Dr. Michael Arthur Friedman, MD

I have been a pt of Dr. Friedman for at least 12 years and I have received courteous and effective treatment from him overall. I won’t change to another rheumatologist willingly. He treats me like I have intelligence and dignity. When I first saw him and talked about how I’d been feeling for so very long he was able to do appropriate testing and then through trial and error we came up with treatment plan that helped me like no other rheumatologist in 3 states in the past. He helped me go from wheelchair bound to rollator and crutches. He gave me Rx that targeted my signs/symptoms. He has been my champion with my insurance company as well as when I am in hospital. He is one of a dying breed who actually does rounds on his pts in hospital...this is primarily the reason one so often has to wait long time in office for appointments with him. He accepts Medicare/Medicaid when so many drs refuse to do so now and he doesn’t require heavy copays - they are quite reasonable. He runs late in ofc… because he has a lg pt load and tries to listen carefully and compassionately to each one and is patient with them. If he’s so awful then it makes you wonder why the ofc is frequently standing room only and why pts are willing and prepared to wait for however long it takes. He also personally returns calls to pts. It’s true the wait time is freq very long- I’ve experienced wait times up to 5 hrs! One day I didn’t get out till 10pm! But like most of his pts I learned to prepare for a visit by accepting fact it may be long and bringing a lunch and snacks and something to read because he’s worth it. His ofc staff is polite and helpful overall although one nurse is often impatient with the pts and borders on rude in her loud voice and curt answers to pts while the receptionist/ofc mgr can also be the same on occasion. Dr. Friedman is not a fan of computers and often spends a fair amt of time trying to figure out how to get the test results etc from them. He gets frustrated with them and has to get help freq. BUT, he knows what is the right course of action to take with the results and if it’s something he needs to call in someone from another specialty to help you he never hesitates. Some people may get upset about long waits, staff curtness , cluttered ofc and their apparent difficulty finding a cleaning company that is attentive to detail I can overlook much of that and simply accept it as something that probably won’t change because I wasn’t able to get effective care for my conditions until I became his pt. I plan ahead for a probable long wait. They also are understanding if you must cancel your appointment or come later in the day or if you find yourself without cash or check for the fee. They don’t charge a fee for same day cancellation and they will give you a self addressed envelope to mail your payment to them or they will simply collect it on your next visit. They accept only cash or check due to many credit/debit cards carrying exorbitant fees that would get passed on to pts. My family has been with me for some ofc visits and talk about the long wait, the sometimes rudeness of staff and the clutter and try to convince me to change drs but I refuse because he has only been good to me and helpful in easing my suffering. So like some other commentor said: if you don’t want to come back, well, that may shorten my wait time! ??

Seen this doctor years ago miss diagnosed me and treated me with drugs with no relief at all. Don't recommend him to no one long wait times????????

When I first came to see mr. Friedman I thought, this is ridiculous. The wait time is awful. Yes it is a very long wait time. I couldn’t even walk well bc of my ruemitoid authritis. But listen to me. He fixed me. I have no pain at all. None. My body functions perfectly as before. If I half to wait to see these results the so be it. He treats me well and even when u don’t think he is paying attention to ur problems. He gets to the source of the problem for me. U don’t half to use him. Leave him just for me. Then maybe my wait time will get a little less.

This office is the worst the staff up front is ghetto all they do is play on their phones and the wait time is horrible. DONT BOTHER COMING ON TIME TO YOUR APPOINTMENT THEY WONT SEE YOH UNTIL THREE HOURS AFTER.

Dr.Friedman Is a great doctor!

On the first visit I waited about 5 hours and got out of this office after dark. No testing was done and he didn't even look when I was attempting to show him where my pain was coming from. He asked to see my hands and immediately said that I had osteoarthritis. What 76 year old doesn't have some? He scheduled a follow-up in 6 weeks and upon arrival (I had requested a 10:15 AM appt thinking that if I was one of the first ones to get there I would get away earlier. Upon arrival at 9:40AM, I found the door locked and the first appointment of the morning waiting ahead of me, outside the locked door. About 10 minutes later, here comes an employee dragging up the hallway like she wasn't quite awake yet and said she was sorry she was late. She opened the door and the waiting room quickly began to fill up but I was told that no matter what time the appointment was, he never gets there before 12:00 noon.About 11:55 AM, I heard his voice as he came in. Approximately 2:00PM, his… nurse called my name and we went through the same routine and he said the same thing, "Let me see your hands". Still no mention of any test, etc. Again, he said that I have Osteoarthritis and indicated that he would see me again in one year. I am thinking to myself, "Oh, no you won't! I am never coming back to this "office". .Because of the lack of Rheumatologist accepting Medicare, I still have not seen a rheumatologist as all those on staff at the hospital other than this person stated when I called them, that they no longer accepted Medicare. The unorganized, messy description of the office in the other reviews is true and accurate.

I saw this doctor years ago and just came across this profile and it reminded me to leave a review. Although the staff at the time I saw him was very nice and helpful, he was extremely misogynistic, gave me a lecture about my weight and the "epidemic of obesity in this country" every single time I came to his office (although he could stand to lose some himself), diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia, and yet missed the other autoimmune diseases that were brewing which were even more serious. I was not even that overweight but that's all he cared about and he seemed to believe that Fibromyalgia is caused by obesity and if you women would just lose weight you wouldn't have this disease or it would go away. If that were the case then I'm sure we'd have a cure by now, and there are thin women who have it too, so sorry, that theory just doesn't hold water. It seems his personal underlying hatred of and condescension toward women colored his judgment and ability to make good testing and… diagnostic decisions, and within 6 months I became so acutely ill I almost died, had to go to the ER multiple times (and yes I ultimately lost tons of weight; too much in fact because I couldn't tolerate food and would throw up everything). Hope he's happy now. I think this man needs to see a psychiatrist. I hope he has by now if he's still working, as this mind-set really interferes with his ability to do his job effectively. I left and went to another Rheumatologist who actually consulted the literature and came up with correct diagnoses which finally got me on the right track and feeling better.

It was easy to schedule an appointment, because we did not see many patients. Nice doctor but not sure of what he was saying. Office very unorganized. Papers and boxes all over. Staff not very friendly. Not satisfied overall.

My appointment was at 2 p.m and I finally saw the doctor at 4:50 p.m. The office is a mess (there were large deep stains on the carpet that looked like blood and the carpet was held together by long strips of silver duct tape in places. The waiting room chairs had holes in them and stuffing was coming out. Staff was talking loudly about patients in earshot of people in the waiting room (especially a staff member named named Tiffany). Records were stacked all over the office almost toppling over and was very dirty and unorganized. When it was my turn the nurse (?) Tiffany yelled my name out from behind a partition. I wasn't even sure she was calling me. She took my blood pressure and weight and then brought another patient back and I was left standing right there three feet from the other patient for fifteen minutes before Tiffany told me "go in that room" and pointed. When I finally saw the doctor he did not have my records in his hand and had to leave and ask if my records had… come in and where they were (office staff apparently likes to yell across the room to one another). When he came back in the examining room he asked me what was wrong with me and seemed confused when I tried to give him a short medical history (he hadn't looked at my records- in fact he didn't even look at them the whole time I was in the room with him and there they sat right by his elbow). How this doctor is still in business is beyond me. Do yourself a favor and do not book an appointment with this doctor. It was a humiliating experience and not worth the wait or time.

Excellent doctor. VERY long wait in waiting room.