Bay Area Bone & Joint Center

I’ve mostly been seen by Dr. Pirnia since a hip replacement in 2014 in which he did a stellar job. However, recently I have been seeing Dr. James DiStefano as I will eventually be needing a complete right shoulder replacement.
My experience with Dr. DiStefano has been absolutely fantastic! Excellent at his trade and specialty. I’ve had several cortisone shots in the shoulder. one a few days ago which tremendously helped with pain & movement. Dr. DiStefano knew exactly what to do. Calming & patient. His preparation prior to the injection was remarkable. Administered cold numbing spray, quick poke and talked me through the entire process in which helped tremendously.
He is extremely knowledgeable, confident and precise in knowing exactly what to do.
My new insurance for 2016 (Anthem BC) has not finalized an agreement with Alameda Health Systems as of yet (Alameda Hospital). Still in negotiations. However, I am covered for «in-​office visits only at this time. Not covered for procedures done «outside» of the Bay Area Bone & Joint Center as of yet. I do not want any other Dr. besides Dr. DiStefano to perform my shoulder replacement, so, I will wait until the agreement finalizes in order to use him as my surgeon.
My company re-​evaluates new insurance companies each year. So, if I must wait until 2017 for a new insurance provider in order to have Dr. DiStefano perform the replacement… I will do that! Dr. DiStefano is extraordinary in his mannerisms as is Dr. Nicholas Pirnia — both residing at Bay Area & Joint Center, Alameda, CA). I will also wait for Dr. Pirnia as my right Hip eventually will need to be replaced.
Thanks to both of these extremely great surgeons. I couldn’t be happier.
David M
Alameda, CA

Receptionist window. I happen to like this place. It is by appointment only! I see Dr DiStefano he is only in on Mondays and is in surgery the rest of the week. The staff does there very best to be helpful and supportive, but are still on the newish side of the doctors office world. There are always issues like long waiting for your appointment that was lost or not entered in to their new system correctly. But their personality and the care the doctors have for the patients really make up for it.

Well, you don’t have the worry about me ever coming back here again!
I was sent to collections, erroneously, and had to spend my time, which is way more important than money, digging up the proof that I had paid the $ 40 co-​pay that his office did not keep proof of.
So not only did they not contact me about this, send me directly to collections, were wrong, do not keep good records (which is illegal and against OSHA btw as they are not only supposed to have good record keeping but keep all records for up to 7 years on every patient), but they wasted my time and I had to spend time proving a point over $ 40 damn dollars.
I was so pissed and annoyed that I had to deal with them, their ignorance, their passing the «buck» when it was their fault and also having to put my poor banker through hell having to look through my account through so many months to find the payment and then fax the proof to all the significant parties.
Thanks for wasting my time both in the office and when I was done with you.
You did me no good either times and thank G-​d I paid you with my debit card so I had proof. Otherwise I would have been steaming mad if I would have had to pay it again just for the pure fact of the matter or your ignorance.

Alameda Alliance and Piedmont Primary Care conspired to send me here, and I’m glad they did. Dr. Pernia is an excellent surgeon, caring and attentive, visiting me in hospital every day to check on my healing process after the total left hip replacement he did on me (due to Avascular Necrosis).
He and his partner did the surgery after meetings with me and a friend where he discussed the different options and how the replacement works. I went with titanium rather than ceramic based on my own worries of unknown possible issues.
My hip has been healing appropriately, but due to another pain he has been great about following up with me and getting me the appropriate medical tests to track down the cause. I feel like he listens and tries to do the best thing for his patients.
His staff is a bit wonky however, and not always good at doing their jobs, like scheduling MRI appointments when he requests them, or letting patients know their surgery dates have been moved. He could use some more experienced office personnel, certainly.

At 63 I have seen more than my share of Doctors. Dr. Pirnia is the best. From the first contact with staff to the result of his treatment I was amazed at the sensitivity to my problem, the explanation of treatment alternatives and most of all the RESULTS! I recommend with no hesitation. OUTSTANDING!

I broke my middle finger last december and went there to be treated by Nicholas Pirnia.
I had a rather complicated fracture as the backside of my upper bone was broken and the fracture went into the upper joint. At the Alta bates hospital they told me to be careful, as I might get arthritis from it. So I asked the doctor what I can do to avoid that.
He said «If you get arthritis, then only in 10 years» I «Ok, then I am 43 and I don´t want to have that» He «Then you come to my office and I give you a shot, so your finger will get stiff and you won´t feel anything»…well, actually I also don´t want to have a stiff middle finger with 43!
Well it continues by the fact that he wasn´t able to provide me the correct splint he rather cut the initial one from the hospital.
After that experience I was so desperate, I mailed my Xrays to another doctor in Europe who told me what to do… and then I finally got the treatment I needed.
Never go there again.

Terrible… waited for 2 weeks for an appointment after getting a referral. Come appointment date, they don’t even have me in the system. The doc’s may be good (I’ll never know) but the idiots setting up the appointments are, well, idiots.