Dr. David V Ives, MD

Has been known to treat women in a condescending fashion.

I've been a patient of Dr. Ives for about 13 years. He is very thorough and a good listener. He takes the time to get to know his patients' history and covers all the bases in diagnosis.

Dr. David Ives is one of the meanest, uncompassionate, Doctor I have ever seen. He has no empathy or tact.

You can tell a lot about a doc by how they present themselves Does not look like a Dr.

My first visit to Dr. Ives , he saw a growth on my neck ,and immediately called another doctor in to do a biopsy . It was malignant Leosarcoma ? This thing had been growing steadily while seeing a doctor in Brookline . He kept saying " it was nothing ".It was like something growing out of Frankenstein . It was very soft . I went in for surgery at the BIH , and subsequent Radiation Therapy . Thank you . MY wife , my daughter ,50+ . her husband ,50+ . their two Children (adults now , all have Dr Ives for primary . I am 77 ,

If you are a healthy person and have no or few medical issues then Dr. Ives is a physician for you. He is a very busy man with many obligations as director, professor and PCP. He doesn't take the time to follow through and leaves that obligation entirely to his patients. After a decade of making excuses for him I have switched to another doctor and can't explain what took me so long.

I don't know about this last review, here's what I found.Dr. Ives was a great PCP for 5 years, until I sprained my wrist doing yard work. He referred me to Dr. Charles Day, orthopedic wrist surgeon. Dr. Day was unavailable so I had to get an appointment with Dr. Rozentol. After trying just a cast, they decided to do surgery. The surgery went ok. But even after 3 months, my hand was in constant pain above the incision area. Then in August, my ring finger tendon completely snapped and left a lump on my hand. I called their office and sent them a photo of it; they said it was not w worry - just a cyst unrelated to the surgery.I felt I needed a second opinion. Fortunately I found one of the best, most admired hand surgeons at MGH and scheduled an appointment when I could - two months away. During that time I changed health plans to a HMO. (I'd always been on a PPO and never needed referrals before). Dr. Ives' office called and said they'd refuse the referral. I sent them the necessary… paperwork, but Dr. Ives (this is over email) refused. He insisted that I "stay on his team" and go back to the same orthopedic doctors who botched my hand surgery in the first place!In the end, MGH fixed my hand, but had to do extensive work to repair the damage caused by Beth Israel. It was a cut and dry case that the surgery BI performed caused It's clear to me that the health system is messed up and that the major providers probably have financial incentives to keep you in network, However, I ultimately switched from Dr. Ives to a new PCP at MGH simply because I wanted the best care - and a reasonable degree of flexibility! I reviewed this whole scenario with my insurance provider and was struck by something they said: "Beth Israel is known as the low-cost provider whereas with MGH you pay a premium." That's a good summary of the experience I had. I used to ask Dr. Ives about his views of the changing healthcare system, and he told me he was for single payer. So if you like inexpensive, doctor-knows-best, you'll like David Ives. That's just my view.I agree with other reviews I've read about Dr. Ives:- The office staff in Lexington can be quite rude (they roll their eyes and have the radio loud)- Dr. Ives' is accessible over email, so you can get quick answers to questions you may have, which is good

i am appalled at the reviews that were given this Dr, he is from the old school and he has done more for us then could ever be asked of a Dr. Dr Ives does order tests, blood work and has NEVER ever over prescribed drugs, some of these previous statements are truly false, the BI has set fees that are negotiated by the finacial staff - not the dr's. If you were so un-satisfied with the care then why did you stay for, yrs? As for the people that think that he only refers to Dr's at the BI they are foolish, the Dr's at the BI are GREAT and i do know from personal experience over the last 15 yrs that Dr Ives will refer the patient to the BEST dr or facility for your needs, even if your insurance doesnt cover it, he does in good conscience try to be aware of everyones finacial needs as well as their medical concerns. As for the staff being rude? I have never experinced this and I have found them to be courteous and very accomadating, maybe its you, people have a way of being irratable when… they dont feel good - the staff is by far not rude. It disgusts me to see these reviews from people, as far as I am concerned you should be lucky to have a Dr like David Ives.

I found that his very casual attitude thwarted correct diagnosis. He overly prescribed very powerful medications.While his bedside manner is good that can not compensate for poor diagnostic care and careful follow-up.

I cannot recommend Dr. Ives. On the upside, he is accessible via email (though it takes 2-3 days to reply typically). But like other reviews here, I'll vouch for the office staff being rude. You have to really be persistent if you need an appoint for something like an ear infection. He refers you to specialists only at BI, and often ones who are not top of their field. He will refuse to refer you to a specialist outside BI, even if you have one you've worked with in the past or one you're comfortable with. Don't make the mistake I did.