Dr. Robert Gene Kopitsky, MD

Best heart dr in stl always kind and caring i am sure he saved my life

After 2 years, I continue to find him an essential resource in managing my sometimes scary a-fib. He's direct, no-nonsense, upbeat and positive. He's easy to talk with, listens AND hears what I've got to say. His staff is equally efficient and upbeat. I'm grateful to have him involved in my healthcare.

Dr. Kopitsky is not only competent and capable he's also personable and patient. I look for physicians who will listen not only to my concerns but my opinions regarding pharmaceuticals, tests and lifestyle. My philosophy is that my body is my own, I am responsible for what happens to it and I want a collaborative doctor to help me achieve my health goals. This requires a completely candid approach to my care regardless of how serious my condition may become. Dr. K fills the bill on all of these points and I appreciate him and am grateful for his skill as a cardiologist.

Dr. Kopitski is the consummate professional.

I had my first appointment with Dr. Kopitsky in September, after having a heart attack in late July. I was not offered an appointment until 6 weeks after I came home from the hospital. During times when I had to call the doctor's office with questions, as I'm sure all heart patients have, I would get responses from the doctor translated through one of the office staff that let me know that the staff didn't understand what I was asking and it was frustrating to be told I couldn't speak to the doctor directly. Through persistence he finally called me back and over the course of six weeks until my visit I talked with him maybe three times (for prescription changes and what not). I found him to be very short with me and always in a hurry, so I felt rushed through my questions. On one occasion, he prescribed a medication for me that has the side affect of raising one's blood sugar (but I didn't know that) and he knew that I was a Diabetic. After getting him to switch that medication,… I had issues with other medications and he told me I'd have to basically live with the side affects. Not a preferred answer at all. When I went into the office, I already had anxiety that he'd rush me through the appointment because of his number of patients and busyness, and I came prepared with my questions written out. The nurse assured me that I was given a block of 30 minutes to have the doctor answer my questions. When he came in, he greeted me and said, "Okay, I understand that I have an onslaught of questions to answer, so fire away. Come on, let's go, let's get them answered" and his manner was very rushed all the way through. Without explaining to me what happened in my heart attack or asking how I'm feeling and what am I experiencing, he demanded to know my questions one right after the other, answering in one-word answers or suggesting my Internist give me more medication. When I explained that I thought one aspect of difficulty I was experiencing (such as not sleeping through the night since the event) was causing such lethargy and fatigue, that I couldn't muster the energy to work my desk job, let alone get out and exercise, his response was simply, "Well, you have to and that's it". He listened to my questions, took my blood pressure and listened to me breathe - all in UNDER 10 minutes and he was out the door and told me to come back and see him in 6 months! I was so upset that I spoke with the Scheduler who simply offered an obligatory "I'm sorry" and then I left and went back to work and was so upset about the whole incident that I called and spoke with the office manager. She was acknowledged my upset with what she called my "less than satisfactory" experience, but also strongly suggested on more than one occasion on the call that the "lack of communication" or the "personality conflict" with my doctor was somehow my fault - not a good thing. The best thing out of the visit was minimal wait time and the fact that I stressed that my experience was horrible and the office manager agreed not to charge me the $70 (!) specialist's copay. I would not recommend Dr. Kopitsky to patients who prefer a doctor who is more than "just the facts, ma'am" and has a more caring bedside manner. I didn't need a lot of the doctor's time - 30 minutes would have been more than enough, but when he gave me less than 10 and then left my room to go to his office to make callbacks to other patients (I could hear him from the scheduler's desk with his door open), and he did it on MY $70 copay and time, THAT was completely unacceptable.