Molly D. Magnano, M.D

I am a new patient of Dr Magnano's. My former Rheumatologist closed her practice abruptly. I am so grateful that this happened and that I found Dr Magnano. It turns out that I was not being treated appropriately for my autoimmune issues.
Dr Magnano discovered this right away and I am now on the path for more appropriate treatments for my disease.
Dr Magnano is affiliated with CPMC and also UCSF rheumatology which is ranked 7th in the nation for rheumatology. Because of this, I know that she will be on top of the best new research and treatments.
Grateful to have her as my doctor!
Susan

I have been a patient of Dr Magnano for over 4 years and am surprised at the negative reviews for her and her staff. My experience is so positive I have actually taken business cards for friends. I find the Dr.to be very warm, friendly and willing to listen. She has helped me to work out a med routine that works for the pain in my hands and has suggested a grant opportunity for more expensive meds that I couldn't afford, and my insurance company doesn't cover. Jasmine is also very helpful and knowledgeable about med trials and grant opportunities

I can also add that I have never had to wait for my appointment more then 10 or 15 minutes, and even that is not the norm
I would highly recommend the Dr.

I've held off from writing this review for a while now. I wanted time to reflect and think carefully about my experience with this office before I committed anything in writing.
I agree with the one stars. This practice is terrible all the way from the bottom to the top. Let's start at the bottom: front desk staff are uniformly harsh, rude, and rather be mean than professional. Perhaps they are taking the lead from their office manager-Yasmin. Yasmin is dismissive and talks down to patients and from what my friends and I have seen, is also demeaning to the staff that she supervises. I guess in turn the staff then take it out on the patients. Don't believe me? Try calling them.

The two doctors that I know of that my friend and I have had to deal with are also not nice either. Okay, maybe you feel that the doctor that you may have to deal with doesn't have to be nice, How about if they're dismissive with an undercurrent of "cold" and "mean?" Okay, I understand that if all you had to do was to deal with them "once or twice," it could be bearable, but what if you have a chronic problem that makes this professional relationship into a lifelong unbearable experience?

When I tried to find someone else, I finally understood why this office is the way they are. They're about the only game in. town. There aren't a lot of rheumatologists floating around this town and this office knows it. So they feel very comfortable in sashaying around feeling very smug that they can treat their patients any which way they want.

Maybe if they read this review and the other one stars, someone hired/trained to smooth over the rough edges will respond to this review with some soothing glossed over pablum like:"We're o sorry that you feel this way. We will definitely look into that. And that is not how we advocate for our employees to act;, ( you know the drill and they don't mean it, they just don't want to look bad on this site.)

The office staff and doctors may change for a short while, but they will snap back because the "mean girl" culture is too ingrained and besides, they're too old to change. Good luck if you decide to go there because there's no where else to go to. I hope that you can plow through the "chill."

She's very thorough and actually listens. I have been telling my doctors for over a year that I thought I had fibromyalgia, and they had been very dismissive. Dr. Magnano saw the potential immediately and we came to a diagnosis within two appointments. She also figured out some other health issues that were plaguing me that no one else had even thought to look into.

I, unfortunately, can confirm the negative reviews on here. I would strongly advise against using Dr. Magnano as your rheumatologist. I've seen many many doctors over the years, and never encountered an office that's as frustrating and disorganized.

Here's why:

* Her office staff is absolutely terrible. Its difficult to reach someone. And if you need a refill, good luck. I've actually had to drive the 1 hour to her office and go her office to get them to send an electronic refill to the pharmacy on a medication that had run out.

* If you ever need any documentation or communication on your behalf for your insurance, your insurance will never be able to reach Dr. Magnano or her office. You will literally need to start over with a different doctor.

* Prepare to wait from 0.5 to 2.5 hours past your appointment time. Dr. Magnano routinely runs late.

* Dr. Magnano's office staff is very disgruntled. While in the waiting room, its hilarious to see the things they say about her and Dr. Birnbaum. If you can reach them on the phone (good luck!), then they will give you the run around. They are comically terrible.

* The office has a strange policy that if you change - yes change (not cancel) - your appointment time twice, then you pay for the appointment and are unable to make another appointment until you do so. I've never seen a more draconian policy than this.

