Jeffrey D Coe, MD

I’ve been a patient since 1996, and am preparing for surgery #3. My injuries were due to lifestyle… being a tomboy and growing up in north Tahoe, I participated in pretty much all sports. Alpine skiing, ice hockey, water skiing, hiking, you name it.
My first surgery was in 1997 for two herniated discs (anterior approach). I was treated for pain, did physical therapy for a year before the surgery. Successful and back to work in a month.
2005.spinal arthritis from years of chiropractic adjustments. Dr. Coe treated me for almost 10 years before we opted for surgery (8 hours on the table). He always said «whatever you need, just let me know».
I now have disc L2/​3 which is bone on bone. We are doing surgery this month.
Always, he listens and gives you more than one option. He is VERY direct, and doesn’t sugar coat your options, but rather he is honest and forthcoming.
I don’t need «hand holding». I just need direct answers and honesty, which is what I have always received from Dr. Coe. Also, post surgery (both procedures), he visited twice daily. My husband had three surgeries at Stanford, and I don’t recall the surgeon visiting more than once after each procedure.
Office staff is great, especially Sherry who is the billing manager.
Two great experiences, and I expect this next one to be the same. I would highly recommend Dr. Coe. In addition, he’s a very nice man and has a great sense of humor.

Dr. Coe is nothing short of Amazing. He saved my life!
I had a cervical problem at the C4-​C5 level about ten years ago.
As my preference is for original equipment, Dr. Coe was extremely diligent about eliminating every non-​surgical option. He would explain the purpose of every testing procedure and we would discuss the next step. After all non-​surgical options were eliminated, it was determined that the disc had to be removed.
Dr. Coe then recommended an artificial replacement disc. After careful consideration, I agreed. As you could imagine, my knowledge of the procedure was quite limited. So, Dr. Coe sat me down at a desk with a cup of coffee and provided a wealth of information about the operation. He was genuinely concerned about me and my understanding of the procedure. I was very impressed.
On operation day, I remember being extremely nervous when the anesthesiologist began preparing me for the procedure. In response, Dr. Coe made one last visit to reassure me that we were making the proper decision.
The surgery went flawless.
The next day Dr. Coe stopped by the recovery room with a large smile and asked if I would like to leave. He did not have to ask twice. A short while after his departure, I dressed myself and walked out of the recovery room towards the nursing station. They were nervously amused, but allowed me to walk out of the hospital. I was able to walk from the hospital to his office a few blocks away. Dr. Coe was ecstatic. He was genuinely pleased.
Dr. Coe was not finished. He has followed me for over ten perfect years!
I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Coe. He has the knowledge, skill, and determination to correct difficult spinal issues.
I recommend him highly!
Sincerely,
Robert M Lawrence

Two stars because I had a positive outcome (surgically). However, the nightmare than ensued after the operation was nothing less than horrific. Dr Coe’s office threatened to sue me despite having double insurance and a pre-​approval letter. They forced me to sign an illegal document that tried to protect them despite the fact that they broke the rules of the insurance carrier. I know that much of the problem exists with the Insurance Carrier, but for them to threaten legal action within 90 days of the procedure was unacceptable. The office is «old school»: closed for lunch, phone rings to voice mail a lot, no online services.

I could go on and on but I’ll keep it relatively simple.
Serious spinal injury (sport-​related): opted to participate in a clinical trial performed by Dr. Coe. TERRRRRIBLE idea. Considering this was my first surgery, I wish I would have known to get multiple opinions before committing to a surgical procedure.
Two years later, it has been deemed as an successful surgery and I’m in more pain now than I was before. I’m treated like a drug addict and he doesn’t want to prescribe medication but… why exactly am I need of medication??? Because the surgery wasn’t successful and «it’s possible the operation should have been conducted at a different level???» But I digress.
I did not feel cared for post-​surgery and this experience was honestly a nightmare. I had the surgery in my early twenties and it has limited my lifestyle in so many ways. I don’t believe he took the time (or even cared) to consider a procedure that was right for my condition (not to mention I had primary and secondary insurance coverage so I was NOT in a position where a clinical study was the only option). Unprofessional, terrible bedside manner, and no care to follow up post-​surgery.
PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

Dr. Coe is great a surgeon one of the best, he has a gift of seeing through the patients that need help with spinal issues versus the patients that need some mental help aka Michael J or M.A. He may need some bedside manner adjustments but he is straight shooter. This sets him apart.

