I was referred to this doctor in 2020 by another doctor stating Dr. Rivera was supposed "expert" in the area I was being referred for. I scheduled the appointment and there was a month wait. I went to the appointment. She walked in, asked "how she could help," in a polite, but clueless manner, I explained what I was being referred for. She explained there was no laboratory test testing for this, and proceeded to read out a checklist of things. Doctors look for in diagnosing said condition. To which she briefly assessed me for and was like " no it doesn't look like you have this, can I help with anything else?" from start to finish I was literally out the door in 10 minutes upon entering the exam room. While she was polite, as were the staff, I really felt like this was a waste of my time and co-pay money. read more

The poor ratings are real. Poor staff support, disrespectful supervision, and lack of empathy. Steer clear.

Had an appointment where I was told to arrive 30 min early, for her to make me wait an extra 45 min. After I posted a review, she terminated me as a client without even having the respect to let me know. It was even 3 stars! She also deleted my review of her on the healthcare site Tebra. She clearly gets her feelings hurt extremely easily and cannot handle it. Horrible doctor read more

Wow, I guess checking Yelp reviews is worth the time. Really wish we had done so. I accompanied my wife (a retired nurse of 30 years) to her initial appointment (after a two month wait). My wife is one of the most compassionate and understanding humans to walk the earth. Beloved by patients, coworkers, physicians she worked with and so on it was absolutely shameful how she was treated in this clinic. No person deserves to be treated so poorly, especially someone who spent 30 years dedicated to caring for others. When checking in she was not greeted, only a demand for insurance verification and driver's license. Red flag number one--really tells you what is prioritized here. Completely understanding that scanning driver's licenses has become standard operating procedure in healthcare my wife still chose to decline this part of checking in. I do the same. Yes, we usually get some pushback but once we explain that we are totally fine with sharing the license, allowing for identify to be confirmed and clearly stating that we do not mind sharing the license at each subsequent visit we have never had an office not flex to our wishes. Not here. In fact, it escalated so quickly that it was beyond ridiculous. The office manager (the rudest person in healthcare ever encountered) came out full-force as if my wife had committed some crime by simply demonstrating her values. She snatched the license from the receptionist and shoved it towards my wife and said the doctor would not see her. By the way, my wife had already relented and said they could scan it although it would be under protest. Nope. She rudely told her to leave and then had the gall to walk back (still within earshot) and tell the physician the WE LEFT! Frankly, this doesn't even do justice to how rudely we were treated. My wife had never raised her voice, was not "Karen-ing" out on anyone. She simply stated her reluctance to share a copy of her license in this age of data breaches. Lastly, do these people even have a sense of who they SERVE?! My wife has been sick for months with no relief. She is tattered and tired. Sad and scared. As are many patients who show up at these offices. Perhaps not at their best these patients when coming to an office, especially a new specialist. SHAME on the staff here and double shame on the physician for not setting a better tone for what compassion looks like. DO NOT SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT HERE. read more

Highly not recommended. She is so unprofessional, unresponsive and she's receptionist are so irrespectful..she star my treatment and after two month she DENIED TO CONTINUE MY TREATMENT. SO IRRESPONSIBLE. I PUT A COMPLAINT ON THE MEDICAL BOARD. I NOW I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE HAVE THIS ISSUESS. If you have a complaint call medical board. read more

Dr. Rivera is the worst doctor I have ever met! Its really hard to schedule an appointment with a rheumatologist, ive been waiting for this appointment for 4 or 5 months, and it only lasted 2 minutes. Right away she told me that "everything is fine and if i have anymore questions before i leave?" Its only been 15 seconds and she didnt really listen to me and whats going on with my pain. And how everything is fine if I have pain and my blood work was abnormal, thats why my physician sent me a referral to a rheumatologist, because I needed more blood work and diagnostics. Her response was "just forget about those lab results, everything is fine, I will make a note in your account so we wouldnt do those test again". like what? My blood work came back abnormal a few time already, and she said just to forget about it?! And every time I tried to tell her where is my pain located, and asking( like 5 times) to do more blood work or something else, she was interrupting me all the time "do you have anymore questions before you leave?". And she was so rude and unprofessional, the tone of her voice and the way she look at me. And then she just stood up and left the room, without saying anything. and it was the end of my visit. Just very unprofessional, and a waste of time. read more

