Christopher Ish, MD

I’ve been seeing him since birth, he is a great person, and never fails with his bedside manner.

Quiet bedside manner can be calming or it can come across as indifferent and disconnected. He asks questions but does not explain his opinion or diagnosis. He may suggest pharmaceuticals but will not discuss your pathology or his findings and over time this has been frustrating to me. Patient education is absent. He will state side effects of medications if prescribing them but not discuss beyond mentioning "possible" causes for symptoms, his diagnosis (etiology, etc.). I know his time is limited, but so is mine. I have waited MORE often than not, for up to one hour and several times up to an hour and a half. I am not exaggerating. I have wondered that if he couldn't see me, why wouldn't someone just call me before I got there to tell me to reschedule or to refer me to another location or minute clinic! I don't think this is so much because he is spending time on patient education but something else. Listening he can do. Explaining he does not. He always manages his time… well when he's visiting me or one of my children, why can't he manage time as well with other patients so that my appointment is on time? With care, I thought that the "buck stops with" him. Over time, there have been several instances where I have been furious with his nursing assistant staff for half-a@@ing their duties. I have even asked him once to re-perform a menial task of length measurement of my child (b/c is was done so sloppy that the measurements were clearly not accurate) and they had been more than 1.5 inches incorrect. When you have a baby, that's kind of a big deal. Usually, I won't say anything, but I have finally had it with this office. When a PAID nursing tech can not manage the simplest of tasks, such as taking a temperature correctly, or measuring a blood pressure, that leads me to suspect that she can not handle more serious tasks. Measuring BP at 10 bars a second, or pulses in 15 seconds....what is that? Sloppy. Bringing this up to Dr. Ish, I was met with rapid, unreceptive indifference. He would not hear it. He would not offer to remeasure a temperature that was haphazardly measured. I measured it myself on the way out of the office and it was more than a degree higher than what had been recorded. What does one degree mean? It means the difference between taking your kid back to school or not the next day, for starters. It also means that Dr. Ish and the culture of this office is not interested in accurately providing attention to detail, nor in taking seriously the concerns of parents. This is frustrating. To be fair, my latest appointment was at the end of a day, 1545, but was made to wait until 1705 before he came in. If it was one of those "last appointment of the day, get them out of here" (and yes, this happens) kind of things....he could have punted. Why wouldn't he just reschedule or have given me a referral to a minute clinic? Also, to be fair, Dr. Ish has provided (competent) care, as one other writer suggests... in that he has not caused obvious harm to my children. But he has not, in three years diagnosed a digestive problem with my son, and I had to ask for certain tests to be performed, that I wished he would have suggested himself. If he didn't think those tests were warranted then he could either have A)Told me it could be an option but that in his opinion it would not help, and why or B)Not provided me the test when I asked for it and explained why it was not a correct test for the circumstance. Why has it taken him three years to refer my son to a specialist? I don't hear his opinions, I don't hear patient education. I hear quiet advice that sounds like something I could have gotten from my neighbor (It's probably just a virus...see ya!). Dr. Ish is quiet...eye contact is absent, discussion of health issue is seriously lacking. I try not to go to the doctor if I can help it (minor temperature changes in kids, etc.) but when my kids are feeling horrible and they are really out of sorts, I need to feel like I've done everything I can. I am not a "frequent flier," as they say. AS far as not listening to my concerns about sloppy vitals taking, I find this infuriating. That worst time to be a jerk to me is when my kids are sick. I'm looking for a new doctor.

Dr. Ish seems to be genuinely concerned with me as a patient and I believe has gone beyond the call of duty in addressing my health care issues. I have never felt rushed when he is with me in the exam room and have always felt that he sincerely listens to me for any of the problems I've had in the past three years as one of his patients. Working in the health care industry for a number of years I believe that he is medically competent and has an exceptional and gracious bedside manner. I would recommend him to anyone who is looking for a family physician.

I really like Dr. Ish. He spends a lot of extra time listening to me and spends a good amount of time explaining my diagnosis and makes sure I understand everyting. He has provided me excellent care for the past 6 or so years. I would recommend him to family and friends.

Knowledgeable, patient, compassionate, open-minded, courteous, and devoted to personal customer care.

One of two Family Practice physicians participating in my HMO capable of treating my medical condition. During one of my first appointments with Dr. Ish, he realized I was being treated based on an incorrect diagnosis. His ability to read the symptoms and listen to me explain them, saved me a lot of pain, expense, and further damage.

The wait for Dr. Ish is generally less than 30 min, but occasionally more. I can see how that happens since he is always a good listener and gives extra time when needed. The office policy is to see people up until 15 minutes late and then to ask the doctor if later than that so the other person's comments about not being seen after being ten minutes late does not sound quite right. He has always provided excellent care to me and my family, including figuring out some things missed by others.

I regularly wait for 30-45 minutes for my appointments in Dr. Ish's office, and his staff have lost my paperwork on several occasions, resulting in my looking very bad to our daycare center who was threatening to refuse our son and daughter because we could not get them updated paperwork signed by Dr. Ish.I have had to re-schedule my son on 3 occasions for his 6-month well-baby appointment (he's 1 year today!): once because the power failed in the office while I was in the waiting room (past my appointment time, I should add); once because I had waited for an hour and a half and could not afford to wait any longer; and finally, today, because I was 10 minutes late. The late arrival is my fault (although I did think I was arriving early for the wrong time), but with the considerable amount of my time Dr. Ish has wasted (my time is valuable too, and I'm paying you for yours!), I would expect him to have shown me the same consideration.I will be seeking a new GP.