Joel Ang, MD

Q Street is a great neighborhood doctor’s office. Able to refer to area specialists. Professional. Courteous. Competent. Although I was not expecting all of the initial lab work, Dr. Medley explained my results thoroughly, and seems to be a partner in assuring health and wellness.
Phlebotomist was exceedingly patient with me even though I fainted twice. She was 100% pain free, and I have no bruises, in either arm. A feat considering my veins.

Staff is great, doctor is awesome. Procedures are great. Makes me want to go back there again.

Fraud.
Check the DC DOH license website for complaint. Stop drinking the «more is more» Kool-​Aid when it comes to testing.

Terrible experience.
Similarly to what a lot of folks here said:
— made me take all kinds of blood tests
— didn’t charge tests as annual physical despite me explicitly saying they were
— posted my test results online on an unclear website with weird phrasing that made me think I had a disease
— terrible demeanor in corresponding via email
I’d recommend people stay away from this clinic and not go in no matter the urgency.

I was a patient of Dr. Ang’s for several years. As you will see from other reviews (and from the separate reviews of his practice, Q St. MDs) they take a huge battery of blood tests for their internal lab before they will see you for anything, and bill your insurance for them. Generally, I accepted that as the price of seeing a doctor whom I liked and seemed to get along with. He was responsive by email to any questions.
Then, I got bit by a tick on my hip (saw it, removed it) — and saw a bullseye rash in the same location a couple of days later. I made an emergency appointment. Even though what I needed was simple (an antibiotic for possible Lyme disease exposure) I went through the entire testing rigmarole. Then I waited. One hour. Two hours. Coming up on three hours, I had to get back to the office — so I complained about the wait at the front desk, and was only then told that Dr. Ang wasn’t in and that I was waiting for a substitute.
I wrote Dr. Ang a polite email suggesting that his staff tell people when he wasn’t there, and that they perhaps get a physician’s assistant to deal with issues like I had. The response, after years of being his patient, was that I wasn’t qualified to «diagnose» myself with possible Lyme exposure, it might have been a venereal disease. Uh huh, on my hip, right where I removed a tick two days before. And that his practice wasn’t right for me and that I should find another doctor.
I was flabbergasted, but took him up on his advice. From reading other reviews, I gather that I’m not the only patient he’s «fired» when they dared to question something. This was two years ago and I haven’t looked back.
Avoid at all costs. Something’s wrong here.

Excellent PCP. He is attentive, kind, and responsive. He always gets back to patients quickly and blood work is completed in office and reviewed at time of visit. Highly recommended.

In relation to the front desk staff, Dr Ang has made changes fur the positive. Now the experience is pleasant (as pleasant as seeing the doctor can be).
He is a great doctor. Knows what he is doing and takes individual care. You can discuss anything with him.

Dr. Ang is an excellent physician. He is incredibly knowledgeable and takes a genuine interest in your health. He correctly diagnosed a condition in me that several other doctors had looked past for years.
It is true that he requires blood work for every visit, which I appreciate because it reveals what is actually going on inside your body, rather than the doctor just making a visual diagnosis. However, if I have a cold or just need a prescription, I do not go to Dr. Ang — I go to a walk-​in clinic because I don’t want to have to deal with the blood work then. That is the only reason I am giving 4 stars instead of 5. Otherwise, he is a great doctor!

First, I think Dr. Ang is a great doctor and has a pleasant demeanor. He seems to genuinely care about his patients. That’s where the positive attributes about this office ends.
To start, the reception area leaves much to be desired. The gentleman who works the desk seems very uninterested and is not welcoming which is bad since he’s the first impression one has of the office. After each appointment, I was told that no co-​pay was required. I thought this was odd and double-​checked and received the same answer again. Then three years later, I receive a bill that I owed 3 years of co-​payments. When I inquired further, the front desk gentleman simply stated «I cannot say about what happened in the past, I can only comment on what’s happening today.» That was the final straw for me.
It was bad enough they have this policy of mandatory blood and urine tests for EACH visit and that they even require an office visit and more tests just to get a prescription refilled. They also don’t call it into the pharmacy. Then there was the printouts of the lab work that was more confusing than helpful. It caused me more worry than comfort because they were confusing and hard to tell which aspects required attention or normal fluctuations.
There were a couple of times Dr. Ang wanted me to return in 6 months to monitor a couple of things and when I did follow up and went back for more tests, I was asked why I was there. It became apparent to me that the real reason for the 6 month follow ups were for them to run more tests and milk the insurance company.
Thus, the other posters to commented on the tests and billing were spot on! Thankfully my new doctor’s office is nothing like this one!

