Acton Medical Associates PC

Over the years, I’ve gotten the impression that the doctors here are under pressure to see a maximum number of patients a day. The practice had the feeling of a sausage factory. I left t for a number of reasons. 1: I had been experiencing chest pain after a thyroid issue and was told to return if the pain returned. I called and was seen by a nurse named Stephanie who made me feel like I was wasting her time even when I told her I had been instructed to come in. Her tone was also rude.
2. After I had been experiencing violent stomach issues for 4 weeks, I visited the doctor who completed a test, for which I received results 10 days later. Meanwhile I was still sick but there was no communication from the doctor.
3. They refer only to the Emmerson network.
I left the practice so I could be referred to a specialist in the MGH network and it turned out that I had a large mass in my intestine that required surgical removal. My new doctor phoned and texted regularly to check in on my recovery — what a contrast!

This review is more for Dr. Way. I only blame Acton Med for keeping him on staff. Moving some furniture, I snapped a bicep tendon. the lack of muscle forced my hand up to my shoulder, so my forearm was always in the UP position. I could not put it down, because the muscle was no longer attached to the bone. Any bumping of my arm, or movement at all caused IMMENSE pain. Think getting struck in the elbow by lightening. I am not a doctor, but I was able to diagnose all this, and obviously needed surgery. Dr. Way did not. He just squinted at me the whole time, and his line of questioning revealed that he thought it was psychosomatic. He was poking and prodding, and without any warning, YANKED MY ARM DOWN! What medical textbook says to do this!!! I screamed in pain, and everyone in the waiting room heard me say MOTHERF***ER! He had absolutely ZERO reaction. I just grabbed my stuff and got out of there. I am not the type to sue, but there is no way this guy should be allowed anywhere near a patient ever again.

5 stars for Dr. Steger, 3 stars for the administrative staff and the Lab staff, and 1 star for the nurses.
Dr. Steger in the internal medicine has been my PCP for well over 10 years, and he is the sole reason I still drive over 20 miles to see him instead of conveniently seeing a doctor in my area, because I do not want to change my PCP.
The biggest negative I see at this facility is with the people who usher you into the office and perform simple measurement such as height/​weight/​blood pressure/​pulse rate when you go there for annual physical and before the doctor sees you. I do not know if they are nurses or medical assistance or whatnot. But about two thirds of the time I go there, I’m shocked at how unfriendly and sometimes rude they are. If you want to be treated like a human being instead of an inconvenience, you’ll be disappointed here maybe not always but at least most of time.

This is a primary care facility — I’ve gotten great help from DiMartino on sports related injuries and Werner is terrific with my kids. We’ve moved a lot and had several pediatricians, so can say they are relatively very good. There is a bit of a problem getting seen on short notice — if your kid wakes up sick on a school day, being told to come at 2:20 doesn’t quite cut it.

This group is unprofessional, outmoded, and self-​serving (read: profit-​driven only). They refused to continue providing healthcare to my friend because she missed too many appointments. She missed appointments **due to a specific illness, and her specialist had called to explain this to Acton Medical Associates,** to try to team with them to improve the situation. That doctor never received a callback, and the info he had provided either never made it to the primary doctor, or simply was ignored. After my friend was fired by Acton Med Assoc, her specialist called them again, was promised a callback, which never came. They were shockingly disrespectful both to their patient and to a fellow medical provider who was trying to coordinate care as is expected these days.

5 stars for Dr. Christine Brown, 1 star for the administrative staff.
I see Dr. Brown in internal medicine — she is great: thorough, kind, and has a great bedside manner — but the practice’s staff seems uniformly disorganized. They spelled my name wrong on my chart, so I filled out a form to change it. That got lost. I filled out another form, and they did change my name… to another misspelling. I finally had to call and talk someone through it on the phone so there wouldn’t be an issue with my insurance company.
I’ve had other problems with the staff as well, like lab results taking 5 days to process when the results were promised the same day, and phone calls never being returned. My complaints seem to be common, looking at other Unilocal reviews, which is a shame because they have some great doctors in this practice.

I recently went to Acton Medical Associates for an urgent care visit. As I was explaining my symptoms, the Dr. did not look up from her laptop the entire time or say one word to me. This went on for a good ten minutes during which time I seriously considered walking out. She barely asked me any questions and seemed annoyed the entire time she was with me. She didn’t actually listen to any of my concerns and the whole visit was a complete waste of time and money. In the end, she must have been tired of typing so she began reading to the laptop through a microphone — as I was sitting there! Perhaps she was distracted and having a bad day? Either way, this is not the type of patient care I expected and I will not be returning. The staff at Acton Medical Associates really should start focusing a bit more on the actual patients rather than 100% on recording information in their laptops. Sitting there and reading out loud, word for word what you are typing for ten minutes of a twelve minute long visit is NOT patient care.

