Dr. James Liu at Harvard Vanguard?

[squonk.livejournal.com]

After poring over past entries by folks looking for PCPs, I'd decided to try out Dr. Eleanor Hobbs at Harvard Vanguard. The HV website claimed that she was accepting new patients--but alas, its pants were on fire. Apparently only Dr. Manuela Matei and Dr. James Liu are accepting new patients right now. I've read mixed reviews on the former. Anyone have any experience with Dr. Liu?

Comments

[callslightning.livejournal.com]

Dr. Liu has been my PCP for about 6 months. I have not seen him that many times yet, but my impression of him is fairly positive.

He was quite responsive to my concerns; when he presented me with a couple treatments options and I said I was interested in the one he viewed slightly less favorably, he respected my decision.

I value patient-doctor relationships where the doctor presents full information as to the options available and provides input but allows the patient to make the final decision that is right for the patient's body and lifestyle. Dr. Liu seems to maintain this pretty well.

The other nice thing about Vanguard in general is that they can streamline communication with your doctor via some email thingy or other. You can tell by my recollection of the details how rarely I've used it, but for some people I'm sure it would be great.

[colorgarden.livejournal.com]

I have Dr. Matei and I like her a lot. However, one or two of the people in her office who work at the front desk are beyond obnoxious. (Certainly, some are also fantastic.) Wish I could offer an opinion on Dr. Liu. Good luck!

[squonk.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the input. I, too, value that kind of interaction in a doctor-patient relationship.

How would you say Dr. Liu's general "bedside manner" is? To put it simply--is he friendly? Patient? I've had some health care providers who were just naturally kind of cold and abrupt, and really, there's nothing worse. (Your use of the word "responsive" to describe Dr. Liu makes me think this probably isn't the case, but if you could add to that, I'd really appreciate it.)

Also, the couple times you've seen him, about how long has it taken you to get an appointment?

Thanks again.

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

I second Dr. Matei being alright..

[squonk.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Would the people working at the front desk for Dr. Matei be the same ones working for Dr. Liu? (Haven't been to Harvard Vanguard as of yet.)

[visage.livejournal.com]

I like Dr Liu's manner a lot, but that's because he appeals to the geek side of me. I expect he'd be perfectly patient and his manner is reasonably friendly. The element I like to his manner in particular is that he tells me what he's thinking -- his reasons for believing what he does about what's wrong with me.

He's perfectly willing to offer treatments that are speculative and let you make the call as to whether to try them. I like that, too.

I value patient-doctor relationships where the doctor presents full information as to the options available and provides input but allows the patient to make the final decision that is right for the patient's body and lifestyle. Dr. Liu seems to maintain this pretty well.

I share this opinion of Dr Liu.

I've actually gone to Harvard Vanguard a fair number of times in the last half year, and haven't had much difficulty getting appointments. Of course, the reason I kept on visiting them was because they (first Matei, then Liu, then Haffner, then Liu) didn't know what was wrong with me for something like 5 visits over 2-3 weeks, until I turned up with a hypothesis thanks to Dr Google. Now, once I turned up with that hypothesis, Dr Liu was perfectly happy to consider it and even start treatment for it (since it matched the symptoms well) while waiting for the test results.

Thumbs up

[pstripe.livejournal.com]

I went to Dr. Liu for an emergency, same-day type situation on a Saturday once. He was really nice to me and thorough. As well, my boyfriend just started going to Harvard V and is a patient of Dr. Liu's. As a man who hadn't been to the Dr. for a physical in several he years he was slightly hesitant. He liked him a lot and found him to be friendly and thorough. Between my boyfriend's rec and my own experience, I'd recommend him. As for the people at the desk, it's been my experience that they are not often the same ones from visit to visit and as a patient checking in, one doesn't have to deal too much with them. They've always been pleasant and professional to me.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

All of the HMO websites are out-of-date about which physicians are accepting new patients. I've also had the experience of calling the HMO offices and getting out of date information!

I think the only way to know for sure is to call the particular practice and ask.

[squonk.livejournal.com]

Great, thank you.

Re: Thumbs up

[squonk.livejournal.com]

Sounds good. Thanks!

[siderea]

How would you say Dr. Liu's general "bedside manner" is? To put it simply--is he friendly? Patient? I've had some health care providers who were just naturally kind of cold and abrupt, and really, there's nothing worse.

