Spine Institute of Arizona

ok, my original review was censored by Unilocal– so I have to tone it down– but drop me a note if you want details. Here is an excerpt see if it makes it?
I travel back and forth and have a place in Phoenix and thought since I have a little more infrastructure there, I should have my surgery in AZ. Was referred by my pain doctor here and I was fearful about going under the knife. I needed the surgery, no questions, the pain was just too much, could not sit, could not sleep, … The surgery was quickly setup and before I knew it it was done-​they could not wait to separate me from my money, which I am ok with. The problems all came after. I was in recovery for a week and the pain was just horrendous. I reacted adversely to the drugs and things went from bad to worst. In fairness the doctor tried to help, but once they make their money it is hard to get their attention. The results were very marginal. I even thought about offering my doctor a bonus to make me well, but on my $ 80K annual salary and his $ 2M annual salary there was very little I could offer. The service was just not there. At home I had a nurse and a PT come over to help, but the pain continued. 24 weeks into it, I was still in pain. Eventually, I was referred to top doctor who knew his spine. I do not want to make and references to dampen Spine Institute’s business or improve the other doctors, but both my pain doctor and I learned a very valuable lesson. If you are going to do surgeries, SIoA is not the best of places. I am sure they have a lot of happy patients and I am an exception, but if you want to take the risk, go with these guys. This was the most pain I had experienced in my life. I gave SIoA 2 stars because the staff was very nice and attentive, the doctors did not paralyze me but the results needed a redo. The second surgery also went in a snap and the recovery was much easier, after about 8 weeks I was back to my regular life that had been on hold for the past 15 years. The second practice I went to really knew what he was doing. Do your homework, a doctor who is more concerned about how his smile looks in the pictures and his $ 5K suite might have different priorities than you do.

Don’t waste your time! I recently had an appointment for back pain and one of their «pain specialists» recommended I have some tests to see if I would be a candidate for a certain procedure which is not surgery. I called their Scottsdale office to ask some questions and finally received a call back the next day. When I finally went to my appointment I was informed I didn’t have enough back pain to start my test so I was sent home and told not to return until I was in much more pain. In addition I was informed only one in ten patients were candidates for the procedure and I was to stay off any pain medication or anti– inflammatories until the tests were done.
After three weeks of not having any pain meds, I called their office to speak to the Doctor who hasn’t returned my call. My view is they don’t respect their patients and their attention to detail is very lax. I won’t be going back there ever and recommend you do the same.

Mostly Mediocre. Ive been going here for searing back pain for the past few years. They prescribed an MRI and its a disc problem — Unfortunately every time I go in and they recommend treatment, they tell me they will call my insurance and schedule me when they get an approval. The first time I waited two months and never got a return call. When I finally reached out, I got scheduled and had some injections. (the billing was of course, botched until I had to straighten things out). After a series of injections and some initial relief, the pain came roaring back. I went in again and the doctor recommended an ablation and we had the same conversation about how they would get in touch with me. THREE MONTHS AGO. So I call a week ago, am told to leave a message and still no return call. Clearly its time to go elsewhere. This is not a comment on the doctors. the diagnosis and treatment recommendations were appropriate. After that It’s nothing but wasted time and lingering pain. If I treated people like this, I would have gone out of business years ago. It has become clear to me, that this corporate style of treatment is not for me or anybody who is looking for caring, diligent treatment and follow up.

So thankful for this great group of doctors! When my father fell we were referred to the spine institute by someone at the hospital. They got us in quickly to see Dr Dave who was so wonderful and took time to explain his condition and what tests and treatment she was going to order and why. They got us in with their chiropractor right away, Dr Hessler who my dad thought was just the best! After four weeks of PT with only slight relief he had an injection with Dr Rowley who was kind and put my needle-​hating father at ease. We followed up with Dr Dave each step if the way who always listened and let us know what next steps would be after each treatment. Ultimately he needed surgery and we had a consultation with Dr Gause. dr Gause is a wonderful, competent, and skilled surgeon. He went over the MRI with us and fully explained the surgery. We did go for a second opinion at a different spine doctors office (just to be on the safe side). We didn’t even meet the surgeon at the other office they told us we would meet him the day of surgery, ummmm NO!!! That sealed the deal for us, we wanted a surgeon that we liked and felt confident with and that was clearly Dr Gause. Surgery process was smooth and my dad is now back to doing the things he loves! Thank you to everyone there doctors and staff included.

The Spine Institute of AZ has several offices in the Phoenix Metro area. I was a patient of Dr. Paul Gause, at the Scottsdale location. In my experience this medical practice is set up to process the largest number of patients through the facility, in the least amount of time, with the goal of making the most money possible. I felt like a number, not a person, in my dealing with Dr Gause, as well as during outpatient surgery. Trying to get service or information from their business, or records office, is a nightmare. My calls were almost always handed off to voice mail that employees were either slow to respond to, or they ignored my calls completely. The doctors are quick to prescribe surgery, but when I spoke to them about pain management, they were inattentive and dismissive. Please think long and hard before scheduling an appointment with this practice.

