Dr. Naveen Gupta

AVOID BAKSHI/​GUPTA AT ALL COSTS. THEY DIDN’T ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT MY MOTHER. AS A PHYSICIAN, I BELIEVE THAT HER HOSPITALIZATION WAS UNNECESSARILY PROLONGED ONLY BECAUSE RINKY-​DINK 2-​MAN GI «SERVICE» REFUSED TO SEE/​SCOPE HER ANY EARLIER (WITH NO MEDICAL REASON FOR THEIR DELAY), NOT BECAUSE OF MEDICAL NECESSITY.
when my mother was admitted at suburban «hospital» for lower gi bleed, my cousin and i (both physicians) were expecting her to be seen by gi the next morning. in the ed, my mother’s blood just sat at bedside for more than 2 hours after it had been drawn — even though i kept asking multiple staff. without knowing about this and other snafoos the previous night, ed day nurse tried to say quality of care was just as good as anywhere else. really?!
the next morning, ed staff said gi wouldn’t see my mom until much later that day, then scoped the day after that. my cousin and i are both physicians, my cousin is practicing er doc who trained at one of the nation’s best programs — we both thought this delay was very strange, why couldn’t gi just see my mom that morning and put her on scoping schedule? my cousin also thought my mom could just have outpatient colonoscopy since she was stable and not bleeding that much. with my cousin’s concurrence, i tried to page/​contact gi directly for explanation.
although multiple ed clincal staff knew that i was obtaining my mom’s gi records (faxed to ed), none expressed interest. reviewing my mother’s records only because he saw them in my hand (i.e., making no previous independent effort to clarify my mom’s history), the daytime hospitalist condescendingly told me that my mom needed to be observed (and not scoped before the next day) because of her history of diverticulosis. i needed to hear this directly from gi and tried (to no avail) to get patient services to expedite discussion. indeed, when gupta finally scoped my mom (more than 24 hours later), he disagreed with hospitalist and said her diverticulosis wasn’t reason to delay her scoping.
around 6p that day, i finally met gupta’s partner (bakshi), who refused to read notes i had obtained about my mom’s gi history and rudely told me he didn’t have to speak with me. he just said «i needed to decide whether to have her scoped the next day or elsewhere, either way fine with him since she wasn’t bleeding.» i had wanted to discuss with gi what they thought might be happening, what he would do if he found xyz, etc — i.e., an actual discussion, which was denied after i had waited/​begged all day long. meeting bakshi was so upsetting that, on top of other inexplicable errors/​miscommunications in suburban ed/​floor, i didn’t feel comfortable entrusting my mother to these people — especially if, god forbid, anything serious were to happen. i ended up having long conversation that evening with my mom’s internist’s partner (who, unlike bakshi/​gupta) actually cared about my mother and tried to walk through these questions with me – and also supported transfer to another hospital because of poor-​quality care at suburban.
yes, i wanted my mother to be scoped, but NOT by bakshi, and to transfer to hopkins (since the hospitals are supposedly affiliated). since bakshi was SUCH an ass, i was afraid that gupta (apparently the only other alternative at suburban on rinky-​dink 2-​man gi service) would be no different. all that i wanted was to talk to gupta to see if we’d be more comfortable with him than his godawful partner.
the next day, patient services (after not responding to multiple, escalated calls) said gupta was aware of my concerns and that i could speak with him before my mother’s procedure and go from there (boldfaced lie). i asked gupta why she hadn’t been seen earlier and why he wouldn’t speak to me the previous night — he angrily retorted that «he had 4 kids and was allowed to have a life.» when i asked him if he asked about my mom’s prior gi history, he angrily asked me «what gi history did she have.» and so on.
immediately after my mom was finally scoped, gupta recommended discharge from hospital. i had to ask him how to treat what he had found (i.e., he didn’t offer) — then no one wrote prescription. per my request, nurse supervisor got gupta to call this into pharmacy. but it wasn’t until we went to pharmacy that they said connection dropped and he never called back. at this writing (4 days later), my mom still has no prescription for condition that caused her hospitalization.
my mother was hospitalized for an extra night (during brief, precious parental visit) only because SUBURBAN HAS ONLY 2 GI DOCS, WHO BOTH AIM TO LEAVE HOSPITAL ASAP AND VIEW PATIENTS NOT AS PEOPLE, BUT AS REVENUE-​GENERATING PROCEDURE CODES. SUBURBAN COULD HIRE MORE GI DOCS (WHO ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT PTS) — BUT THAT WOULD HINDER UNNECESSARY PROLONGATION OF ADMISSIONS AND HURT HOSPITAL’S BOTTOM LINE.
AVOID BAKSHI/​GUPTA, AVOID SUBURBAN AT ALL COSTS.

