Dr. James Steele, MD

I saw Dr. Steele for sleep apnea and have nothing good to say. He comes across more like a salesman than a doctor. His care feels formulaic without any consideration toward patients' individual needs. When I spoke, it felt like he wasn't listening at all, just listening for key words he could jump off of into one of his rehearsed sales pitches for various products, regardless of relevance to the topic.In addition, Dr. Steele doesnt seem comfortable with LGBT patients. I tend to assume good faith and thought he was making honest mistakes with how he referred to me as a transgender patient, but I've spoken with others and there seems to be a trend of ignorant behavior.Finally, a very weird experience. He asked me about allergy symptoms. I said I had none. He then asked if I was allergic to cats, I told him no. He ignored everything I'd just answered and said my cats were the reason for my problems (the problems I just told him I don't have) and that I needed to keep them outside.

I saw Dr Steele 4/5 years ago. He nearly convinced me I was deathly allergic to my cat. Told me to put her in the garage! This was HIS issue! He was allergic to cats. I am mildly allergic. The problem was the meds I was on! They caused my asthma to react. This guy just assumed!!??

Terrible.

From the first visit to the last seemed as if I was dealing with a Kirby vacuum cleaner salesman. Pretty much diagnosed me with sleep apnea before running any tests. The process was slow. (almost a year) Communication with the Dr., staff and equipment company was difficult and frustrating to say the least. My equipment was calibrated wrong and caused me to have a cardiac event in the middle of the night, the doctor’s response was rude and uncaring. Dr. Steele only concern was that I wear the mask so the insurance would pay for it. I was scheduled a appointment 60 away miles round trip only to arrive and be told the Dr. wasn’t working that office on that day. There are other issues that were unacceptable and unprofessional. I had mentioned my frustrations with other doctors who knew of Dr. Steel who advised me to see another Dr. because they were well aware of his poor reputation as a doctor. I never got settled in with the apnea machine because Dr. Steeles lack of concern.

Dr. Steele was very helpful and professional. His office staff are very professional and the sleep tech is amazing, she made me feel very comfortable and explained everything very well. The plus side to my appointment is they accepted my medical insurance and I didn't have to pay out of pocket.

Dr Steele has a dominating, "pushy" style, that made me a bit suspicious of his honesty. He over-sells his product (sleep medicine). He might consider getting some kind of behavioral treatment to learn a more professional style, perhaps even with a touch of humility.

I'm very unimpressed with Dr. Steele. I had a test in his Lakeport office with a guy snoring in the room next to me. I may have gotten a half hour of sleep all night and was told my test was no good because of that. My results then show moderate to severe sleep apnea. Tried several times to get his staff to contact me to discuss my concerns to no avail. That was all after my initial meeting with him when surprisingly told me I had sleep apnea before even testing me. Very suspicious.

Although Doctor Steele was able to eventually help me with my sleep apnea it took much longer than needed because I found it very difficult communicating with him. He didn't listen well or trust what was said. However, this is not why I don't recommend him. I don't recommend him because his staff is very unprofessional, unskilled in healthcare, and just don't seem to care about their job performance. I've never had so many problems with any other medical providers office than I had with them.

Great doc, highly trained in sleep medicine

Dr. Steele was really helpful.

I find the office staff unknowledgeable, and unprofessional. I cannot seem to get straight answers, and it has become so confusing that I really do not wish to continue on with this process. One hand does not know what the other hand is doing. Poor communication. I find this unsettling. This is suppose to help my blood pressure. Instead, it only makes it skyrocket. Staff should have better communication and organizational skills.

Office claims to of made follow up appointment with me, but my records show they did not. Because this follow up was never made and or explained to me, my insurance denied my claim 6 months after my machine was prescribed. That's not the problem, the problem is this office has proven unwilling to help me get the situation fixed, or even confirm there was a mistake made. Administrative staff has proven adversarial and unwilling to help and I have since asked to move doctors.

20-minute wait time. Dr. Steele very busy, but informative and eager to help. Talks rapidly and averts his eyes (shy?), a little disconcerting at first. Staff friendly and helpful. Has definite bias toward C-PAP therapy for obstructive sleep apnea, somewhat dismissive of oral appliances and dentists in general. He does take Medicare/Medi-Cal patients, which is a huge point in his favor, since many doctors don't. He has been treating me for 2.5 years.

I thought Dr. Steele was very good, he listened to my concerns and addressed each of them. He made me feel like my medical problems were significant and not irrelevant. I appreciated his insight and informatoino.