I had a intensive Spinal Fusion Surgery after trying many ephidural shots and a discectamy that did not unfortunately fix my problems. I have been so much better since we finally chose togo with what he had first recommended to me that I was not mentally ready for at the time. After almost 2 years of him helping me an allowing me to go the path I chose we did the Fusion. I could not be more grateful for it either, because it has helped me get back on my feet an I am slowly but surely getting better as I do Aqua PT. I still have nerve issues in my right leg but they are slowly changing for the better as well and yes I was told the surgery might not fix my nerve issues cause if they have died or were severely damaged it can take time for them to come back to normal. I understand his ways an I agree and like his ways. I Believe he comes from a strong military background an he has a strait forward approach about things. He is there to fix your pain and your issues with your spine not hold your hand like a therapist… its sad to see some of the peoples responses on here being more personal hate then proffesional issues they had. I am glad I chose him as my Doctor an he has helped me through a large issue in my life cause of a car accident that was not my fault.
Thank you Doctor Coe & to your staff as well.

Dr. Coe has completely changed my life — he is amazing and I totally adore him! He came highly recommended to me by several other doctors. The spinal fusion surgery he performed was a miracle cure. I woke up in recovery after the surgery and pain was gone! I can’t say enough great things about Dr. Coe, I am in awe of what he does and my family and I will be eternally grateful to him for freeing me of horrific pain and giving me my life back.
I understand how scary it is to be faced with the prospect of someone drilling into your spine. At my first appointment, Dr. Coe was very blunt and honest about my diagnosis and treatment options, but in hindsight I can totally appreciate this. There is no way to sugar coat this condition and explain about fusion surgery. He was very clear, and I left with a detailed understanding of my condition.
I find Dr. Coe to be extremely professional, he always takes as much time as I need to clearly explain my condition and treatment, and answer any questions I have. When I had issues with my insurance company he personally got on the phone and sorted everything out with them. Details about my surgery were clear, and expectations for my recovery were realistic.
Dr. Coe is always smiling and happy to see me, and is very friendly and patient with my kids when I have to drag them into his office with me. He remembers personal details about my life, and always treats me with warmth and respect and a big smile. I find his bedside manner to be charming and funny.
For the record, I did shop around and got a couple of other opinions from different spinal surgeons and a neurologist. They all agreed on the diagnosis, and told me the same thing as Dr. Coe, that at some point in the future surgery would be my only option.
However, Dr Coe never at any time pressured me into the surgery. He was fully supportive of me doing cortisone shots, physical therapy and accupuncture and assured me that he would help no matter what course I decided. So I put off surgery for one year, but I always knew that my disc was on borrowed time.
At the end of last year in 2011 the pain had become unbearable, and the x-​rays showed clearly that the disc had completely ruptured. Even the radiologist who did the x-​rays was shocked when she saw how damaged my spine was — the L4 was slipping about 14.5mm over the L5 and the disc was crushed.
Before the surgery my life was unbearable, I was living with chronic sciatic nerve pain starting with stabbing in my back, and shooting pain in my left groin and hip, and all the way down my leg to my foot. The MRI and x-​rays showed a very obvious genetic defect, basically I had a piece of bone missing in my spine between the L4 and L5. I was popping so many pills including heavy duty narcotics and could barely function, let alone take care of my family. It was lucky if I got 2 hours of sleep per night.
Now I am pain free and no longer taking any medications. It has only been 6 months but I feel like a new person! Thank you Dr. Coe! I really wish that I had not waited so long…

