Affiliated Cardiologists of AZ: Askari Ali A MD

Dr. Askari himself is fantastic I like having him as my cardiologist but other than that this place is horrible. You can't get in touch with anyone to answer questions. Dr. Askari put me on a heart monitor. He specifically told the assistant he wanted me on it for 1 month, she set it up for 2 weeks. Now it is shutting down and I am on 2 weeks into my month. Trying to call is fruitless. No one answers the phone at 9am.

This is about the office staff, not the doctor. I was never actually able to meet him because the office staff called me two hours before my appointment and cancelled it. (We have to give them 24 hours notice, but they don't!) I tried to call back, but they don't answer the phone and their voicemail box is full. I called 13 times at 2pm on a Friday until someone finally picked up. They laugh at you on the phone if you get upset. Erica cancelled my appointment and told me I didn't need a consultation. Her "supervisor" said that isn't accurate - you always need a consultation. Erica refused to admit that she had told me she would get "pre-approval" through my insurance. She lied to the rest of the staff. I have voicemail proof of this, but the people were being so mean and laughing at me on the phone that I just gave up... Again, I haven't met the doctor, but I think he should be a little more aware of the staff he's hiring.

That office is a nightmare! I've left messages since last Wednesday saying that they could finally re-request authorization to do my stress test. Nobody has even returned my call and it's noon on Monday. If I do get someone to answer there (like today) they always say that person is off today and to leave a message. How much time is she actually at work if she has so many days off during the week? I have two surgeries, one minor and one major that are just waiting for this stress test to clear me or not. I am in so much pain, it's nearly unbearable, and they can't be bothered to put in a simple request to my insurance. The receptionist literally laughed at me when I was upset on the phone. They are unbelievably uncaring and bad at their jobs. Don't waste your time, energy or money here.

Continued frustrations around scheduling and general communication pushed me to make the decision to no longer continue care with this office. I am autistic and it has been a nightmare to navigate their phone system. Just as others have mentioned, it's near impossible to get anyone on the phone. I have previously had to dial the extension for billing questions to have them transfer me to someone who could help. There is no online portal available to manage scheduling on your own or make payments. Everything is done through their phone system, which leaves much to be desired.

Can I give 0 stars? If you want to be taken seriously please don’t go here. Askari basically ran away from me after making me wait over 30 minutes for him to come in the room so I had to ask my personal, private questions in front of staff and patients. I explained I was in pain and he just said “come back in 5 months.” This place is a joke. Younger girl who checked me out was so rude to her co workers and an absolute mess. I left this place in tears. Place was unorganized, not a single soul was thorough in examining me and it was literally DIRTY in every room I went in. Now they won’t answer my calls and I don’t exist in the patient portal so I can’t retrieve any of my records! :) went to get a second opinion and they couldn’t fathom why they did what they did. In much better hands now. I hope this practice gets shut down.