Children's Heart Institute Herndon

When i found this place I was relieved at first because for so long I couldnt find any doctors who knew about POTS or what I was talking about when explaining my symptoms. I thought i was finally going to be able to get treatment for this and get my life back. However so far this place has been somewhat a let down. The only reason i came to this location was because the Johns Hopkins clinic in Baltimore has an extremely long waitlist and I needed to be seen sooner than that. Judging by the reviews left by others I am not the only one that agrees that this place has unacceptable practices... Some of the things I didn't like: 1)When i first became a patient I went through a whole week of "testing" which wasn't convenient considering i live 2.5 hours away. Some of those tests were kinda unnecessary and i was charged a ridiculous amount to my insurance. 2) They change the appointment times last minute. I had an appointment scheduled one day but they canceled it last minute due to the docs dealing with a "family emergency" and so I had to wait several weeks to schedule a follow up consultation. Very inconvenient when your trying to get treatment as fast as possible 3) When you are in the waiting room the chairs are uncomfortable and they are always out of snacks and water. Not helpful for someone with this condition at all given we are supposed to "stay hydrated" and "consume sodium" 4) WAIT TIMES ARE RIDICULOUSLY LONG!! came at 12pm and didnt get seen till almost 7pm at night. 5) You Only get about 10 minutes of FaceTime with the doctors each visit. Waiting hours upon hours just for a short 10 minute review is unacceptable. Some of us are driving long distances so we want a thorough review and to actually sit down and talk to the doctor. I think follow-ups should be at minimum 30min to an hour to discuss results. 6) Calling the office / emailing them all day long to ask a simple question, just to not get any response. Communication with patients here is bad ****Please keep in mind that POTS is Neurological disorder, they dont really treat that side of it here. Unless you have an actual heart condition along with your symptoms, it would be best to just seek out a Neurologist instead, given that this is mainly a cardiology clinic*** Overall I felt like my time was wasted coming here and I most likely wont be back due to the fact that I received a letter in the mail saying the practice is separating from Johns Hopkins anyways.

The best pediatric doctor we've ever seen. Finding a specialist who connects so genuinely with a scared toddler is rare. He skillfully distracted my child during the test by playing small games. We felt respected, heard, and totally confident in his evaluation when we left the office. His skill and compassion deserve five stars.

I went here for help with my POTS a couple years back, and just now remembered about it. It was a truly awful experience. They took the same tests over and over for no discernible reason, and charged us for it every time. We're just lucky they took our insurance. The wait times were absolutely abysmal. 6-8 hours of waiting, even when there was no one else in the waiting room. What could they possibly be doing in there? And of course, it was 6-8 hours of waiting just to see the doctor for 15 minutes max, as he told me very vague things about POTS in general. Not only that, but Dr.Abdullah really felt like he was not very informed on... much of anything. He saw my very obvious stretch marks (I have HEDS, so they are quite dark but obviously stretch marks) and became absolutely dead set on the fact that they were not stretch marks and were actually 'bartonella disease'. He would not see us again until we visited an infectious disease specialist, who obviously told us that I did not have it, and that the doctor was basing his diagnosis off of pseudoscience. He also did not know how to correctly test for lyme disease. It's very difficult to get a reliable test result for lyme in general, especially when the doctor thinks he can just throw in the tests and they'll work. Overall an awful practice. You are better off going to a regular cardiologist at INOVA, as they will at least give you better advice and not tell you pseudoscience. I shudder to even think about this practice.

Dr. Abdallah is probably the best doctor we have ever been to. He is extremely knowledgeable and clear in communicating everything. He has impeccable bedside manner. If you're in dire need of a pediatric heart doctor, this is the doctor you should trust! Hard to get an appointment, but understandable as he's top in his field! Office staff was excellent too!

An absolutely amazing experience. Our son's referral made us extremely anxious, but the entire staff at Children's Heart Institute Herndon put us at ease right away. Without hurrying us, the doctor was patient and took the time to go over every aspect of the cardiac examination. He has a wonderful, soothing way with kids. For anyone in need of specialized care, we heartily recommend this practice.