Nutritionists in Bethesda

“Penelope is a fantastic resource for anyone starting their journey with intuitive eating, eating disorders, body image and/or their relationship with food. The resources, insights and suggestions she provides are actionable, effective, purposeful and logical. I can honestly say she has changed my relationship with food for the better in a way that will continue to impact me positively. I cannot recommend her and Stellar Health highly enough.“

“Wil is an awesome trainer. He’s very knowledgeable, kind, and motivating. I’ve become stronger and more muscular because of him. I can’t imagine working with someone more professional and qualified. He’s highly recommended.“

“Los resultados son 100 por siento garantizados yo pude bajar 40 libras en 3 meses lo recomiendo ??“

“A friend recommended that I consult Don Diggs for accupuncture treatment of my plantar fasciitis. I was leery of starting cortisone shots with my MD, especially with the warning that tendons can become more brittle that way. With five accupuncture treatments now, I am down from a 9/10 on the pain scale to about a 1 or 2. There are days I don't feel it at all. I am really grateful for the combination of accupuncture and e-stimulation. I also appreciate Don's advice about a few exercises tostrengthen the the area.“

“I have been a patient of this practice for 3 1/2 years. I think the practitioners there are educated, informed, and truly want to help people. They are caring and take the time to listen and advise you.

The weakest link for the practice is the front desk and administrative office. About 5 months after I became a patient, I tried to sign my 11 y.o. son up at the practice because he had eczema, despite dietary changes we had made at home. I registered him online and waited 2 weeks for the link to fill out his paperwork, but the link never came. When I called the office, Erin (who I think does not work there anymore) told me that she was going through the registrations and would send me a ink soon. To me, this is not good customer service, especially after I had explained that I registered my son 2 weeks ago, but I waited patiently, nonetheless. After another week passed by and still no response, I asked in person the next time during my appointment. Erin could not find my son's registration, so I used my phone while in the office to register my son again. This time, she was able to confirm receipt and sent me a link to finish my son's registration. This experience was annoying.

I noticed that sometime after this, more people were brought to work at the front desk and customer service did seem to improve somewhat until about 2 months ago. After my last appointment with Dr. Wong in September 2020, I was told to schedule my follow up in December. On October 13th I called and left a message on voice mail. My call was not returned, and on Oct. 17th, I sent an email with the subject "Second request for appointment" to the general inbox. As I am a teacher and very busy, I did not realize that nobody had responded to my inquiries until the end of October, so I called the front desk again. This time, somebody did answer the phone and I was able to schedule an appointment with Dr. Wong, but because Dr. Wong books out so far in advance, the earliest available was not Jan. 11th.

Needless to say, this last experience was very frustrating. I realize that the practice is very busy and they do spend extra time, listening to patients, which I feel, is very important. However, it is tricky for super busy people like me to have to follow up and take responsibility for calling again and again to schedule appointments. I teach during office hours and cannot always make phone calls. I would also expect that emails should be returned, as well.

I do have to say that they now have a person who deals with insurance matters and that has been extremely helpful, so that is real plus for this practice, as I have had some EOBs that needed further attention.

Overall, I give this practice 4 stars because of the weakest link in front desk/administrative matters/ customer service.

Update: 7/25/24:
My comments about this office remain unchanged. I still give it a 4/5. The office still has great practitioners, but the weakest link is the office management. The practice uses a portal and you are supposed to communicate with the practitioners via the portal. Well....if someone initiates the communication first and you respond, there is no problem. However, if you initiate the communication, there is usually no response. I sent a message TWO times asking for my appointment to be rescheduled and I received no response. Finally, I called and reached someone and was able to reschedule, but by then my practitioner was WAY booked out. This week, I sent a message with a question about a follow up to my mammogram. The automatic reply states that they will respond in 2 business days. Today makes the third business day and I have received no response. I will probably have to phone the office. It's just annoying. If they cannot reply to clients via the portal, then they should not offer it as an option.“