Received a call from Dr. Coe wondering why I left such a bad review. Although I appreciate the follow up, he or his staff did lie and withhold information that I needed. The lie was the calls I kept getting from his office saying my pain management doctor approved my surgery — this is not true. I asked my pain management dr and he said he only had one call with Dr. Coe and that was about records being transferred. He never approved my surgery. Secondly, the information that was sent to my LTD insurance company was just my intake form and a letter stating his first impressions, not the CT scan or my whole file that would help make a positive decision for approval of benefits. When I got the call from his office that my surgery had been «approved» I told them that I was denied for LTD so even if my pain dr had approved the surgery I was losing pay and benefits in two months so there was no way it could happen. The person looked at what was sent to LTD and admitted that the information they sent was not correct (should have been the whole dang file including the CT scan). So sorry, Dr. Coe if you are confused why I am so angry, but being called weekly to set up a surgery that hadn’t been approved and then told it had when it had not, and then finding out that you or your office caused my denial of LTD benefits by not responding to my LTD insurance with my complete file is going to cause me to be angry. I was only able to see the CT scan when I saw my pain doctor and there were other medical issues that came up on the CT scan that you never informed me of but mentioned on the report they should be followed up on, why was I never told about that?

I agree with earlier posters on this one. I thought I was being a little too sensitive during my visit when Dr. Coe was ordering «yes» or «no» answers until I read these other posts. Ok, I get it, I’m a woman and tend to make my answers a little more «flowery» than need be. But I felt a little intimitaded by Dr. Coe
Dr Coe «Do you have tingling in your legs?»
Me «Well, kind of, sometimes I feel…
Dr. Coe «Its a yes or no answer. Do you get tingling in your legs?
Me «I guess you wouldn’t call it tingling but…
Dr Coe «So then «No», you don’t get tingling.
For us non-​doctor types, I sometime find it hard to describe what my body is feeling, pain levels, etc. So for those of you that have a hard time like me, then Dr. Coe is probably not the right Dr. My husband is ex-​military and so is Dr. Coe, so my husband said that it was a military thing and he rather quite liked him. Then again my husband wasn’t a patient.
As far as treatment goes — he did spend about 15 minutes with me during the first visit, which I felt was rather short. He had about three patients at once. Let me get this straight — he is nice, just not overly excited to here the story about how your back got hurt. Vague answers are not for this guy — so be prepared to be specific. I thought my back condition would take some figuring out — piecing together of symptoms to arrive at what the problem was — but Dr. Coe seemed to just see the black and white. On my second visit I saw Dr. Coe for about 1 minute and 30 seconds when he came into the room and rattled off treatment plans for me to his physicians assistant. I felt sorry for her — he was dragging her from one room to the next. Clearly he has too many patients…
I did receive an X-​ray and an MRI that sort of explained what was wrong but not really. I understand that with backs being so intricate that Dr. Coe couldn’t have given me an answer on my first visit without seeing the results of these. He referred to Dr. NG to give me a coritsone shot and after our consultation I still wasn’t convinced that this was the route to go. Perhpas if I found out more answers from Dr. Coe I would have felt more confident that the shot was the answer to my problems. I am still in pain and it seems that time, not the Silicon Valley Spine Insitute, is what is helping the pain subside. If I were you, try here, just make sure to DEMAND his time. I wish I did.
Oh — and the front desk is very nice which is hard to find in Dr.‘s offices these days. So if any of you front desk girls are reading this, kudos for being so helpful.

