Michelle Li, MD

compassionate, thorough and knowledgeable. great care.

I am appalled at my recent experience and will be changing my dr. shortly.

Dr. Li's office recently began using a patient portal to communicate with patients re: office, visits, etc. At first, I thought it was a great idea - even if they MADE me sign up, I didn't have to pay for it, so no biggie. When I was in the office, time was set aside for them to walk me through how to use the portal. Although I declined the demo (I'm pretty computer saavy) and had already used the system, they made my go through it. During that time, it was more of a sales pitch than anything else as to why I should subscribe saying the "$3/ month was less than a cup of coffee." At that point, it was on total principal that I wasn't paying for this thing as I felt it was continuosly being forced on to me.

Recently, I received my test results (through the portal which was great) and I was told I had an infection and needed antibiotics. When I called to get more info I was told that they couldn't give me any information over the phone - if I subscribed to the portal I could find out WHY they wanted to give me medication or I could come in to the office, spending $$ and time when I simply wanted to know WHY they wanted to give me this medication. They also suggested I could give them my pharmacy number and they wd call in the perscription, but then I couldn't get my questions answered. I didn't have a lot of questions... just why they wanted to give me medication since I didn't have any symptons of an infection and what the side effects were, if any.

So basically: pay for this online service or spend 2 hrs coming in to office when I didnt even need to be examined. I wasn't even asking to speak with the doctor... just asking for some health professional to answer my question.

Then the (very rude) office manager got on the phone and basically told me he "didn't have time for me" and I have to pay for the service of seeing Dr. Li. When I tried to explan to him that I was told if I paid for the patient portal I wouldn't have to come in, or that they offered to call in the script but then not answer any of my questions, he became irate and told me he "didn't have all day to spend on the phone with me" and "if Dr. Li wanted to see me it was for a good reason and I had to come in." When I calmly, again, explained to him that she wasn't asking me to come in and I was just trying to understand why I needed to take a medication and I was upset bc I felt as if this patient portal subscription was bring pushed on me, he brushed me off and handed the phone to someone else.

Dr. Li is a good doctor but there are a lot of other doctors in NYC and the last thing I want out of a doctor is to be "upsold" in to a subscription service and not cared for as a patient.

If you don't want to be nickle and dimed by a doctor who supposedly took an oath to care for the health of patients, I'd go somewhere else...

I booked an appointment with Dr Li on a strong recommendation from a friend. Dr Li was very professional; both friendly and warm in her greeting and bedside manner, and asked me what was wrong. I told her I had been suffering from groin and testicular pain for about two weeks. She asked me what physical activities/exercises I engaged in, for how long, and to what intensity. She then asked me to undress, and to lie back on the examination table. I was very nervous, thinking about the possibilities of what might be causing the pain, but Dr Li put me at ease. She was gentle in carefully examining the sensitive area, and wasn't phased at my shaved pubes. She prescribed an antiobiotic for me to take, and requested that I return to the office in a week's time for a follow-up. The pain didn't decrease, and I returned to the office the following week and was re-examined. Dr Li then prescribed a testicular ultrasound, which I had the following week. A day or two later, Dr Li phoned to let me know that the ultrasound was negative, told me to finish my prescription of antiobiotics, and to return to her office for a follow-up exam in two to three weeks. Within ten days the pain was gone, but I returned to Dr Li's office for the follow-up exam as she had requested. After the exam, Dr Li found no reason for more tests, but encouraged me not to worry, told me I was going to be okay, and told me to return if I began to feel the pain again. I am grateful for her patience, compassion, and caring concern, and am very glad she is my primary care physician.