Dr. Anita J. Shanker, MD

I cannot recommend Dr. Shanker or her immediate staff. I’ve had a lot of medical care in many states and she and her staff are the worst I’ve ever experiences. They say they’ll do things and don’t, you have to continually follow up with them, it’s constant work on the patient side. She does not listen to your wishes as a patient, you literally have to fight to advocate for yourself. I have some medical needs on the more complex side and she said she could help manage my care and it was a nightmare. It was weeks, months of fighting for long term medications some of which I’d been on the better part of 8 years. Others she refused after initially taking on my care. One example, I have a bulging disc and sciatic pain from a fall and she only ever wanted to recommend Tylenol knowing I can’t take NSAIDS due to a stomach issue. Anyone with disc and or sciatic issues knows this pain. This was just a minor issue in her poor care. Her nursing and support staff are rude and unprofessional. The… point of an online portal is for communication and if her nurses don’t want you communicating they shut off your access and block you from communicating. Don’t expect to ever talk to your doctor directly unless you’re in front of her and she can bill your insurance. In the 3-4 months I tried to work with her any request to talk to her by phone was denied. They try to filter you through triage call staff, many offsite working remote. So her team doesn’t want you communicating on the portal and she won’t ever take calls. Both are essential in providing patient care. If you need anything such as a prior authorization, be prepared to advocate and do hours of work on your end between you and your insurance. I needed a prior auth for a medication is taken for a few years. It took her weeks. She and her staff submitted it incorrect, submitted it to wrong insurance, didn’t submit supporting documents. One week the insurance and I spent 7 hours on the phone working on it. The insurance company filed a grievance of their own in the process and recommended I do the same because working with her team was so poor and unprofessional. We had to get management of the practice and Northwestern administration involved because her lacking care, communication and her team. My Husband even considered us hiring an attorney it got so poor. In the end, I chose to drive long distance, out of state and see former doctors for a period of time until I can find a new local team of doctors. I truly got to the point I felt unsafe with her managing my care. As sad as it is to say given Northwestern is such a reputable organization I’d recommend anyone go to a walk in clinic before choosing to see Dr. Shanker. Just be aware unless you’re a cookie cutter (physical, cold, immunization, etc.) where they throw some antibiotics at you, or something basic and push you out the door you’ll have to fight for every bit of your care. She’ll tell you things to your face in clinic and do the opposite once you walk out the door. I’ve never experienced such poor care. Stay aware and safe.