Illinois Bone and Joint Institute

Dr. Marc Breslow and IBJI far exceeded my expectations for the quality service they provide! I had left shoulder surgery done by Dr. Breslow and can honestly say, my shoulder feels almost better than new! I had a prior surgery done on the same shoulder for the same issue and unfortunately 3 – 4 months after the surgery I was still experiencing the same pain and discomfort. I called Dr. Breslow who had performed shoulder repair surgery for my husband back in 2005 for a second opinion on what more could be done to correct it. Dr. Breslow did an Arthroscopy surgery and found that the torn labrum was still there! Only 4 months after a previous surgery on the shoulder. Today, my shoulder is amazing and feels even stronger!
The office staff is friendly and helpful! I have never had to wait more than 15 min from my scheduled appointment time and Dr. Breslow takes the time to answer any questions you might have. I just had an MRI done by Dr. Breslow for my right shoulder and will be scheduling a surgery with him to address the issues. I am confident that this procedure will be just as successful as the last one! Thank you Dr. Breslow!

This is a general review for my experience at the Morton Grove location.
So far, IBJI has been promising and on point, aside from the unexpected waiting line that Joelle S mentions (though my wait wasn’t anything like hers). We are close to the Highland Park location, but we were able to snag a last minute appointment for my son due to a cancellation in Morton Grove. It’s nice that their doctors have so many other practice location options.
We had an appointment for 11AM. I was told to arrive early to fill out paperwork, which I did. But, my suggestion is to arrive 30 minutes prior and not 10 minutes prior. We arrived, went up to the 2^nd floor and were greeted with a lobby and a line of people between stanchions and velvet ropes, minus the red carpet. Not at all what I expected. I figured I’d walk up to the desk, check in, grab some paperwork, and sit in the waiting area. Nope, you have to get through the line first. My wait was approximately 10 minutes to get to the desk. The paperwork was IMMENSE! I had two folders of paperwork I filled out, which amounted to around eight pages. They are very thorough here, or perhaps I just signed my life away. It seemed to work out just fine though, because by the time I waited in line, sat down to fill out the paperwork, we were called in for my son’s appointment.
At first one doctor led us in and got my son all set up with height and weight measurements. Then the x-​ray technician snatched him up. Then Dr. Kramer came in, followed by a final doctor to take molds for orthotics. They don’t mess around here!
Customer service was great, facility was super clean, and doctors were friendly. Now we wait for the next round of instructions and to do’s. Hopefully my experience at Highland Park will be just as smooth.

Took my Mom for her 10:30am appointment. Got here early and still no sign of Dr. Jimenez. I guess if you are retired or have the day off with no where to go this is the place to be. Asked several people no one is able to find him! Wonder how things work out for the patient if he or she show up one hour late? It is now 11:32 and no one has shown up. Good times!

After seeing an Orthopod at a community hospital who didn’t really understand what was going on, I got a second opinion with Dr Baxamusa. He was great, as was his staff. Very personable and spent a good 15 mins with me. Had an emg (with Dr Igor-​also fantastic) and decided surgery was best option as conservative treatment wasn’t working (I’m a physical therapist-​trust me I tried). Surgery went great. 4 months later I’m back to normal! Would def. go back to dr Baxamusa!

Waited over a month to see Dr. Majetko. Got there to see a huge line… and you would think people are there can’t walk, stand, ect… but no chairs or anything. Took 25 minutes to check in. For real! Got there at 11:30; appt. at noon. I got to the room at 1:15pm. In this day and age… really? Nurse was nice and got me in the X-​ray line. Got to stay in the comfort of my room for that. Dr. M came in and we talked for over 30 minutes. Didn’t like that I was in such pain and I have done PT for years, yet he prescribed that. He was honest with my weight issues which was very refreshing. No meds prescribed; which is okay, I try to stay away from them; but no concern shown for my pain. Not sure how I really feel.

Long wait for Dr Mardjetko.
Always get 2^nd (3^rd, 4^th) opinions.
Surgery isn’t always the best solution.

I was referred to Dr. Jimenez by my primary and came to Illinois bone and joint for an initial consultation. The first appointment went well but I noticed the exam room was not clean. The doctor ordered a MRI in there facility. I arrived 10 minutes early for the appointment and waited almost one hour for the MRI. I was informed the patient before me was late. I had a feeling this was the normal course of business for them and they cram in as many patients in as possible and never cared about wasting my time.
When I arrived for my follow up appointment again I arrived 10 minutes early and was told to sit in the waiting room. Over one hour past and I was taken to an exam room. I expected to see the doctor soon. An intern came in and asked me several questions that I had answered when I came in the appointment and was told the doctor would be in shortly. Almost one hour later I decided to leave. Dr. Jimenez called my cell phone a left a message regarding my condition and that his staff would call me the next day to arrange physical therapy .I am still waiting for the call over a week later.
Dr Jimenez apparently has no respect for my time and simply should have had his staff inform me he was running very late and I would have rescheduled the appointment.
Asking a patient to wait over two hours to get medical advice that apparently could have been given to me over the phone shows a greed for billing a many patients as he can with no regard for his profession.

