Dr Paula Rackoff is the WORST Dr in NYC. 10 yrs ago she diagnosed me with two chronic lifelong diseases and treated them aggressively. Turns out I had neither. Just came from a really good rheumatologist who told me 10 yrs ago I didn't have any of this...and still don't. She is an incompetent BULLY and the most ARROGANT Dr that I have ever met. She should lose her license to practice medicine. read more

She was cruel, rude, and dismissive. Very disappointed because it took ages to get an appointment.

Dr. Rackoff is brilliant, attentive and has an amazing bedside manner. Dr. Rackoff has correctly diagnosed and treated various ailments over the last 30 years. She is my "go to" Doctor. The office is very clean and and the nurses are great. Dr. Rackoff is by far, the best Doctor I have ever been to. It's "known" that she sees things that others don't pick up on, and she is never wrong. Dr. Rackoff is an absolute lifesaver! If you are having experiencing a problem or misdiagnosis, she is the one to go to. read more

Just updating my 6 year old review. Dr. Rackoff has now literally saved my life multiple times. When i originally saw her in 2018, I could barely walk, was in terrible pain and had been on 20-40mg of prednisone for over a year. Two previous Rheumatologists had been unable to help me. One of them, a renowned older male physician, treated me with disgust and distain, blaming my RA on my weight (which had ballooned due to the prednisone.) Suffice to say I was devastated and desperate and felt like my illness was my fault. When I met Dr. Rackoff in May of 2018, she came in early (7am) to see me because my internist had asked for an urgent evaluation. This person I met was kind, committed to helping me, and thorough. First, before she looked at my records, she just talked to me, with deep kindness. She could tell I was in bad shape and in pain. She laid her hand on my knee and infused me with hope. She had touched me with kindness, not disgust. After having been, throughout my life, treated so disdainfully, and sometimes berated and blamed for my condition due to my weight, she said nothing. I asked her point blank if this was my fault, and she was surprised and said absolutely not. My god, I had found someone who saw me, and would help. Subsequently, she weaned me off prednisone thus helping me lose 90lbs, and treated my RA thereby changing my life. Concurrently, she disagreed with my cardiologists that my heart murmur was just that, ordered a battery of tests and had me evaluated by Dr. Mark Sherrid, head of the HCM program. Dr. Sherrid and Dr. Massera diagnosed my (unknown to me) genetic heart condition (which had killed my father, but had not been disclosed to his children.) I underwent an Alcohol Septal Ablation on 1/31/2020, one week before Covid began to overtake hospitals and we needlessly lost so many. Even throughout the Covid years she continued to render unbelievably attentive care during that crisis. So much so that a year later she found Thyroid cancer and in June of 2021, I had a thyroidectomy. In addition, EVERY colleague she sent me to was warm and caring whether at NYU, Cornell Weil, or in private practice. Not one of them was dismissive or blamed my issue on me. WOW. It's now been 7 years since i started with Dr. Rackoff who has saved me multiple times and changed my life. I am a work in progress who is amazed on a daily basis that this treasure has come into my life. I don't know how she renders this level of care, and still has other patients, and I am consistently amazed that aside from her regular patients, she carves out time multiple times per year to fly abroad and render care in war torn countries, or wherever urgent help is required. Dr. Rackoff heeded a call to serve, and she does for me, and so many others. This healer, is an angel who walks among us. read more

Dr. Rakoff is a brilliant and caring rheumatolgist. Top of the line. The office is clean and lovely, and nurses are terrific. read more

Dr. Rackoff has been treating me for about 5 years now and all I can say is that she is an absolute professional and expert at what she does. Her vast knowledge in all areas is hard to find these days. Without her treating me with her uncanny foresight I believe I would be in a lot worse place. Other doctors of her caliber I think lack the skill she brings to medicine. read more

Dr. Rackoff was professional and helpful with me. I would definitely recommend her. I did have to wait 6 months for an appointment but I don't think that was her fault. read more

