I have been with the same pain specialist for over 10 years and have followed him to several other medical groups in that time. We started at Synovation and last year we came back. Upon returning the office staff and referral experts were not organized and scheduling was very difficult as the many negative reviews will a test to. HOWEVER! Just recently (Feb 2026) there has been a huge upset and it's soooo much better now. Like how it used to be years ago. If you gave up and left this office in past few years, I highly recommend giving it another try. They finally have their sh*t together. I personally cannot recommend Rob Paul highly enough. He is the reason I stuck with it, even though it was so frustrating. But it's all better now, so come back and give it another try! read more

....he was Instrumental in tapering me from the pain medication i had become dependent upon. I decided the medication DID help, but was not the panacea. So, i decided to taper safely and deal with this chronic (severe) L5-51 disc herniation; which I continue to live with today (JUN 2023). I was discharged from the clinic's care AUG 2019, without any consequences from the medication prescribed for ~10 yrs. Thank you, Nicholas UPDATE: Today is 17 NOV 2025 Continue to be free of pain medication; opiate/opioid type. Occasionally take ibu/apap together for pain relief. Continue with LBP; L5-S1. Now participating in exercise routine to strengthen core which is alleviating the pain. read more

Worst type of place. Lost appoints. Neglected patients. Cannot think of one good thing to say.

Lame. Entirely incompetent. Non truthful. Just lied. I drive an hour. You argue about timing instead of being truthful. You could have been helpful but you chose confrontation. And you know it. Oh and I can speak Spanish. The standard answer of " we don't know anything about the log in, the call center, or how anything works." And the exam room floor is sticky. read more

My wife has suffered for years because of the inept, incompetent, and obtuse people working there. The staff turns over almost monthly and there is NO continuity of care or treatment. Avoid this place at all costs. They treat you like you are an inconvenience to their day. Someone there also stole my CC number and charged over $1000 worth of Apple products. They got caught and were fired. This place is the worst medical practice I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. read more

Crazy that after reading Yelp reviews over and over 1 star reviews about the same thing that happened to me.Asked if someone could call me after a week of waiting for pain meds. read more

I'm sorry to state. I was referred by my doctor. But the office staff here is not up to par. The 1st visit for my treatment and care went as planned for acupuncture with the doctor. The 2nd visit a month later didn't happen, because when I arrived for my appointment the desk staff told me that they didn't have authorization from my insurance provider. Being they didn't handle that part. The 3rd visit didn't go either, today. The front desk staffer set me up with a Thanksgiving morning appointment, which I conveyed to her it was a holiday, and was told the doctor would be in. So no doctor this morning and no reminder sent the day before. I should of known better that it would be a waste of my time and gas. read more

DO NOT GO TO THIS MEDICAL GROUP!!! AWFUL. The worst experience ever. I'm still in shock. The lack of communication with the call center. Trying to make an appointment was beyond terrible. Then they cancelled the injection that was scheduled without telling us. And Dr Gupta was rude and just awful. My son is a professional dancer, seeing this Dr to get better and he tells him maybe you shouldn't dance. While the injection is going on. I've never been more mad and disappointed in a Dr's office in my life. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT GO HERE and look at all these terrible reviews. I'm honestly still in shock. I called the office 25 times in the last two weeks. And left so many messages. Not one was returned. Disgusting. And don't dare comment back saying you apologize because that's such a lie. You should be closed down. read more

Dr. Gupta is a disgusting human. Was getting an injection from him as he tells me to just quit my career path and try something else. That is the most defeating thing you can tell a patient when they are SEEING YOU TO GET BETTER. How could a doctor say that as they are injecting you, supposed to be healing you. Very rude service and his assistant had no idea what she was doing. read more

PA Tara tapers your medication and tries to talk you into taking teeth rotting Suboxene! Horrible care , doesn't care, no compassion or personality. read more

If I could rate this with negative stars, I would! They pride themselves in poor communication and lack follow up. They scheduled an appointment, failed to get prior authorization, canceled my husband's appointment on arrival. Rescheduled him on Thanksgiving morning, questioned the receptionist several times about the holiday, she confirmed stating there are other patients coming in on that day as well. Guess what! Another wasted trip because they were closed. We should send them a bill charging for gas and a no show fee too. If you are into wasting your time and patience, go ahead and book with that slack ass, no courtesy having ass business. read more

