Stepping Stone Pediatrics - Renton Office 3900 East Valley Road, Renton, WA 98057

"The care we received here was good enough; the doctors are nice and meet expectations. Their back office sucks though — the people who answer the phones do NOT work onsite at the offices, which leads to confusion and miscommunication when issues arise, see below (including EDITS). We had an appointment at the Renton office, but when we arrived there were police, fire trucks, and an ambulance there. We were told that the doctor had a medical emergency, and that we'd need to reschedule. Not knowing anything else about the doctor's condition, we thought it best to try to reschedule that week with another doctor in the Bellevue office. When I called, I had to explain multiple times that we could not make our appointment as scheduled because of the doctor's medical emergency, and the rep still tried multiple times to schedule me with the same doctor because she didn't understand what I was saying. After finally getting her to understand what I wanted, I was rescheduled for the next day. A couple hours later, I was called back. The back office was calling to ask if I knew I'd missed my scheduled appointment, DESPITE ME CALLING EARLIER to explain why. This means that either the person I spoke with completely forgot what I said, or adequate notes weren't made to ensure I wasn't bothered again by this. **EDIT TO ADD:** It turned out that they scheduled the appointment incorrectly, and when I contacted them about this, was told that they were no longer taking appointments because of the aforementioned medical emergency. I was told that I could reschedule for early the next week, and when I contacted the office at that time to reschedule, was told again that they still weren't taking appointments. Finally, after 8 days, the practice shared that the director had passed away, stemming from the medical emergency he had prior to my child's appointment. Obviously, this is incredibly sad. This also reveals the holes in the way the practice was structured. If the office simply had a front desk receptionist, confusion and lack of communication like this wouldn't happen, because said receptionist would know what was going on onsite. The people who answer the phones were clearly a step behind whatever decisions the providers were making, evidenced by the fact that on the day of the event, the person I spoke to didn't know what was going on when I spoke with them. They scheduled me when the practice was planning to close, and *I* had to reach out in order to receive updates. This is backwards -- in the event of what ended up being a worst case scenario, a receptionist or office manager should have been reaching out to clients to update them on what was going on. You cannot simply close down a medical practice for a week and leave your client base in the dark. A mass email to clients letting them know the practice would be closed indefinitely would have sufficed. I hope that when the practice reopens, they consider how this situation played out and evaluate the need for an office manager of some sort. The previous model of communication took for granted the need to have someone onsite to handle the administrative/communication-based parts of a medical practice. I do wish them the best and hope they come out of this terrible situation stronger."

"This clinic is amazing! We switched our daughter over from another clinic after terrible experiences. Dr. Harnpadoungsatay took his time to answer all of our questions and expressed empathy in our concerns. It is true that they don't always have all of the vaccines in one of our appointments but we were given the option to schedule a vaccine appointment or wait for her next check up. Not having a front office at the clinic is ok with us because you can make all of the appointments conveniently online or by phone. They will do their best to accommodate you. They are not a large clinic but that is what makes them special. It’s hard to find a place that takes the time to get to know you and your family."

"Did not have all the vaccines for my daughter’s appointment. I was told that I would get a call when the vaccine came in, never did. Two months later I finally got an appointment to get that shot and now they are canceling all appointments for the next week. I would never recommend coming here. They don’t care about the patients. Best believe they keep letting me know I owe the co-pay. I will be waiting to pay that once the appointment is fulfilled. Meaning she receives all her 6mo shots. You can never get ahold of someone. There is emergency like for a doctor. Horrible experience."

"Both my kids have been with them since they were born, in both Renton and Bellevue offices. Hands down It is the best pediatric clinic in the area. The providers are knowledgeable, compassionate, friendly, and professional. When you have a new born baby, you need to bring they in frequently, and it's nice to see providers that actually care and feel comfortable with. Making appointments online is super easy, and it's also easy to communicate with providers via portal. The best thing about stepping stone is that it is a boutique clinic, so there is hardly any wait time, and you will never have to sit in the waiting room with bunch of sick kids around like other offices. I highly recommend them!"

"i absolutely love stepping stone pediatrics!! they always answer their messages on the website quickly if i have any questions. our provider is Timothy Ahn and he is absolutely amazing. he always makes sure i have a clear understanding of everything and if something is wrong or if he has any concerns he’s very respectful! i have 2 babies under 2 and the other day they both had to get their vaccines. both of my kiddos were upset at one time and i was overwhelmed trying to help both, and timothy went out of his way to hold my youngest and soothe him so i could get my 1 year old calmed down! id rate them 10/5 stars if i could!"