Desert Orthopedic Center

I saw Dr. Tahernia about neck pain. He would only consider me for cervical fusion, and not artificial disc, on the basis that, according to him, my bad disc was too degenerated («not enough disc height») and I had no arm pain as well. None of these factors appear to have been legitimate, as I had Dr. Hyun Bae at Cedars Sinai implant an artificial disc 8 months ago with a perfect outcome, and was able to start playing tennis and swimming again 12 days after the procedure.

not only did they hit my credit for 1 no show appointment, I now see an additional charge on my credit for a total of 2 no show appointments. WTF is going on DOC? See you in small claims court.

I used to go to Desert Ortho for Pain Management (chronic pain), and well first off — the ladies and the very sweet dude at the check-​in counter were always so nice & friendly.
*thanks girls for dem compliments!*
During season, the place is so busy. Not just the lobby but also trying to book an appointment.
Whenever I would have an issue, I would call and depending on how severe it was, they would have me come in to try to figure out what was wrong.
Dr. Cassim, Michael Guiles & their assistant were always really nice & helpful!

I broke my toe during the summer and my doctor recommended seeing Dr. Friscia as soon as possible. I was told it would be six weeks for my first appointment. Fine; waited that long, but when I got there for my (morning) appointment, I was brusquely told to sit down because there was a hour and a quarter wait because the doctor was «running late.» I had another appointment that morning so had to cancel and reschedule with one of the large number of very bored and almost hostile front desk staff.
In the interim, I was called for jury duty so had to cancel the next appointment and was told it would be ANOTHER four weeks for the next appointment. As I was away at the time of this second appointment, I had to drive over two hours to get there. I arrived at 2.25 pm for my 2.30 pm appointment with all (extensive but seemed very badly written) questionnaires and paperwork completed.
The front desk person (again, bored and unfriendly) told me she needed to call one department to call another department which apparently had to call to get my insurance verified. Twenty three minutes later, the front desk person notified me that, although my insurance was fine, the time taken by this office to check the insurance had taken me over the doctor’s 15-​minute «grace period» for appointments and that I could not meet with Dr. Friscia. I would have to schedule yet another appointment, again four weeks out.
I have never heard of an office refusing to see a new patient because of a «grace period» when the client is actually there in the office and THEY are the cause of the delay!
What a joke. No doctor, no appointment, the worst ‘customer service’ and my toe is still unattended to. Reading the rest of the Unilocal reviews, I feel relieved that I didn’t have to interact any further with this hopeless group of dazed, unresponsive staff and invisible, untouchable doctors.

The people in the office here can’t read a calendar. «Oh bring your son in tomorrow» so We strap up my 16mo who has a fractured clavicle into the car and drive the 40min over to the doctors office. Once we arrive «oh we meant next Tuesday, you must’ve mis understood.» There’s no way any one who speaks limited English could confuse «tomorrow» with «next Tuesday.» Only schedule here if you want to try and guess when your next appointment will be.
I’ll give it two stars because I’m assuming there’s an of chance that someone in that building might be able to interpret a calendar.

Dr Cassim and the staff are awesome. He’s never too busy and listens to you. All in one place. Always polite.

Surprised by all the bad reviews of this office, I’ve had a good experience with DOC.
About 3 years ago I injured my back in a mixed martial arts class. Every Thursday night was fight night at our class and during one of my bouts a disc in my spine was crushed and consequently the nerves running down my left leg were crushed as well. I can’t describe how painful and scary this was. 37 years old and overnight I went from a healthy active person to basically a person who was crippled. My left foot was totally numb, I was afraid this numbness would continue to spread up the leg until I couldn’t feel my whole leg anymore, very scary. Extreme level pain (10+ on the pain scale) all day and night up and down my entire leg.
I began to spend most of my time in bed because standing and walking was very difficult and made the pain almost unbearable. I walked funny because I had to teach myself how to plant my left foot without feeling it. One night I went for a drink of water and while walking to the kitchen I noticed my foot was sliding across the floor, picked up my foot and saw that I had cut it severely on the bottom from planting it on a pebble then scraping it across the floor. It was sliding from the blood that was gushing out and I had injured the foot without even feeling it. That was the moment when I decided to seek help, my GP recommended DOC and I set an appointment.
From the moment I got there the entire staff was supportive and friendly. My specialist is Mariane Dezelan and she basically gave me my life back. From the jump she said «we are gonna fix you». And fix me they did! They carefully analyzed my entire situation and then recommended a treatment that I was afraid of but it was not as invasive as full on surgery. I think it’s called «epidural injections» or something like that, and I really did not want my back cut on so I agreed to try this first. It worked! Within a week I was experiencing major pain relief and was able to get back into the gym for some badly needed rebuilding of my body. I am now on a normal exercise program and take a low level course of pain medication and a course of cortico steroids every so often. I am one of their success stories and literally hug these people when I see them for my follow up appointments because they took me from being bed ridden to being fixed, period… I’m eternally grateful to everyone at DOC and would encourage others to give them a shot!

