Southwest Orthopaedic Group

My daughter was seen in the ER for a severe ankle sprain and we went on our way. I knew from the look and sound of the injury that the small air-​cast and limited instructions given would not be enough. I have always heard so many great things about Dr. Albrecht so I scheduled an appt. We were seen right away. The office staff was friendly and welcoming. The location was easy to find and accessible. I wasn’t intimidated at all by the whole process. Dr. Albrecht was gentle and thorough. He was knowledgeable and reassuring. Each of our followup visits were just as pleasing as the first. We felt welcomed and important. Dr. Albrecht is a kind and invested physician. I highly recommend him.

I had this unrelenting pain in my right hand just below my thumb. It etched the life out of me. Just drained my energy and all my enthusiasm. I was going to an Orthopedic surgeon about my arthritic left knee and his nurse had the same problem. She showed me the scar all the way down her thumb where the surgeons replaced the innards and it took 6 – 9 mos. to heal. She couldn’t do much with a big banged hand for most of that time. I told this story to my Dr Stonecipher. He said you have to go see Dr Manish Patel MD he has a new surgery from the Mayo Clinic much less invasive much less painful healing. I did. This guy and his team were amazing. Dr Patel and PA filled me with confidence and hope. They were bright, expert and clear about healing. The surgery they did was two little puncture marks below my thumb in a few hrs. via out patient surgery. 6 weeks then out of bandages, pain gone! Then 4 – 6 weeks of OT therapy with this spectacular hand healer in his office named Jamie Mc Gaha OT and I’m done. Today was my last day! Very occasional pain when I over work the hand. All pain expected to go adious with in the next several months. I’m very fortunate and grateful that Dr Patel has brought this terrific surgery to Austin. And he has assembled just a terrific team from Sheryl who made the surgery arrangements easy and painless to the location that was so customer friendly and professional to the Anesthesiologist Dr who personally made sure I didn’t have a reaction to Dr Patel’s team who made it all work «like you have always hoped it would». Way to Go Y’all! and Many Many Thanks, You Rock!
Richard H.

Recently my Daughter injured her ankle at cheer practice so I wanted the best orthopedic specialist in the area. We started at the ER but all they could do was tell us it wasn’t a break and give her a boot and crutches. I did a ton of research and Dr Angirasa’s name was consistently coming up with positive reviews/​testimonials so I made an appointment.
My daughter is very nervous about going to the doctor and she was in a lot of pain with significant bruising so I was grateful that the office was able to get her in quickly. (side note: the office staff is great. Not what you would expect for a practice that is as busy as this one. Really courteous and highly organized and efficient).
I think there are two really important points:
1. The medical care my daughter received was better than anywhere else I have been. My wife broke her ankle 4 years ago and I really wish we would have lived here as her recovery would have been so much better had she done to Dr Angirasa. The amount of time Dr Angirasa spent reviewing the xrays, evaluating the injury, and explaining what was going on (in both medical terms and laymen’s terms) far exceeded any other similar consultations I have seen, including my wife’s broken ankle (which needed 9 pins and a plate). He really took the time to be sure we understood the injury and the path and timeline for recovery. Also, the physical therapy group he has a relationship with is outstanding and I’ll be doing a separate review for them.
2. The other side of this was the bedside manner. Keep in mind, he was dealing with a scared 10 year old girl. I can only say his bedside manner is exemplary. He was kind, reassuring, and patient. Never making us feel rushed at all and taking the time to answer the questions my daughter asked with the kind of compassion you would hope all doctors would use when dealing with children.
This is the doctor I want treating me and all my family. He has truly earned our family’s trust and gratitude.
My daughter is now back at cheer as though nothing ever happened.

Dr Albrecht saw me on a Tuesday to review a MRI with me. It showed a meniscus tear so I scheduled surgery for the next day. That is not easy to do but the staff is very efficient. After Arthroscopic Knee Surgery for the Meniscus Tear I was pain free for the first time in over a decade. I would recommend Dr Albrecht very highly. The skill of the surgeon makes out comes great

Dr. Albrecht has poor bedside manner and lacks total compassion. His office is grungy and unprofessional, and he seems to only care about cashing in. I spent less than five minutes with him only to have my injury dismissed. He seems lazy and bored. I ran for the hills as soon as I left his terrible office, and promptly scheduled another appointment with a different doctor who was able to properly diagnose me. Frankly, you couldn’t pay ME to see this guy again, and I recommend you seek medical help elsewhere too.

I was referred to Dr. Patel to surgically remove a mass from my arm, and my experience was nothing but positive.
Cheryl was responsible for scheduling the surgery and she was amazing. We emailed and called back-​and-​forth until we could sort out my insurance confusion, and I honestly couldn’t have completed this process without her. Thank you, Cheryl.
Dr. Patel did great work on my arm (neat cut, healing perfectly. despite how tricky it ended up being) and he was very personable along the way.
After surgery, I saw an occupational therapist — Jamie. Love her! She was very friendly and full of energy, and she did a great job explaining the exercises I needed to do to ensure that my arm/​hand gets back to being fully functional.
Overall — quick and easy process, with no complaints!

