Sunil P. Verma, MD | UCI Head & Neck - Irvine, California

Heibat Baghi

Dr. Verna is a great Doctor. He is an asset to UCI Health. He evaluated my swallowing problem and provided recommendations for my eating habits and further treatments, I had a very good experience seeing him. I strongly would recommend him to the patients.

Nick Carver

I hope you got money to burn because this office is doing bigtime insurance billing upcoding. They billed $1,566.00 for my 15-minute consult.

I went in for a consult about an elective procedure - not the procedure itself, just a meeting to discuss potential side effects. The entire visit took about 10 minutes, but I'll be generous and say it was 15 minutes. Dr. Verma did a laryngoscopy that took less than 2 minutes and then explained the process for the procedure. I learned nothing new about the procedure that I hadn't already read on Reddit. But fine, this initial consult is required for the procedure. Figured it wouldn't be that expensive to just ask a doctor if Reddit was right (BTW he confirmed Reddit was, in fact, a good resource to learn about this procedure).

When I got the bill for this "consult" I figured there had to be a mistake. They had billed the office visit as a code 99205 at $974.00. That was in addition to the laryngoscopy code 030575 at $592.00. That's a cool $1,566.00 all-in.

Dude's billing $6,264 per hour? That's Beyonce money.

If you look up the description for a code 99205 "provider visit", you'll find it's typically 60 minutes with a comprehensive history, comprehensive exam with high complexity decision-making and an extensive amount and/or complexity of data to be reviewed. This exam was none of those things. That's called insurance upcoding, my friends. This was a code 99202 (99203 if I'm being generous).

My insurance adjusted his $1,566.00 to $1,035.79 and then billed me $530.21.

I spent about 2 months trying to get Dr. Verma's office to bring the billing code down. Always difficult to reach, always referring me to the billing department at UCI Health (who couldn't do anything for me), but I finally got the office to lower the provider visit code. These MF'ers lowered the 99205 at $974.00 to a 99204 at $739.00 and said that was the lowest Dr. Verma was willing to go, like he was doing me some big favor now.

And then, of course, somehow my insurance increased what I was responsible for.

I finally had to say F it and just pay the bill. So all said and done my 15-minute exam to rehash what I read on Reddit cost me $556.10 and my insurance paid him another $497.38. Complete f'ing scam.

I ultimately decided against doing the procedure before I got this first bill, but man I'm glad I didn't go through with it because if this is what he's charging for a short office visit, I'd probably have to file for bankruptcy after doing the procedure. I would have been better off setting fire to $556.10 cash than doing this little office exam. Then I at least would have gotten some warmth from the flames.

M S

Yes, I gave Dr Verma 5 stars! And I would probably give him 5 more if I could. For 6 months in 2017 I suffered with vocal chord issues. I was seeing another ENT, who was actually very good, but just could not get to the bottom of my vocal issue. He strongly recommended that I see Dr Verma for a 2nd opinion. Let me preface this by saying before seeing Dr Verma I did weeks, and weeks of voice rest, speech therapy, bought a steam inhaler, special lounges, gargling with salt water, prednisone and "nothing" worked - I couldn't get any relief! On my first visit with Dr Verma in Irvine I was greeted by the wonderful staff - really nice people who were both friendly and helpful. After a very short wait I met with Dr Verma and he went through my case history and examined my chords using the the flexible scope that is inserted through your nose and down your throat (not very comfortable, but ya know, it is what it is and you just deal with it). After looking at my vocal chords (I got to view them on a screen as well after the exam) he gave it to me straight: I had a hemorrhagic cyst on my right vocal chord - which is basically what I was diagnosed as having by my first ENT. Dr Verma went on to explain that it really needed to be surgically removed. He told me that "realistically, no amount of vocal rest was going to make this go away." Yikes! I will be honest and tell you that the thought of any one messing with my vocal chords frightened me to death. I am a public school music specialist (fancy term for music teacher) and play in a local OC rockabilly band (yes, the 2 can coexist). As you can imagine, my voice is everything - it is my livelihood! Anyway, Dr Verma was very understanding about my fear and assured me that I would be back on my feet in short order and that this was fairly routine. He explained the procedure and even encouraged me to watch it on youtube - I told him "thanks, but no thanks" to the later. Through a lot of prayer, coaxing from my wife and friends I decided to go ahead with the surgery - I really did not have much of a choice - i was not getting any better and it was affecting "everything" in my life. On a Monday morning I went to UCI to "get it over with" and was greeted by a wonderful staff. Like the staff at the Irvine office, the UCI staff was gracious, kind and helpful. The short of it is: Dr Verma performed the surgery and within 3 weeks my vocal chords were healthy again, my voice is clear and I am back to work. It all happened just as he said it would - how is that for service? Thank you Dr Verma for being amazingly competent, patient, an exemplary doctor and for giving me my life back.

TJC

I made an appointment to see Dr. Verma for a second opinion and I am happy I did. His office staff is friendly and efficient. He is very knowledgeable and very personable. He carefully listened to my situation before the exam and clearly explained my condition and treatment. I feel very comfortable being treated by him and highly recommend him.

Alex Thiessen

Dr. Verma was fantastic. He's a great listener, explained things well and took the time to dig and make sure he got all of the information instead of making assumptions. I was referred to him for a specialty from another ENT. On top of that, the staff in the Irvine office as well as over the phone were extremely professional, polite and thorough.

PVA Strategic Communications

I began singing when I was 14 and for the last 20 years have sung professionally in clubs, restaurants and other venues throughout the west coast as well as in the UK and Europe.

At some point I began having occasional difficulty singing in my falsetto register, but attributed this to problems with allergies instead of seeking treatment. As time went on, however, I lost use of my upper range completely and had to pivot toward singing different material, lowering keys and attempting different vocal approaches. From talking with some other singers about these challenges, I was advised to consult with an ENT physician.

I sought referrals from my network of musicians for an ENT specialist and was extremely lucky to learn about Dr. Sunil Verma M.D., a board certified Otolaryngologist at UCI Head and Neck. He identified a large lesion, also called a polyp, on my right vocal cord. Although I was somewhat in shock seeing this on the video footage, Dr. Verma reassured me the condition was fairly common, completely treatable and that I would likely regain full vocal function. I went from being scared to 100% confident that I had found the right professional care.

After reviewing options, I decided to have surgery to have the polyp removed as soon as possible. Working with his staff at UCI Health was an outstanding experience and Dr. Verma performed the surgery quickly and masterfully. Not only did he remove the large polyp, but also identified and removed a smaller lesion on my left vocal cord that had been obscured by the larger one. A week after my successful surgery, I am feeling fantastic, grateful and looking forward to returning to performing regularly once my recovery is complete.

For anyone experiencing voice or vocal issues, I would highly recommend consulting Dr. Verma. He is a recognized expert in his field and, though he frequently works with high-profile professional singers and actors, goes about his work with a pleasant confidence, good sense of humor and absolutely no pretensions.

John Murphy

Dr Verma rebuilt my “vocal cord” six months ago. The result was amazing to my friends. After two follow-up visits I am confident he will keep me talking. I have absolute confidence in him!

cory bellinger

Been going to Dr.Verma for a few years for throat issues he is great listens to any concerns and takes his time to explain so glad I was referred to him I'm on the road to recovery and glad I have a doctor that listens and doesn't wait when he sees an issue. His staff are also all nice and friendly.