Dr. Yi How Kao, MD

Dr. Kao was an excellent doctor to me. He restored my ability to breathe normally through my nose. I have fond memories of how pleasant, talented, and informative he was. I will always be thankful for Dr. Kao and send my best wishes to him and his family.

Would not recommend went in having throat problems and at first he said it was a tooth so i got the tooth pulled. Then still having problems went back he said it was a collapsed nasal septum had a very expensive surgery done to fix it. Still having problems they are actually worse now but after all the bills im now broke and worse off than when i started. They said they were going to fix the problem but yet 30000 dollars later the problem is 3x worse and i cant afford to see anyone else now.

I'm sorry people had negative feelings. He was wonderful to my daughter, warm, friendly and sincere. He told us exactly what to expect and her recovery went just as he said.

I have seen this Doctor for many years and he took care of my sinus issue. I recently had to change Doctors because of not being able to get an appointment. When you call with a problem the receptionist tells you 2 to 3 months, which is totally unacceptable when you are having severe problems, they even become rude. This has happened multiple times and to three other people I know that try to make an appointment. Dr. Kao needs to really get back in charge!

I have seen Dr Kao for years and he is very good. My problem is trying to get an appointment there. Every time I call they say the same thing, that he is booked for like a month and a half. No matter how bad you feel, it takes too long to be seen. I sometimes end up in the ER because I feel that bad. He used to squeeze you in if you were feeling real bad but not anymore. What is really funny is when you look him up it says accepting new patients, really? When, in 6 months?

Nothing but positive things to say ... the front desk staff were friendly and competent ... Returned my phone calls and never seemed frustrated ... Dr kao was awesome!! My son's sinus surgery went well and he came out after surgery and spoke with us for a while .. Very professional , current and friendly ... Would definitely recommend him to friends and family.

Dr. Kao is a good doctor, however his office staff is HORRIBLE! A patient complains and they HANG UP on him! Don't come here if you want to be treated well by the staff.

I have been seeing Dr. Kao for about 3 years and he is very good at what he does. Yes, he is a little goofy but I joke right back and we get along just fine. I had 3 prior surgeries by another doctor before going to Kao and since Kao's I have not needed another. I don't judge a doctor just by his office alone. But I can say the other post is very wrong. His office is kind of plain but not old or falling apart. Besides he has since moved to a newer office if it matters.

I have never spent the time to write a doctor review online before, but my experience was so horrid with Dr. Kao that I felt the need to warn people. I read the other reviews here and agree with them completely. Kao did not even do an exam on me, pulled my chart from the dingy wall, walked in and said "You have Meniere's disease." I happen to be very familiar with Meniere's, but had none of have symptoms - I had a perforated ear drum and a sinus infection that wasn't clearing. He didn't even make eye contact. I tried to correct him and explain the situation and he handed me a prescription for an antibiotic. I should have run from that office and never returned, but i was desperate for a solution. I came back 2 weeks later when my symptoms were no better and it was even worse. He told me he would send me to the hospital for IV antibiotics and could schedule me for surgery. What??? I have NO history of sinus trouble. That was enough for me. Stay away from this one folks - bad news. Oh,… and on the way out I got the Obama rant too! That is totally a legit story I am sure of it!

It was really easy to schedule an appointment; I got one within 2 days of calling. When I went in, the overall initial impression was that of a dingy old office - there is duct tape on one of the exam chairs, and it's so old that the tape had split apart!! The towel rack was just sitting on a shelf, everything looked generally old and cheap. Hopefully they spend their $ on equipment, because they certainly don't spend it on the office! The office staff were not very friendly - and I'm very quiet and normal, usually am treated well at offices! Dr. Kao seemed to be rushing around, at one point he looked into the 'exam room', stared at me for a minute, flipped through my chart, didn't say a word (not even to introduce himself!), and walked off to visit someone else! The exam room was very dingy and old looking as well. Really bizarre for a professional office. When I did see him, he asked me questions but didn't let me finish answering (and of course didn't get the info he needed… and made incorrect assumptions later which I had to correct!)... On the plus side - he does seem to know what he's talking about; he's probably an excellent surgeon. I've done extensive reading of journal articles and other sources on sinusitis and everything seemed to match what he was saying. One of the reviewers on this site described what I could only assume before my appointment was an exaggerated or totally fabricated situation with the Dr. throwing a hissy fit about political views. However, after my visit - I would totally believe that story!!! Dr. Kao is NOT very professional in his demeanor with patients. At the end of my visit, I asked (very nicely!) some valid questions about the procedure, and he apparently didn't like my questions as he laughed, put my chart in my hands and walked away from me - so I followed, not knowing what to do - and he then proceded to tell the nurses/office staff as if it were hysterically funny, then just walked away, leaving me standing there with my chart in my hands in the middle of the hallway! At the end of my visit, i had to ask if they wanted my chart back - I think they were going to let me walk out of there with it! The office staff was really unhelpful. So... I'm undecided - I think he's a good ENT & surgeon, but I'm SO not impressed with the level (or lack) of professionalism, and I feel he is very biased towards his surgical procedures and wants to get patients included into a study he is doing. If you don't need a specific sinus surgery, I guess I'd recommend going to the ENTs at Geisinger (which I have not tried yet, but generally the Geisinger facilities are at least clean looking and the staff are somewhat helpful!).