Rheumatology Associates - Grapevine

Mar 2023

I have been seeing Dr Stern for 10 years. He is an absolute expert on every topic regarding rheumatology. He will go as deeply into it as the patient wants him to, but he absolutely WILL NOT "get out of his lane." So if you want something done or you have a question about something that doesn't have anything to do with rheumatology, he will not be responsive. He may seem a bit crusty on the outside, but he is actually extremely patient and has a very tender, caring heart. I would not trade him for the world!

Nov 2022

My first visit was thorough. The front desk receptionist was welcoming at 8AM. There was no wait to be seen by medical staff. I was seen immediately by the medical assistant to check my vitals. My appointment was with the nurse practitioner. The nurse practitioner came in on schedule to discuss my medical history and symptoms. She examined my joints by moving them around. After she performed an in depth review, she met 1 on 1 with Dr. Stern to discuss my symptoms & history. Dr. Stern entered the room and greeted me with ideal bed side manner! It was clear that he was well informed of how I felt. He provided beneficial information to relieve my symptoms at home. He also...read full review

Apr 2019

TL;DR: Dr. Stern is amazing and honestly I'm somewhat sad that I no longer have to go back to the Grapevine office. He gives you details related to your medical condition in English, not in medical jargon. You get notes, that you can READ!!! So you can reference them later. You get printouts that are related to your condition(s). If you need a referral somewhere else, he'll make suggestions to the best of his ability. Dr. Stern will also not treat a condition unless it's necessary, he's not trying to take every last dollar from your wallet. ------- I was diagnosed with an Autoimmune disease on 10/31/18 by my dermatologist. She said that every single one of her patients LOVE and recommended Dr. Stern so I scheduled the first available appointment with him which was on 1/31, and did my best to wait patiently. Ms. Janet Maffei was the Physician's Assistant that spent the first visit with me. She spent what felt like an hour with me and didn't rush me, bless her heart she listened to everything I had to say and took notes. She made recommendations for Dr. Stern, which would be followed up on the second appointment. I meet Dr. Stern briefly at the end of the appointment before I went to have my labs done and he let me know that once the labs were done we would be able to proceed from there. Both he and Ms. Maffei recommended a certain website to assist me with bursitis I have in both knees and hips, back pain, and exercises for my shoulder pain as well. Understandably they couldn't recommend anything for the pain because they didn't want to mask any underlying issues or I could have been fishing for narcotics. They did recommend what I could take OTC and/or hot/cold packs. He also worked with another Doctor of mine to get one of my prescriptions (I think after my first appointment they communicated) increased to help the pain, and it helped a bunch. I waited for another 3 weeks (Dr. Stern's a busy guy!) and I was told this in advance! I did have my labs available to me online on the patient portal but I didn't really understand any of it. When I went in I meet up with him and he went in and described everything, in very great detail that was simple for me to understand. He even wrote notes down for me, and they were easy to read! Luckily for me, I didn't have said autoimmune disease and he said that while he was here for me if I needed him... well, I didn't need to keep paying the higher costs since I didn't have those issues. I asked him about the pain in my shoulder, because I'd waited essentially 5 months for treatment thinking it was the autoimmune disease, and he referred me to a local (extraordinary) shoulder specialist Dr. Howard. He told me he could give me a steroid injection, but that honestly he'd prefer that I see someone that could actually help me rather than just giving me a bandaid. Dr. Stern is a specialist and while I am happy that I won't be needing his services, I will say that I'll miss having him as a Doctor. If I could pick him as a Primary Care Provider I would totally do it, but to those of us who need him... They luck out by having a doc that actually cares about his patients. Someone that's not gonna take every penny you have because they can.