The Sinus and Allergy Center of Northwestern University

Dr Bruce Tan is great. He took his time and listened to all my symptoms, was thorough in his examination, and did an excellent job explaning to me what he was doing and what it all meant. I feel satisfied with my diagnosis and hope for positive results.

The staff (intake, nurses, etc) were all very professional and helpful as well. As someone who has had negative experiences with doctors before, I can say that my experience at the Sinus and Allergy Center was as positive a medical experience as one can hope for.

There are so many reasons that you should not see Dr Tan or come to this office that I hardly know where to begin. Let's just start with the office. It's too big, there are too many layers and it's too hard to get an answer. If you don't care about being shuffled through then I guess you'll be happy here but I prefer a bit more personal care.

I had been having ear pressure and ringing for the past several years. Sometimes debilitating. My doctor referred me here. He didn't think it was allergy related. I really wasn't sure.

It's interesting to read one of the other reviews that said the Dr Tan listened to all his/her symptoms because he didn't do any intake on me. I had to recount all my problems to the nurse who in turn recounted them to Dr Tan. Ridiculous! He should do the intake himself just like Dr Ng my GP does. When he came in, he had been briefed and it wasn't great. I tried to recount everything again. You should want to hear it directly from the patient and ask them questions! You're the diagnostician right?!!!!!

He put the camera up my nose. Talked to me about sinuses and pressure on my Eustachian tube. He was very informative but didn't really address my problem or why I had really been having trouble for years. He gave me a piece of paper that had a list of recommendations. His #1 solution.... Afrin. He told me you can't use it for more than a few days and that it's not a long term solution. Thanks a lot for nothing, right. In pharmacy school a professor told us never to recommend this product. It just leads to rebound inflammation.

I left feeling no better off than I got there but that's life right, I'm not a car and he's not a mechanic. I wrote a week later to say that the Afrin worked and too bad it's not a solution. His nurse (again, he refused to do his own job) wrote to say that there are solutions but that I had to show up to find out!

The morning of the return, 2 weeks later, I actually coincidentally got the bill for the first visit. He billed my insurance roughly $1350 for that exam with my out of pocket being like $375. I immediately canceled the follow-up. Who knows how much they were going to try to rip me off for information they should have shared with me on my first visit. He could have called to talk about my options, he could have written through the patient portal. I called the office to find out how much they were going to charge and no one would tell me.

This place is without a conscience. The doctor refuses to do what is right and communicate properly and fully with his patients. He should have reviewed all my options when I saw him the first time, especially if he was going to charge $1350!!!!! There has to be someone better and a better place to go for help than this. Find a doctor that really cares about you and is willing to look at you as an individual.

All this practice cares about is your MONEY.

I've had bad surprise billing experiences at Northwestern before so I called ahead before my appointment to ask if there were any in-office procedures the doctor would want to do during my appointment, so I could check with my insurance if it was covered. They said no, not that they knew of.

Well, before I even saw the doctor they insisted on a nasal endoscopy. Then I was left with the sound advice of "try using your neti-pot more," and a bill for $1400, $900 after insurance. I looked it up, it's 3x the price of the average nasal endoscopy in the Chicago area.

The Northwestern billing department is a disaster. They say they'll call you back and they don't, just running out the clock so your back is against the wall when the bill is about to go into collection. I called Northwestern billing, I called around Dr. Tan's office, and no one could explain to me this insane price, and why I wasn't given the opportunity to check on the price when I specifically asked for it.

It's a shame that Dr. Tan and his office care more about sucking money out of you and your insurance than they do patient care. That's not the kind of relationship I want to have with a doctor.

I am a Pediatrician and was on the phone trying to make a new patient appointment and was told not to tie up the scheduling line while I was gathering my insurance info. Not a great first impression. Don't think I will be calling back.

I have terrible allergies and came to Northwestern's sinus center hoping to get some answers. To begin with, the doctors office was way too concerned with paying for the visit, prior to the appointment. The office called me 3x, asking me for my insurance info, and wanted me to fax a copy of my insurance card. After faxing the info, I was finally ready for my appointment.

I entered the Sinus and Allergy center on St. Claire downtown, and had no problem finding the location. Once inside, it was all about the money. The lady working the reception desk was nice enough, but she handed me at least 15 pages of paperwork to fill out. After about 30 min of fllling out info, I met with the Doctor. I explained to him that I have many allergies, and have lost hearing out of my left ear, due to sinus problems. With out doing any real testing, (Other than a catscan) he suggested that I have some sort of perm hearing loss, due to hereditary problems. To be honest, he did not even allow me to talk much about my own medical history. The doctor said he would like to refer me to a hearing specialist. Next thing I know he tells me my insurance would not cover allergy testing, and that it would cost $540.00 to be tested. He left the room, and a few min later another receptionist came into the room I was in and said I needed to pay the $540.00 up front. As I said above, the doctor never returned and did not even bother to give me the refferal to the hearing specialist. He gave me an Rx for allegra and flonase and that was that. I had really hoped at a hosptial as prestegious as Northwestern, I would have received better treatment.

If anyone has read any of my other reviews, I was always try to write something positive about a business. In the case of Northwestern University Sinus and Allergy, I have to say I had a really bad experience.