Dr. Liu's been my PCP since September. He has what shrinks call a "muted affect" -- he's not very expressive. He's quiet and mild spoken. He's not particularly out-going; he's not a people-person who will put someone at ease or draw them out. But he's kind and he's patient and an extremely good listener. People from particularly expressive cultures might read him as chilly and distant; I found him warm in his quiet and service-oriented way.

He's quite comfortable in the role of Doctor-as-Authority figure, and will naturally lead the dance. As others have mentioned, however, he very gracefully cedes the lead to the patient if the patient takes it. When I made it clear I wanted more information rather than less, and that his communications use all the big technical words with me, he obliged me with very complete information and has made a point of getting my full blood tests up on the extranet for me to review (indeed, it seems he managed to shake loose some test results from my previous PCP which had never been posted).

Other information:

He can be a bit test-happy (which works well for me, but is a striking difference between him and my previous PCP). If you have financial concerns about running up a lot of tests, bring them up before he gets the bright idea to send you down to the lab. Similarly, he's quite enthusiastic about providing referals where it seems useful.

He's a musician (singer, actually). Part of why I picked him. As I hoped, it turned out he has a particular interest in sports/musician medicine, and follows developments in that field. I've had a problem with other MDs responding to "It hurts when I play an instrument" to reply "Then don't play instruments". As expected, he happily doesn't subscribe to the "well, that wasn't an important mobility for you to have" school of medicine.

[siderea]

Harvard Vanguard isn't an HMO, it is, actually, the practice. A gigantic, monster, bjallion-doctor practice, but a practice, indeed.

[squonk.livejournal.com]

This was extremely helpful. Thank you.

Harvard Vanguard and referrals

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

One thing to note about Harvard Vanguard as a practice is that it can be difficult to get a referral from a Vanguard PCP to a specialist outside the practice. A few years ago, I needed an orthopedic surgeon. I wrangled an appointment with a doc at MGH that everybody said was the very best. My insurance would cover it--so long as I had the referral. I thought insurance would be the only hurdle. I was wrong. My Harvard Vanguard doctor wouldn't refer out of the practice. It was very frustrating and the treatment I got became a total mess.

If I were shopping for a PCP, I would definitely ask the doctor if they will refer out of practice.

Re: Harvard Vanguard and referrals

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if we're talking about the same situation, but I had a positive experience dealing with the referral department at Harvard Vanguard. I had to go to the ER before I had selected a PCP on my insurance, and was gonna get billed something like $400 (basically just to get an amoxacilin prescription!) as a result. The lady who's in charge of referals there went pretty far out of her way to get a backdated referral sorted out with Tufts. (Tufts' automated system was not cooperating with the backdated referral and it took months to get it all straightened out)

Re: Harvard Vanguard and referrals

[siderea]

Ah! Then I can confirm that Dr. Liu is willing to refer outside of HV.

[colorgarden.livejournal.com]

Probably. And I'm talking rude enough to make me look into going somewhere else. But, again, Matei herself isn't like that.

[bluedaisy.livejournal.com]

I *hated* Dr. Matei. I know nothing about Dr Liu, though.
(I have Dr. Hobbs, but have seen Matei a few times when I needed to get in ASAP. I will never see her again, her bedside manner is poor and she does not present as intelligent.)

[fuffer.livejournal.com]

I like Dr. Matei, but I can see how people might find her a little off-putting. She's not very expressive and she's very matter of fact. I find her matter of fact-ness kind of calming.

Dr. Liu doesn't have a great bedside manner. I was a little put out afterwards because I felt like he saw me as specimen under a microscope, but in retrospect, I wasn't dissatisfied with him. He was on the computer most of the time I was there, looking up alternate prescriptions and reading the last doctor's notes. I liked it that he was doing research while I was there. It seemed a very un-doctor thing to do. It made me think he wasn't afraid to acknowledge that he didn't know everything off the top of his head and that he was interested in trying to find a solution. He was open to listening to me and offered a variety of options. I liked him.

[bostonwiseguy.livejournal.com]

Dr. Liu is my PCP too. He is very responsive to communication (via MyHealth Online) and willing to work with you to establish a suitable treatment course.

Now listen, in this day and age, with the Internet, I would expect many people to educate themselves about their symptoms, prognosis, etc. Agreed that at times, google can be scary, which doctors tend to keep away from their patients. But I have preferred always to know, rather than to not know. Dr. Liu would agree to review what I have read online, and answer questions I may have about anything I need clarified.

If you have any other questions about Dr. Liu, please ask. Thanks.