This place is everything that is wrong with healthcare today. They are so clearly and unapologetically corporate that they can’t even be bothered to care about the patient’s problems. The horrendous wait time is the least of your concerns if you are going there. The apathetic and self-​satisfied doctors, the incompetent receptionists, the inhumane policies… really, they treat you like a number. I have been here once for my daughter, once for my son, and twice for myself. I am not going back.

I came to the IL bone and joint institute for the past month now, and all I can say is that all of their staff is very helpful and kind. There really isn’t that long of a waiting period in between patients. I always get seen right away. My rheumatologist was Dr. Kothari, I hope I spelled it right. She is definitely more than a healthcare provider, she really cares about her patients and your health is always her top priority. I have nothing but good things to say about her and her assistants. I will always refer my friends to her.

The reception staff could not be any more robatic and care less. You enter a line to check in. No smile but a look of bordom from the mechanical reception staff. The wait time is ridiculous. What is the point of arriving on time for an appointment if you have to wait for over on hour to be called. Very disappointed in the process.

Disclaimer: I cannot comment on how other doctors within the facility are or how my appointment may have went differently had it not been an IME (independent medical exam) appointment. I only went there because I was directed to by my worker’s compensation company.
Anyway, I had received a letter from my worker’s comp. adjuster, saying I needed to appear for an appointment scheduled at 1:15 PM. This appointment had been scheduled about a month out, so it must be diificult to get into this place or maybe just this doctor. I had called to confirm this date and time with the facility about three weeks prior to my visit. I had arrived at 12:30 PM to allow enough time to fill out paperwork. When I got there, they said my appointment was not until 2:00 PM. Not being from the area, I decided to just wait. It would be an hour’s drive back to my house, and I was told that they might still be able to see me before 2:00 if I waited there.
At about 1:50, I was called back by a nurse, brought to an exam room, told to change into exam shorts, and told that it would be about 20 minutes till the doctor saw me. I waited over 40 minutes in that room until the doctor saw me. The doctor I saw was Dr. Michael D. Kornblatt. I wish I could give zero or negative stars based on my experience with that piece of work.
At one point during the exam, I was asked to roll my sleeves above my elbows. When I explained that my shirt’s cuffs were fitted and that I could not pull it up more than a few inches above my wrists, he grabbed my sleeves and started to try to roll them up higher himself. When I protested, saying I didn’t want to stretch out the material, he very curtly replied that if I didn’t, he would have to make documentation on his report that I refused to comply with that part of the exam. I didn’t understand why he took that tone with me or threatened this when he could have easily offered to give me an exam shirt to use so that he could complete the exam. (Though truth be told, the shirt I was wearing was a long underwear shirt, very close to the skin and would have, in no way, impeded his less-​than-​thorough exam.) So, I offered this solution to him, and his response was full of incredulity, as if I were asking for something so-​over-​the-​top and unnecessary, but he did give me an exam shirt/​gown. I might give him a bit more credit if he hadn’t been so rude in his response and facial expression and had he not muttered, «My God…» clearly and loudly enough for me to know that he had meant for me to hear that.
I cannot and would not recommend this guy to anyone I care about.

Terrifying negligent. I was charged $ 960 for an xray of my extremely painful hip. Told I was fine by Dr Moran.
Four months later, went elsewhere for a second opinion with my xrays from ILBJ on a disc I had to pay ILBJ $ 10 for.
Second opinion dr showed me the ILBJ xrays. He said they were so terrible and blurry that nothing could possibly have been diagnosed.
So, my hip was BROKEN THIS ENTIRE TIME! What the hell did I pay over $ 1200 for — $ 960 of which was a bogus xray?
ZERO STARS, GUYS!

ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!!! First of all… they order all sorts of tests… from X-​rays to MRI’s as a matter of course… they refer to themselves and my insurance company gets stuck with exorbitant bills for unneccesary tests… without even examining me, doctors routinely have ordered MRI or x-​rays.
But here’s what really ticked me off today: I arrived on schedule for my appointment and then waited TWO HOURS without being seen! I ultimately walked out… I had this appointment scheduled for several weeks and imagine my frustration at waiting for 2 HOURS and still not being seen. The «support staff» were utterly indifferent. POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE… I will NEVER return to this «factory.» If I could give it ZERO STARS, I most certainly would…

This place is terrible, I had to take my 7 year old son for a broken arm and our first visit we had to wait 3.5hrs to see the Dr. All they could say was sorry he was really busy. The 2^nd visit we waited 3hrs. Our most recent visit we waited 1.5hrs. The Dr. was not at all friend nor was he apologetic for making us wait so long. Apparently his time is the only time that matters. Avoid this place if possible, they are cold and completely inconsiderate.

