Harvey Katz, DPM

I am really happy that I found Dr. Katz. He was recommended by a friend whom he had treated during her marathon training. I later discovered that he was also the surgeon for another friend. We all think very highly of him. I found him to be different in that he addressed my health as an entire being. I think he’d make a great GP. He always asked about my general health, mental and physical and genuinely cared. He actually hugged me upon finding out the results of my MRI. Instead of charging me for new orthodics, he fixed my old ones, from a different podiatrist, and they feel great when I run, much better than the originals ever felt. He’s a New Yorker who doesn’t waste time, which is great for me but, I’m really happy to have found an old fashioned Dr. who is a good communicator and cares about his patients.

Dr. Katz did a surgery on my foot in 2008. He cares about his patients. I never had to wait that long at his office. Maria who’s been working for Dr. Katz is a productive staff and reliable. Dr. Katz worked on my foot even after the surgery and he made sure I received a proper care. I stopped going to Dr. Katz after moving the job to midtown. If your office is located downtown or if you live downtown and experience a problem with your foot, by all means go to Dr. Katz. He has a good repertoire. Recently I went back to see him to have the foot checked and he referred me to a very good physical therapist so I could further exercise my foot. An excellent podiatrist, experience it yourself.

I went to Dr Katz about a dozen years ago for a minor foot ailment. I never had a foot problem before but I developed a small callus on one of my feet that hardened and was painful and I could not get rid of it. I went to Dr Katz to have it removed.
I anticipated a very fast and simple office visit, but as soon as Dr Katz saw the callus he immediately said that I needed orthotics. (Orthotics are usually an out of pocket expense and can be very costly. Selling orthotics is very lucrative to podiatrists).
I asked him if he could just remove the callus because I was in pain but he refused to. He kept telling me it was pointless to remove the callus because it would just keep coming back without the orthotics. He also gave me scare stories about how I would have a lifetime of foot problems without the orthotics because my feet were not lined up properly. He said I should think about buying the orthotics and reschedule an appointment.
Long story short I went to this guy four times! Each time he kept pressuring me to buy orthotics and he continuously refused to remove the callus. Meanwhile, I had to unnecessarily endure several additional weeks walking around in pain. I also wasted valuable time going back and forth to his office. Under extreme pressure (which was practically bullying) I eventually relented and agreed to buy the orthotics from him (even though he still did not remove the callus).
I later received a bill from his office. I was charged over $ 1,200 for the appointments and nearly $ 500 for the orthotics! I called his office and asked why my insurance didn’t at least cover the appointments. I mean, his receptionist photocopied my insurance card and had me fill out insurance forms. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
His receptionist gave me some convoluted answer about the doctor not being in my network but being in my plan… whatever, I couldn’t follow it. I was furious at her for not pointing this out to me and making it seem like my appointments were covered.
Essentially, I was left with about $ 1,700 in debt, orthotics I did not want and probably did not even need and — worst of all — I still had that painful callus on my foot!
I was so angry I refused to pay for the appointments (for which he did absolutely nothing but pressure me to buy orthotics) and I refused to pay for the orthotics. After some back and forth I threatened to report him and I told his office if they want money from me they’ll have to take me to court. They backed off and that was the end of it.
A couple of weeks later I went to another podiatrist who was much nicer and far more honest and ethical. It took her about 30 seconds to remove the callus. Furthermore, she said my feet were fine and I did not need orthotics.
Contrary to Dr Katz’s high pressure assertions the callus never came back and I never had another foot problem (and I’m a serious runner).
Dr. Katz is a weasel. Stay away.

I called as a new patient. He was leaving the office and took me last minute and waited for me.
He is a super nice guy and knowledgable. First doctor I’ve been to in a while who cares enough to call me a few hours after I saw him to make sure the pain in my toes subsided. That’s very rare these days.