Look, lets set the story straight, Dr. Brian Sullivan did Amazing work on my shoulder. It had been popping out of socket since 1979, well it popped out and I couldn’t get it back in, went to the ER in Smithville for some assistance and the ER doctor would not listen to what I had to say about putting it back in and did it his way. When I woke up from the 10 second tug fest on my shoulder it was fractured, ruptured capsule, torn muscle. It was the trifecta of messed up. Dr Sullivan preformed surgery after 6 weeks healing of the fracture and I have not been happier with the outcome. Recovery took longer than I expected but the outcome was better than new. That is the scoop. The office people are managed by someone else. The Doctors deserve a great review.

Went for shoulder pain, and they ordered 2 mri’s that my insurance didn’t cover. They do not check this for you like other doctors offices, and now I’m stuck with the bill. Oh, and they said nothing was wrong with me. Went for accupncture and they resolved my issue in 1 visit and $ 30. Biggest waste of time and money ever.

I was sent to Dr. Albrecht, by the insurance company through the state of texas and workers comp. His diagnosis took him a grand total of a few moments and a few pokes at the injured area. The Dr at the emergency room put more effort into the diagnosis– which was also pitiful. Both Drs spent much more time filling out paperwork and workers comp forms than investigating my injury. After our short visit Dr. Albrecht put me on two weeks no work, no lifting. When I asked about an MRI, I was told it wasnt necessary, the injury didnt seem bad. Unhappy with the diagnosis, I paid out of pocket for another Dr to diagnose my injury. After an MRI, his diagnosis was that I had seriously pulled and torn several muscles as well as having a fairly significant partial tear/​separation of two tendons from their bones. I tried to share this information with Dr Albrecht on our next visit, but he had ZERO interest in seeing the results or in calling for his own MRI. He seemed very irritated that I had gone to another Dr., and again gave me two more weeks off. This scenario went on for many months, and in that time I never received any form of treatment. Each time, he spent most of the time filling out paperwork with his back to me. After over 6 months he finally decided that it was time for an MRI. Two other Drs I had talked with, the nurses, and even the MRI tech all found it odd that I was just finally being given an MRI, and suggested that it should have been done long before. I was given a copy of the MRI which I showed to another Dr. that immediately pointed out the injury, much of which had developed into a large mass of scar tissue. My next appointment, I informed him that I was still having problems and significant pain. According to Dr Albrecht, everything looked good, and it was time to go back to work. When I mentioned what I had been told by other Drs, he had no comment. After receiving a load of paper work in the mail concerning the case, I read the paperwork and found that Dr Albrecht has incorrectly answered numerous questions found on the forms. One question was about my «gait” — he answered that it was normal– the interesting things was, the man never once saw or asked me to walk for him, yet I had complained about it every single appointment. Another asked about any other movement or pain issues– Again he filled out the form saying again– normal. Long story short, and after a little math, I found that my case cost workers compensation over $ 75 000.00 in medical and pay benefits. $ 75 000 for a few pokes in the groin, an MRI, and piles of paperwork. To this day, my injury remains, some days I can barely move the leg. The mans bedside manners were pitiful, and I had the impression and diagnosed by his face, that the man is possibly a drunk, and defiantly an ass.

I had hand surgery with Dr. Patel in February. At the time, I recall thinking what a low budget organization this was. Now, six months after the surgery, I am still getting surprise bills from what appears to be every single person in that 12-​minute surgery. None of that was mentioned in any of the pre-​op consults or financial meetings. When I wrote a letter to SWO questioning a bill for an occupational therapist evaluation (that’s what they called removing the stitches after the surgery), there was no reply or response. Today, I learn they turned it over to a collection agency. Seriously? I would like to give them a big zero, but Unilocal won’t allow that.

While I got good service and eventual outcome from a very recent knee surgery with Dr. Norwood, this office has terrible at customer service. Several individuals are, apparently, not aware of what customer service is so save yourself frustration and find another provider. Again, Dr. Norwood did a good job and is also concerned with customer service at the practice, but I am firing them and shall not return ever. Their phone system doesnt EVER put you in touch a person and many of the lines either do not get answered or hangs up on you. Very frustrating.

I was not happy with the treatment I received from Dr. Albrecht. Even though I told him I had multiple physical therapy sessions and could get my PT on the phone during our appointment he did not want to talk to him even though the PT had an in depth understanding of my injury and progress. Dr. Albrecht said he would review my progress charts but never did because he never asked for them. This goes without mentioning some of the staff are unprofessional with tattoos and grungy appearance. Also the PT informed me of a tear in my shoulder that Dr. Albrecht never mentioned after reviewing my MRI.
All they want is your money and rush you into surgery because thats where the big $$$$ is for them. You are simply just a number here. They will rush through as many patients as possible.

