Dr. Abhay R Patel, MD

Never in my life have I observed or been apart of such an incompetent doctor! I was evaluated by this doctor a month ago for a severe ankle sprain. My MRI results showed multiple full and partial ligament tears. Dr. Patel put me in a short leg cast for 4 weeks to completely immobilize me. This was my “ initial encounter” as it states on my visit notes. Fast forward to today! I go in, they take my cast off, I explain I’ve been in slight pain for most of the time in the cast etc. Dr. Patel comes in the room and the first sentence out of his mouth is “I don’t know what to do for you.” I said I didn’t understand? He said well we immobilized you and you’re saying you’re still in pain, it’s just a sprain.” I reminded him “I have multiple full thickness and partial ligaments that are torn!” He goes “well I don’t know what to do for you, you’ll have to get a second opinion with my colleague.” He never physically examined me! He never put his hands on my foot he never attempted to manipulate… it/ test it in anyway! There was no actual physical examination that was performed! He also completely disregarded my entire MRI report that stated all of these tears!! A radiologists entire job is to find these abnormalities! Dr. Patel disregarded the entire report and only mentioned one suspected partial tear! I can pin point myself just by attempting to move my ankle exactly where these tears are because of the sharp pain I get when attempting to move it in any direction! This doctor I guarantee had no idea which patient I was. On todays notes it said TODAY was our initial encounter! Even that’s not accurate on his part! I was just another number! I was just a get her in and out! As a doctor it is your job to know and if you don’t you should at least have some sort of plan in place!! Somewhere to go from here!!! “I don’t know.” ISNT AN ANSWER! “I don’t have a plan.” ISNT A THING! And you NEVER even physically examined me !!! That is not a doctor! You did not do your job! I came to UMASS thinking I would be receiving expert care!!! Boy was I wrong!!! Do yourself a favor go elsewhere!!! This doctor cares about dollar signs not his patients.

I saw Dr Patel regarding a severe sprain and in my opinion he was basically useless. After getting myself to the office with great difficulty and crutching all the way up he barely looked at me and said go home and call if you're not walking by Monday. He didn't even examine my foot. On my next visit he poked my ankle once asked if it hurt and recommended an MRI and a lace up boot. He sent in another doc to fit me for the boot and I was in so much pain he said oh I guess you're not ready for this yet. I asked if Patel was planning to come back to do any type of exam or evaluation and he said no not until the MRI. Post MRI he walked in and said "So do you want surgery?" before even going over the results. Then he tried to scare me into surgery. After that I left and got a competent doctor who took the time to examine my injury and surprise surprise I didn't actually need surgery. That doctor has apparently received a lot of his unsatisfied patients.

Very disappointed with may appointment with Dr. Patel. I had called the office ahead of time to make sure that they had all of my records and the doctor would be able to review them before the appointment. They assured me they had everything and he had access. When I got to the appointment it was clear that he was not at all familiar with any aspects of my case and he certainly had not looked at the records. In fact, he claimed he didn't have them after the office listed each one out to me when I spoke with them. I reached to UMass Patient Advocacy as I was so put off by this experience that I feel that my insurance shouldn't have to pay the bill nor should i have to pay the co-pay. After 2 weeks, I still have not heard back from them but I certainly got the bill! Anyway, I have subsequently seen another specialist who took the time to review my records and actually so some testing on my foot and ankle. The result was a diagnosis and treatment plan that has actually yielded results.… If Dr. Patel had been interested enough in my case, he may have come to the same determination...............Apparently, he was not.

Dr.Patel operated on my mid foot which was broken in three places. It was a difficult injury and the recover took a few months. I am happy to say that after this surgery I am able to do pretty much everything I did before my injury. I am confident I received the care I needed. It is sometimes difficult to get in touch with people at the UMass clinic which is my only frustration. I never had any problems getting appointments.

Seems my review on google was deleted. Please go get a second opinion at least. Worst doctor and experience I've ever had. Damaged for life.

I first saw Dr Patel in June for my perineal tendons as they weren't healing with non surgical treatment. He scheduled me for surgery to fix my tears in my tendons and also removed a bone in my big toe because it was arthritic and he put a screw in it to hold the 2 joints together. I have not had feeling in my foot since February of this year and thanks to him I now have feeling in that side of the foot. In October I had a total Achilles contracture reconstruction surgery. I now have feeling.

My opinion is as follows: Dr. Patel has very poor communication skills. He interrupted me several times, yet when he was speaking and I tried to ask a question, he said he wanted to finish what he was saying, first. He came across as so impatient and resistant to answering simple questions that I left the office without getting the information I needed to make an informed decision about my health care. His repeated answer to the questions he actually *did* allow me to ask was, "I don't know." I always respect it when someone admits s/he doesn't know an answer, but by "I don't know," what Dr. Patel really seemed to be communicating was, "I don't care." I will say he very rapidly offered me a lot of options, which is always appreciated if you're in a restaurant ordering sides for a meal, but not as valuable in a health care setting, where people depend on you for expert guidance, education and collaboration. My guess is there's a reason he's the ortho you can get an… appointment with quicker than any of the others. If you can possibly wait to see someone else, do yourself a favor and wait. I have high regard for most UMass Mem staff--Dr. Patel is an exception, but I trust his colleagues will help him develop the communication skills he needs to better serve his patients.

I went in for a simple procedure thinking I was going to be able to have less pain after getting a tendon repaired and instead this doctor completely crippled my foot by cutting bones and doing a procedure that wasn’t even necessary! Formerly I was a very athletic person hiking and showing horses and self-employed. I am now crippled and unable to even walk and on disability. This doctor only explained part of what he was going to do to me and on top of that gave me the completely wrong recovery time I would’ve never had the surgery if he had been truthful with me. Furthermore he doesn’t even care what he has done to me nor did he ever follow up with me. After getting a second opinion by another surgeon in Boston I was told that there was nothing that could be done to help my foot and that this whole procedure was done completely incorrect..

Horrible experience. He didn’t explain anything and made me feel like I was a waste of his time when asking questions about surgery I’d need “If I wanted”. If I wanted? It was like talking to a 24 year old college student. No thanks, wouldn’t trust him to do my surgery if my life depended on it. I felt pretty rushed in the appointment, left there upset and confused by the visit. Will have to seek another orthopedic surgeon as I would NOT trust him to do my surgery (oh yes, I already said that). Such a waste of a $40 copay and my time. :(

WORSE DOCTOR I HAVE EVER SEEN.HE DESTROYED MY FOOT.HE ACCIDENTALLY AS HE SAYS LEFT HARDWARE IN MY ANKLE THAT CAN NEVET BE REMOVED.IVE HAD TO COMPLETELY STOP WORKING DUE TO THIS.HE DOES NOT CARE HE IN IT FOR MONEY AND ACCUSES EVERYONE OF BEING ADDICTS CUZ THEY HAVE PAIN.I NOW HAVE A NEW DOCTOR WORKING WITH ME DUE TO HIS SCREW UP