Rothman Institute

My 1^st experience at Rothman in Marlton NJ. Experience was horrible. Waited about 1.5 hours before saw doctor. Doctor Sullivan provided nothing, did nothing, didn’t even touch my feet. There was really no examination. I sat in a side chair the entire time, really? really? REALLY!!! Sullivan didn’t care about me or my problem and it was very evident. Long term chronic plantar fasciitis (with left foot having surgery 6 months ago and right in very poor condition) and he tells me to do calf stretches and come back in 5 weeks. Come back, are you kidding me. Explained to Sullivan that I did stretching previously and no help. He didn’t care. So unprofessional, so much not a doctor. Came in with feet killing me and left same way. How about actually being a doctor? Maybe taping, maybe making orthotics, injection, etc. Give me a break, place and Dr. Sullivan are horrible. Will continue to spread the word about experience via word of mouth/​internet/​blogs/​postings.

Headline: I’m 3 months with an inactive shoulder (I take responsibility for 1 month due to death in the family). Wasn’t told by the doctor’s office that my insurance denied their recommended approach of treatment. I am back at square 1 (needing an in person consult) but down hours of administrative back and forth with a call center for appointment scheduling that takes a lunch break during their customer’s lunch break, and only have people pushing for my treatment when I ask for a manager. Details below.
I am a very healthy active individual. I came to Rothman Institute once for a foot injury related to running, was consulted on my pronation, and was recommended special shoe inserts, and they were fine.
Because of that experience, I came back when I experienced limited range of motion and significant pain in my shoulder. Dr. Emper said I should rest it for 2 – 4 weeks and if it didn’t improve, he would suggest an MRI. Events outlined as follows:
— When my shoulder didn’t improve, I called back and asked for the prescription for the MRI with his assistant. She submitted it for insurance. Asked me my preferred location for the MRI appointment.
— No response, still bothered by pain a few weeks later. I didn’t follow up on this like I should because my father in-​law passed away at the end of October.
— Called last Monday to see where we are on getting this appointment, office assistant said that it was denied by insurance in October, they would need to resubmit. She would get back to me by Monday at the latest because SHE is out of the office Friday.
— I called this morning 9am. First was transferred to the office assistant’s voicemail which still had an out of office for Friday (the office opens at 8am).
— I called the main line back and they said I shouldn’t have been transferred. I asked to speak with a manager.
— The manager Eileen has been the one helpful person in this process, or at least she tried. She updated me throughout the day even when no new information was present.
— I was finally called by the PA of Dr. Emper. He said that I would have to come in for another appointment because the notes on my first appointment did not include the orders Dr. Emper verbally conveyed to me (rest and if not better, MRI).
If I have to start all over again with another appointment I’d rather start with someone else that delivers patient-​centered care.

