I made a horrible mistake proceeding with the surgery of my hand with Peter Birnbaum. I allowed him to do an operation he had never done before, but he acted so confident I went ahead. He did a brutal job. It was so messy and so much blood splattered on an assisting technician, that I was asked to take a blood test for any infectious disease. It was touch and go if my finger would die and a very long painful recovery. The follow-up procedure required a skin graft I learned later, and Birbaum did not know that. read more

I would highly recommend Dr. Birnbaum to anyone. He did a great job treating my leg and ankle injuries. The surgery went very well and I have recovered without any complications whatsoever. Dr. Birmbaum is very informative and took a lot of time answering my questions. His staff is very friendly and professional. and very helpful dealing with my insurance problems, they were on top of it! I'm thankful that he was the doctor assigned to me and now that I have this relationship with him, he will be my preferred orthopedic specialist!!! read more

Had a lot of faith he would do an excellent job. Well I had a botched surgery. Cannot wear a ring.Scar tissue formed no instructions on after care.He does not talk or act like a Dr should.He cares about the cash coming in not the patient. He spends very little time with you. read more

I had a bump with mass skin on my right index finger and had surgery with Dr. Birnbaum. He is an amazing is an surgeon. On my first consultation he explained the procedure thoroughly and schedule my surgery for the following week. The surgery was a success and I recovering quickly with 2 weeks my finger was back to normal no pain and I did not require therapy. I was afraid that after surgery my finger would be in pain but I never had to take medication the recovery was lovely. I was so happy with my surgery no scar on my finger that is how excellent his work is, you can't even tell I had surgery on my finger. The office staff are always friendly and very helpful. I appreciate the wonderful care that I received. I would highly recommend Dr. Birnbaum if you are looking for an orthopedic surgeon and will also recommend him to family and friends. read more

THANK God for Yelp. I am a very tolerant person but when an office simply doesn't care about their patients then it's time to seek another doctor. I am not going to be negative and bash Dr. Birnbaum's less than friendly office staff or his lack of bedside manner. All I am going to say in the service of those of you searching for a good DO... Please read the reviews and let me say I was able to change doctors before it was too late. I hope he reads this and makes changes for everyone's well being. read more

I saw Dr Birnbaum this week. I was hesitant because of some of the reviews on here, I took my chance and went, I'm glad I went. I was seen for my trigger finger in my thumb and got a cortisone shot. I would highly recommend him. The staff is very friendly also. read more

He seemed like he was always in a rush. I never really felt like he gave me a full diagnosis, he just asked me a couple questions and immediately said lets do an MRI. After the MRI, on our follow up, he walked in said hey nothing is wrong, do physical therapy. The shortest post MRI follow up I have ever had. Did not ask how my knee was doing. It still hurts and I am going to someone else. read more

I had two reconstrution surgeries on both of my hands and Dr Birnbaum did an excellent job

You don't really get a choice when you have an HMO I guess, but if you do... Don't chose to see Dr. B if you can see a higher rated hand specialist. My complaints have to do with his lack of bedside manner. I really just felt like a dollar sign to him - get em in get em out and line the pockets with some $. I tried to ask for more information about my condition, and he had no desire to educate/inform me as his patient. I was having surgery, and I shouldn't humor him with trying to have my pea brain understand a medical condition that he had to do 8 yrs of med school to understand. I've seen doctors that lack bedside manner, but this was pretty bad. Two months later I get a bill in the mail for $1000+ and no one ever said anything about insurance not covering the surgery, usually patients are told when they have to cover a balance, right?!..... after calling a few times to the office (that was on vacation) I finally am told to call their billing office... the lady told me to disregard the bill because it was sent in "error"... are you SERIOUS??? so what would've happened if I paid without questioning it?!!!..... what a SCAM!... when asked if I would get something in the mail to let me no there was a zero balance, "we'll probably send something"... yeaaaaa OK... who knows, maybe now i'll get a bill because of my Yelp review. bottom line.. STAY AWAY! read more

My high school age daughter had a badly sprained from playing lacrosse last spring. Her primary care physician delayed in referring an ortho and it got worse. When we finally got in to see Dr. Birnbaum, he took decisive action and his treatment plan resulted in healing her ankle without surgery. She is in PT now and working to get back to normal. We are very thankful for Peter and his kind staff who took great care of my daughter. read more

Dr Birnbaum is an excellent orthopedic surgeon. He has done a few surgeries on me for trigger release in my digits and I am very happy with the results. He is professional courteous and respectful. I have complete confidence in his abilities as a surgeon and a medical professional. read more

