Donato Perretta, MD

I saw Dr. Perretta twice - once for myself (hand problem), and once with my 95-y.o. aunt (as her Health Care Proxy). Each time, the Dr. reflected "0" of what we used to call "good bedside manner". He showed no interest in us or our medical problems, barely looked at us, and was in and out of that exam room in 5-10 minutes. As a retired clinical therapist, I wondered more than once if the man is autistic (no insult intended!), as he seems unable to connect with people on a personal (or even professional) level, and demonstrates no empathy. There are other competent specialists around who DO care.

Dr. Perretta spent 5 minutes total with my husband for his broken finger. 2 minutes of that time he spent struggling to open an x-ray we had from urgent care on his computer. He barely looked at the finger and advised surgery is necessary. No further advice, no suggestion for follow up, completely useless and uncaring. That was the entire appointment. The service we got from urgent care was a lot more involved than this "specialist". We were told over the phone prior to the appointment that a visit for a first time self-pay patient would cost $150. We are uninsured, price if very important, so we called twice to confirm that amount - $150 for the visit, and then any further actions the doctor performs such as xrays, etc, would be billed separately. There were no extra services by this doctor. We paid the $150 at the time of the appointment, but a month later, completely unexpected, we received a bill for $527 for the visit. The $150 had been marked as paid, but we still owe $377!… Billing department would not take the charge down, they argue that we were misinformed by the doctor's office about the $150 price, and that is just a "down payment". They said Perretta charges according to time spent with patient, and in his notes, he claims to have spent 45 mins with my husband!!! This is a complete joke, and we were not informed of any of this prior/during/after the appointment. All that billing would say is "sorry, they should've told you, and you should've known to call us instead of believing what the doctor's office told you". Absurd and a complete scam!!!

The two appointments I made with Dr. P were to make sure my son’s thumb fracture didn’t require surgery. Total time seen by Dr. — approx 7 mins. Prior to seeing the Dr., my son had an x-ray done at a local hospital and was already wearing a thumb brace I purchased on the recommendation of his pediatrician. At the first appt., Dr. P told us no surgery based on the x-ray he did not administer (I was billed separately by the hospital), to keep using the brace I already purchased, and to come back in three weeks for a follow-up x-ray. At the second/last appt., Dr. P medically cleared my son. THE TOTAL BILL WAS OVER $1,200. After many phone calls, it was finally explained to me that Dr. P/CareMount bills for 90 days of service; my son received only 21 days and I was stuck with this outrageous bill that in no way reflected the service rendered. The whole experience was truly unbelievable and as always there is no recourse for patients.

I do not recommend this doctor. He misdiagnosed by flexor tendon injury. He did not order an ultrasound, or listen to me when I told him I could not bend my finger fully. He informed me that it would be fine, even after I expressed my concern multiple times. He said that because I had no nerve damage I did not have a tendon or ligament injury. He did not do an ultrasound. Of course, he was wrong. You can damage your tendon without damaging your nerve. I saw another doctor the next day, who after listing to my description, immediately thought I cut a tendon. An ultrasound revealed this damage. 2 days later I had exploratory and surgery, which revealed a complete tear of one tendon and a 70% tear of the other. I hope to have a full recovery, but if I had listened and trusted Dr. Perretta I would have no chance at all of that. I do not understand how he can be a hand specialist yet miss such a fundamental, basic diagnosis. I strongly recommend that you do not see this doctor if… you have a hand injury. This is the first time I've ever gone online to write a negative review of a doctor. I hope I never have to again, but I could not in good conscious not say anything here. Go see a different doctor.

Dr. Perretta was very realistic and upfront about the seriousness of my injury. My scaphoid fracture required two surgeries, because the collapse of the bone was that severe. Luckily, after 3 months in a cast I'm looking forward to going back to see him for my final follow up. He was sensitive to the struggle of the entire situation throughout the whole process, and always looked for a multiple routes for a solution.