Very efficient staff, friendly too. Had up wait for my appointment but that’s to be expected of most doctor offices. Receptionist was friendly so was the nurse who took me in and the xray technician. I really liked the Bill Balogh, PA, he was very friendly and made me feel comfortable. It was my first time at this clinic but he made it A-​OK! Dr. Dohring himself was nice too, he seemed to really know right away as to what was wrong with me and gave his diagnosis along with Bill Balogh. The only negative on this place was their appointment scheduling, not conducive for people who have 8 – 5 working hours… nice staff, nice people.

Just to be clear… I am writing this review based on my own experience and no one has asked me to write it. I had XLIF surgery 3 months ago to correct a slipped vertebra in my lumbar area. Dr. Mark Wang and the Spine Institute staff were great to deal with from diagnosis through post-​surgery visits. Dr. Wang laid out my options and it was my decision to have the surgery – no pressure. I was lucky enough to have zero problems and now thanks to Dr. Wang I have zero pain. Everyone’s case is different but my procedure went remarkably well – I can’t say enough positive things about Dr. Wang and the Spine Institute. If you’re suffering with back pain, get a consultation.

No meds here. They will fix you with therapy not drugs. Will see if my son, which is why we were there, gets good advice.

The front staff and nursing staff is amiable enough. The doctor I dealt with was also was pleasant enough, however he did seem to be more concerned with his reputation in the medical community or with getting a requested treatment denied by the insurance company rather than fixing my back injury.
They’re nice enough generally speaking that I’d hoped to give them a good review but when I see a doctor I expect results… Or at least a viable plan of action that will treat both the short and long term issues. Initially this was the case but they fizzled out short in my case so far and they do not seem willing to change their minds at this point.

Just had my 6^th spinal surgery this week and it was the best experience I’ve ever had. I originally was scheduled to have the surgery done by Dr, Dohring but he was going to be out of country until sometime in June, So I was reffered to Dr, Mark Wang.
His diagnosis was completely different then Dr Dohring’s but was exactly what I had been looking for the past 4 years, minimally evasive XLIF procedure, For all of you that have had previous spinal surgery, you know all too well how painful it is, Yet this surgery was nearly pain free and I was up and out of bed walking the sameday, This was my 14^th major surgery and my best experiencxe ever. Dr. Wang made me feel totally relaxed as well as the entire hospital staff at Thompson Peak Hospital. I now look forward to gaining my life back after all these years, To be able to walk, stand, visit a park or simply go shopping. Hopefully following Dr, Wang’s post op instructions I will regain my lost functions and get to live a normal life again. Most importantly it will permit me to see my grand kids in Indiana.
If any of you are considering spinal surgery, do yourself a major favor and go see the Doc’s at the Spine Institute of Arizona, you will not be disappointed, If you are complaining about the cost, then you most likely are not in any real pain! For if you were there is no cost you wouldn’t incur to alleviate that pain once and for all,
Frank

We have been flying out to AZ for five years for Dr. Dohring. He is the best lumbar specialist in the country. This is the place to go for difficult procedures!

I wouldn’t recommend this place. I had a herniated back. I was told to go to physicial therapy there first before getting steroid shots. The PT was a joke. I was charged a lot of money once a week for the PT to give me a xeroxed sheet of paper with exercises to do at home. My back got worse and the pain ran down my sciatic for the first time. I decided to go to mayo to get the help I needed and I’m glad I did. There were some other office messups that were frustrating too that I’ll spare you from the details. Don’t go!

I have insurance so I can’t really stand up with or against the previous review on that point. Though I have had good experiences with their billing department. I seldom have to wait very long in the waiting room, but getting an appointment is hard. I often have to schedule way out bc they are booked. I have been seeing Dr. Dohring for a year now. I think he is a great Dr., but he seemed to think I was exaggerating my pain. I have a high pain tolerance so most people don’t know I am in pain, so I can actually see why. Anyway, he’s not my favorite Dr, because sometimes I have to push him to get him to do the tests etc that I want, but he has always in the end done it. He figured out what was wrong with me, sacroiliac dysfunction. If you google you can see it is hard to diagnose so I’m going to give him a pass for a the first couple visits thinking I was exaggerating since he did still follow through with everything rather than just send me on my way like other Dr’s over the past couple years have. It’s a relief to have a diagnosis and I have been getting it treated by Dr. Rowley from the Spine Institute down at Scottsdale Healthcare as well. Dr Rowley is a very kind man who really cares about his patients and in doing a quality job. I appreciate how nice, thorough, and informative he is. I have come to the conclusion that it’s only worth my time to go to specialists bc all other Dr’s never know what the heck is going on if it’s not in the, say, 10 top things people go to the Dr for. Anyway, I am so so grateful for this place because they have found the diagnosis that no one else could. I am currently recovering from a nerve burn Dr Rowley did in my back a week ago. Hopefully I can heal up and finally not be in pain every moment of every day and night now. I’m only 29 and have been dealing with this for two years so it would be so nice to have my life back again, to finally be active again. They have been good about prescriptions too, getting back to myself or my pharmacy promptly for refills (except for one time but no one is perfect I guess) which I appreciate. Since I have little kids the lack of hassle is so appreciated.