I have seen two doctors at Rothman — Dr. Hozak and Dr. Karanjia. Both seem to purposely minimize their time with patients. I found them to be unprofessional and uncaring.
Dr. Hozak replaced my knee. It took several months to get an appointment and schedule the surgery. Wait time was 40 minutes or longer for the first visit. I have lived in 8 states and I know that it doesn’t have to be that way. Even in Boston and San Francisco my doctors took being on time very seriously. They recognize that a patient’s time is as important as their own.
Instructions for pre-​surgery were mailed to me and one of the things they said was to make my first rehab appointment for immediately after surgery. I called Dr. Hozak’s office to discuss and his nurse, Laura, said I should not do that because until I had the surgery I wouldn’t know exactly what was needed. I told her I wouldn’t have anyone to drive me to PT and would need in-​home PT for a couple of weeks until I could drive myself. She said Dr. Hozak would not allow that. She said he insists that his patients go immediately to outpatient PT — unless something happens during surgery making it necessary to go to a facility. I told her I thought I should have some say in that decision and that I had spoken to people who had had in-​home PT and they thought it was the best thing to do. She told me I couldn’t and that if I couldn’t live with that maybe I needed to go elsewhere for my surgery! I had too much time invested or I would have. The day I was leaving the hospital after the surgery Dr. Hozak asked me if I had arranged my PT and I told him that Laura had told me not to and he seemed irritated. In the end, I got a prescription for in-​home PT from my internist and ignored Dr. Hozak’s orders. The in-​home PT was a life saver. I only needed it for a few days because my rehab went really well but I don’t know how I would have managed otherwise.
Dr. Hozak had very little interaction with me on my initial visit. His assistant did most of the explaining. On the day of surgery I was made to arrive at 6AM for 11AM surgery. The Penn staff expressed their displeasure that Dr. Hozak does this. I felt like part of a herd of cattle. In the hospital he barely spoke to me before the surgery and I saw him for about 5 minutes before leaving the hospital.
About 2 months after the surgery I started feeling like my leg that was not operated on was shorter than the other leg. I was having pain in my foot, leg, hip, and lower back. I went to see Dr. Karanjia at Rothman who is a foot and ankle specialist. He told me that I need to have special shoes made and would need to wear them indefinitely. He said a tendon in my ankle was stretching and tearing. He told me to see Dr. Hozak to see if my leg was shorter.
I saw Dr. Hozak for my follow up visit and he didn’t even look at my knee. He never asked me how my rehab went, how my scar was healing, if I was having any problems — nothing! His assistant had spent time with me but Dr. Hozak acted like he could care less. I told him about the pain I was having on the other side of my body and he said it was not related to the knee surgery. He said the pain in my lower back was arthritis — that he was 100% sure of that. He said that I needed to go to a pain clinic! When I asked about one leg being shorter he said «Oh, maybe you need a lift then.» His nurse, Laura, came in and put down some pads on the floor and had me step on them. It showed that one side of my body is now nearly an inch shorter than the other side. I felt it was unprofessional of Dr. Hozak to tell me I needed a pain clinic when he didn’t even examine me.
Back to Dr. Karanjia. During my office visit with him he didn’t examine my foot. He only looked at the x-​rays and told me I needed to have special shoes made. He didn’t give me a diagnosis for the problem I was there for. I looked at his notes online and he didn’t even mention the tendon which is why I had gone to see him. I took the information I had gleaned from the visit and looked online. I concluded that I had Tibial Tendon Dysfunction. In reading about it the articles said the doctor would check flexibility, see if you could stand on your toes, etc. Articles also said that the tendon can sometimes heal by putting the foot in a brace. Dr. Karanjia did none of this. I thought he was also unprofessional — no exam and no diagnosis.
After my displeasure with Rothman I went to see Dr. Wapner at Penn. Both he and his assistant examined my foot thoroughly and one of the suggestions was to first try a brace. He said that the tendon won’t always heal but that my condition might have been caught early enough and there was no damage to the heel as of yet. I will start wearing the brace tomorrow. It it doesn’t work, I will at least know that we tried a more palatable solution first.
Bottom line — I do not recommend Rothman — at least not the doctors I saw.

I’ve contacted them multiple times to make appt. to see spine doc for surgery. It’s been almost 2 weeks and still haven’t received a response. Films were faxed immediately. My GP referred Dr. Vaccaro, but I can’t even get in to see him. I have been told that I need surgery and to go to him b/​c it’s a complex case. I’ll have to go back to my GP AGAIN for another referral outside Rothman.

Seeing as how I JUST wrote a review of a (totally unrelated) place with terrible customer service, it seems like the time to write a review of a place with EXCELLENT customer service.
Yes, yes I did spend an hour in the waiting room 2 weeks ago. I didn’t love that, but that’s the way doctor’s offices are, right? We accept it, suffer through it, and hopefully remember to bring a book. But Nadine at the check-​in desk was so kind and so friendly, she made everything so much more bearable. Like I couldn’t wait to write this review because she is so nice!
Fast forward to today, I went back for my MRI. I spent no time in the waiting room, Debbie set me up in the MRI, made sure I was comfortable, and I was in and out of that slightly terrifying machine in about 15 minutes. She hooked me up with a CD to share with my radiologist brother, and sent me on my way. But before I left, I stopped by the main waiting room to say hello to Nadine. THAT is how awesome she is.
Seriously, everyone I came in contact with at this office was super nice. I’m happy with my doctor, and with the entire staff. But that Nadine is a cut above. She should be leading workshops on customer service.