Below is my original review of Dr. Coe from his alternate Unilocal posting. Having read some of the «real» reviews below I’d like to warn potential clients to TRY and explorer options outside of drastic surgery.
Any good doctor would tell you to avoid surgery if at all possible. I know well enough some cases need it. BUT, they should not be imposed upon those with potential to recover on their own as his scalpel might cause you more harm then good:
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This review is for Dr Coe and his PA Lauren Bradley.
I first met Dr Coe 2 years ago at the request of my Primary Dr for a herniated disc in my spine. Dr Coe seems real nice and compassionate when you first meet him and will be until you get what he wants — your surgery.
I’m very young and this herniation is a result of a bad car accident. I’ve chosen not to have surgery yet and am pursuing a pain management path.
First off, getting a hold of Dr Coe is IMPOSSIBLE. I requested to talk to him on Monday, was told he’s in surgery and will call back the following day. Many days pass and no call, I leave another voice mail to call me back and the following day I get a call. Guess who’s on the phone? A pissed off Dr Coe with an EXTREMELY unprofessional attitude.
He tells me that he’s not in the business of supporting drug addiction (mind you, I take Vicodin about once a week tops when im having a bad episode). He tells me he’s the busiest spinal surgeon in the bay area and he doesn’t have time to talk to people just looking for drugs.
BARE in mind I’m a professional that works in the corporate world and I can not believe someone with his education level would talk to ANYONE. This guy is a real piece of work and I hope he reads this. Oh ya, his little peon who does all his dirty work is Lauren Bradley and she’s got some crazy attitude and acts like her stuff don’t stink if you know what I mean.
I would NEVER trust this psycho with something like surgery. AVOID this place, mostly Dr Coe.
The only reason they even deserve one star is because their front office staff is awesome, they always treat all the clients so wonderfully and are always really helpful when i call. I feel bad they have to work for this arrogant jerk.
Good bye Dr. Coe, I think it’s time to retire. Some people don’t want to be treated like your next paycheck!

I recently saw Dr. Coe for the first time and it was hands down the worst experience I’ve ever had with a medical professional, and I use the word ‘professional’ lightly, as he could not have been any more unprofessional. My appointment lasted 3 & ½ hours, with the vast majority of that time being spent waiting in an exam room, and of course the little time he did spend with me, he was incredibly short and rushed and didn’t even allow me adequate time to explain my condition to him. He asked rapid fire questions and told me I was only allowed to answer yes or no – he didn’t want any explanations, but he was asking insanely vague questions about lifelong back problems that have evolved greatly over the past 15 years, so yes/​no answers didn’t give an accurate picture of my condition. Then, when he did the physical examination, he told me «I’m just going to observe how you move» so after being essentially told earlier in the visit not to speak unless spoken to, I didn’t tell him when things hurt because I thought he was just «watching me move,» and for the record, everything hurt. Later, I ended up getting a copy of the report he wrote during our visit, and he documented that although I complained of pain, when he examined me none of the usual tests that should trigger pain did, and then he proceeded to send this inaccurate report to all of my past and current doctors, including my other orthopedists & pain management doctors. I was livid – he literally had told me only to answer his direct questions, then he failed to ask me if his tests hurt, so he completely messed up a huge portion of the evaluation and then passed around that incorrect information! I agree with Carol, if a doctor is good, I don’t need a doctor with great bedside manner, but that is not the case with Dr. Coe – his horrible bedside manner actually prevents him from being an effective doctor.
I could go on and on for pages about how rude and unprofessional he was, all of the condescending remarks he made to me, and how he insinuated not only that several of my doctors in the past were wrong but that I shouldn’t have even had a baby because of my back problems and that my OB was wrong to give me a c-​section (which was medically necessary due to life threatening complications)…let me just sum it up by saying DO NOT SEE THIS DOCTOR!

Dr. Jeffrey Coe changed my life and all for the better. A year ago I could not walk out and pick up the newspaper in the drive. Exactly a year a go, Dr. Coe did a fusion and I am now 100% pain free. I also returned to work in 3 weeks after the surgery. His assistant, Renee is incredible. I walk 3 – 4 miles a day and do pilates three times a week, and haven ‘t felt this good in many years. I do not need a chatty doctor, just one that does his job and does it well.

My experience with Dr Coe was not pleasant at all. I would recommend to anyone seeking an orthopedic doctor to steer clear of this guy. I waited for 50 minutes to see him, with no apology from him. He spent very little time with me, only interested in playing with his electronic pad & pen. It was clear he was on his own time table, spending less than 10 minutes with me, without allowing any time for questions, he was out the door! He made very few comments about the results of a MRI and had no recommendations for treatment. Besides doubting the depth of his knowledge, the worst part was his bedside manner. Very unprofessional.