After a recent appointment with Dr. Rackoff, as usual she was very late, no apologies, mixed up facts with her own random assumptions in her report, sent me for blood test after blood test instead of one time for all, got dates wrong for other test requests, etc. She's inattentive during appt, dismissive of my concerns and mis-remembers and contradicts her previous diagnoses and responses to my health concerns. I came to Yelp today for the first time in many years to see if it's just me and clearly it's not! All the bad reviews of her are in this vein and that has been my experience, too, over the past 5 years. Very frustrating and disappointing. Time for a new doctor and hope for better care. read more

Truly a terrible experience with this provider and her staff. Do not bother making an appointment. They will cancel multiple times, and you will likely wait hours onsite on the day of your actual appointment. She will, completely unprofessionally, be consistently two hours behind schedule. Despite that being their fault, they will treat you like a complete annoyance for expecting any sort of update as to when you actually may see the doctor. If you have chronic pain, do not see her or her staff. They should not work in this field. Reviews also consistently show that her treatment of patients of color is different than her white patients. Don't bother with this prejudiced provider without empathy. read more

She is caring, and really knows her stuff. . She has been handling my treatment for osteoporosis. She has followed up with other related issues and I trust her judgment. After a very bad fracture she was in constant touch with my surgeon at HSS to coordinate my follow up care. I have recommended her to my good friends. read more

Dr. Rackoff is awful. I never bother to write reviews but I'm so angry I don't have any other recourse. I have never had an appointment with her that doesn't have an incident, whether it's a spontaneous two hour delay because she had a meeting (*I* had a work meeting at the new appointment time they independently assigned me), a straight up cancel, or a one hour wait time after I could hear her through the door dismissing a nurse telling her that I was already there and then proceeding to have a half hour conversation about ranging topics (antisemitism, biological differences between the races, premed programs) to someone next door and including a patient call with another patient where I could hear both parties clear as day. I have never seen a doctor who has acted in this way. She has multiple times tried to blame things on "my OCD" even though 1. I have already affirmed that i regularly see a therapist for other issues and do not have OCD, 2. she is not qualified in any way to diagnose OCD nor does she have any grounds to suggest I have it (honestly she doesn't even seem to know how OCD works), and 3. having OCD does not preclude you from having real health concerns. She has never explained her findings or thought process unless pushed, assumed I had test results she never asked for and never ordered, and not replied regarding items that are blocking me from having tests done, tried to refer me back to the same kind of physician as referred me to her to begin with, and told me to try loosening up as if a new variant of COVID wasn't resulting in persistently rising case counts as we spoke. I genuinely don't know where all her positive reviews are coming from; maybe she decided who gets treated like a dignified and reasonable human and who doesn't; well if she was going to waste my time and money like this because of whatever preconceived notions she had, I would have preferred to have been referred elsewhere outright. read more

Horrible ditzy doctor. Scatter brain. Would ask my sister to come in to refill a prescription.all the time. She would asked my sister "why are You here"? every time she came in. No follow exam. Just come in to refill the useless medication. Ridiculous, a waste of time and money!!! read more

I am a big fan of NYU. All my doctors are at NYU and I have had a major surgery at Tisch. I have doctors at many different NYU locations from many different departments. I have never encountered an NYU location and doctor so compellingly and equally horrible. I am a believer that a doctor's visit starts the minute a patient enters a medical facility and end when he'she exits, meaning the rating of a doctor is no limited to the person himself/herself but also by the supporting staff, and how a patient is treated from all members of the medical staff for any and all needs the patient may need, which frequently also involve financial aspects. Dr. Rackoff does not care for patients, has no problem walking out of the examining room for endless periods of time "because she needs to address and emergency" (she seems to have a lot of emergencies), does not listed a word of what said to her, does not make the patience feel comfortable, understood or appreciated. She has zero sympathy, and is not even careful in evaluating tests she herself prescribed. I had to bring to her attention that certain values in tests she ordered for me were out of range because she overlooked them. And even then, she said I would get a call from the facility to reschedule the test, a phone call that was never made...and that was weeks ago. She does not explain anything, and when asked her responses are quick and frequently unsatisfactory. It goes as far as she sending a patient a copy of exams released to mychart (that is part of Epic) rather than explaining in plain English what is stated in a medical document. As others have already noted, the visits are extremely short and she is quick to send you out of the examining room, but the wait time to see her is extremely long, and comes with no apologies on her part for it. Unfortunately I have to say that my review is just as displeasing of the whole facility itself, to the point that I have promised myself I will never set foot there again, and if that means going to a doctor outside of NYU, then be it. I actually have hard time believing that whole facility is in compliance with the code of conduct set by Langone. read more