Terrible service, terse uncaring doctor, very unhelpful when I had meniscus tear with Baker’s cyst that burst – quite painful. The doc said «call me if it doesn’t get better in 4 weeks and we’ll consider surgery».
They didn’t answer my email request for an appointment and I’ve now been on the phone for 20 minutes trying to get a follow-​up appointment. Do not recommend them unless you drive 20 minutes to the Urgent Care in Limerick – they were most helpful

If you suffer from any orthopedic condition, DO NOT come here. Read both my and wife’s stories dealing with this place My wife and I both suffer from herniated lumbar discs (both confirmed on MRI), and my wife also suffers from degenerative disc disease.
My wife first visited Rothman to get her chronic sciatica, expansive numbness, nerve pain and diagnosed with a root cause. Her physician, Dr. Jefferey Gehret, first diagnosed her with a likely herniated disc and/​or degenerative disc disorder.
He conducted an X-​Ray and confidently, verbally stated she likely has suffered from a herniated lumbar disc. They conducted a follow-​up MRI to confirm the diagnosis, and performed a steroidal disc injection to reduce inflammation and promote resorption of the disc.
Weeks following her appointment, we filed a VA Claim, because she sustained her injury in the U.S. Navy four years ago. Dr. Gehret verbally and confidently agreed, given the apparent degeneration, that she sustained this injury while in the service. Corroborating medical records and hospital visits substantiate her injury.
Upon asking Dr. Gehret to sign her VA Claim, the practice refused. We asked why, given he’d already stated her condition, his professional opinion on how it occurred and when, and what the injury was. The nurse’s response?
«Because if everyone filed disability for back pain, then everyone in the country would be on disability.» Unbelievable. Completely disrespectful and dismissive. It gets better:
Upon the good doctor learning of our request to have him sign her VA Claim, he changed his diagnosis, right there in the room! In front of both of us! He quite literally stated, «You suffer from general chronic back pain.» We then ask that he write his official diagnosis down on a piece of paper — we were going to file suit. He refused, and merely scribbled down a generic chronic condition on a yellow slip of paper.
Completely, utterly, ILLEGALLY, negligent.
Keep reading, it gets better:
I managed to have my physician, Dr. Ari Greis, confirm my L5/​S1 disc herniation as well, with MRI. He prescribed me a round of anti-​inflammatories and prescribed rest and no activity. All good and well. I too suffered my injury while in the service, just recently. With signed witnesses. With paperwork. I asked Dr. Greis to sign my paper confirming my own hernation. It took me literally TWO WEEKS of calling his office every day, speaking with 7 to 8 other staff members, FAXing the same piece of paper to his office literally (I counted) 6 times, just to get him to sign one piece of paper!
Needless to say neither I, nor my wife, will ever visit this «institution» ever again. Given their very questionable diagnostic policies, their refusal to comply with the Veterans Association, and their blatantly negligent practice of literally changing a diagnosis (meaning they are now liable for treating my wife for a condition she apparently «never had», which she does), I cannot stand to see anyone walk through their doors.
Since Dr. Gehret purposefully, verbally and clearly changed his diagnosis of my wife’s condition after treating her with an invasive procedure, we’ve hired a legal firm. We’re currently in the process of finalizing a dissenting second opinion, and will have Rothman in court shortly.
It really is that bad, folks. I wouldn’t spend 30 minutes typing this up if it weren’t.
Stay away.

I was suffering from a lot of foot and ankle issues training for a marathon and decided to book an appointment here. I arrived to the appointment on time and had to wait almost an hour and a half after my scheduled time to be seen by a doctor. When he finally did arrive, he spent, at most, 5 minutes with me and didn’t offer me any advice or treatment plan except for to stop running until the pain was gone. The doctors here have terrible bedside manners and don’t seem to care about their patients.