* Dr. Birnbaum did not seem interested in me telling him about my condition history. I would try to tell him about my history but Dr. Birnbaum would interrupt me and then change the subject. * Dr. Birnbaum first told me that he felt I needed surgery. After he told me he felt that I needed surgery, I asked a question about how he knew, he then complained that he did not have something called a "needle test" to fully gauge what was wrong with my nerves on file for me and that without that test he could not appropriately and accurately ascertain whether or not I really needed surgery but still he said that surgery was probably a good idea for me anyways. * Dr. Birnbaum said he could move the ulna nerve from being pinched. I asked Dr. Birnbaum if the nerve is damaged or pinched because I smashed my elbow 9 years ago. He stated it may be crushed, pinched, or a build-up of scar tissue and that that without the "needle test" there is no way to ascertain what is really going on. Dr. Birnbaum was recommending surgery to fix a problem when he admittedly did not have enough information to know whether or not the problem he was recommending surgery for was actually a problem or not. * Although Dr. Birnbaum said I could get the needle test done at my neurologist (Dr. Tian), Birnbaum recommended I see another neurologist that he preferred and said that my neurologist (Dr. Tian) did not need to know that I saw Dr. Birnbaums recommended neurologist at all. He said keeping quiet about seeing another neurologist behind my neurologist's back was a "professional courtesy" otherwise another doctor might become upset and not send him referrals anymore. * In the 20 minutes that we spoke to Dr. Birnbaum, he mentioned on multiple occasions problems that he has had with previous patients and the need for him to "cover his ass". o Dr. Birnbaum stated that on a previous patient he had done surgery on, the patient came back afterwards and said that Dr. Birnbaum did not "fix the problem". Dr. Birnbaum then stated that he had told the patient as a response that the patient had nerve damage prior to the surgery. This implies that Dr. Birnbaum recommended surgery to a patient without giving accurate information to the patient about their condition prior to the surgery and thus did not give the patient realistic expectations in regards to the outcome of the surgery. This also implies that Dr. B may not have known about the nerve damage prior to the surgery and this is something that he should have known because he told me there are ways of determining nerve damage via a "needle test". * Dr. Birnbaum stated that he was glad that I seem to understand what he is talking about because Dr. Birnbaum stated that he has patients who do not understand their condition, the risks, the benefits, etc., because "their lights are not all on upstairs" and that he pushes surgery on them anyways and they just have to trust his judgement. o Dr. Birnbaum's admitted pushing of surgery on patients without their full understanding violates California's requirements for informed consent, and as such I do not trust his judgement. In conclusion, Dr. Birnbaum did not seem interested in my history or what I have done in regards to my own situation. Although ultimately Dr. Birnbaum agreed to waiting 6 months to monitor my condition, he recommended surgery at points throughout the consult even though he stated he did not have the "needle test" results to give him a more accurate understanding of my condition. Dr. Birnbaum also recommended going to his "buddy" neurologist behind my neurologists back as to not step on anyone's toes so he does not lose future referrals. He talked about his experience with other patients in which he revealed pushing surgery without informed consent and not disclosing information to patients to give realistic expectations about the outcome of the surgery. read more

Great doctor, very knowledgeable and good bedside manor!

I have been a patient of dr Birnbaum for the past two years. Eventually I will have him do surgery on my thumb joint. I am surprised at some negative reviews because the office staff have always been professional and courteous. I have never waited more than 15 minutes to see the doctor. Dr Birnbaum in conjunction with me, has never pressured me to set a surgical date. He has only showed compassion and allotted me ample time for questions. I highly recommend him. read more

I was a little worried before I visited Dr. Birnbaum because the Yelp reviews did not seem very good, and after my Nov. 13 appointment.....up to now, I decided he is a good and experienced doctor, not only that he cured my thumb pain by giving me the shot, but also he told me up front that it will take a week or so to see the result, so I didn't become paranoid and search for further unnecessary assistance, the office clerks were all friendly and efficient, I could tell that everyone there tried to improve their service to recover from those bad reviews previously, believe me I saw worse doctors and nurses but I was too lazy to write the review, but Dr. Birnbaum really deserves good review. -Carol read more

Dr. Peter Birnbaum is a very well trained, conscientious, and excellent Orthopedic Surgeon. He is supported by an experienced, supportive staff that help run a busy practice. I am a physician myself, and I trusted Dr. Birnbaum to operate on a painful chronic wrist condition which he completely healed. He is also very skilled at doing joint and soft tissue injections and completely took away some annoying chronic hip pain I had. He also took care of my daughter and made the right decision not to operate on an injury where an MRI suggested she needed an operation. Most importantly, he is a smart doctor who knows his Orthopedics and from my experience with him he makes correct, thoughtful decisions. read more

my daughter had a complicated fracture and Dr Birnbaum fixed it perfectly. the staff was very courteous . outstanding service.

I HIGHLY suggest seeing Dr. Birnbaum! I recently broke my ankle and after getting two separate opinions, I drove the extra miles to see Dr. Pete. His office is clean and plenty places to sit and his office staff are professional and courteous...I never had to wait longer than 5-10 minutes. Dr. Birnbaum was honest and answered all my questions. He thoroughly went over all my x-rays and never rushed me or made me feel like I was wasting his time. He and his staff helped me with paperwork and always were welcoming and pleasant . I am referring Dr. Peter Birnbaum to all my friends and family. read more

Dr. Birnbaum is a wonderful Doctor!He knew exactly what he was doing and the ankle is as if it was never broken. Amazing!! Wonderful bed side manner that goes along with his expertise. His staff is so kind and friendly that keeps the office running on schedule, you never sit there long waiting to be seen. I would highly recommend him.Thank you so much Dr. Birnbaum!!! read more

Dr. Birnbaum's skill set, professional manner and thorough follow through repaired a painful right arm I have lived with for over 15 years. Previous medical attempts by others were not successful. His office staff is very efficient and thorough and made sure I was well taken care of. read more

I have had a great experience and work done by Dr. Birnbaum. The office is clean, not over crowded, staff is helpful and friendly. Dr. B., is very good at explaining the options, and the upside and downside to procedures he recommends. He is very observant and ready to provide some choices in addressing your issues. I had a nerve blockage that manifested in my wrist, but he noticed my hands had atrophy, sent for a nerve study. Issue was in my elbow. Ulnar Transposition was recommended, and I was back to playing hockey, with no PT even, The stitch work was amazing compared to others I have seen with same procedure.Scar is a thin small line, plastic surgeon clean in the stitch work!!! I highly recommend his services. read more