Scottsdale Ear Nose and Throat

Just had my stints removed from a septoplasty surgery with Dr Heiland today and was very happy with the results.
Beginning with the Nurse Practitioner Julie was very professional and informative. Then, working with Kami in case the insurance would not potentially cover the final 20% of the bill. Next, with Dr Heiland and his patience and availability to answer all my questions — even the anesthesiologist called before the surgery asking if I had any questions. Most of all, I truly appreciated Dr Heiland’s conservative approach to medicine to not over prescribe or over treat. We are all better off consequently.
I was completely satisfied with my total experience and look forward to a life of better breathing and sleeping. Thank you all for the experience.

Such helpful staff and Dr. Heiland’s Assistant Julie Kramer is the most amazing person ever. She’s brutally honest, yet extremely caring and will check your imaginary «issue» numerous times until she gets it through your head that you are OKAY. She’s extremely thorough and explains everything in detail. In the same breath she has a stellar sense of humor. Great 1^st experience at Valley ENT.

Dr Heiland is the best ENT in the valley.
Pros:
Uses Culture directed therapy approach for chronic sinusitis. Doesn’t prescribe strong antibiotics unless they are actually needed, which keeps antibiotic resistance to a minimum.
PA J. Kramer is extremely thorough, and really takes the time to go over everything in great detail and answer questions.
Have a CT machine in the office
Couldn’t be happier with the service there.

This office has a lot going for it. The office staff are all very professional and friendly. Unfortunately, Dr. Heiland’s bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired. I have never left a doctor’s appointment feeling more berated and ashamed. I was referred to him by my primary care to have my throat scoped. Instead he seemed more interested in letting me know that I should’ve gone somewhere else. Point taken. I’ll let my primary care know to not send me here again.

Valley ENT Staff and Dr. Heiland have given me and my family the best medical care ever! I highly recommend them!
The first time I walked in the door they made me feel like I was a VIP. The front office staff was very friendly and professional. Kami, the office manager, was so nice and caring and answered all my questions and concerns. She always has a smile and a kind word. She handled the scheduling of my surgery and took care of the insurance company flawlessly.
The medical care I received from PA, Julie Kramer was out of this world. She is amazing… She takes the time to discuss every detail of your care. She listens to all of your concerns and needs and never makes you feel like you asked a dumb question. Her skills with a scope and suction are second to none. Dr. Heiland is so fortunate to have her as his assistant.
Dr. Heiland is a great doctor and surgeon. My whole experience was a complete life style change. He has given me back my breathing, smell, taste and quality of life.
Healthcare should model itself after Valley ENT and Dr. Heiland.

Cami, the office manager, is very unprofessional. I called to schedule an appointment with another doctor in the office for a second opinion after the first doctor was unable to treat my chronic sinusitis. The office manager immediately acted like I had committed a crime by seeking a second opinion, which any smart person would do. She seemed like a Dr. Kelsch groupie. She looked through my file and told me that based on the CT Scan, Kelsch was right and I didn’t have a problem (tell that to my sinus). She continued to tell me what a real sinus infection feels like and how what I have isn’t that (she’s never even seen me – and she’s NOT a doctor). I told her she’s not a doctor and shouldn’t try to diagnose me (I think that’s illegal). All she should do is schedule me an appointment with a real doctor who can go over my file with me and hear my concerns.
She then said «we’re not interested» and wouldn’t book me an appointment — we wouldn’t get along because I’m not listening to her. I told her I already had an appointment and she said she was going to cancel it – that there were other ENTs all around the valley I could go to. These doctors must be really busy if they let their office manager give medical opinions and determine what patients they can see based on how much she likes them.

So happy I was sent to Dr Heiland!
Before I was in bad shape. I had so many things going on with my sinuses. It was to the extremely I could no longer smell nor taste my food. This had been going in for over 2 years. I appreciate the fact he tried a couple things but jumping right to surgery. Unfortunately surgery was our only option. 2 ½ years post surgery and I’m still breathing through my nose, tasting and smelling better than ever! Office staff and Dr. Heiland are all awesome! I’d highly recommend him to anyone!

In my opinion Dr. Pryor is as good as it gets. I am confused by these negative reviews as most of his on other sites are 5 star. I had an issue with my sphenoid sinus which caused headaches for months. Other doctors gave me grim diagnosis’s but he said the surgery would be 20 minutes and a piece of cake. He did exactly as he said he would do, drained it and the headaches and symptoms went away. I loved his thorough explanations and detail, his kindness and his demeanor. He is an amazing doctor who was referred to me by my primary care doctor who pretty much knows her referrals. I would highly recommend him!

