Nicholas Pirnia, MD

I’ve been seeing Dr. Pirnia since June 2014, after a lower torso x-​ray series showed I had necrosis of the left hip causing my limited movement, and intense pain. Not only did he sit me down to discuss whether I would want a ceramic or a titanium replacement, he discussed with me and my advocate the relative merits of each.
He treated me with respect, and he and his partner worked for several hours on my hip replacement, also checking in with me every day I was in the hospital recuperating. He listened to my worries about pain medications and helped me taper down safely and at a speed that worked with my CFS/​FMS, a difficult balancing act on both our ends.
However his staff isn’t always great with respect.

My husband broke his leg and Dr. Pirnia corrected two bones with surgery. From beginning to end, although a stressful situation in whole, Dr. Pirnia made the medical process one less thing to worry about. A kind and really nice guy. A pleasure to work with. Thank you for everything!!!

Another outstanding «act of skill & knowledge» from Dr. Pirnia. I recently (12÷30÷14), had an appointment for a right shoulder follow-​up (injury over 15 years ago). Dr. Pirnia suggested a cortisone injection. I said «no» at first and maybe come back later. He understood my decision but, said «it will help the pain and temporarily feel better for a while until I wanted to talk about other options». I finally agreed for him to give me the injection. WOW. after about 2 – 3 minutes, I already felt total relief. As of today ½/​2015, it still feels wonderful and hopefully, it will continue for another 30 – 60 days.
I must say, I am so pleased with everything Dr. Pirnia advises. He truly cares and presents his suggestions in a kind, non-​forceful manner. In 2015, I’m possibly due for a right hip replacement, lower spinal injection (spinal stenosis problems) and possible right knee cortisone injection due to inflammation and pain. I am so fortunate and very grateful to be a patient of Dr. Pirnia. He performed a total hip replacement in April 2014 which is incredible. Absolutely no complications, no more pain, it’s like I never had a hip replacement.
Many, many thanks to Dr. Pirnia for his «SUPERIOR+++» skills as a Doctor and Surgeon!

Well, you don’t have the worry about me ever coming back here again!
I was sent to collections, erroneously, and had to spend my time, which is way more important than money, digging up the proof that I had paid the $ 40 co-​pay that his office did not keep proof of.
So not only did they not contact me about this, send me directly to collections, were wrong, do not keep good records (which is illegal and against OSHA btw as they are not only supposed to have good record keeping but keep all records for up to 7 years on every patient), but they wasted my time and I had to spend time proving a point over $ 40 damn dollars.
I was so pissed and annoyed that I had to deal with them, their ignorance, their passing the «buck» when it was their fault and also having to put my poor banker through hell having to look through my account through so many months to find the payment and then fax the proof to all the significant parties.
Thanks for wasting my time both in the office and when I was done with you.
You did me no good either times and thank G-​d I paid you with my debit card so I had proof. Otherwise I would have been steaming mad if I would have had to pay it again just for the pure fact of the matter or your ignorance.
I find it very interesting that you can find the time to respond to my review, however, you did not, nor your staff, had any time to get back to me, nor be helpful while I was going through all this crap to prove that I had paid you a measly 40 dollars.
You did pass the buck onto the billing company before, however, I am not stupid and the daughter of a Dr. with 5 practices and it is your offices responsibility to keep all records regardless. You simply did not. Period.
The past billing company that you speak of? They fired you bc you couldn’t keep records and did not provide them with records of clients paying. I am not understanding how a billing company is supposed to do their job correctly when they are simply going off what has been provided to them by the doctors office.
In fact, they were the ONLY ones who were helpful and didn’t cause me to have to do extra work and did exactly what I asked of them and took care of everything with a sense of urgency.
When one uses a drs office, one should feel safe with their treatments, payments, anything. I am let down and will no longer trust any drs office, with regard to payments and I will always and only pay with a card and keep record. So thanks for that lesson.
And no, no matter what your «advice» may be, my complaint is directed to the correct company.

Outstanding! The entire process could not have been better. My problem is over and I feel great again. Best doctor I have seen in 63 years.

Finally pain free. Dr. Pirnia and I went through the options (he would rather see you better than to go straight to surgery.) As it turned out, I needed surgery. I hurt for over 20yrs. But not any longer, thanks to a very skilled and kind Dr. Pirnia.

The good: Dr. Pirnia himself is great. Most importantly, he treated me like an adult capable of learning about my issue and making good decisions for myself.
He listened to my complaints and descriptions of physical issues. He patiently showed me what was going on with my body, and laid out progressive treatment options clearly. He was conservative in treatment, willing to give the least invasive treatments time to work before moving on to the next step.
The staff is quite helpful too, as long as you don’t have a billing question.
The bad: Dr. Prinia’s billing is handled by a third party called J. T Howe & Associates. This company is impressively bad at the one service they provide: billing. I’m still waiting on bills for service I had performed 5 months ago. When bills do come, they lack claim numbers and procedure codes. Service dates are incorrect, and payment breakdown is unclear.
It is nearly impossible to reconcile their bill against an insurance claim. You’ll have to call the J.T. Howe representative for Dr. Pirnia for information, and while he’s helpful once you get him on the phone, he’s hard to get a hold of.
Lastly, their bill comes with an envelope and an address to send a check to. No website, no credit card option, no information on how to use an HSA debit card, or any modern payment scheme.
Ultimately my physical issue is healing and I can thank Dr. Prinia for helping that process, but the billing process has brought its own variety of pain!