I saw Dr. Sullivan after a knee injury I got just wouldn’t heal… I couldn’t tell you if he’s a good doctor or not, the 0.007 seconds he’s spent with me did not give me enough time to judge. After diagnosing me with osteoarthritis, he suggested I get Supartz shots. Told him I was on board, let’s get this done as soon as possible. No contact from his office so I did the leg work calling my insurance company trying to figure out if it was covered; was told that it likely would be, but the doctor had to send the info in for review. Called them and sent messages through the online portal (48 hours to reply — ha!) I got one response telling me they were busy and I would have to work it out with the billing department and nothing after that. I guess if I’m not being cut open it’s not worth it to them to follow up on my care.

I had severe shoulder pain. I went to a couple of doctors the first one I went to referred me to a doctor and he said he didn’t know what was wrong with me, gave me a steroid shot and sent me on my way. The pain didn’t get better. Then I was referred to Dr. Albrecht. Let me tell you he was so kind and sympathetic and he figured out what was wrong with my shoulder. He and his staff fought hard to to get the insurance company to approve my surgery after several denials. Dr. Albrecht fixed my shoulder!!! Since my surgery I have had no pain what so ever. Dr. Albrecht is on the top of my list of doctors. I have nothing but good things to say about him and his staff. Thank you.
Vicki H

I came here to leave a review after having two successful carpal tunnel release surgeries by Dr. Patel. Boy was amazed by the amount of bad reviews! The doc took the time to explain the pros & cons of this procedure. Answered all my questions… and we set a date.
First one went perfect… so I set up the second one two weeks later!
All symptoms are now gone and I’m loving life! SWOG runs a fine tuned machine. From the appointment person all the way to the billing dept. My only complaint is the hold times on the phone! Thankful they respond to e-​mail quickly. I prefer that method anyway!
I will highly recommend this doctor and this group for ANY and ALL carpal tunnel issues… as mine went perfect!

Unfortunately I had one of the worst Doctors appointments in my life with Dr. Albrecht. He has very poor bedside manner & took what little hope I had at the time away, while offering me the wrong diagnosis. He told me «I love to do surgery, love too but I wouldn’t touch your shoulder». He also told me at 44 yrs of age I had arthritis and said nothing will help me. I asked about medicine and he said «ehh you can try a celebrex or something but it won’t really help you». The GIFT he did give me was motivation. He sent me into a panic which lead me to call my Dr from NYC’s Hospital for Special Surgery Vijay Vad in panic/​crisis mode from Albrechts parking lot after this awful visit. I am almost back to 100% active and pain free with NO signs of any arthritis. Go with your gut, had I listened to Albrecht my life would not be where it is today. Shame on any Doctor who takes away hope from a patient when they are sick and dealing with chronic pain. In the end I had whats is called frozen shoulder, adhesive capsulitis something Dr. Albrecht obviously had no clue about, since he said it was «arthritis». Shame on this man I hope he can read this and make some changes to help other that end up in his care. I would have had more respect for this man had he just said «I don’t know how I can help you but I recommend you getting another opinion»

I’ve read all the reviews about Southwest Orthopaedic Group, and although I can’t speak for all of their surgeons, I can definitely speak for Dr. Brian Sullivan and his outstanding staff.
Dr. Sullivan is hands down the best surgeon we could have ever wished for. This is a doctor who loves his work and loves helping people. You sense his passion for helping people right away when you meet him, and it becomes immediately validated when you talk to his direct staff and also the staff from the surgery facility. Dr. Sullivan gave us his full attention whenever we met, and he took time to answer all of my wife’s questions. (She had a post-​ER elbow surgery.) Since this was her first surgery, she had quite a few questions, understandably. Dr. Sullivan not only eased all of our concerns, but educated us on the surgery that was about to take place. He and his staff were excellent from beginning to end — pre-​surgery, surgery, and post-​surgery. A number of surgeons we researched choose not to meet directly with their own patients post-​surgery, but Dr. Sullivan truly cares about the well-​being of his patients. He follows through completely, and he personally makes sure he got the surgery done right.
We found the staff, particularly Dr. Sullivan’s staff, to be warm, friendly, and personable. Michael was our Medical Assistant, and he was excellent. We enjoyed being greeted and working with Michael during each of our visits, and he was thorough and thoughtful at explaining what he was about to do whether it be undressing the wound, removing stitches, cleaning the lacerations, etc. Trisha was our Surgery Coordinator, and she was especially helpful and comforting throughout the entire process, not only in getting our surgery scheduled, but also post-​surgery when we had follow-​up questions over the phone. (Admittedly, no one returned our calls when we called the main office line at SOG so we felt so fortunate to have Trisha’s contact info when we had follow-​up questions and needed a prescription refill from the doctor. Trisha really came through when we needed her!)
Finding the right surgeon and deciding whether or not to move forward with surgery is a heavy decision to make. We felt like we were in exceptional hands with Dr. Sullivan and his staff, and we would gladly recommend him to anyone looking for a patient, highly ethical, passionately gifted surgeon. Without any doubt, Dr. Sullivan is living out his calling, and we feel so lucky to have found him. (Thank you so much, Dr. Sullivan!!)