Over the past two months, I have seen Dr. Heiland twice and I am SO glad that I did.
Back Story:
I had been insanely ill for two weeks with what I thought was a cold. After realizing that my throat was oddly swollen on one side, I went to the Walgreens clinic and was diagnosed with a «mystery infection». 10 days of antibiotics later, the infection hadn’t gone away. I was recommended to Valley ENT by a friend and the first time I called, I spoke with Lauren.
Lauren was incredibly pleasant and encouraging during this first call. My insurance had lapsed after I was laid off, and I was stuck needing a doctor with no insurance. Lauren encouraged me to have COBRA reinstate my insurance, but told me that in the mean time, the first office visit would be $ 250 (which covered all procedures done in office). Of course, that sounded steep, so I said I would think about it.
That night, my fever spiked to 102– the next day, I called Lauren back, begging for an appointment. The doctor who I was originally referred to (whose name I can’t remember) was unavailable, but Lauren said she could get me in THAT DAY with Dr. Heiland. I happily took the appointment.
First Appointment: Sept 4^th
My boyfriend drove me to the Valley ENT office for my 3 o’clock appointment. We ended up waiting for a full hour before I was seen. Of course, I was unhappy (and sick) about this, but I often expect to wait in doctor’s offices. During our wait, we checked out the massive fish tank. The office staff offered us bottles of water and magazines and apologized for the wait.
I was called back and the medical assistant (I think) escorted me into the exam room. She was nice, took my temperature and got some details from me. Dr. Heiland came in shortly thereafter and all I can say is wow.
Let me list out the reasons I was so impressed:
1. Dr. Heiland sat down, away from the computer, with a pen and pad of paper. He said that he had read over my chart, but wanted me to describe to him what had been going on. I’m a SUPER detailed person, so I rattled off the whole story. Dr. Heiland scrawled notes the whole time, asked me more detailed questions, and even included my boyfriend in the conversation. His full attention given to me the whole time. Awesome. He even had a sense of humor, which is always welcome.
1a. When Dr. Heiland had to examine me, he informed me that I had nice ears and teeth and that my nasal cavity curved to the left. This entire exchange was really fun/​funny– and totally nerdy. Two thumbs up.
2. Dr. Heiland was really knowledgeable about all things ear-​nose-​and throat (and it was clear). He explained that I had an infected lymph node, why it was making me feel the way it was, what we would do if it got better, and what we would do if it didn’t.
3. At no point during our encounter was I lost in «doctor jargon». If anything was unclear, and either my boyfriend or myself asked, Dr. Heiland would explain more in detail. Not at all condescending, but completely helpful.
4. When giving me another 3 week dose of antibiotics, Dr. Heiland recommended a brand of probiotic pills and Activia yogurt to help my system. He even prescribed an anti-​fungal in advance, in case it became an issue. This made me feel like he was really considering my whole body/​looking at the big picture.
5. I got all of this great service DESPITE my not having insurance. He also encouraged me to get COBRA, as if we needed to remove the lymph node, it would be expensive– but he didn’t make me feel bad about not having insurance. Kind and supportive all around.
Our appointment lasted at least an hour, if not more. The entire staff stayed after the office had closed, because we were the last patients to leave. They didn’t rush us out, everyone was so nice. We were blown away.
Initially, I deducted 1 star from my review for the hour wait, but when I realized how much time and attention Dr. Heiland dedicated to each patient, I added the star back, because no one likes being rushed, and it is important to really HEAR your patients.
Second Appointment: October 4^th @ 2.
My infection had resolved itself, thank goodness! I went in for a follow up appointment just to verify. My appointment was at 2, but again, we didn’t see Dr. Heiland until later (shrug). Once we did, Dr. Heiland was really nice and funny, as usual. The visit/​exam was only about 10 minutes. He did explain precautions/​what to do in the future, but it was an in and out kind of office experience.
Perhaps the best part was that when my boyfriend and I left the exam room, the two medical assistants AND the office staff stood up and shouted «Yay!» and clapped for my lack of infection. It was seriously adorable.
I maintain 5 stars for this entire situation, despite the tardiness. I really valued being listened to and being treated like a whole person. I think it’s great that Dr Heiland’s whole office team are so nice. I like EVEN MORE that he treated my infection and it went away. Thanks Valley ENT!

