Austin Thyroid & Endocrinology

It is true that Dr. Scumpia is rude but that’s not what I found most worrisome. The biggest concern with Dr. Scumpia is that she is unable to answer basic questions in a logical manner. And she gives contradictory, dangerous advice. Her inability to engage in basic logical discourse and her corresponding illogical recommendations make her a danger to all patients. I did not initially read her reviews and am sad that I already wasted my precious money on two visits! Spare yourself and find a specialist who is mentally fit for the job.

The negative reviews are not exaggerated, it's all true! Dr. Scumpia is a loose cannon that's full of rage. She shouts at the patients and staff. The anxiety that she inflicts upon me during each visit with her hostility is unacceptable for a physician. My medical issues have remained unresolved since I became her patient approximately one year ago. I was excited for her to become my endocrinologist due to the claims on the website of her being very knowledgeable. However, my experience has not been positive with her. I should have taken into consideration all of the negative reviews. My office visits with her are always disappointing, stressful and sad. Dr. Scumpia goes to great lengths to avoid all verbal communication with me during my appointments by sitting at the desk and typing on the computer in awkward silence. When I ask questions, she becomes belligerent, defensive and quickly shuts me down. I have many medical specialists and have never experienced such unprofessionalism and incompetence as I have with Dr. Scumpia. In addition, I don't necessarily need a friendly doctor with good bedside manner, but I do expect respect, common courtesy and medical competence. Unfortunately, Dr. Scumpia falls short in all of the basic requirements of her profession, including effective and clear communication with the patient.

Update: I currently have a different Endocrinologist now and pleased to report that after my first visit, he resolved my issues and I feel so much better! Go figure, after a year with Dr. Scumpia and undergoing numerous testing with no progress on my mysterious and life altering symptoms all I had to do was change my doctor. I sometimes wonder if I had continued seeing Dr. Scumpia how much longer she would have dismissed symptoms by saying that it was my fault I was feeling so sick. My advice to anyone considering an appointment with Dr. Scumpia is, don't let her play with your health and stay away from her at all costs!

Do not go here! All the negative reviews are not exaggerated! The staff and Dr. Scumpia are rude and have no desire to want to help you. She has no bed side manner and no compassion! I left defeated and hysterical every time I went to my appointment. It was one of the most horrible experiences I’ve had going to a doctor.: (

I haven’t been back since my last visit and have changed doctors since then. Literally terrible experience. The doctor made me cry in my car after every visit. Very cold and stern personality.: (

Finally! A doctor who is interested in getting to the root cause of my health issues. Dr. Scumpia and her staff are professional and efficient. I'm very grateful for the care I have received.

"Dr" Scumpia is absolutely the rudest quote unquote doctor that I have ever dealt with. Do not go here. She has 2 or 3 tests that she orders on EVERYONE that she knows insurance will not cover. Cash straight from your wallet to hers.

Dr Scumpia is very rude and not professional at all. We going to finish these orders but will never be back.

I've given Dr. Scumpia a positive review for her medical skills previously - and I stand by that opinion. Her knowledge is amazing. That said, the last series of interactions with her office have put me firmly in the camp that it's better to skip her office and move on to someone with a staff better able to handle her patient load and communicate effectively.

I missed an appointment. Having said that, I called ahead of time and let them know I would miss it because a close relative had been in a head-on collision and my attention would be there for a while. Her office never captured my call. During the next few weeks, they tried three times to reschedule. I did not answer or respond (still a bit pre-occupied). Today, I received a letter terminating my relationship and deactivating access to the patient portal.

The appointment I missed was a 15 minute check-in with a nutritionist - an appointment that I always scheduled first thing in the morning and yet still waited in a patient room for 45 minutes to be seen - every time. It was not a medical appointment. There was no prescription or bloodwork handled in it. Outside of Dr. Scumpia, no one on her team valued my time.

I called the office (since I could not reach out via the portal) to submit a complaint and to start the process of transferring my records. The person who answered the phone could not have cared less, could not provide any method of providing feedback, and could not get me to someone who could. Dr. Scumpia and her husband (office manager) were out of office and, apparently, left no one in charge who could simply lodge and confirm the receipt of a complaint. Completely unacceptable.

Austin Thyroid is well within its right to cancel any patient, including me, but it demonstrates a galling lack of discernment to cancel a patient for a 15 minute nutritionist appointment that the patient called about when it still takes 30 minutes to speak to someone on their phone line (if you speak to someone at all).

So, while I am grateful for Dr. Scumpia's care on the primary conditions that initially brought me to her, the lack of customer focus, emotional intelligence, and consistency in patient communication undermines the expertise she brings to her medical practice. Skip the aggravation.

I appreciated all the tests that were ran, but was disheartened when they came back normal and no other suggestions were provided on where to go from there. I did have an ultrasound where a submandibular cyst was found. Dr Scumpia said I had to see and ENT, who could not get me in until two weeks later. When I called the office back asking if she could call me in an antibiotic for the infection or if I should go to urgent care, I never heard back. I found a different ENT that could get me in a few days later and his was baffled that she couldn’t be bothered to atleast start treatment for me. If it’s not her circus, not her monkies, even if she knows them.