The worst experience I’ve had within the Eisenhower Network of doctors. Dr. Hazmer H Cassim was my doctor. They managed to squeeze me in on a last minute cancelation which I appreciated. However, when I met with Dr. Cassim for the first time, it was less than a 5 minute visit. I am a biker and skier, so I have a neck problem. He suggested an MRI.
This is where it goes downhill and it involves his staff, namely Jessica the «Office Manager».
After waiting two weeks for the MRI Radiology department to contact me for the appointment, I finally call them myself. They said that the request had been denied. They told me they needed additional paperwork from the doctor, and they had sent it over to «Jessica». I called her, she did not know of any paperwork! I explained where it was coming from and she said she will call me back. 4 days go by (Meanwhile, my pain is still there) and I call her.
She did not know who I was and suggested I call the MRI lab again. I educated her as to who I was, she said she would call me back. GUESS WHAT, no call back so I called her and left a very strong message for her and the doctor to call me. NO RESPONSE!
The good thing, I got a call from the MRI Lab and I went and had a MRI. I also fired Dr. Cassim and now I have Doctor Edabar as my doctor.
It seems they are too big to handle themselves and give the quality care that one deserves. Go elsewhere…

I just had a Radiofrequency Ablation on my spine (L3, L4, L5) this morning. I was in pain for years and thought I had run out of options except for either suffering or going in for a Spinal Fusion. I watched videos on that and really didn’t want to do it. I found Dr. Smith through my local radiologist. There was a pamphlet in the office and Dr. Smith’s office was across the hall. After the challenge of getting through Eisenhower Medical Center’s great wall of a phone system I got an appointment and went forward.
The doctor and the nurses said I should get some relief in about 2 weeks. It’s already started working, just 6 hours later.
GREAT WORK!

Ever since Eisenhower Medical Center has taken over DOC, DOC has gone down hill — from billing to customer service — employees with low morale — seems to happen to every office Eisenhower has bought or managed. It’s all about $$$ for this medical ctr.

Dr. David Friscia performed my ankle fusion within two weeks of scheduling my first appointment and I couldn’t have asked for better results. After 30 years of pain I only wish I hadn’t waited so long to get it done. Dr. Friscia and his PA William H. Hinds are both excellent in every way. The entire process was streamlined and, to me, the results have been miraculous!

Have been calling every day and waiting on hold for around 20 minutes each time for the last 3 days.
Why is it so difficult to make an appointment here? ‘
I may give up soon.

I found my orthopedic doctor after a long search. It was the kind of doctor I was looking for to do hip arthroscopy surgery. Personally, I like a doctor who cares about his patients, listens and determines what your best solution will be and outcome. I found Dr Matthew Diltz specializing in sports injuries. He is one of the best at Desert Orthopedic.

As mentioned by others, DOC’s appt & Px refill process is extremely poor & frustrating. Never can talk to a human being. Px refills are a joke. You never are informed if Px is ready. I saw Dr Diltz for extreme shoulder pain. Did x-​Rays & MRI per his instruction. Waited again for follow-​up. What a joke. Finally follow-​up appt., didn’t know what was wrong. I have been in tense pain for 2 months. Gave me steroid shot. I asked Dr Diltz if shot didn’t work what I should do, he said wait 7 more weeks to see next Dr at DOC. I have called Dr St Pierre office 3 times to get on cancellation list due to my intense pain. Finally I was told by office staff to call back in 2 weeks & they would fit me in. Well, what do you know, when I called 2 weeks later they said they couldn’t see me cause Dr had cancelled appts to go to tennis tournament. Here I am again trying to get refill for pain meds to get me thru til appt on ²⁄₂₄.
Where is Eisenhower Administration & Board of Directors?