I went there today for an appointment with Dr. Anderson regarding severe pain in both of my knees during certain movements. I was not expecting him to pinpoint the exact cause, because from what I understand a majority of what they recommend is physical therapy unless there is an obvious problem with your bones or muscles.
The wait was not too unpleasant as I went at 8am. My appt was for 8:30am. They took time before my appt to get my xrays done. I did not have to wait very long to see Dr. Anderson (about 15 mins). He was very pleasant, had eye contact, and listened to what I had to say. I think this is the best you can hope for from a doctor in this type of environment. The exam was very short, as it seemed he already had an idea of what I needed (PT). He wrote a script for 1 session of PT and an MRI just to see if anything else is going on (like arthritis). I have to make 2 separate appts for both of these because apparently a request for MRI needs to be approved by the insurance co in advance (inconvenient, but not their fault).
Overall, I was not thrilled with the overall visit, as I know these doctors like to go right into the PT recommendation. But I hear that seeing a doc first and getting a script is always a good back up for insurance in case you need multiple PT visits. Dr. Anderson did say all they would be doing is teaching me certain exercises that will put less strain on my knees and help strengthen other muscles that will alleviate any inflammation.
I could have saved the time and money and tried this on my own, but being 28 and having knee issues, its good to rule out anything more serious. Now I know.

I’d hate to start off the 2015 Unilocal year with a crappy review, but I broke my arm and found myself in need of an orthopedic surgeon. I was really frustrated by my visit here the other day, though, which was surprising given Rothman’s reputation.
I made an appointment and I was eager to meet with the doctor because I was really uncomfortable (note: I do not have a garden variety broken arm… it’s a little more of a complicated break). I showed up wearing the sling that was given to me in the ER. Upon my arrival, the receptionist saw me and asked me if I «had a little too much fun on New Year’s Eve.» I found this to be really unprofessional! The reality was that I slipped on ice on my way into work Tuesday morning. I was in an extreme amount of pain and I did not appreciate her judgmental tone! Even if I had fallen after partying too much, though, would I not have been worthy of her sympathy? I just didn’t understand the point of that comment.
I waited an hour past my appointment time to spend all of 5 minutes with the surgeon, who didn’t even review my films in front of me! They scheduled my next appointment without even asking me about my availability (not that I’m busy right now, but you know… please treat me like a human being). And then because all of that wasn’t enough, I was charged $ 10 for them to fill out my disability paperwork. I know it’s only $ 10, but aren’t you making enough money, Rothman? I’m the one that’s going to be out of work for 3 months! Talk about added insult to injury! I don’t think I’ll be back.

I had surgery at Rothman two weeks ago, and have nothing but positive things to say. I have been here three times for appointments. The waiting area is open and welcoming, as are the receptionists. The new patient info is all computerized. It is sent to you before you go in, and if you do not complete it — you can complete it on an iPad when you get there. My appointments have been prompt, and they were flexible when I was 15 minutes late also. You can get your xrays done there, even if you have an HMO — they just charge you $ 15. I had a great experience with Dr. Raikin and his nurse practitioner. Everyone down to the surgery coordinator and X-​ray techs were top notch.
Side note: my actual surgery was at the Jefferson surgical center in the Navy Yard.

I’ve now been to the Rothman Institute 3 times. One time was unrelated, so I won’t elaborate on that. The last two times were for excruciating knee pain. Hard to walk, locking up, falling over, etc. My pcp referred me here and told me to get an MRI and x rays ASAP. The first doctor I saw wouldn’t do an MRI, he specifically told me «since I wasn’t athletic» it probably wasn’t a meniscus issue (what my pcp referred me for) after his arrogance, I wanted a second opinion. I went to my second opinion and was shocked I found a worse doctor. He came in the room and was baffled why I wanted a second opinion. I told him the symptoms were worse and explained what was happening. He told me to get on the bed so he could do a range of motion exam. He started the range of motion very fast (this is supposed to be done slow) I was in so much pain I began crying, which seemed to annoy the doctor. My boyfriend then spoke up and tried to explain my pain to him since I was crying so much. The doctor dismissed him and said, «I just saw a patient with a broken knee and she didn’t even cry.» I was shocked. He then said he guessed it was worth getting an MRI and walked out. That’s it. I wasn’t able to ask him any questions and he was in the room less than 3 minutes. I will be filing a complaint with my insurance.