This review is written for my spouse who was a patient 2.5+ years ago. My spouse was referred to the doctor again. First, https://www.rheumsd.com/appointment_request does not work. Called office and no one picks up the phone on the first day called. Finally got appointment for Wed, August 02nd at 2:00 PM PDT and then was canceled by the provider and scheduled for Wed, October 25th at 2:20 PM PDT with Tania Rivera, MD at Rancho Bernardo Ended up taking business elsewhere. read more

I had never been seen by Dr. Rivera so I don't know how good or bad she is. This review is for her staff. Total of three times I had appointments at Dr.Rivera's clinic, I was seen by someone else (PA? I can't remember her name). When she needed me to get my blood test done for the first time in 2021, I requested to send the order to a lab I always go to. And everything went smoothly. However a few months later for the second time I had to go get my blood withdrawn, the order wasn't there at the lab although I reminded the PA to send the order to the same lab. I called Dr. Rivera's office from the lab, but they didn't answer so I wasted my time going to the lab. About 10 days later, they called and told me that they sent the order to my requested lab so I can go get my test done. I went to the lab again in the following week, they still didn't have the order. Nobody at Dr.Rivera's office answered my called, so I left the lab again, but I kept calling while I was still in the area, and someone ended up answering my call so I made an u turn to the lab and was able to get her fax the order. FINALLY I got my blood test done. When I was ready to have another appointment, they could NOT locate my test result. I explained my concern when I was speaking to Angelica, she said "I'm not the only one who works here so don't blame me, okay?" She is the face of the clinic along with some others. If I'm an employer, I would NOT keep someone unprofessional like Angelica. She also spoke over me. Very rude! They emailed me one day in the following week if I'm interested in seeing the doctor in the afternoon, I replied "If you have my blood test result, I can come in." Their response was "You have an appointment at 2:30pm." They are seriously terrible at handling the basic tasks! I didn't even bother to email or call them. A few minutes passed 2:30 on the same day, Sophia called me because I was late to the appointment. She seemed to be nice and apologetic about my situation with them after I explained. Even though I wasn't happy about receiving the total of 6 or 7 calls asking the name of my lab, address, and phone number, I could tell she was trying to straighten the situation. They eventually found my test result, and someone called me to confirm my appointment with Dr. Rivera, I decided to cancel it. I figured I deserve better. I told the woman that I will seek for another Rheumatologist. As two other reviewers commented, the staff at Dr. Rivera's office are very unprofessional. I've never encountered a doctor's office like this one. read more

So I called at 10:00 am for the doctor to see if I could pick up a sample pack as my pharmacy is not expecting me to have it until Friday. Ashley, the receptionist stated she would talk to the doctor and call me back. I called at 1:50 pm and Ashley answered the phone. She did not talk with the doctor, she did not call me back and stated that I would have to get in touch with the mail order pharmacy. She kept putting me on speaker phone in order for all to hear me. Very unprofessional. I have a call into the doctor. Let's see if she givers her the message. read more

Excellent! I've had issues w/ my back/hips for years and was referred to Dr. Rivera by my chiropractor. Everything was clearly explained, she listened well, took the time to answer all my questions/concerns and presented options that should be discussed with the neurosurgeon. Really impressed with this doctor and highly recommend her. read more

Attempted to schedule an appointment but schedulers are difficult to work with and even insists on having all labs faxed even though I have copies to bring and they are available online through Quest and LabCorp. Who even has a fax machine anymore?! I've seen other rheumatologists and they are tech savvy enough to prefer electronic records or review the records I bring in. I was already concerned due to the other complaints about them accepting insurance and this just further confirms. read more

I was calling to see if my insurance was accepted and the girl that answered the phone was very informative and helpful. Its rare finding someone so professional and kind when calling a doctors office. Great customer service! I called a few different doctors and clinics and the receptionist that answered were not very professional. read more

I changed from another rheumatologist to Dr. Rivera, and I'm so glad I did. I have to drive a bit farther but it's worth it. My health and quality of life are better because she listens and she is so knowledgeable. She knows cutting edge treatments because she's also involved in research. Everyone is so kind in her office, too, so it takes the stress out. I feel fortunate that a rheumatologist of this caliber is in this area. read more