Dr Robert Kistner

My 33 year old brother was brought in to Desert Banner one week after iliostomy surgery (He got a bag) for emergency blockage on Thanksgiving day. Never mind that Dr. Kistner had the rudest bedside manner I have ever seen. Forget the fact he refused to do anything to medically assist my brother, just made sure he was kept alive until his regular surgeon returned 5 days later.
The kicker was that while I was sitting there watching, the doctor stuck his finger in the (newly stiched) stoma and levered it hard up and down, then side to side. He then pushed the entire stoma down into my brother’s belly and up. Since he had splashed excrement everywhere, the doctor quickly drug a washcloth through the mess while saying «This looks very troubling» under his breath, and quickly walked out of the room while slinging the cloth against the wall. No explanation or talk of a plan. We were so amazed at his lack of regard for the other humans in the room. My brother was in pain after that examination so I tried not to dwell on Dr. Kistner being a jerk.
Later in the day my brother noticed upon bag change that the stiches were ripped and excrement was coming through the new tear, not the stoma itself. No one had touched him after the doctor and he was too sick to even get up to urinate; he hadn’t moved. When told about it when he finally came back 3 days later, Dr. Kistner roughly said «You need to talk to Dr. Sahai about it. I see nothing wrong.»
Dr. Sahai ended up removing his stoma, re-​cutting the intestines and doing another stoma. Had to redo the whole thing because this baffoon of a doctor basically ripped the stoma off of his abdomen during that brutal exam. We have pictures and video. Don’t let Dr. Robert Kistner touch you.

I am so frustrated with this office and their billing practices. Just like another reviewer, I went into Mercy Gilbert for an emergency gall bladder removal. Mercy Gilbert is in my network and my insurance Blue Cross/​Blue Shield paid for everything regarding Mercy Gilbert. However, Mercy called in Dr. Kistner to do the surgery (of course I had no knowledge of this – and even if I did, how would I check if he was in my network or not… I was under anesthesia!) Apparently he is NOT in network and when my insurance paid him accordingly, he sent me the bill for over 4,000 dollars! I called Blue Cross and they said this is not uncommon, and that the Dr. will, in most cases, write the difference off. So, I called the office and they promptly told me that i was responsible for the balance and they did not write off anything. I tried again and again to work it out with Mercy Gilbert, Blue Cross and Dr Kistner, but no one would budge. My insurance finally paid a bit more, but firmly stated that the Dr. was being unreasonable because most Drs write it off. Under duress, I finally agreed to pay $ 100 per month. Fast forward 3 years, and out of the blue, they send me to collections! Unbelievable! The worst part is, since he is an oncall doc, you really dont have a choice if you use him or not! So what good does a review do? Most likely you will be in an emergency situation and be unable to state that you want another physician; one who is in your network! I believe it is very calculating that he works on call and out of the network, that way he doesn’t have to accept the amount that the insurance allows for his procedure and he is able to brow beat and threaten patients to get the rest of the money! Unethical!

UPDATE: This is very delayed however I have since spoken with Dawn in Dr. Kistner’s office. She seriously went to bat for me with the insurance companies and has taken care of the bill. Time and patience would have served me well instead of flying off the handle at the front end of the issue.
Thank you Dawn!