Dr. Elisa Birnbaum, MD

This 'physician' is a nightmare. She is rude, presumptuous and dismissive. I will talk to my gynecologist about referring her. A very bad referral and NOT. a womans doctor. Stay away

Rude. Condescending. BURNED OUT. I am a healthcare provider myself so I know something about burnout. However I would NEVER treat a patient the way she treated me. Poor listener, chided me about how I was dealing with my condition, rolled her eyes, cut me off when I asked questions or tried to explain something. Bottom line- her medical recommendation to me what WAY OFF and made things much worse. She needs to retire, NOW. Do NOT recommend.

I have NEVER had such an awful experience with a provider. She was rude, dismissive, and never explained what was going on with me. My surgery, miraculously, went fine. But I had post op complications, and she ignored me every time I brought up my issues. She didn't believe my pain. I wound up in pain for over a year, that was totally solvable, had she taken five minutes to listen to me. At no point was she kind, thoughtful, or engaged. It felt terrible being her patient.

Totally misdiagnosed me. Would not listen to me and humiliated me. No compassion or insight into my issue. Refused to order any additional tests to diagnose my condition.

I had a horrible experience with Dr. Birnbaum. She apparently loves to argue and be combative with her patients, because she would not speak to me without condescension and disdain. If you’ve been referred to her by a gynecologist, she will immediately dismiss your concerns and symptoms because “gynecologists can’t be trusted” and “don’t even get me started with them.” She will deny your issues exist, despite confirming the presence of them during the exam(s). She also refused to give me any privacy during the exam process. She made me undress in front of her and afterwards would not step out of the restroom for me to use it first before that portion of the exam. So I was forced to urinate with her standing there with the door open and rushing me to finish. I’ve never been more demeaned and humiliated by a doctor, and it really makes me question whether she should still be practicing. I’m now being sent to a different colorectal specialist because of her refusal to work with me.

I had a very bad experience with this provider. I saw her for a concern that is not common in my age group. She was dismissive of my concerns, stating that it couldn't be happening in my age, and dismissive of the previous care and testing I'd had done. During the exam she was very abrupt, didn't give me privacy to undress and made me undress in front of her and the male resident. She also talked to the resident about her findings on my body in a demeaning way while I was in the exam room. I've never felt so badly about my body as I did during that mortifying examination. She ended up ordering an imaging study, which confirmed my concerns. I got the run-around from her office about discussing my results with her, and ended up scheduling a telehealth appointment. During that appointment, she didn't display confidence in her recommendations for next steps and seemed ready to get me off the phone quickly. Overall I found her to be abrupt, unkind, and with poor interpersonal skills. 0 star

I had a telephone visit with Dr. Birnbaum to review test results. She spent 10 minutes or less on the telephone with me while mainly trying to dismiss me (get me off the phone). Rather than explaining things she said there were no problems although the radiologist report said different. I had questions but all she would say is take laxatives, go back to my primary care physician or see a GI, if I wanted. She was abrupt with no definitive guidance or answers. If she had explained things, I would not have had to see another doctor for answers to my questions and, another fee of $50.

A terrible patient advocate. Thinks she knows everything. Bad experience.

Performed two surgeries on me in hospital, one emergency surgery. Woke up from second surgery and didn't think I was going to make it. Went from laparoscopic to open, left a giant incision. Saved my life, but was "the best they could do for me". I was yelled at after surgery for it being my fault. She is hard and fierce, and does not like negative outcomes. Still dealing with severe complications from the surgery, and having multiple near life death bleeding episodes after everything.

Excellent clinician and surgeon. Answers questions, professional and very skilled. Operated me emergently with very good outcome. Even called me at home to check on me post-op. Very considerate Would recommend her for future surgeries .

Dr. Birnbaum saved my intestinal function, and possibly my life, when I was a patient at Jewish Hospital in the 1990s. When attempts to treat my diverticulitis failed, she performed extensive surgery to remove the infected section of colon and clear the infected area of infection. Three months later she reconnected my colon. 6 months later I ran my first 10k. I had little reason for office visits but always found Dr Birnbaum's friendly and helpful and her own bedside manner exceptional.

She saved my life. She never gave up on me even when the cause of my health problem couldn't be found. My bowel was radiated to death by a local rad dr. who burnt my insides up. She did everything possible to put me back together as my body tissue fell apart in her hands. thank you doc sincerely Carolyn your trouble child

Absolute rockstar.

This doctor made me cry. I had had 2 unsuccessful surgeries and countless tests by the time I went to see her. She got offended because I asked her questions. She's rude, more concerned about her ego, and couldn't have cared less about me. And for this I paid $40? She's a jerk; the only medical office she should be in is one with a psychiatrist sitting across ftom her.

Has bedside manner of a rabid raccoon. Horrible antagonizing,elitist,and patronizing attitude. She never received my records from the hospital and said what am i suppose to do get them myself?..So she never saw results of any of my tests. She over talked me focused on blaming me for forgetting my bowel record she gave me from last visit. She ended the horrible visit w/ You'll always have this problem,it will always be this bad , and there is no procedure for you. Depression jus sky rocketed

She couldn't care less about the infection I got after she operated on me, nor the fact that my primary is the one who had to prescribe meds to treat it. She has a horrible bedside manner, and rushes through appointments. I wouldn't recommend her to anyone!