Poor health care for those on Medicare. You are nothing more than $$$$$ to these people and I'm using the term "people" loosely. Stay away at all costs, I had to wait 80 minutes to see the make-believe doctor, not a real doctor, more like a trained-to-be. read more

Currently waiting to set he doctor for my mother, 2 hours and still nothing. Find a better doctor office

First time getting acupuncture for muscle spasams I was having due to working out to fast and lifting too heavy. Dr. Lam and his staff are super friendly and helpful. They made sure I understood the procedure and made me feel very comfortable. I has a great experience and recommended his treatment for those seeking acupuncture he said he has been doing acupuncture since 1989. He also gave me some exercises to do to help my stiff muscles. Thank you Dr. Lam. read more

To bad you cannot give a NEGATIVE 5 or 10 or even 100 star review. If so this hack medical clinic would take top spot. I have a Workers Compensation claim where I had to retain an attorney to represent me and my best personal and medical interests. I went in for an appointment that was scheduled over a month ago as a referral from the incompetent doctor and staff at their Chula Vista location. I fill out the forms AGAIN and when my name is called and I am thinking I am going back to an exam room. I am told otherwise. "We have cancelled your appointment and we will notify your attorney." Well, I just got home and based on their lack of personal and professional skills figured they did not know how to use a telephone, so first thing I did was email my attorney. That is what you get for going to a low bid workers compensation referral questionable medical practice who is contracted by my former employer and their workers compensation insurance company. read more

I am so pleased to be a patient of Synovation Medical Group. All of the staff are friendly and professional. Doctor Gupta is very attentive to my needs. He pays attention and takes the time to understood what is going on with me, to give me the best care. Thank you for always looking after me. Five stars to my Doctor and his staffs. read more

They've got a really nice new staff that is willing to listen and help when you need it

Faith Odilia and Lucy and doctor Gupta were great i have chronic Rheumatoid arthritis they totally eliminated my pain thank you sooooo much I would recommend this to anyone suffering pain thank you guys so much read more

was referred back in Feb was able to make an appoint in March after insurance approval, had to wait for the appointment till June 18 because that was their earliest availability . I had plans a vacation during that time but I changed everything around to make this appointment. Synovation call center canx appointment the day prior. with no warning And no message. I really appreciate the time I wasted When I asked to speak to management they would give me the time of day. read more

Terrible customer service, no communication and lack of follow up. I scheduled an appointment, waited 3 months for it and when I called to update my insurance information, I was told "Oh you should have gotten a text message that your appointment needed to be rescheduled as the doctor is not in tomorrow." Next appointment available is not until 3 months later. Mind you, I called the week earlier and a few times before to update the information with no follow up or return call for the messages left. Unprofessional, lack of care for patients and over all trash. Avoid if you want peace of mind. - 50 by all accounts. Just awful experience. read more

First Dr., Patel mysteriously left the practice. Then 2 strange and temporary doctors came in. Dr Z took over at Synovation-Superior in Anderson SC. The office never returns calls, been cancelled twice. The PA is "working from home". Dr. Z called out with an illness the day of a procedure, and that's the last I heard from them. I leave messages, but no return calls. I've tried contacting Synovation Medical Group- the same! This is very unprofessional and suspicious. Go somewhere else! read more

I have an old work injury. My layers referred me to this place and I am just not feeling. Walk-in front desk doesn't great you yet they just ask for your name and handed me papers to sign. I fill out the paperwork hand it in and then they say be seated someone will call you in a few mins. I sit and about 10-15 mins later I'm called....to give me more paper work to fill out 22 Pages of paper work!!! I was like oh I just filled out the paperwork, she says; Yeah you were given the wrong paperwork so you have to fill these out. So I go sit down thinking had i been greeted and asked for my business I wouldn't be filling out extra forms. As I sit im called (I literally just sat) I said I'm not done with the paperwork, it's fine proceeds to take me for weight puts me in a room says Dr will be in, I proceed to start filling out the PpWrk Nile to notice 4 pages were the same I filled out when I arrived(could've added/swapped them) and at this point I'm over it all and scribble things in cause 22 forms is ridiculous and looked to be more about the company protecting themselves from lawsuits than patient injury. Dr (who was a nice man) came in didn't touch me to check my old injury asked a few questions I answered on ppr said ok nerve damage set up acupuncture and appointment for 6wks and all done. Overall time spent 2hrs 7mins Oh and the courtesy call I got to change the appointment date was just as horrible because the phone etiquette had a belittling tone, asked for the person without saying hello this is Soso from Soso office and didn't clearly explain why the change then got snide when I asked questions to figure it out. read more