She's the best it's a shame to see her hammer down by all the bureaucracy of her hospital group but as a Physician she is truly one of the best and you can take that to the bank! She is always on your side even on weekends ! read more

Due to a change in the practice at my existing doctors' office, I am transitioning my doctors. I picked the NYU Joan Tisch Women's Center because it was walkable from my home, covered all of the practice areas I needed, and I prefer female practitioners generally so it felt right! I had a good experience with my new OBGYN, but my first visit with Dr. Rackoff was extremely traumatic, and I do not recommend her. After waiting over 2 hours, which broke down as: 15-20 minutes early in waiting room, 30-35 minutes in waiting room after appointment time, 80-85 minutes waiting in exam room, then Dr. Rackoff arrived. She muttered something about, "if you aren't in the system, you aren't actually here" (I think??), so I don't know if it was an issue with the front desk notifying her, or something else, but it seemed to be my fault in her mind. The physician assistant had stopped by twice during the time I was in the exam room, and said that she messaged the doctor a couple times that I was waiting. Either way, she did not apologize for the wait time. (Note, my appointment was at 9:30am in the morning, so it wasn't as though she was super backed up from a full day of appointments already - the office only opened at 8:30am.) Her first question to me was "So, why do you think you need a rheumatologist?" That came across as weird to me, because well, I've had a rheumatologist for five years which is reflected in my chart because of my lupus diagnosis, and she asked it in an extremely offputting tone. For the next maybe 4 minutes, she asked me a couple questions - I couldn't tell whether she meant symptoms now, or when I had been initially diagnosed with lupus (because fortunately many of my symptoms are much improved), so the whole thing was disorienting and weird. After that FOUR minutes, she told me I did not have lupus, and no doctor in NYU would ever have diagnosed me with lupus. Needless to say, I was shocked, and just sort of unable to process. Then, she announces she will take time to review my chart. So, her diagnosis that I do not have lupus, was based solely on her looking at me for 3-4 minutes and asking me a couple questions. Beyond whether the diagnosis is right or not, the "bedside manner" in which she presented her analysis was awful. Outright awful. If I do not have lupus, that means I do not know what I have, and I've been living with an incorrect diagnosis for five years. Perhaps, she could acquire some compassion and empathy when delivering a message of that type, especially considering the complete lack of information that she was working with. She leaves, reviews my file, and then tries to call my prior doctor, who she was unable to reach. She sent me for tests (15 vials of blood, so literally every test under the sun) and an X-ray. All in all, she spent fewer than 10 minutes in the room with me. She was equally rude and offputting in a follow up phone call about the test results. She completely owned not reading my chart in advance, as the way that she practices. While I can see some benefit in seeing a new patient with clear eyes, I would not pronounce a diagnosis as wrong without taking perhaps a check through that patient's medical history. Also, I'm in the legal field, and I cannot imagine going into any sort of client interaction without doing my diligence on the absolute basics of who the client is, etc. At this point, I cannot speak to her efficacy as a doctor overall, but I would not recommend her. Especially for a chronic condition, you want a doctor that works with you, and communicates adeptly what is going on with your labs and your health. Everything about this experience felt antagonistic to me, which I don't understand at all. I've now undergone a complete battery of tests, plus an X-ray and MRI, with no clear results. I feel like an extremely unhappy lab rat. read more

Totally dedicated, super well educated, kind doctor. I wish she could also be my PCP and not only my rheumatologist read more

