Alameda OB/GYN: Olivia Butt, MD 501 South Shore Center, Alameda, CA 94501

"Zero stars because of their billing office and administrative staff dealing with my bills. Now that I read other reviews, it clearly shows how most negative reviews are due to terrible communication and wrong processing of bills/insurance. Alas, my visit with Dr. Butt was pleasant and positive. In summary, i visited Dr. Butt for an appointment and when asked to pay for a copay, I notified the staff that I already hit my max. and there would be zero copay. I shared online proof and suggested calling the insurance to confirm. Still, the administrative staff informed that it is policy to charge you on what is stated in your insurance card unless their billing team tells them otherwise. Therefore I had to make a decision of being wrongfully charged or not see the doctor. That same day after being charged I contacted their billing office requesting a refund. Contacted them via email 3 times and called and left messages. 6 months later I still have not received a refund and the staff keeps ignoring my requests and saying they will contact billing (contacted the office at least 6 times in the past months). I'd suggest AVOID this place because it seems that if there are any billing issues, they will not get resolved. Read all other negative reviews as a reference. Suggestion to the office of Dr. Butt: Make improvements in communication about billing and CLEARLY, the 3rd party company you are using is completely incompetent and impossible to connect with."

"I've been coming to Dr. Butt for many years now, but after my visit in fall of 2021 I will not be returning. I received a "surprise" bill of $250 for a regular visit that should have been completely covered by my insurance. It turns out, for a period of a few months in 2021, Dr. Butt was NOT part of Aetna's network, despite being in-network for many years before that. She failed to notify her existing patients that their insurance would not be accepted for visits during this time frame, and instead left it up to us to discover that when we were hit with the bill. My insurance attempted to refile the claim several times (which they did not have to - this was not their fault), but it never successfully went through since Dr. Butt was ultimately out of network for those few months. I contacted her office many times at the start of this year, but was met with no assistance and was told there was nothing they could do. I find it incredibly unethical that Dr. Butt did not notify longstanding patients of an insurance change. I was told when I contacted the office that several other patients had the same problem (anyone covered by Aetna during that time frame) and from what I could tell, Dr. Butt and her office made no attempt to fix the solution and instead continued to bill me for the charge. I will not be returning to this office. What is the point of having insurance if your physicians change their coverage out from under you without notifying you? Overall, I found this experience to be very unethical and I would recommend that people find a different physician."

"My visit with Dr. Butt was very pleasant and helpful! Dr. Butt has the best bedside manner and listens to my concerns. She is a very caring person. She explains the tests and plan very thoroughly. I did contact my insurance to make sure she is in my network before the appointment since I have a HMO plan. Everything in the office goes very smoothly and is well explained. I have a very personalized experience with this office. To be honest, I had Kaiser before and I felt like the doctor at Kaiser did not care for me as a person like Dr. Butt does. I have been coming here and will continue to do so."

"I am really disappointed in how unprofessional they've been for the past year. My mother has been with Dr. Butt for quite some time and she suggested i come and see her but every time i schedule an apt they end up canceling. This has not happend once or twice but four times in a row. They do not call and remind you about your apt either. When I finally did get to see Dr. Butt it was only for 10 mins and i just felt very unwelcomed & rushed. I understand that Covid has impacted a lot of us this year but in the healthcare industry patients should never go overlooked or made to feel like their problems don't matter."

"Problematic experience with Dr. Butt. I initially decided to go to Dr. Butt due to all the outstanding reviews and being a preferred provider for my insurance. Reality was different. The first visit seemed to go well initially. This visit took place in 2020. Dr. Butt was professional and seemed helpful. I payed the insurance copay rate for the visit. The first problem came a few weeks later when I got notice my insurance company denied the claim. I contacted my insurance company and it seemed that the visit was billed (coded incorrectly). My insurance company indicated it should be an easy fix and they would contact Dr. Butt office for they fix. My insurance company has repeatedly tried to get hold of Dr. Butt office both via phone and traditional mail without success. Remember Dr. Butt office is preferred provider (in network). To this day the bill is outstanding, in dispute and unresolved due to inability to communicate. I also learned that Dr. Butt uses a third party service for billing. This billing service is hard to get a hold of. If you have any issues with billing such as mistake in billing Dr. Butt defers you to either billing service or your insurance company. But when you go to either insurance company or finally get hold billing agency they say that Dr. Butt needs to make the change. I recently had second visit, related to the first. I was giving Dr. Butt a second chance plus being able to see Dr. Butt in person I can get outstanding bill issue taken care of and proper care with my issue. Again Dr. Butt seemed interested and asked about any previous care. Recall I had already gone to her once. After visit with appropriate lab work, I got my results. Though I was expecting to hear results directly from Dr. Butt, instead I got a call from front office person who gave me basic description of results. This seemed inadequate given the nature of my visit. I was unable to get specific questions answered nor able to know what is appropriate next steps. I am left confused and frustrated given the nature of the results and lack of concern Dr. Butt has. Given the nature of visit, ability to have one on one talk to doctor is important. It seems that Dr. Butt is only helpful if there is no issue with payment. Dr. Butt indicated it wasn’t her responsibility to make changes to bill, counter to billing agency and my insurance. Recall, Dr. Butt office is preferred provider with my insurance company and I have good policy."