Hitchcock Lara, MD

I am an internist and see Dr. Hitchcock. She is caring, empathetic and extremely knowledgable. The waiting time is often long but I always bring a book or phone and get things accomplished. When she is running behind, it is because she spent extra time with a patient. I like to know that she will do this if needed! I will wait as long as it takes to see her. It is difficult to find someone of her caliber. If you want to see someone fast go to a minute clinic. A helpful hint, get the appointment right after lunch or first thing in the morning.

I have been coming to this office off/​on for a few years. The doctor is nice and thorough yet they really need to work on time management because I always have to wait ~45 minutes to be seen by the doctor. Being a health professional, I know that sometimes you may run late and unexpected things may happen yet every time I come to this office I have to wait (very long time).

Dr. Hitchcock is a good doctor, but it is really difficult to make an appointment because they rarely answer the phone and by noon forget it they just have the answering machine telling you they are not excepting appointments for the rest of the day. If you do get an appointment expect to wait at least 45 minutes in the waiting area and then 30 more in the room waiting for the doctor. The receptionist is extremely rude. I have been going there for years and I think the receptionist was nice about twice she is almost always rude.

I completely agree with previous review. Dr. Hitchcock is a great doctor who is personable and professional. However, the wait is ridiculous! I went for an annual physical. I waited exactly 90 minutes before I was called back into a room. I then waited another 30 minutes to be seen. My actual physical exam took approximately 5 minutes since I go to other doctors for my dental, vision and annual pap. Although she is a great doctor, I will probably start looking for another doctor’s office that respects patients’ time.

I’ve been to this doctor twice, once several years ago for a «Meet and Greet» visit, since you can not do your physical as your first visit and just last week due to a recovering foot injury. I am the first to admit that I do not enjoy going to the doctor, so I tried to see past some red flags. At this point though, despite Dr. Hitchcock seeming like a competent doctor I don’t feel like I can deal with her practice long term.
Making an Appointment–
When I went to make my recent appointment, I utilized ZocDoc, an online service that Dr. Hitchcock’s office utilizes. It makes no mention that this service should only be utilized by new patients. In fact, I selected that I was a returning patient during the registration process and the system allowed me to make an appointment.
Since using an online system was new to me, I ended up calling to see if there was any updated paperwork that I needed to submit. During this call Sharon/​Shari, the receptionist was incredibly rude. First, she chided me for using the online system as it was for new patients only. Again, there was no mention of this online so I felt it was extremely uncalled for for her to fault me for having made this appointment. She kept going on about it and eventually I just asked her to make me an appointment for the same time and date, which she did. I’m not sure what difference it made on her end, but for some reason it did.
Something I knew from my prior visit was that with Dr. Hitchcock’s office your first visit is considered a consultation/​meet and greet. She’ll address any issues but you will have to pay a copay, etc. as normal. If you have a free physical through your insurance, you can not do that for your first visit. It is an office policy that I feel is somewhat of a «nickel and dime» strategy. I asked Sharon to explain what the difference was between the physical and the consult appointment and she got really flustered and then just transferred me and said she couldn’t help me anymore. Again, incredibly odd and uncalled for.
Tiffany, the girl I spoke to next was a lot nicer and also provided a great explanation on the difference between appointments.
Visit/​Waiting Room–
Dr. Hitchcock’s office is on the second floor of the Phoenica Center, behind Barnes and Noble/​Bonefish on Sandlake. The waiting room is very nice and comfortable, which is good because you will probably spend a lot of time in there. I waited about 45 minutes past my scheduled appointment.
Visit/​Appointment–
The actual time I spent with Dr. Hitchcock was fine, although brief. An assistant took some basic information about why I was there before Dr. Hitchcock came in and then we ran through the things I wanted to discuss. I feel she was knowledgeable and gave me options for my concerns and the information I needed.
Followup–
This is an area that is a bit frustrating for me. I received a couple prescriptions as well as instructions for having blood work and an x-​ray done. After completing the x-​ray, I wanted to followup about if it had been received and reviewed. I also had a question regarding a prescription, so I called and emailed the medical assistant per the website. Unfortunately the response I got was to come in for another appointment. To me, that is unacceptable. While I’d be completely willing to come in if there was follow up needed off of the results or a new condition/​complication that had arisen, it seems silly to me to spend my time and money on another appointment to ask a question about a prescription that was just prescribed to me. Again, I felt that the «nickel and dime» strategy was coming into play.
All in all, while Dr. Hitchcock seems like a well-​informed doctor, dealing with office policies and attitudes may be a little too much for me to handle long term.

Dr. Hitchcock is a GREAT doctor. However — if you don’t have all day, then don’t go here. I think the last time I went here for a physical I waited 2+ hours, my physical lasted about 15 minutes.

Waiting time — long, extremely long.
Staff — Friendly, but they rush you and the front desk lady got a little impatient when I asked for clarification because the direction given was unclear.
Dr. Lara Hitchcock — She was friendly but not approachable, the lack of personal touch was present when I was talking to her. I went there for a physical exam, but they told me I have to go there first for ”greet n meet”, then 2^nd time will be physical exam… I felt like they were just trying to make money off me. The whole ”greet n meet” with Dr. Hitchock was like less than 10 minutes, felt being rushed again.
I went only once and did not go back.

Dr. Hitchcock is practical, efficient and professional. She offers excellent care and advice and I recommend her to anyone in need of a primary care physician.