Don’t get me started on their phone system and the hold times… I often give up and go on the internet to self-​diagnose. It’s a lot faster, and often just as reliable. So imagine my huge laugh when I got a peevish letter from AMA telling me they had already tried several times, UNSUCCESSFULLY, to reach me by phone. Yeah, it’s annoying when you can’t get ahold of someone, isn’t it? What’s that like? Oh, wait…
And, don’t be fooled when they claim they are open on weekends. They are only open for «critical care,» and of course they decide what is critical. And it’s a teeny, tiny window. You will either be told, «That’s not urgent, call us back on Monday during regular hours,» or, «That’s an emergency, you should go straight to the ER at Emerson.» And, the website says they see patients on Saturdays until 3 pm, but at 12:15 I was told that the doctor had already left for the day.
Some desk/​admin staff are OK, some are rude. I like (don’t love) my PC doc but the overall practice stinks. Avoid.

Pediatric department is as good as it gets! We LOVE Dr. Cooper and all the other pediatricians we’ve seen (if we had a girl we’d send her to Dr. Pollakowski).
For myself, Dr. Aggarwhal is not so stellar. I plan to see if there are better doctors available in the practice. I’ve been in her office only twice in the past four years, and both times she treated me like a hypochondriac as soon as I opened my mouth. Barely even listened to my concerns before deciding I was wasting her time. Because, clearly, I go in there so often…
Update: I recently had my annual checkup with a nurse practitioner there, Caitlin Castellot. What a difference! She treated me like a human being instead of an inconvenience. Thanks to her, I will not leave the practice! :-)

Looking a for. a local practice close to home. That one was the closest, not that theire is much choice if any. Had Dr. Ho. Processing patients was really efficient and really quick. Dr Ho was expeditive, to say the least. When I asked her additional questions, she made a face and said that she had other patients to see… Sorry lady to waste your time…

LOVE THIS PLACE! I’ve have nothing but great experience here! Dr. Ianinni is wonderful! I have called about fevers, infections, etc and asked to make an appointment. They’re very good about getting you in THAT day! The nurses are very sweet and it’s obvious they care about each and every patient!
The people who work in he lab are very nice! If a patient makes a request about something, they will do what they can to accommodate that! As well as the radiologist!
The only thing I’m not happy about is the wait for test results. I went in for a throat culture to be tested for tonsillitis; I waited 1 And a half HOURS to get the results. I could’ve gone home and waited for a phone call or something.

This is the worst medical facility I’ve ever dealt with. The doctors and staff treated my wife with absolutely no respect.
I tried to help her cut through the red tape by calling Acton Medical myself to get referrals to see the necessary specialists. They referred us 3 times to a specialist who is not covered by our network. After the first time, I told them that this specialist was not covered but they just kept putting this referral through. After the 3^rd time, I called and spoke with the nurse and told her I was concerned with the level of care my wife was receiving. They still could not provide an in network specialist, nor did they care to help us find one.
If you sprain you have a sprained ankle, they should be able to help you but if you have a serious medical condition, don’t waste your time with Acton Medical.

I can’t stand this place – the level of incompetence and total lack of bedside manner is staggering. I have honestly lost count of the number of times this practice has either lost one of my files, didn’t call me back on urgent matters, messed up a prescription, or just in general treated me like a series of symptoms rather than a human being. I have yet to see a doctor or NP here who will actually look up from his/​her laptop and talk to me when I’m in the exam room. The overarching philosophy of this practice is «there’s a pill for everything». This is a place where serious concerns are ignored, and minor ones are drastically overtreated. The only reason I still go here is because they’re the only practice within a 15 mile radius of where I live.

I would like to preface that the reason I have two stars is because I am rating both the pediatric department and adult medicine.
FIVE STARS: pediatrics unit of the acton office. Dr. Werner is AMAZING! She listens to all concerns, asks many questions and LISTENS to the answers. Her «bedside manner» is wonderful; my daughter is totally at ease with her. I wish she could be my doctor.
ZERO STARS: the adult medicine at the littleton office is ATROCIOUS as was the doctor I saw, Dr. Aggerwaal (unsure of spelling). She is, quite possibly, the worst physician I have ever seen. All she talked about was my weight. I had mentioned it as a concern, that I wanted to lose some, and she went on to say I should do Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem. When I said I wanted to discuss a good menu plan I could follow at home and not use the fake food associated with those programs, she asked if I had the money for a personal chef because that was what I needed then. Very sarcastic. She also told me my concerns were psychomatic, that there was nothing to do about any of the things I brought up with her.
Her nurse was rushed and not pleasant AT ALL.
The lab technicians were unprofessional and rude as well. I have huge veins– no one ever has issues tapping my veins (and I get a lot of bloodwork done), and I left bruised (that has NEVER happened to me anywhere).
Additonally, it took over an hr and a half to get me in. The receptionists were talking about «giving it» to a nurse they disliked. Oh, but the drug rep was shown right in, and asked if he brought donuts. Nice.
I have also called and left a msg with the nurse station twice around obtaining some paperwork, and no one has called me back, yet their policy is allegedly to return a call in two hours.
I will never return to the Littleton office or to the adult medicine part of this practice. However, the Acton Pediatric unit and Dr. Werner are top-​notch.