RUN FOR THE HILLS!!! If I could rate Valley ENT and Dr. Shepherd Pryor a zero, I would. Where do I start?
FIRST PROBLEM: Last September, I had a strange pain in the roof of my mouth and in my throat/​neck. I thought I should see my dentist but when I called, they told me to see an ENT. So I called Dr. Pryor’s office and as pleasantly surprised they could get me in the following day. When I went for my exam, Dr. Pryor did not even perform a physical exam on me (i.e. did not put a glove on and feel inside the roof of my mouth to run his fingers over the «thing» I felt, nor did he use his hands to feel my throat/​neck where the point of pain and discomfort was). What he did was run a tube down the back of my throat (I’m sure that was about a $ 300 billable item to my insurance) and told me everything looked clear. I asked again for the physical exam but he told me I was fine. The following week, I still had the pain so I went to my regular doctor. The «thing» in my mouth was getting better but my throat was still not quite right. After she examined me… with her hands… she said the point of discomfort in my neck was in my thyroid area. Fast forward after all the tests and biopsy I was sent for… I ended up having a cold, vascular nodule that resulted in having ½ my thyroid removed in mid-​December. Good thing I didn’t trust Dr. Pryor with his lack of a proper diagnosis.
SECOND PROBLEM: Around this same time, my husband coincidentally had sinus surgery scheduled with Dr. Pryor. Later than evening after he had his surgery, one of his nostrils started bleeding profusely and he called into the office. Dr. Heiland was on call and called him back. He instructed my husband to go to the ER if it didn’t stop — of course I had to take him — and he had to have his nose repacked. Isn’t that nice how no one from THEIR office takes care of you after surgery… they send you to the ER. Well, 3 hours and a $ 75 co-​pay later, we were on our way back home. When my husband has his follow up the next day, I asked to be reimbursed for the $ 75 because I didn’t think it was right that they made us go to the ER. They should have taken care of the problem since it was related to the surgery that I’m sure Dr. Pryor made thousands on. We were told, believe it our not, by their Office Manager, that we need to take it up with the insurance company and ask them to give us our money back since the ER visit was on the same day of the surgery. Well, I did call insurance and they told me that the doctor’s office should pay us back because the ER has separate doctor’s that bill and Dr. Pryor should consider it as part of his procedure.
THIRD PROBLEM: This is really a continuance of the issue above and it really takes the cake. I ended up writing two letters to Julie Hernandez who is listed as being in charge of Billing Operations at Corporate. I sent the letters a month apart because she did not respond to the first letter. I basically told her the story about what happened and how we’d like to be reimbursed the $ 75. I GOT NO ANSWER TO MY LETTER! So I sent the second one and this time sent a copy to Dr. Pryor as well. Guess what… NO RESPONSE! I finally ended up calling Julie and she acted as if she had no idea what I was talking about. I reiterated everything I said in the letter and she was supposed to look into it and get back to me. That was on March 19^th. It’s now April 6^th and I’ve never heard back from her!
I know that every doctor has patients that are perfectly happy but after 3 strikes, this doctor and the whole Valley ENT organization are out for us. I hope you don’t get into the same situations we did. They clearly don’t care about the patient.

I saw Dr. Pryor after being diagnosed with sinusitis about a million times. I was tired of the same old antibiotics routine, and I thought going to an ENT would be the ticket to figuring out what was really wrong. The first appointment was fine, and Dr. Pryor took enough time to explain his plan to me. Then he ordered at CT scan… which cost me more with my insurance than if I would’ve paid cash (??). About a week later, I get a call from his office telling me I need to return for a follow up visit to discuss the results of my CT scan. I asked the MA if she could read me the report results, as it would cost me $ 50 to have another follow up appointment. She declined to read me the results and urged me to follow up with Dr. Pryor to «move forward with my treatment». So here I am, expecting there to be some findings on the CT that Dr. Pryor needs to intervene on. Wrong! I waited 45 minutes in the waiting room and paid $ 50 for him to talk to me for 3 minutes about my normal CT and to come back if I needed anything else. I couldn’t even get a word in edgewise before he was out the door. What the hell? No other office I know does business that way. I would never go back.

Snottiest, most arrogant office I have ever been to. After waiting 90 minutes past our appointment time, without so much as an «I’m sorry we are running late» or «would you like a glass of water?», some snotty woman comes out and lectures us about how special his excellency is and how we should all be good little boys and girls.
Find another office!!!

Dr. Jordan S. Weiner, M.D. at Valley ENT is one of my favorite doctors that I’ve ever had the pleasure of being treated by. He is highly intelligent, friendly, sympathetic and displays all the attributes of a phenomenal doctor. He helped cure my chronic sinusitis condition through a combination of nasal surgery and nasal rinsing treatment. He’ll take the time to thoroughly discuss everything with you in detail, along with answering all your questions. He doesn’t rush you out the door like many other doctors do. I wish he could be my doctor for everything!