Is there a new star in the East? I felt like I experienced a miracle after calling over a several day period to book an appointment when a human being finally picked up the phone!!! The jazz that I was forced to listen to when on endless hold was the poorest excuse for music. I even went online and attempted to communicate via email; however, the information email address provided on Desert Orthopedic’s website is Out Of Service and my email was returned by «the demon». It was an extremely frustrating and time consuming experience to make an appointment.
I have been treated at Desert Orthopedic Center previously and with success. That’s why I’m returning with a new issue. I feel fairly certain that once I arrive at the office, all will be well, but in the meantime, DESERT ORTHOPEDIC, YOU NEED TO BOOST YOUR SCHEDULING STAFF!!!

BEWARE OF BILLING DEPT. EISENHOWER MED CENTER
Here is the simple truth and rundown. I had two visits with D.O. and a very nice doctor who gave me a cortisone shot in my foot on each visit. I received the bills from them and paid them immediately. Then all of a sudden I get another two large bills from Eisenhower Medical Center (which I never set foot in). They obviously double bill. I have tried for months to get them to explain how this is legal, to get someone to call me back. They call it a «facility» charge among other things.
So that means if I go to get my car washed and pay ten dollars for their services I can then be billed for another $ 100.00 by some auto dealer down the street just because they are affiliated in some way? Does this even remotely sound legal and ethical?
I can’t imagine how many patients are ripped off by Eisenhower every day.

I waited a total of almost 3 hours on hold trying to make and appointment to see Dr. Pierre over the telephone. I left several messages, none of which were returned. When I finally was able to reach a live person, the scheduling system was so archaic that I gave up. Had to communicate with over the phone left much to be desired. My experience of more on corporative attitude.

My treatment by Dr. St. Pierre and his PA, Greg Lanier, was 5 star, without a doubt. I followed Dr. St. Pierre’s advice and now (six months later) my shoulder pain is gone. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him.

If you want to live, do NOT trust your care to DOC doctors. I saw Dr. Smith in February complaining of a numb left arm. Five months later, I still suffer and Dr. Smith has done nothing to treat me. What’s more, after 5 months of complaining that Dr. Smith and the DOC were billing me and my insurance and doing nothing about my problem, I was scheduled for a steroid injection. Dr. Smith’s scheduler, Tabitha, failed to tell me to discontinue Coumadin. Dr. Smith’s scheduler, Tabitha, failed to ask me if my medications had changed since my last visit. As it turns out, I had to inform them that I was on an antibiotic, which is contraindicated when having a steroid injection. Dr. Smith was prepared to give me a steroid injection KNOWING that I am on Coumadin. I could have bled out!!! When I called Tabitha and asked why she didn’t take the time to look at my chart on the computer where all of my medications are listed, she took a «it’s not my job» attitude.
Citizens of the Coachella Valley, do not trust Dr. Smith, DOC doctors, or staff members with the health of your loved ones. If your 80-​year old grandmother is scheduled for a procedure at DOC and she’s on Coumadin, like many seniors are, don’t be surprised if DOC performs the surgery and your grandmother bleeds out because «it’s not their job» to be current on your grandmother’s medication. It’s your grandmother’s job.

This is an assembly line factory with as much personal attention…30 second appt. for a trigger finger shot in hand… Medicare and me $ 300! This practice is not ethical but rather a MEDICARE MILL… AVOID IT and see a professional medical practitioner.
I again visited this «mill» for pain management and Dr. Cassim. I received epidurals in the spinal area and fell to the floor afterward as a huge male nurse just stood by, Dr. Cassim in front of his keyboard unmoved, with the female nurse struggling to hold me up.
This is my LAST DOC experience folks.