Synovation Medical Group - 22 sheets of paper to fill out...Yes I did count them! - Physical Therapy Near Me - San Diego, California

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This is the chair they want you to sit in in their doctors office, so the nurse was very nasty when I asked her for another chair and we went back-and-forth so it ended up. They didn't want to see me again. The nurse was rude to me and because I put it in her place she lied on me. read more

Synovation Medical Group - Physical Therapy Near Me - San Diego, California

**********WORST HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IN SAN DIEGO************ I just tried once again to get my Lyrica refilled & I had to deal with a complete moron. I AM DONE & filing a grievance, you take the cake Synovation Medical Group as the WORST HEALTHCARE, hard stop!!!!!!!!!!!! WORST patient support! Office will not respond to texts or messages! Office staff that answers the phone has a bad attitude! Dr. Richardson makes you wait HOURS to see him, for a scheduled appointment! I am contacting the CA Medical Board, you should be SHUT DOWN! ****UPDATE**** This is how low-class Synovation is & how they handle patient complaints, they discharge you, hard stop! I received a call from Kim (role??), what a joke of a company you work for, definitely not in it for patients, you're in it for the $$$. ****Look at all these negative comments & yet the company does nothing but blame patients: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Synovation+Medical+Group+-+San+Diego/@32.751003,-117.2149909,17z/data=!4m8!3m7!1s0x80deab477aa79f59:0xf158d667323fe925!8m2!3d32.751003!4d-117.212416!9m1!1b1!16s%2Fg%2F11p3l2tk42?authuser=0&entry=ttu read more

I'm in the South Bay and I was misinformed about transferred to another location in Oceanside. In the midst of all the confusion my medication wasn't sent to my pharmacy in the South Bay. I called and spoke with a manager who runs the ocean side and Escondido location. Her name is Olga and she was phenomenal at helping me. She was able to expedite my medicines to the location in the South Bay. Olga was understanding and empathized with my situation. She instantly negated my discontent for the confusion. She was extremely helpful. Olga has five stars and deserves a raise. read more

A doctors job is to listen and to work on a plan TOGETHER with their patients. That is not the case here. You will be told your plan, you will not be taken into consideration or heard. They insistent led on an unnecessary MRI for someone who as RA which affects the joints not the spine. Zero pain in the spine in back. That's a clear indicator they just want to run up the insurance bill, insurance fraud written all over these money hungry Dr's. So so discouraging when all you want is help with your CHRONIC pain, and they have no idea what RA is or how to properly treat it. Disgusting. read more

If your experience was positive, then it was an anomaly. Remember the definition of anomalous ? H. "Erkle" Richardson, MD runs a Dog and Pony Show @ Midway. No interest in medical history, no MA to take vitals H'E'R,MD rubber stamped me out of there, but I caught him lying, boldface'dly and he was embarrassed...the proof is a urinalysis bottle for drug screening. "We don't prescribe medication". But your Medicare Card is sooo precious to them. San Diego is lousy with Pain Managers. Don't get a lousy Pain Manager. Your time is worth more than his. read more

It is a Mill. They run you in and out. They get you hooked unpaid meds, then control your life. I have had five PAs in a little over two years! The original Dr. Richardson was wonderful! But since he left, it's been horrible. The procedures I had done were all rushed. This latest PA who is actually an NP, told me all my pain was due to the fact that I was not vegan! That's insane. I have severe central canal spinal stenosis and severe osteoarthritis and I'm diagnosed with PMR. And she told me all my problems because I ate meat. All my pain would be gone if I stopped eating meat. Insane. If you are five minutes late, they will not take you, but I have waited over two hours to be seen. In other words, if you have another choice, exercise that choice! read more

These guys are the most unprofessional group of medical providers I have ever seen. From one human being to another these people simply just don't care. After been give in the run around by doctor Richardson (if you can call him that) making multiple appointments that had to be rescheduled and rescheduled, along with taking multiple assessment tests I'm still back at square one. Please don't waste your time. read more

I was referred over to this office and upon initial contact and before reading reviews, I was appalled by our phone conversation. The male I spoke to was rude and not helpful whatsoever. They were also only available twice a week for limited hours 8am-2:30 pm. Definitely got a weird vibe and after reading reviews, I will not be scheduling an appointment. read more