A letter I wrote to this establishment recently, which they never bother answering.
(A third world country type of operation with less-​than professional service and atmosphere would be a suitable way to describe this office.)
Dear Doctors Caceres, Ang, Et Al:
Yesterday was my first visit to your office, and I was not impressed with your receptionist at the front desk, Mr. X. I am fully aware he has a job to do, and I understand and respect what he is responsible for. He may be stressed, suffering from Monday’s Syndrome, or just following orders, I am not sure; he just projects a rather negative attitude and makes matters more complicated than they should be.
I made the mistake of not bringing my insurance card for my appointment, please forgive me for such a grievance! I immediately called my insurance and they offered to fax one copy right away and or do whatever needed, on the spot! Mr. X equipment was not working properly, it was taking a while to get the fax, he was asking/​repeating the same questions to me about my personal information; he seemed upset, overwhelmed, and to be taking his time. So he told me I would have to reschedule my appointment for another day, this is after I got the wrong information about my original appointment (I previously got an email with the wrong date and doctor); waited more for more than 3 weeks, and missed one day of work. Mr. X’s attitude leaves a lot to be desired. By the way, a reminder about my appointment would have been nice.
Now, to make matters worse, after having to talk to his supervisor and finally getting my chance to see Dr Joel Ang, or so I thought, I was informed that I would not be able to see him as planned, since he was too busy, i was told my other option at this point was to wait all day, or seeing a different doctor, which I ended up doing since I did not want to continue waiting and being aggravated. I ended up seeing Doctor Bonilla, who seemed pleasant and professional. Thank you!
I understand the unexpected can happen, but give me a break, some consideration for your clients might help. I am paying you to deliver a service, if you have or are handling too many clients and cannot take care of your responsibilities and or keep your promises, then I should be advised in advance and not last minute. Am I really a priority as your booklet says? Not!
A client. No more!

This is my second tour of duty in DC and while I was gone I got a sense of just how amazing Dr. Ang is in comparison to his peers. He spends time with every patient and doesn’t rush through the evaluation, the extensive blood work Q St does at each appointment helps me better understand the state of my health, and the office is easy to get to.
I’m a little surprised to see that some reviewers found their experience unpleasant. In my neck of the woods, Dr. Ang has a serious fan club! He was recommended to me by colleagues and I in turn now suggest Dr. Ang to everyone I know who’s in the market for a new PCP.

