Berman Skin Institute | Medical & Cosmetic Dermatology

Very thorough Doctor. Easy to schedule appointments. Easy to find their office and was surprised that it was at the Stanford Medical Facility in Pleasanton. Made it easy to find since I’ve been to this facility many times. Doctor and Team took pictures of moles to watch for any possible changes. Helped me to understand the full body scan with the names of any skin areas to be reviewed. Included both areas of possible concern and normal areas not to be concerned with. Would definitely recommend to others.

My husband saw an MD and I was seen by a NP for the exact same exam. I mean no disrespect to the NP that saw me, but I wonder: Is my full body skin exam not worth the same level of medical education that my husband’s identical request received? I got a text after my appointment yesterday which asked the likelihood "I would recommend them to others" on a 0-10 scale yesterday, I gave them a zero. I can’t in good faith recommend them until I understand why I saw a Nurse Practitioner and my husband saw a MD for the SAME EXAM. I told them to call me for the reason why I rated them a zero. They didn’t call, they just sent me a new text and asking me to write a review. So I have. And maybe now they will pay attention to patient feedback. IDK.

The doctor has been helpful. The real area for improvement in this office is communication. It is impossible to speak to anyone in the actual office, whether it is about an appointment, prescription or billing matter. Always goes to voicemail and maybe you will receive a call back days later. Maybe. One has to repeat all information over and over even though the office says it makes notes in the file to pass along to the doctor.

At first, it didn’t itch or hurt, so I thought it would go away in a few days and didn’t take it seriously. But it started spreading, blisters appeared, and the area became burning or stinging. I decided I needed to see a doctor as soon as possible, but when I called several clinics, they said the earliest appointment would be in a few months. So I searched on Google and found Holly Shea at Stanford ValleyCare, who was able to see me the same day. She quickly and kindly diagnosed my condition and prescribed the right medication. I felt so fortunate and grateful to receive timely treatment when I really needed it. I’ll definitely go back again and recommend my family and friends. Thank you so much for your excellent service.

Avoid Berman Skin Institute. I was a patient at the Tracy location up until today when I called to reschedule the appointment I had scheduled two days from now. When I called, I found out that the office had permanently closed back in the beginning of October and they just never notified patients? They informed me that all patients had been moved to the Pleasanton office, which is 40 mins away from the Tracy office. I was already driving 25 mins to get to the Tracy location, so they just assumed I had the ability to now drive over a hour one way to go to my appt., but again, never notified me?? When I asked why they didn’t notify me, the customer service person had no explanation at all. And what if I didn’t need to reschedule my appt? Would I have just gone to the now closed office in Tracy and found out then the office wasn’t there anymore? The care itself was OK at the Tracy location, and my understanding is that the staff is now at the Pleasanton office, but I also had several billing and customer service issues there. Just avoid this business, it’s not worth the constant headache of their clerical errors and lack of customer service.

I had a thoroughly unprofessional experience with Dr Charles Chiang. The physician seemed in a great hurry, had zero bedside manner and worse, did not examine me. He came in with a prepared plan of care, and hardly waited to hear my story before telling me he could not take care of me, except to prescribe more antibiotics ( after I had already finished a course). As a physician and surgeon I believe his assessment was absolutely wrong and I’m appalled to know that there are physicians practicing in this manner. Moreover, I was charged an up-front fee of $120 as a "deposit"for the visit, which was not returned to me despite the lack of time, or exam. Extremely unhappy and frankly incredulous.

The care is great, the people I see really care. The review is because their billing and customer service is awful. 1. They never do itemized receipts or bill. I get pinged for random amounts to pay after I settle everything in office, then have to call and speak with their customer service in South Africa to get an understanding of what the amounts are for, only to find they’re wrong but this company is only set up for collection, they have no recourse for fixing incorrect bills and will not get back to you when you try. They just keep bugging you and assume you’ll pay even if it’s wrong. 2. Their front desk service in-office is spotty. Had someone forget to call in a prescription for weeks, I had to call them 3 times and wait an extra month for a cream I desperately needed. 3. Can’t service yourself on their portal - no cancelations, no invoices or billing. Because of this, I called to cancel an appointment and got confirmation it was canceled over the phone - then got reminders for the canceled appointment a week later so called back to ask what was up. The person on the phone (again, their customer service center in SA) canceled one service but not the second that was associated for the same visit so then I had to chase down not to get "charged" for a late cancelation for their mistake. I got informed they "waived" their cancellation fee this time. Gee thanks. 4. They just instituted 3% credit card fees in office, no notice - except putting up a sign in their lobby when you’re already there so there’s nothing you can do about it. Screams private equity ownership all over the place.