I have had 3 appointments with Dr. Dairo at Synovation Medical Group for pain management (including a diagnostic surgical procedure), and had a 4th appointment scheduled for 3/13/24. Two stars because I really liked Dr. Dairo and was just starting to trust and feel comfortable with him. Today, 3/5/24, I got a call from Synovation telling me they need to reschedule my 3/13/24 appointment because Dr. Dairo is now only seeing new patients. I expressed my disagreement with this as I am an established patient with Dr. Dairo and I do not want to start the process over with a new provider. I was told this is a new policy as of 3/4/24. I was not given the option to continue seeing my doctor so I told them I would not be returning to their office. I filed a grievance with my insurance and am considering filing a complaint with the Department of Health. read more

this place is f****** terrible ! first they reschedule me back a month because the original dr. i was supposed to see wasn't a workers compensation dr. then they reschedule me another month because they over booked. then 2 days before my appointment they reschedule me again because they overbooked again ! then they schedule me for friday at 8:00am but tell me to come 30 minutes early when they dont even open until 8 and their front door was locked ! people were waiting outside so i waited in my car in the front until 8 and the doors were still locked. some random lady finally saw me and she was a worker and told me she'd open the front door , and by the time i get to synovation they sit here and hit me with a no call no show and lie and say they were in the front . so now i'm scheduled a whole week again. open the front door if you want me here at 7:30 . make your directions bettwr for new clients. stop over booking. read more

In short, this is yet another trash Medi-cal factory with egregiously incompetent staff and inexperienced, unknowledgeable doctors who are utterly incapable of treating patients with complex conditions. The one I saw, Nguyen, became visibly panicked - and that's not hyperbole: her eyes visibly widened with every sentence I spoke, and this behind her mask - when I was describing my multiple severe, debilitating conditions, and stammered that she hadn't heard of most of them, and others hadn't read anything about since medical school and would have to ask her "mentor" if he had any ideas about treating me. I don't usually write up medical facilities due to privacy reasons, but people need to know about this place. The worst sin was the medical records, which were absolutely so rife with errors that I had to move to have a formal amendment because I don't want all their errors and false information transmitted to other medical providers who may encounter them. This place, a pain management center, erroneously stated in my medical records, among MANY other things, that I have had hip fractures, back fractures, back surgeries, NONE of which is true. I filled two pages of a word document with the errors contained in my medical records when I reviewed them, and this from TWO VISITS: TWO! I'm looking into whether this kind of grotesque incompetence is worthy of a Dept. of Public Health or HIPPAA complaint, because of how many problems this can cause patients down the road. In short: stay away from this factory. This is another one of these crap Medi-cal dumps which work in volume and do everything on the cheap, because they're trying to make money off the criminally inadequate Medi-cal system (aginst which, to my knowledge, there is currently a class-action, civil rights lawsuit), and the way you do that is to essentially work in bulk, doing everything as cheaply as possible, like treating people like cattle and hiring idiot, overworked staff who hate their job, and it shows. I know: I worked for one of them briefly doing scheduling, which was some of the most valuable education of my life. read more

They don't care about your pain, they don't listen to you and constantly change your meds according to them want you in a more natural treatment without opioid when you been on opiods for the past 6+ months out of no where they decide to get you off them and of course no help, and because you speak up and I'm a latina w strong voice they accuse you of yelling and drop you from their care and threatened to call your pcp like I'm scared or should be, the case worker who sounded african american was totally disrespectful calling me by my last name not allowing me to speak be careful they are also horrible in answer the phone, voice mails are full, to many doctors in one care that you don't even know who your doctor is than they tell you one thing and do another, the front desk always talking about personal life like they are in their free time instead of helping patients or answering them phones just everything about the midway office in San Diego is no good so run! read more

DO NOT GO HERE IF YOU'RE TRULY IN PAIN. Go somewhere else. I'm a caretaker. The Doctors are incompetent and don't follow up with insurance for medications they prescribe. Dr Richardson is a joke. They also discriminate against people who use medical marijuana for chronic pain related depression, which the patient's psychiatrist recommended since the patient doesn't want to be on SSRI anti- depressants. RUN! read more