This is the second time I’ve been here. After 52 minutes in the massive waiting room, where the handful of magazines on the table are from July and August, I have been in the exam room for over twenty minutes with no doctor in sight. This office treats you like a number and it is obvious that their business plan was created with an assembly line in mind.
If you are looking for personal attention and a doctor who makes you feel like an individual, and that your problem matters, I suggest you go elsewhere. That is my intention.

Service was slow– last appt of the day, probably to be expected.
The MD was pretty good, although didn’t really have any real solution– need a new type of shoe, and «surgery down the line». At least I felt validated with my pain. Can come back for orthotics if new shoe doesn’t help. Probably so can pay a second visit fee.
But the billing… really? No online bill pay. No check accepted? I am not sending my CC information by mail (with the security code!). Antiquated for such a large practice!

Waiting for my mother to see Dr. G. The wait is always a minimum of 90 minutes from appointment time. This is the most disrespectful and irritating part of Illinois Bone & Joint!
The nurses are super nice and try to be accommodating. But it doesn’t make up for the fact that the doctor obviously doesn’t care about my time!
Today, thankfully a nurse (who I give 5 stars) took the time to read moms chart and noticed that the procedure she was there for isn’t covered by Medicare until the end of the month. We were there about 20 minutes total today. New appointment was made, I’ll update after that appointment!

Had second epidural injection this past Wednesday, 2÷13÷13 due to rear end car accident, after only three days after my first epidural a couple weeks prior. All symptoms reactivated. Whiplash now, too. CRAP! All I needed: out of pain for a few days after months, then BANG! ILLINOIS BONE AND JOINT INSTITUTE totally Outstanding. Highly recommend. Procedure actually performed in the ILLINOIS SPORTS MEDICINE AND ORTHO SURGERY CENTER. I bring a positive attitude. Speaking with the staff and doctors who will mark the part of the body to be worked on. Ask pertinent questions. They have MRI and xray services. Physical therapy and aqua pool. My physical therapy team outstanding. Great indoor or plenty outside parking. Thank you IBJI.

After getting hit by a car, I went to visit a doctor at the Bone and Joint Institute. They sent me down stairs for an MRI. He wanted me to go right away to see if I could get in.
Well, 20 minutes on crutches later, I make it to the MRI desk (It’s in the back, past the rehab people) and checked in with the woman there. She was super friendly and did everything she could to make me comfortable filling out forms and everything. She got me right in where the Tech helped me lock up my belongings and took me for a scan. It was quick and painless! I’d come back here if I ever need another MRI.

While an IBJI rheumatologist was able to stabilize a severe flare of an autoimmune disease I’ve battled for years, my overall experiences with the practice management of this multi-​specialty medical group have been characterized by poor patient service, inefficiency and overall rudeness. (The registration area at IBJI resembles an airline ticket counter over the holiday season, while the lobby might best be described as looking like Grand Central Station during rush hour.) I also faced the repetitive process of completing duplicate paperwork and patient intake forms —
material which my physician barely bothered to read.
Particularly perplexing was the fact that I recently waited several weeks for a prescription refill of low dose prednisone — a «miracle» drug which is life saving or life changing for those with illnesses similar to my own. I was faced with the challenge of leaving endless voice mails for my doctor and her staff, while my pharmacy was proactive with e-​mails and phone calls regarding the need for this medication. After nearly 2 months of poor communications, I received a call from a «medical assistant» to say that my doctor was vacationing for about 2 more weeks! The support team member asked if I could wait for the refill unitl the return of my IBJI physician. I then asked for the name of the rheumatologist covering for my doctor and received this reply: «A doctor!»
Taking matters into my own hands, I called the main phone number at IBJI and asked for the name of the rheumatologist on call. A few hours later I received a call back from Dr. Kothari, who also asked if I could wait for my doctor to return from her vacation. (She provided a different return to work date.) When I said this matter had been going on for several weeks, she suggested that I try to get by with my remaining medication.) When I finally let my frustration be known Dr. Kothari replied: «This phone call is being recorded.» My only response was «I don’t care if this call is being recorded, but if you want this tape to reflect my opinion of IBJI, I will be scheduling an appointment with a new group of doctors as soon as I get off the phone.»