The visit itself was OK, but the way they dealt with billing was less than professional– due to an abnormal lab result during my visit, their system triggered a follow up blood test without informing me about it. Because of this, I had questions about my billing, which led to tons of back-​and-​forth email (they don’t take calls) to clarify the billing situation– and oddly enough, Dr. Ang addressed all my inquiries (as opposed to the office staff). I was accused of trying to defraud his clinic and then told to go find another primary care physician. too much drama for me. If you plan to visit, make sure that you know what you getting into and what you are being charged.
So here’s my experience…
I recently moved into the neighborhood, so was looking for a new family doctor. A colleague suggested Dr. Ang– The office was super close to my apartment, and since I was due for my annual physical (which is covered by my insurance), I took up her recommendation and scheduled a visit for an annual check up with Dr. Ang.
The visit seemed fine. They drew blood, took a urine sample, and then told me to sit in front of a computer to type in my own medical history. The assistant then sat me down to take my vitals and ask me questions about the medical history I typed. After a lengthy wait which was expected, I finally got to see Dr. Ang.
Dr. Ang was upbeat, but everything about the visit was about the test result numbers. My glucose level was slightly higher than the average (though I had breakfast that morning — I was not told to fast before I went in), and Dr. Ang concluded that I was in risk of diabetes and I should schedule a visit in six months to re-​test and monitor my glucose level. The higher number also automatically triggered a second test in the lab. I have to say appreciate the system and Dr. Ang’s concern, but later I checked with my family doctor from back home, and they said that if I didn’t fast before the test, my slightly higher numbers were still within normal range.
Anyways– Dr. Ang told me to email him in a few weeks to get the second round test results. So I set up a six-​month appointment and headed out, thinking all was well.
A few weeks later, I checked my insurance, and found out that all the tests and my visit were listed as «medical visits”– despite the fact that I said numerous times during and before the visit that I was there for my annual physical. Since the doctor’s office coded everything as medical, none of the items were fully covered. The office had specifically told me that email was the best way to reach them, not phone, so I emailed the front desk and assistant to inquire about the billing.
I never heard back, so I followed up again and thought I’d cc the doctor just in case. Dr. Ang replied immediately, and said that he could not re-​code the visit because it would constitute as fraud. I was confused since I said I was there for my annual physical– so surely this was a mistake. I was also confused why the staff was not dealing with the billing, and the doctor was dealing with this all.
Again, Dr. Ang replied in the email saying that I was defrauding him by asking him to re-​code the visit. And that since I had an abnormal lab (higher glucose I assume) this was a medical visit. I called my insurance company and my previous doctor various times, and they said that the follow up tests should have been medical indeed, but the original tests that were ran should have been coded as annual physical and I should check with the office again.
With this information, I planned to email again to ask which parts should have been coded as medical so I could pay accordingly; but before I could do so, I received two emails from Dr. Ang– the first email saying that according to office literature, the first visit cannot be a annual physical (confused again, I went back to read the literature, NOTHING about first visits not being able to be annual physicals); the second email said that he had asked his manager to write off my visit, and that they can not operate as a free clinic so that I should find another doctor.
I was stunned. I was hoping to figure out what had been lost in translation, but was essentially accused of defrauding the clinic and being a free-​loader. After several more calls with my insurance company, and confirmation from the office manager that the visit was written off, I went to find another doctor that actually had office staff that talked on the phone about billing and not through email.
In sum, I would not recommend this clinic. plenty of other family doctors in town– !

I called my PCP today to make an appointment to stop by, but he was on vacation. The assistant referred me to their «fill-​in» PCP, which was Dr. Joel Ang. I was told he was on Q St., which was great since it’s close to my house. I called Dr. Ang’s office and made an appointment, but was caught off guard when the assistant said they’d be doing a blood test and a urinalysis… and then he said be prepared to be there for at least two hours.
Keep in mind, I was going there for a sore throat and possible mild Conjunctivitis… blood tests and urinalysis is not necessary… at all, by any means. I arrived and explained to the assistant that my PCP handles all my blood work and any other lab works, and I did not need to have it done and felt it was not necessary for my visit. The assistant confirmed that this was mandatory, and he would refuse any health service unless I did this. I told him to cancel my appointment and I walked out.
I actually ended up changing PCP’s today from my current to One Medical Group (who by the way are frigging AMAZING). I brought this up to my new PCP and that person couldn’t believe they refused health service because I declined to have my blood work and urinalysis done.
After I told this person about the other reviews on Unilocal regarding Dr. Ang (him owning the lab in his office, making people do lab tests that are not necessary so he can bill your insurance and rake in extra money), this person was blown away. Totally shady and such a typical healthy industry scam.
I wrote this review because I want people to be aware and have the knowledge about practices like this one.
*** I did not actually see any of the care providers there — so I cannot comment on them. I’m just voicing my experience and opinion regarding the refusal of health service without mandatory lab work — regardless of why you’re going there.

Dr Ang is pleasant, attentive and thorough. I always feel taken care of and listened to. The only problem is his office is a mess! It’s disorganized with papers all over the place, the exam rooms are questionably clean. Having Lysol sitting around doesn’t mean you’re sitting in cleanliness. I wish they would clean up their offices so patients could feel safe while seeing their doctor. That’s not much to ask. I started going to another primary care physician because the mess was too much to handle but ultimately decided to come back to Dr Ang because he is so great and I couldn’t find a better doctor.
The blood tests may be excessive but I leave always knowing how I’m doing and find it very assuring.

