conductor. By the way, you may want to lower your expectations now. In this group you're going to just read work sheets and stare at the wall.

If you actually want help and treatment for your mental illness, I implore you to GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!! At what point does it not cross over into the realm of medical malpractice when patients have to endure such neglect?… It's impossible to get through the phone lines, and they are fully aware. It's 2022. This isn't new technology. When you do finally get an appointment, there are no appointment reminders. I've called to try to get medications refilled and actually spoken to a human being. I wait a week to go over to the pharmacy only to find that my prescription has not been sent in. I was told they finally had a slot with a therapist because they had not since 2020. I've been waiting since January for this therapist to call me to set up an appointment. It's like they don't understand that this could be an issue of life or death.

The phone system is broken so it's impossible to make appointments or discuss anything with them. We finally went in-person and they were helpful, so that's why it's not a 1-star

I like my physician - but can't get anyone the phone to schedule an appointment. I've reached out to my physician through the Medstar portal but she just said she forwarded my request. I then get a call at 4:57pm from a… restricted number - which I don't answer because my phone flagged it as spam. As soon as I realize it's their office, I call back at 5:02 - the phone system is off because they're closed. I've spent the last 2 weeks calling every morning & in the afternoon and can't get through the phone system. Absolutely horrible. Thank god my mental health needs aren't dire.

Phone lines take you in circles and then hang up on you and all voicemail boxes are full. Any time I need an appointment I have to go through every option, find a line that will let me leave a voicemail and hope someone… calls me back soon. When I do reach someone I am rudely told that I "called the wrong line" only because it was the only line that would put me through. It has been like this every time i've called over the past 9 months.

My son had a terrible experience there