Staff is terrible. I have paid thousands in tests. Received a scan of my arteries. Staff did not call for telehealth appt, but tried to charge me. I asked for the results to be sent to me, and it showed I have a 86% blockage. Now I can't get a hold of the doctor, and I am trying to find a cardiologist to help. There is something very unethical about this. Stay away.

Dr. Scumpia and her staff provide kind, professional care. The office setting is tranquil. I appreciate her detailed teaching the opportunity she provides for questions. I am fortunate to have been referred to her.

The people here are polite and professional. The appointments are quick and information concise. I like that the doctor didn’t push prescriptions on me and they have an in house lab so you don’t have to go to another facility to get blood drawn.

Dr. Scumpia seemed bored with me. I sensed that she didn't really think I should have been referred, but since I was there, she'd run me through the paces. Fair enough. I said my particular concern was loss of bone density and a family history of osteoporosis, and she said she didn't think there was much else to be done at this time regarding that, since I'd recently started HRT (which I had to insist on from my GYN team), and that's what she'd have recommended. As part of the new patient intake, she ordered bloodwork, which was reasonable, except that I'd had many of those tests done within the last year with my PCP. I'd received the results of bloodwork last week, with everything appearing within normal range except for my high triglycerides, which has long been the case. My cardiologist, after my uneventful stress test and echocardiogram in late 2021, assured me was not a cause for concern. My new patient follow-up was to include an arterial scan (planned before the triglyceride results) for which I'd pay out of pocket. While I'm not opposed to the arterial scan (my dad just had a TIA and arterial surgery), after scheduling it I reconsidered, and thought I'd wait for 2024 for that out-of-pocket expense (when I don't accidently sign up for a low-deductible health insurance plan and can use an HSA again). So I attempted to reschedule my appointment on the patient portal, not seeing why an appointment was necessary at this time. I only have a $5 copay, but the office location isn't convenient for me, and I didn't see the point of going in to review the unremarkable bloodwork. I was not able to reschedule for next year or cancel on the portal, so I had to call the office, where the hold message instructed me to do it on the portal because they were so busy in the office - not helpful. When I spoke to a human, they offered to cancel the arterial scan, but said I couldn't cancel the appointment entirely, as it was a required in-person new patient follow up. And if I elected not to come? I was told ominously that they would "transfer my care". I was not asked where I would like my care transferred TO, so it was a euphemism for simply ending my care. OK. End it. I got a creepy feeling that the whole thing was opportunistic - sure, come in, and we'll bill your insurance for the visit and the bloodwork. Then we'll schedule an arterial scan for which you will pay out of pocket. Then we will insist on an in-person review of your mostly redundant bloodwork so we can bill your insurance again. Oh, you don't want to participate? Then we don't want you as a patient. Fine.
I run a small business, and when I figure out (during a free consultation) that I'm not suited to provide what a client needs at that time, I'll recommend somewhere else that is better suited for what they are looking for, and let them know how I might be able to assist them in the future. I don't insist that it's now or never. Yes, we work in different industries, but both have plenty of room for honesty and integrity. Austin Thyroid & Endocrinology and I are not on the same page. Perhaps if you are in immediate crisis you'd get good care, but if you are looking for a long-term future care team (because you know you are going to need it), I'd keep looking.

I love Dr Scumpia and her staff. I finally feel like I have a chance at enjoying life. I have Thyroid problems with an autoimmune disease to boot. I was going to a NP who would test every 3 months and despite of the results being off the charts she would say all was O. K. I was feeling extremely tired and miserable. I saw Dr Scumpia
ad once and decided to try her. I was impressed by how she took on my situation and was surprised to learn from her I had other more pressing issues. She did what needed to be done with professionalism and got to the bottom of what was responsible for my feeling so bad. Mind you, it was more than the thyroid. She and her staff are professionals. I am relieved and grateful that finally I have someone who knows what they're doing. Its a work in progress and I already feel so much better knowing Dr Scumpia and her team are in charge. Thank you Dr Scumpia.

Visiting Dr. Scumpia was a truly horrible experience. She introduced her "student" (clearly her 10 year old granddaughter) without asking consent for this child to be in the room, gave me the news that I'd been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, did not bother to hand me the tissues from her office when I began sobbing, and responded with "you're not CRYING are you? " as I recieved this devastating diagnosis. Scumpia made a traumatic experience far worse than it had to be, belittled me, gave the absolute minimum instructions, and shuffled me out the door. She did not write prescriptions correctly, causing even further delays. The care team, while kinder, didn't even make sure I could give myself a shot correctly. The billing team completed my insurance incorrectly, refused to accept that they'd made mistakes, and it took months to get ahold of them to correct the bills because they have no voicemail, close every weekend, and shut down my portal access IMMEDIATELY upon my request to send my records elsewhere. Scumpia was so insufferable that my own mother was horrified I had been referred to her, remembering that she had also seen Scumpia 25 years ago and had a similar horrible experience. Go to Texas Diabetes or anywhere else you possibly can.