Professional Orthopaedic Associates's Online Review Report Card

Dr. Parker is the best, he is kind, compassionate and an amazing surgeon. He has performed arthroscopic surgery on both of my knees. After a fall I had torn both of my meniscus. Dr. Parker is caring and has great bedside manner. He explained everything very well to me. He saw me right before surgery to review everything. I felt very comfortable. I can highly recommend him. I also have to point out that his surgical Coordinator Lindsay Aehlich coordinated surgery appointments and paperwork for work and Disability very quickly and accurately. Thanks a lot!!

Always professional. I know I’m being well taken care of

*** UPDATE: #2 *** Professional Orthopaedic contacted me yesterday (1/2/25). They have made it right - I am quite satisfied with the resolution. Kudos - this is how you handle a customer satisfaction issue. I have updated my rating for Professional Orthopaedic Associates to 4 stars. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *** UPDATE: *** Thank you for responding. Contact Info provided at the link that you referenced in your response. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I saw Dr. Nicholson recently for rotator cuff issues - see below for a review specific to him. I would give Prof Ortho (and their staff) a less than zero rating if I could. WRT to insurance coverage, DO YOUR OWN DUE DILIGENCE, and confirm EVERYTHING with your *INSURANCE COMPANY* - don't believe *ANYTHING* Prof Ortho tells you. My fault for not doing that? Yes, you bet - but I'm writing this review to remind others to do what I did not - and thereby avoid paying the $537.30 Idiot Fee *for ONE LOUSY OFFICE VISIT*. I was referred by Atlantic Physical Therapy - Atlantic *and* Prof Orthopaedics BOTH told me (when I made the appt) that Dr. Nicholson was in-network for my plan. I found out during the appt (from Dr. Nicholson himself) that he (in fact) was NOT in network. Knowing that my wife (who is Primary on the insurance) would rip me a new one - I immediately spoke with the front desk, and then they called Anne (Insurance person on site - Shrewsbury). Anne sat right next to me, looked me in the eye, and said, "Oh no problem, look at these numbers here - you've met your *OUT OF NETWORK* deductible, you will never see a bill from us". BS - and now I have a $537.30 (full freight) bill to pay FOR ONE LOUSY OFFICE VISIT. My next doctor's appt will be with a Neurologist (in-network, you bet) to get checked for Dementia - because I should have KNOWN BETTER. DR. NICHOLSON SPECIFICALLY - A solid "3". He was very curt and very rushed - standard Ortho mindset. When I asked if my neck might be causing some of my symptoms along with (or even instead of) the rotator cuff, he said, "I only do shoulders; but I can refer you to someone who does necks". I guess they don't have the concept of a differential diagnosis in Ortho Medicine anymore.

(Update) Reply to your message. Thank you for reaching out regarding my review. I appreciate that you took the time to address my concerns. I don't ask for much. You may not know but, I also hold an important role in my company, where I’m respected by my colleagues, and I’ve successfully raised my children. I mean, I also have meaning of living here. However, I understand that not everyone may see or understand the value I have. Your system indicates that calls are monitored. I hope you'll review the conversation, and I understand that you may not feel the frustration I experienced, at all. And maybe she did not know what was even wrong with her attitude then. Maybe it's a normal to her and people around. However, I believe that even small changes can help you move from good to better. Right? That's why I am answering you. I ask that you please take the time to educate your receptionists about the importance of kindness. The person they perceive as weak or unimportant may have significant value and purpose in this world. Maybe he have faced lot of moments of rejection and indifference, and sometimes, a small act of kindness can either brighten our day or kill his soul. If you share this perspective with your team, even just for a moment, I believe it could make a difference. Promise in the name of Jesus that you will do that, and once you've done this, please let me know. And I’ll be happy to remove my review. ------------------------ - original review ------------------------ I really don't understand why making a first appointment for some clinics is always a pain. Why most of them speak annoyed way and interrogating way. Does my Asian name and accent disturb you call operator ladies? What's wrong with you. I am the same human, from the freedom country who fought for freedom with you in many battle field, and I am also citizen. Thank you Jesus show me that this clinic is not the place where my son can get a sincere care. The lady I called just now, may god forgive your attitude.

