Dr. Todd John Baumeister, DO

I truly enjoy MY vists with Dr. BAUMISTER. He is direct,caring,very sweet nature., AND IS a man OF the Lord. Wonderful kind man.

Up until I stared seeing him, I was not getting anyone to really help me with my pain. They would basically tell me that they understood how much I was in pain but I would just need to learn how to live with it. This caused me to miss out on my children’s events, family holidays and even came close to losing my job. I was in so much pain at one point, I thought I would never be normal again. Fast forward to today... my career is thriving as is my family! He has given me a second lease on life and I am so great full. He is compassionate and always ready to listen to my concerns. He is very strict and won’t stand for any funny business so if you are out just looking for pills, look somewhere else. But if you are looking for a legitimate doctor that cares and wants to help, Dr. B is the pain management doctor for you!

Dr. B is a wonderful, compassionate, caring doctor. He listens carefully to your complaints and problems with your diagnosis and pain levels. He works colllaboratively with you in all aspects of pain management. And does not disregard your opinion or thoughts regarding your treatment. He is always willing to try something new if you believe it will help manage your discomfort. I have been a patient of his for over 10 years, and I would not trust another pain physician to treat me as well or competently as he has. If you desire a doctor who cares about you, he should be your first choice.

Dr. Baumeister is a great Dr. and very understanding of my pain. I am so relieved that I found him. I have had tough year and he has helped so much.

I have seen Dr. Baumeister for about a year now. Originally as a consult and then as a regular patient. You need to state what your goals are and come in with a intended treatment plan. Although I have only been a patient for a year I have known of him for numerous years when he was in solo practice and now part of Swedish. He consideres your suggestions and optimally what you want but he can't read your mind. Be honest, follow your agreed upon pain contract (I never saw him as a patient in solo practice so the majority of these reviews that refer to his wife working their are irrelevant). Why he is now part of Swedish Pain Management and has an entire team of support staff and his practice is completely different. If you are a complex pain patient and have have all of your doctors part of the Swedish health care system, Poly Clinic, Minor and James, or just some other Swedish physician and have complex medical issues (which typically don't just include pain). I have had no… complaints. He spends a considerable amount of time with his patients. That being said, with the recent changes in the CDC recommendations for non-cancer related pain management I am unsure how this will impact his ability to practice pain management due to WA States strict guidelines along with the way Swedish implements the recent recommendations re; keeping non-cancer patients >120mg MED of pain medications. However if their is one compassionate pain Doctor within the system who will practice personalized pain management, Dr. Baumeister would be one of them. I would avoid recent pain docs within or outside of Swedish who have gone through specialty training and graduated from the Univeristy of Washington. Most of the attending professors their have gone to the opposite extreme avoiding the use of pain medications. Similar to Swedish policy of if you have had surgery irregardless of your outcome and specifically pain that has become chronic will cut you off post-op 6 weeks. It's a hospital wide policy. Best of luck to you!

Terrible consultant, basic treatment plans (opiates), and little effort made to target the root of the problem. Does not work in a collaborative manner, and you will have very little say in the direction you'd like to take with treating your health issues. He tends to not be very forthcoming, and I had very little trust in him. With chronic pain, trust in my doctor is a must. He would do things like lower my dose, change medications, etc all without my consent. Took me from a regimen that was at least moderately effective and switched me to one that was totally ineffective for managing my pain. Unfortunately, these issues are all too common with pain doctors, and Dr. Baumeister is absolutely no exception. The most frustrating aspect of appointments was how he would completely ignore the questions I had written down on my pre-appointment paperwork. When he is out of questions for you, he will just get up and walk out of the room, leaving you thinking "well, i guess the appointment's… over...". I'm still dumbfounded as to how a doctor with so many years of experience could fail so comprehensively to deliver an acceptable patient experience. I hope I save others some time and disappointment with this review. You can do better. Good pain doctors are hard to find, but you'll be one step closer by avoiding this one.

If it was not for Dr Baumeister's knowledge of pain medicine and compassion for me and my plight, I would not be alive today. I was in so much pain on a daily basis I was considering suicide. Now I function well and my family and I are grateful for the life he has given back to me. His staff is always kind and courteous to me and are also concerned about me as a person. Dr Baumeister also gives out his cell phone # for after hour calls. It took less than a month to get in and his wife is not Julie.

not a place to go if you are sick

Do not see this doctor if you want to receive compassion, caring or understanding. He is one of the worst doctors I have ever seen and that was after a 3 month wait to get an appointment. His wife should not work there because she is worse than him. Bad experience all around for both myself and a few other people I have talked to who had the same experience at his office. If you have chronic pain it will be worse after you see him and his wife, Julie.

I can't believe how rudely and unprofessionally I was treated by Julie the office receptionist. She clearly wears the pants in this set-up. I liked the doctor but because his wife Julie has no compassion nor manors I have no choice but to not deal with this doctor since he clearly can't keep his wife from upsetting the patients.