The worst doctor I have EVER encountered. Using the word "doctor" in association with Ms. Rackoff is already giving too much credit to this individual and the office she runs. Had a zoom appointment scheduled with Dr. Rackoff during which we were supposed to discuss extensive blood work that was done with an allergist who sent me to Dr. Rackoff. I confirmed multiple times with Dr. Rackoff's office that they have the blood work and Dr. Rackoff will have access to it during the appointment. When the appointment began, Dr. Rackoff had absolutely no idea what bloodwork I was referring to. Since she was ill-prepared, Dr. Rackoff concluded that I would need to schedule another appointment, with her. Hoping that this was just an off day for her, I scheduled another appointment, this time in the morning before work. 30 minutes before my appointment I received a call from her office notifying me that Dr. Rackoff was unable to see me and I would need to reschedule. The manner of the call was so matter-of-fact, as if canceling 30 minutes before a scheduled appointment is routine practice. Neither Dr. Rackoff herself nor her office was apologetic, and I never heard from them again, UNTIL I began receiving bills from her office. When I called to inquire what the bills were for, I was passed around from one extension to the next, only to be told over and over again that they couldn't help me and that I would need to speak to Dr. Rackoff or her assistant. I requested call-backs from her office on FIVE separate occasions and have never heard back from anyone. Setting my bill aside, I have never seen a doctor who is unreachable for over 6 months!!! If this were my doctor and I needed to get a hold of her for an emergency matter, it would be impossible to do so. STAY AWAY from Dr. Rackoff. NYU has many other wonderful doctors, but Dr. Rackoff is certainly not one of them. read more

After being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis by another doctor in the same practice who takes no insurance, i switched to Dr. Rackoff on the recommendation of a cousin who is a patient. Contrary to what one would expect from a doctor who takes your insurance, Dr. Rackoff is courteous and prompt and the office is easy to deal with in terms of making appointments, blood tests, prescriptions, and helping to get expensive medications reimbursed. More importantly, she diagnosed me with other less serious issues (urninary tract infection, vertiligo) that my other doctors missed, because she is paying attention! She really listens. read more

Dr. Rackoff is horrible. She saw my husband and never followed up with his diagnosis. She is very hard to reach. She doesn't care about her patients. Appointments are short. She is eager to get rid of patients ASAP. Stay away from this doctor. read more

I came to Dr Rackoff about 2 1/2 years ago with a bag of symptoms of chronic fatigue. She has been uncannily accurate in her treatment. She continually monitors my doses and looks to reduce them to the minimum levels. This sort of caring and conservative treatment is important to me. She is one of the rare doctors who treats the whole person rather than medical conditions. read more

I finally have a doctor who listens to me, and approaches my medical issues in a compassionate but also scientific way.

Extremely knowledgeable, attentive with great bedside manner. Dr. Rackoff has correctly diagnosed and treated various ailments over the last 25 years. Dr. Rackoff is my "go to" doctor. read more

Went to see Dr Rackoff based on reviews after developing large lumps in my wrists and other joints. I have existing autoimmune conditions so wanted to rule out/confirm joint disease. Two-hour office wait (I showed up early), some tests, labs, x-rays, but absolutely no follow-up with results since the appointment three months ago, despite 2 phone messages and message through the NYU-Langone system. I see my primary again soon so will ask her for a referral to someone more reliable.It's going to be expensive to have the same tests all over again. Nursing staff at NYU 1st Ave was also inefficient/confusing/contradictory w/ Dr's instructions on tests, which may have added to wait time. Dr. seems nice, but that's it. :( read more

Worst doctor ever. Just wants to give you prescriptions for BIG PHARMA. Has no real insight, knowledge or wisdom about health. She actually got mad at me on a followup visit because I hadn't done as she told me which is take poisonous bone drugs like Fosomax. read more

Dr. Rackoff has been my doctor for 12 years and I refuse to see another practitioner. I'd be devastated if she ever retired. She is Great with followup and truly cares about her patients. read more

After a few years of not knowing what was causing my fatigue, Dr Rackoff was able to pinpoint to issue. She is so nice, and has accommodated me when I needed last minute help with an appointment. I cannot recommend her enough! read more

Terrible experience. This doctor is running a HUGE scheme!!! She spent 5 minutes with me and then just asked me to get blood work and an x-Ray, then I waited hours to meet with her and she didn't even meet with me after all. For a 5 minute appointment with no physical examination, she billed my insurance $400 and then the blood work was several thousands of dollars. The practice is run in a very greedy, unprofessional, and unethical manner. I noticed that all her patients were NEW and each person was told to get a bunch of "tests" that were done in her office and by her friends. read more