Perhaps, just my review or any one’s review is just not the full truth. However, considering the amount of beating my body has taken over the years as an athlete, I do have some perspective. It’s a nice office, …but I don’t think that the surgery worked! That’s not good to say, and considering the incredible degree of value behind the field, namely peoples body parts, this is not a good thing. Even after therapy my ring finger has basically crippled and I’ve spent way more money that I could have ever imagined doing therapy and lab services, or ever imagined having for such a small injury. I genuinely think it made matters worse and I’m actually very sorry to have to say that.
In addition, the therapists and doctors have now expressed some serious concern of long term arthritis on the entire hand. It’s been over 12 weeks and there is hardly any motion. The choice of surgery was brash and understated of the consequences to me in a matter of 1 – 2 minutes. The surgery was overall new to orthopaedic medicine and had been completed a very limited number of times, successfully. Dr. Patel was constantly busy and never seemed to want his patients making an educated decision on what THEY thought was going to be best in the long term.
Extremely expensive, unnecessary occupational therapy, and poor communication. But Jamie at occupational therapy is a sweetheart.

I was referred here by Texas Med Clinic after breaking my foot. Once you get back, the doctor is nice and helpful, nothing above and beyond but not bad.
My biggest issue is that I always arrive early and after 3 visits, the shortest wait in the waiting room was 45 minutes after my scheduled appointment. Then of course you go to the back room, talk to the tech/​nurse and then wait again.

I’ve heard great things about Dr. Patel, who was highly recommended by a number of colleagues when my boyfriend broke his pinky. His work as a surgeon was exemplary and I have no complaints.
His office, however, is comprised of the most frustrating and incompetent individuals I have ever met. First, let’s talk about Cheryl.
Cheryl is Dr. Patel’s assistant. She came into our consultation to talk to us about our insurance and scheduling a date for surgery. She talked a million miles a minute and refused to give us a direct answer. «How much does this surgery cost on average?» was met with dissemination about plate vs. pins without even hinting at a number. She also told us that she would email him with information regarding our insurance and his facilities (which never came) and that the anesthesiologist would call with information (which also never came). We still have no idea who his anesthesiologist was.
We showed up for surgery early Monday morning and everything went well. We went home a little after 10:00a.m. and he proceeded to sleep most of the day. I answered a call on his phone from the woman in charge of appointments and told her he was sleeping and that we’d call back later. We didn’t get the chance to call but planned on calling back on Tuesday,
Well, Tuesday morning my boyfriend gets an angry phone call from appointment lady — Jessica or Jennifer, I can’t remember which. She demanded to know why he hadn’t shown up for his appointment (that we had never scheduled) and mentioned something about occupational therapy. Cheryl, the original assistant, had told him he could choose an OT in San Marcos (where we live) instead of driving the 45 minutes to Austin. As soon as J-​something heard this, she responded with a snippy comment and HUNG UP ON MY BOYFRIEND. Who was legitimately confused!
When I called back and spoke to someone else named Brooke, she kindly informed that not only had this first appointment been scheduled, there was a SECOND appointment scheduled that we hadn’t been informed of! Fantastic. I told her to cancel that appointment, scheduled the FIRST appointment we had been told to make, and asked about the custom splint we had been told to look into. She said there was a hand therapist in San Marcos who could do the job and said she would give them a call and have them contact us.
Of course, no contact. So I call SWOG back and get the original appointment lady J-​something, who hung up on my boyfriend. I asked her about the custom splint in San Marcos. She crafts a complete and UTTER LIE about the conversation she had with him, claiming that she had explained what he needed (untrue) and that Dr. Patel prefers his patients to have OT with his group (also untrue!) She got me the number for CTMC (San Marcos facility) for the custom splint and I also asked about his anesthesiologist and she said she would get that information and call me back. This, too never happened.
Fast forward to today, boyfriend gets a robo-​call from SWOG to remind him of — guess what — that appointment I thought I had cancelled two weeks ago. Now he has to call back tomorrow and tell them, again, that he has a different appointment time that he was given at his first appointment with Dr. Patel.
This whole ordeal has been ridiculous and made an already difficult process much worse. My boyfriend still has two weeks of having his pins in before he can have them removed and I dread having to interact with the SWOG front office again.