RUN RUN RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN these are the worst so called professionals In the medical industry they care very little for the patients And provide horrible service I would not even carry a flea that bit my dog to this place. Dr Choi is Completely incompetent. Very little about the patient will not listen to patient input lacks empathy for anyone and has the audacity to complain about how many patients she hast to see on a daily basis and what a problem that is for her. I have never had this experience before and any Doctor Who join Synovation Medical Group and my judgment can't get a job anywhere else. Period!!!!! I am in the television entertainment industry and boy would I love to have a story done on these people read more

I used to be happy with the treatment I got here and my doctor the time was Dr Robert Paul. since he left the practice I was given to Dr Nadine Batel. it has taken forever to get an appointment accomplished to get results back from an MRI 3 weeks ago. I had just the same experience the person above... that kept getting delayed and delayed saying they need a new referrals.... month after month.... insurance changes etc it's all BSdelaying tactics!! I'm out of my pain medication and they didn't keep their phone appointment with me yesterday. they don't return phone calls they don't return text messages either. I left my phone number on their " please will call you back in the order is received" and for 2 days I'm not received a call back! I don't even know if they're still in business. I'm extremely frustrated and disappointed and highly recommend you find anywhere but here extremely unprofessional and a total waste of time and prolonging my misery... I am so disgusted! read more

I recommend anyone considering Synovation to steer clear. I received some of the worst medical care in my life from this operation. Rob Paul (nurse practitioner, I believe) in particular was the problem in my case. He seemed to have a really bad attitude, belittling other patients and myself. And from speaking to other patients in their waiting room, they'd also experienced poor care from this employee. I could literally share dozens of examples of poor care from Rob Paul. I'll share one experience here. During one of my appointments, I was waiting in the exam room and I could clearly hear Rob meeting with an elderly patient and his wife in the next room. The walls are apparently quite thin there, so much for HIPAA requirements. That particular week San Diego received lots of rain. Rob explained to the elderly patient he needed to do a lot of walking. The patient explained he can't, it's been raining outside for days. Rob then suggested that the elderly couple go buy rain suits/jackets and exercise in the rain. Based on what I could hear they were clearly blown away by that suggestion, but agreed to do it. After Rob prescribed the same medication dosages for my chronic pain with no improvement at all over several months, I finally gave up. There must be some progress made eventually. He might need a different line of work. I should mention that Courtney Farrar, DPT is excellent for physical therapy. I have no complaints there. Additionally, their admin staff seemed to be ok there. But again, regarding their larger role, Synovation fell short significantly. Don't waste your time and hard earned money at Synovation. read more

Terrible experience with this office. So BAD that I have to write a review. I have been seeing Dr. Henry Richardson for the past year. I am pretty happy with him but dealing with the office is not so great. I recently requested for an epidural injection for my back. Dr. Richardson told me that he will get the approval from my new insurance and had it ready for me in a week. A week later after hearing nothing from them. I called the office and they said they will have to get a new referral from my doctor since it is a change in insurance. I right away called and my doctor sent it over. A week later, I called back. They replied that they still didn't receive the referral. I then call my doctor and had him fax the referral over the 2nd time. A week later, I called back. They replied that they got the referral and will send it out for approval. A week later, I called back. They replied that the person who takes care of getting the approval is just back from vacation and she is behind with work. They will take care of it right away. A week later, I called back. They repeated the same vacation story to my dismay. I confronted them about the repeat of the excuse. This time they assured me that they will take care of it and scheduled me to go in for the procedure in a week. A week later they called me saying that they will have to cancel the appointment since my insurance rejected the procedure. I asked if there was a reason why. They replied that they didn't know. A day later I called my insurance. They told me that nothing was submitted for authorization from Dr. Richardson's office. I called Synovation and told them what happened. They changed the story saying that they now need a consent form from my insurance company that they are allowed to treat me. WHAT? I asked "why you didn't you tell me this yesterday? Instead, you told me that my insurance did not approve the procedure? I asked to speak to a manager, and she put me on hold for 15 minutes before I was able to talk to the manager. I repeated my story in full again with the manager. She then put me on hold again for close to an hour, so I hang up out of sheer frustration. So instead of having the procedure done 5 weeks ago, I have been waiting for this office to do their job. Instead, I am now in pain and have to find a new place to get the procedure done. I should have saved my time by going somewhere else and will do so in the future. read more

Absolutely pathetic office and staff. Drove over an hour to get to this appointment and due to traffic was two minutes late so my appointment was canceled. Rude staff behind the counter , absolutely horrible read more