Dr. James Stephen Rellas, MD

Very poor bedside manner. Would not recommend his as your personal cardiologist.

Left his office feeling like I just got ripped off and I still don't know why I'm having chest pressure. Its been 3 weeks since seeing the PA there and the reason I was referred to them still hasn't been addressed. Instead, I've been scheduled for an Echo - no call on the results - I had to call, and now take another test and wait 3 weeks - to 3 months - for more tests. DO NOT GO TO THIS OFFICE, UNLESS YOU WANT TO HELP PAY FOR THE NICE OFFICE. Your health - it can wait.

This clinic is not patient savoy. You have to be seen by a nurse, then a MA, then the doctor, so plan on being there the better part of a day. The wait is just part of it. Take documentation because if you tell them ANYTHING back it up because I had one M/A tell me "I don't beileve you" when I told her my blood pressure. No lie. I started taking my machine with me. I had never experienced anything like it before, or since.

I went to see Dr. Rellas to get a second opinion on a condition. I came in 2 weeks prior to my appt to sign the consent for them to get my test results from my previous doctor. However the day of my appt they still had not obtained the records and therefore were unable to tell me anything at all that the previous dr had not. He did however offer to get a catscan and an ultrasound at a later date. I scheduled my ultrasound but was told the catscan had to be approved by my insurance so they would call me to set that up. I came in a few days later and had the ultrasound and was told Dr. Rellas would call me the next day with my results. Not only have they not called me with those results, but no one ever called me to schedule the catscan either...and it has been 6 weeks since my appt! I feel like he didnt believe anything was wrong with me so he just wrote me off! Oh, did I mention that during my appt he answered a phone call from a friend to discuss the latest wine prices at costco?

Heartfirst is a great money maker for Dr. Rellas and crew, but a horrible medical clinic. Very crowded - they obviously specialize in cardiology testing, and run a large quantity of patients throught their offices. I recently went in for a full EKG/stress test screening, and got a clean bill of health. Two months later I had my heart attack. While the cause of the heart attack could be missed during this test, they totally missed other significant areas of blockage in my heart that resulted in a multiple bypass operation. When I mentioned Heartfirst during my hospital stay, one of my attending doctors lamented that he wished that Heartfirst focused on quality, not quantity.Don't make the same mistake I did. Avoid Heartfirst at all costs.