Dr Gupta performed a surgery for a family member. He was fantastic. His bedside manner is excellent; the results from the survey were great.

Okay, so this is a preliminary review based on my initial visit:
After years of half-​fast doctor’s farms to manage my Crohn’s disease, I found myself in suburban ER with bad pain and symptoms. I was in between gastros, and getting pretty hopeless. The ER doc told me if he had to see a gastro, dr Gupta is who hed want. Called the next day and was seen by the end of the week.
Right away I felt comfortable. He and a partner work out of a house on old Georgetown. It’s not fancy, but you don’t feel like you’re care is being assembled in a factory! He himself escorted me to his office where we TALKED for 45 minutes. He wanted to know everything, and was nonjudgmental and receptive to opinions and anecdotes. I actually felt like a human collaborator to my treatment!!! He was very kind. I go in for a colonoscopy tomorrow and am cheered by his use of modern prep methods (seems like if a doctor is willing to try the latest colon prep, he’d probably be willing to try the latest crohns meds!).

On January 24^th I had my first consult meeting with Dr. Naveen Gupta. He reassured me that it most likely was an infection but ordered a stool test anyways just to examine if anything else may have been wrong. I was given a clear container with a white top that looked like it could be used for a urine same and sent on my way. My next scheduled appointment was set for February 3^rd. On Thursday, February 2^nd, I went to LabCorp to get my stool examined as he ordered. However when LabCorp examined his orders they were confused. They understood all his orders except for one, the Cidifacil order. They exclaimed that for my stool tests I was given the wrong containers. They proceeded to fax over my information to Dr. Naveen Gupta in inquiry for him to disclose what exactly he wanted. I’m not quite clear on the confusion. I believe they were wondering if it was Cidifacil A or B.
A series of calls were made to the receptionist who proceeded to act confused on the matter. I was told the doctor was not supposed to be in till about 1. Which means I waited from 10:30 to about 2 o’clock to resolve matters. Even after 1, the receptionist claimed that the doctor simply was not in and would try to assist us by faxing over the information as soon as possible. LabCorp suspected that she did not know what the test was or the correct containers to hold the stool in. This is information that as a receptionist for a gastroenterologist should have known. Four hours and about 7 calls later, I was sent on my way with the supposed proper materials from LabCorp. This included two tubes with solution in it two tubes without solution and a nice container to ensure that the process was as comfortable and hygienic as possible. Upon leaving LabCorp, I called to let the receptionist at Dr. Naveen Gupta’s office know that I would not be able to maybe my appointment set for February 3^rd because I still had no information on what exact stool test I was supposed to be taking. The new appointment was then set for February 8^th.
The day after my LabCorp fiasco, February 3^rd, (which also happened to be the day I was to head in for my followup appointment before it was canceled) I called LabCorp to see if they had heard anything from Dr. Naveen Gupta’s office. They regrettably informed me that they hadn’t. After getting off the phone with them, I called Dr. Naveen’s office again. I knew that he would be in. The receptionist then proceeded to tell me that he was in with a patient and could not come to the phone. I told her I would wait till he wasn’t with a patient anymore, afterall the information that I needed would have only taken a literal minute to correct. After waiting 20 minutes on the phone, I was told again that Dr. Naveen was with a patient and to have a good day. They never followed up with what tests I was to take.
Although my initial meeting with him was friendly, they are terrible at getting back to you about important tests. Seeing that health is a very important matter I’d suggest not going to this Dr if you would like to get a diagnosis in a timely manner.