I have been going to Dr. Ang for 7 years, and finally reached my breaking point and decided to leave.
Here’s why:
*The front office staff are worse than Comcast. It’s easy to underestimate how important something like this is, but these are the people who are making the appointments, and coordinating with specialists. I had some very serious medical issues come up in the last few weeks, and I repeatedly had problems 1) making appointments 2) getting calls returned and 3) them following up with specialists.
*As others have said, no matter what your appointment is for (quick follow-​up, last-​minute appointment for the flu) you’ll spend at least 30 – 45 minutes getting your blood taken, urine test, and other exams. Every single time. Not only does this make every visit incredibly long and frustrating, but it’s pretty sketchy to rack up insurance costs this way.
*Most importantly, I have never left an appointment thinking that anyone in that office, including Dr. Ang, actually cared. When you’re healthy and just going in for routine check-​ups, that’s not the end of the world (I stayed with it because it’s easier than finding a new doctor that takes new patients, and is close to work) but when things take a turn for the worse, this is a deal-​breaker.
You shouldn’t have to fight for decent healthcare from your doctor’s office. In the last few years, Dr. Ang and his staff have gone from bad to worse. I strongly suggest avoiding this office.

This place was awful. :-(I took sick time from work to try to go to the doctor, but I ended up having to just go back to work, albeit late, without having had any kind of doctor’s appointment.
When I showed up for a routing checkup, I was told that I had to have my blood taken at the beginning of the checkup. I always have a seizure whenever my blood is drawn, so I only have my blood drawn if there’s some really important reason. In this case, I was perfectly healthy and just wanted a normal check-​up, so I said, «I’m fine without having my blood tested – I’d just like to see the doctor and have a checkup.» But the staff told me that I was only allowed to see the doctor if I had blood work done! it seems absurd to me. I explained my situation, and the staff just repeated that this was the rule. They said, «it’s because we have a lab that does the blood work for you.» So it sounded like they were saying, «because we can scam money out of people by forcing them to get their blood tested unnecessarily, we will require ALL patients to have their blood tested, even when it would be harmful to that patient IN ADDITION to just generally being unnecessary.» So I just had to leave. Oh well. :-/

Had a good experience the first time I went here, despite the 2 hour wait. Second time was horrible. I recently switched jobs and my insurance changed as well. I set up an appointment, arrived, and was told that even though they accept my insurance the doctor would not see me until I received my card in the mail. This was despite the fact I had all my insurance information ready to provide, which I had received over the phone from my insurance provider. It did not matter to them that I was an existing patient. They said Dr. Ang would not see me unless I had a insurance card with me. What did I find in the mail when I got home? My insurance card. But it was too late for me; I won’t be using Dr. Ang again.

Unnecessary blood work to bill insurance company every visit. I found the pages and pages of reports unnecessary and confusing. Over time, i grew wary of the excessive reporting and when i came in with flu symptoms, I still had to spend several hours doing complete blood work. Ultimately, I didn’t even get to see the doctor and was given a prescription for antibiotics.
I would not recommend this Dr. and this practice, and question whether decisions and testing are made in the best interest of the patient or the practice’s bottom line.

Dr. Ang is awesome. As many have said already, he really cares for his patients and he’s very thorough, concise, and easy to understand when he provides an explanation about your ailment.
Yes, you’ll have to do the labwork at his office and yes, it’s going to take a long time to finish, but I really think he does this for the best interest of his patients. If you went to an external lab, it’d take much longer and having a clean bill of health immediately is reassuring.
I can’t say enough praise for Dr. Ang as I’ve been going to him for the last 3 – 4 years. Like another Unilocaler, he’s also given me his personal cell phone number for emergencies and I’ve «friended» him on facebook… can’t say all doctors will let you do that.

Dr. Ang is a really caring, competent Doctor. I appreciate the fact that bloodwork is taken at each visit. He patiently reviews the results each time and makes valid recommendations.
The office staff is always friendly and courteous. You leave the office with a concise print out that explains the results of your tests. It doesn’t get any better than this!