Our entire family goes to this practice — or should I say WENT to this practice. But we will most definitely be finding an alternative as soon as possible.
Acton Medical is great if you’re always healthy and merely need a once yearly check up. But if you have ongoing problems, forget it. My husband has had chronic back pain for 2 years. His primary shrugged it off as a «pulled muscle.» ‘Cause, you know, its normal to have ongoing back pain for TWO YEARS. Moral of the story — if your problem doesn’t bring money into their practice, their interest in helping you is minimal — at best.
A few months back, my daughter (3 yrs old) spiked a high fever so I brought her in to see the doc on call. That doctor couldn’t have been in more of a rush. I practically had to block the door to get her to stay put long enough to answer my questions. She brushed off my daughter’s illness as nothing more than a cold and told me she’d improve in a matter of days — also told me there was no sign of ear infection. 36 hrs later, her fever was continuing to climb and we wound up back at Acton Medical again — this time we saw a different doctor and, surprise, surprise, my daughter was diagnosed with a double ear infection.
Today my daughter was back at the docs for fever again. Her pediatrician ordered an xray of her chest, which they performed on-​site. Then we sat in the waiting room for all of enternity because our doctor couldn’t see us right away to review the films. From the time we arrived at Acton Medical to the time we left took well over 3 hours. Does that sound like something YOU’D like to do with a sick kid (fever = 104)? Not me.
NEVER. AGAIN.
And lets spend a minute on the half dozen phone numbers for this place. There’s the Pediatric Nurses’ line. There there’s the number to schedule Pediatric Appts in the future. Then there’s the number if you need a same day, Pediatric appt. And for adult med there’s the same series of numbers. So let’s say you and your kid is sick? That’s 4 different phone numbers you’re going to have to call to set up appts for you and your child.
The staff is rude. You have to book most yearly appts a year in advance. The place is a mad-​house most of the time you’re there. And despite having been a patient of this practice since 2001, my primary care physician still looks at me like she has no idea who I am.
Acton Medical has taken on WAY more patients that it can handle while still providing acceptable customer service and I, for one, have easily found better options in our area.

I truly hate Acton Medical and will never be back. They almost killed me. Had horrible flu like symptoms & could literally not lift my head, eat or drink for several days (I should point out I’m rarely sick and am in relatively good shape/​health overall). Dragged my sorry self to Acton Medical only to be told «it’s a stomach bug. You’ll be fine. » Went home and laid in bed for 2 more days feeling like I was going to die. Finally my husband called them and begged them to see me again. They reluctantly agreed. After putting me on an IV for awhile they decided as an afterthought to do a chest x-​ray. Lo and behold I had a severe case of pneumonia. Acton Medical’s recommendation: «Go home and rest OR you could go to the ER as a precaution…». Went to Emerson Hospital and was immediately admitted with severely low blood pressure and put on oxygen and IV w/​heavy antibiotics for a 4 day hospital stay followed by being on leave from work for the next few months while I recovered. Thanks for nothing Acton Medical and for making things a thousand times worse for me. In all fairness I really liked my primary care doctor at Acton Medical but she was not available in this case and the hacks I saw clearly had no clue. I will never go back to Acton Medical and am now a patient at Westford Internal Medicine with no complaints. My advice– stay far away from this place. There are many other better choices in the area.

Our daughter goes here and sees Dr. Werner. She is very personable, knows her stuff, and cares. I have never had a problem getting an appointment for my daughter, although phone wait times can be a little longer then I would have liked. The email correspondence system they have is fabulous.

I hate this place. I was told that when I first started going, at the ripe old age of one, it was great. I remember that Dr. Tripp, my pediatrician, was really cool.
Unfortunately, that is about the only good thing about this place. (Dr. Tripp– you are probably close to retirement, but if you want to work for another 20 years, please open your own practice.)
Never have I been here in my adult life and not had to wait an obscene amount of time. (After waiting three to six months to actually book a damn appointment.) Also, the receptionists and nurses are always rude and curt. Even when talking to my doctor, she always seemed to want to get the hell out of there as soon as humanly possible. Nothing like feeling like a number!
To top it off, the idiots routinely sent my information to the wrong address. Once, they sent it to my mother’s new address. When I brought it up to the person in the Administration office she didn’t seem to see the problem in this despite the facts that I had not lived with my mother for more than SEVEN YEARS and that I had actually never lived at that address ever. I finally had to get the privacy office involved. A process that could have been avoided if these people had any competency to speak of. Ugh.
Much happier now at Harvard Vanguard.