As an example of this office's disfunction, I was waiting approximately 1.5 hours in the waiting room. I was in the corner somewhat out-of-sight. Two of the office staff named Yasmin and Ingrid sat around the corner at the front desk. They apparently were annoyed by Dr. Magnano for some task they had been assigned and, assuming they were alone, began making fun of Dr. Magnano. They switched to making fun of a patient currently being seen, then returned to Dr. Magnano. Most of the sharpest comments surrounded aspects Dr. Magnano's "overpriced" clothing. I walked up to the counter to remind them that I was still there, then sat back down. The chatter immediately stopped.

In sum, I strongly recommend avoiding this office.

I love my physician, but not the office staff (except the infusion nurses).

I have been a patient for three years, and have yet to have the front office staff or MA address me by name. (I remain "you.") The woman at the front desk never looks up from her computer screen when she says, "checking in? Name?" Really? After three years you can't actually greet a patient by their name?

The MA is always wearing baggy, wrinkled, dirty looking scrubs, with a big, filthy hoodie. Are there no longer standards for cleanliness and appearance in a medical office? She sits with her back to the patient, facing her computer, asking rapid-fire questions while vaguely listening to responses as she mis-interprets what is said to fit the software boxes.

All so VERY unprofessional.

Managing staff may want to invest in some basic customer service skills.

So I am bringing over another review from this same practice here. I believe Molly is one of the head doctors at the pacific rheumatologist. A fair warning if you are seeing this practice but not Molly.

This place was able to see me in short notice which was nice given that fact that I've been trying to get too the root cause of some serious inflammation, pain and various other residual issues. So I saw Dr. Ishita Aggarwal since I was able to get in within a week. However, I honestly would run for the hills and never go to this practice yet along see this doctor. She was extremely dismissive and rolling her eyes at every symptom I was explaining. She didn't ask questions, she had literal to interest and rather rude. I've only every experienced this one time about 7 years ago in the city for another practice but this is next level. I was explaining areas of inflammation expecting her to examine and get to the root but she told me I don't have this condition and that it may not even be existing. I have a couple do chronic conditions that were diagnosed by two great doctors in the city (all highly recommended doctors). And for her to dismiss and truthfully say I am not in pain was down right wrong. Don't see her if you don't want to waste your time or feel less than. Dealing with health issues aren't fun and to have a doctor that is this rude makes it even more harder to get through. Don't go to this clinic. Spare your self and go somewhere else, somewhere we're you're not dismissed.

Unfortunately, I found Magnano's style of relating to me akin to that of an arrogant teenager. I returned a 2nd time for input re: recent blood test, X-rays, etc. I won't be back.

After about 5 minutes with me, Magnano headed for the door but in passing, suddenly, without warning, she pressed down HARD on my right hand/fingers. I cried out in pain. "Yeah, arthritis," she commented before breezing on her way. (My injured hand/fingers are because of a recent bicycle accident--- which I explained during my 1st visit.)

I was referred to Dr. Magnano to rule out rheumatoid arthritis, and I saw her three times. I find her to be very, very smart -- she gave me insight to my osteoarthritis condition that no other medical professional has ever offered.

The good news is that I don't have RA; the bad news is I've left the Bay Area and no longer see Dr. M.

While I was under her care, I appreciated that her office has onsite lab services, so she was able to test my liver function before prescribing a certain drug to me.

If you are the kind of patient who requires a calm, soothing, slow bedside manner then you may not be happy here. If however you can roll with a highly professional, efficient, and busy medical office -- and if you want to get diagnosed and treated successfully for your arthritis -- then I highly recommend Dr. M.

I rarely write reviews but felt the need to do so on behalf of my dearest friend, who is suffering from severe neck pain. After an MRI, Dr. Magnano's report to my friend was that if she did NOT have surgery (or even with surgery) there was a high probability that her condition would leave her paralyzed from the neck down. As you can imagine, hearing such a report from a doctor was staggering. Staggering! Thank God my friend contacted other neurologists and neurosurgeons in the Bay Area who knew how to review her scans and to counter Dr. Magnano's careless practices. Do not see this doctor.