Dr. Christopher James Ballard, MD

I've been to 3 different Dermatologist in the past 5 years. Dr Ballard was the 1st & only, to tell it like it is! He went above & beyond to explain my skin condition & how to effectively treat it. I suffer from a severe hearing loss And the Doc qwent out of his way to make sure I followed what he was saying. It was such a pleasure to meet a Dr. who genuinely cared about both what he is schooled in & the patient!

Dr. Ballard is outgoing with an engaging personality. I can tell he really enjoys his career and that is important to me. He will explain what you need to be doing two or three times so you remember the instructions! You don't feel rushed.

I have been a patient of Dr. Ballard for a number of years. I first went to see him when he was working for The Diagnostic Clinic in Clearwater. He is extremely thorough, very personable, and very knowledgeable. My husband and I feel so confident with him that we followed him to his new office with Suncoast Skin Solutions. He is an outstanding doctor and I highly recommend him.

Dr Ballard found several skin cancer sites that no else had.

Dr Ballard had made my experience going to a dermatologist very much at ease. He is very pleasant to talk with and so is his staff, you feel very relaxed. I like his approach to the issue and has taken care of all my needs with my skin problems. Thank you so much Dr Ballard.

Very good at communicating

On the recommendation of my primary doctor, I called to make an appointment. It was scheduled the Friday after Thanksgiving. Got a call a week or so before the appointment saying the doctor was going to be out of the office that day. Wonderful! Wouldn't you think he could have planned his schedule a bit better?? Next opening was at the end of January. I begrudgingly agreed. My appointment time was 8:00 AM, which I think was the 1st appointment of the day. I sat in the exam room a half an hour until the doctor walked in the door. Smiled, shook my hand and introduced himself. Not one word of apology for keeping me waiting 30 minutes. Explained why I was there. Told him that my primary doctor prescribed 2 different creams and they were both ineffective in clearing the rash on my legs and arms. He proceeded to tell me it looks like psoriasis and he will treat it as such. He then proceeded to tell me that he mostly deals with cancer and would give me a steroid cream to treat it, but he does… NOT prescribe this long list of medications that are commonly used to treat psoriasis. He then proceeded to go through the whole list. He was recommending that I see a rheumatologist because it appeared that I might have psoriatic arthritis. He told me to come back if the rheumatologist needed confirmation by way of a biopsy of the skin. What a swell idea! The next day I picked up the cream he called into my pharmacy. Guess what cream I got? One of the two creams that I initially told him was ineffective in treating it that I got from my primary doctor. I called the office and spoke to his nurse explaining that the doctor said he was going to treat it with a cream called Clobetasol and he called in Triamcinolone. She said no, the doctor wants me to use the Triamcinolone. What? I told her that this cream was ineffective and I told the doctor this. Did she think that I was making up the Clobetasol cream? That was what he said to me. She said that she was the nurse in the room with the doctor. Oh, got it ... 2 against 1. So now I have a big jar of ineffective steroid cream sitting under my sink and I am out a $40 copay for absolutely nothing. What a big waste of time and money. Steer clear of this loser!!

Dr. Ballard made me feel very comfortable while visiting his Office. It seemed like we had been friends for years.

Dr Ballard is a wonderful, caring doctor. He takes time to check in with me, not just about my skin but how work is going and home life. He makes me laugh while he is telling me bad news. He used to work in the same complex I work in but has moved to the Largo Diagnostic Clinic location. But I am more than willing to drive 40 minutes to see him as often as needed.

Visited the Doctor today for the first time and all I can say it was a perfect visit. He is excellent and will be my dermatologist for the foreseeable future without a doubt! You need go no farther for great care!