I just started coming here for physical therapy on my frozen shoulder. So far, so good.

Have been there twice. Had to wait over an hour each time. They re-​billed me for my co-​pay which I had already paid. Sold me ortho shoe inserts which are sold cheaper on Amazon but most importantly they didn’t treat the problem.

This is a nothing more than a highly publicized cutting factory. Doctor V that did my surgery was a bit arrogant when he returned a called a 6am. His PA Karissa thinks that she owns the practice and is highly patronizing. My sciatica is worse than prior to my back fusion… that was not the goal of surgery. They spend little time with you. If you want to be treated like a piece of meat, by all means, go there.

When ordering phở at, say, Phở Xe Lua, your options include flank, tripe, and tendon. But if you want ligament, you’ll have to go five blocks south to the Rothman Institute, where Dr. Rothman and company will only place them in your joints.
I ordered the anterior cruciate ligament knee reconstruction, which included one MRI, two screws, and a cadaver ligament. It also came with a free side of repaired torn meniscus.
Thanks to Rothman, I can now return to the sports which caused all of the trouble in the first place. Stay tuned for my update after I order reconstructions of my other ACL, ankles, rotator cuffs, and hip flexors.

I called the 800 number to get an appt. very robotic and rude receptionist. So impersonal I wanted to put the phone down BUT needed an appt

I know I normally write restaurant/​bar reviews, but I gotta give props to this place.
Last year I broke my collarbone. It was a pretty nasty break. Doctor Barbara Friedman at Rothman immediately told me that I should look into the surgery option. She said that instead of a 6 – 8 week healing time, I would be able to use my arm in a week. I would also regain full motion and be able to go on with my life basically as if I never had the injury. Well, she was right. I now have a titanium plate (with screws) in my left collarbone.
The surgery was done at Methodist in south philly. Nice hospital and all things proceeded smoothly. I woke up and I was all stitched up. I spent the evening there and the nurses took very good care of me. They were shocked at my aversion to morphine (apparently it’s popular)
A week later I went to Rothman and she took my sling off. I was able to start using my arm immediately. I wasn’t lifting anything but at least I wasn’t walking around with a huge sling. Awesome.
Rothman is efficient. They move people through there. The DMV could learn a thing or two from them. It can be a bit tough to get an appointment with short notice, but I would highly recommend it.
I’m going back there now for a hamstring, ankle and wrist problem. Seriously, this exercise stuff will kill you.
Thankfully there is a place like Rothman that can put me back together again.

Ahh Good old Rothman, re-​attacher of broken bits, and the reason I can still lumber around today. Rothman has done two ACL’s for me, as well as repaired my patellar tendon. That, dear reader, is our story today, and why they get five stars.
Not for the squeemish.
So while walking out of my old apartment at 6^th and Christian, my right foot slipped off the damp marble top step, hammering my leg down to the next step and locking my knee in place. So far, no biggie.
Did I mention the two thirty pound tool cases I had? One over each shoulder? Yeah. They started twisting my body around that locked leg, firmly wedge on the step. Next thing I know, I’m at the bottom of the steps with a pain in my knee so intense it’s all I can do not to vomit. My kneecap, I notice, is now halfway up my thigh. That, gentle reader, is what happens when you tear the tendon off the bottom of your kneecap.
I’ll save you the fun tales of pokey ER doctors for when we meet, but let me say when Dr. R appeared, things got DONE. A surgery, some metal suspension equipment inserted and a few big screws and tada! All better, and still better today almost ten years later.
The best in the business, and I wouldn’t chance my or my family’s care with anyone else.

Just a warning, nothing funny happens in this review. I don’t run into any old flames, I don’t walk into rooms where doctors are hooking up with their aides, and all the geriatrics keep their bowels in order.
I had to get suited up for my fractured ankle and while I worried I’d be stuck in a cast for 6 weeks, the doctor awarded me with a gigantic robotic-​looking boot. Thankfully, I’ll be completely hygienic during the healing process because the boot comes off for showering. From check in to check out, the process took just over an hour and everyone was really lovely and thorough. Who knew going to the doctor could be so efficient?