I have never written a review on google or yelp before but after a call with Jeanette the HR director, I decided I had to.  I had received a call from Jeanette after I had left a review with them in a link they provided after my appointment. She stated she wanted clarification on what had happened but instead repeatedly made excuses and essentially called me a liar saying she will review the calls to see if what I said really happened and if the person I spoke with was actually rude since she has never gotten complaints before.  To make an appointment you cannot go in person you have to call. Well kind of. Jeanette said that some of the more experienced there would make an appointment and asked if I spoke to a white or black woman since the white woman was new. She seemed to not like whoever the white woman she was thinking of. Also, there are several white women  working reception there so I'm not sure why she assumed it was one specific person. Regardless, there seems to be one woman, Debbie, who schedules all of the appointments for at least the Toms River location over the phone, and on every call she has had a tone in her voice that makes it seem like you are inconveniencing her. One day Debbie had called me to reschedule an appointment I had due to the doctor being ill. No problem that happens and I understand. What I do not understand is why the patient has to bend over backwards for an appointment. For background, when I came for my initial appointment I was unemployed therefore my schedule was open and there were no issues for making my follow up appointment. By the time my second appointment rolled around I was employed and had made it so that I could still make that follow up appointment. When the follow up was canceled I could no longer come in on Thursdays, the one day of the week Dr. Gabisan is there. I was not made aware of this until having to reschedule. I asked if there was another doctor with the same specialty I could see to which I was rudely told no. This is hard to believe when there are 13 doctors that work in the Toms River location. I ended up having to make an appointment for two weeks later. The HR director's excuse for this was that doctors don't just take patients from one another unless they are asked and that if she really liked a doctor she would make it work. So a patient's request doesn't matter? I understand this is a different office but the place I received physical therapy from had no issues making appointments for me. If the doctor I originally saw wasn't available they had another take care of me with no issues. Each physical therapist that cared for me simply looked at my file then took the few minutes to get to know me and my injury so they could properly help me. To her second comment,  I had seen Dr. Gabisan one time. I was neither unhappy with him nor wowed so driving to another office that he is at, which is at least 30 minutes away from the office I chose is extremely inconvenient. Call me crazy but setting aside almost 2 hours of my day for a doctors appointment that lasts no more than 2 minutes (that is indeed how long I was face to face with the doctor for on the follow up) does not make sense. I wish when I made my very first appointment I was told that the doctor she wanted to assign me to was only at the location I chose once a week; especially if they were going to give me problems when asking to see someone else so MY appointment worked with MY schedule. This leads me to another issue I had. If a patient should wear specific clothing I.e shorts to their appointment in the middle of fall/winter, tell them when they make said appointment. Also, if at the time of visit the front desk is going to ask for an insurance card on a follow up visit, tell the patient when they make the appointment. This is the first doctor's office I have been to that has asked for the physical insurance card when I had been there before. To be clear I have no issue with that. I would gladly bring it with me if I was told to as it's not something I carry around with me on a daily basis. Jeanette's response to this and the doctors schedules was that they do not give out that kind of information and paper shorts are provided. No one ever wants to wear paper clothing. It is uncomfortable and personally it makes me feel like I'm out for all to see since it is extremely thin and can rip. While not having shorts or an insurance card did not inhibit me from seeing the doctor, it would have been convenient for everyone involved (myself, the front desk, the nurse, and doctor) if this information was told at the time the appointment was made.  I am extremely confused as to why they asked for a review if the HR department was just going to look at that review and demean the patient. I gave an honest but respectful review from a patients point of view. Just because that's the way things are done there or you have never had a bad review of someone does not mean it did not occur.

Office Manager Debbie-treatment of minor patient and threats made regarding checks from insurance. They should not except Out of Network patients if they submit payments to insurance at random times. I work full time and I can’t take off work to continue to drop off these checks submitted as that is what they are asking and threatening at 10 am collections if payments aren’t made by 1. My child was in the office with her grandmother, Debbie said “you need to pay now, where is your payment”. Doctors were incredible, which is why is this is such a shame!

I've been going to Dr. Bade over the past couple of years for various ailments - broken bone, frozen shoulder, etc. Even though he has cut back on his hours, he is still the best doctor around. His knowledge and ability to diagnose a problem are top notch. And his explanation of what is wrong and how it will get better is so reassuring. When you're feeling pain, you want to know there is a solution.

I've been seeing Dr. Plyler for a few years and have only good experiences to report. From my very 1st visit, I found him to be warm, friendly, empathetic & thorough. I highly recommend Dr Plyler for great care!

The doctor was patient, very detailed, took his time, explained everything in detail, based on his charts, and gave his assessment and his plan of action I would highly recommend them to anyone at any time

This was my last visit with Dr. Plyler. He was wonderful as always. The entire staff is excellent. I couldn’t have picked a better Dr. He always listens and answers any questions. He genuinely cares about his patients and does everything he can to help. I will miss going to him.