Orthopedic surgery in Clifton

For Referring Physicians

How to refer a patient to Dr. Johnson.

For physicians

Referring a patient

Keith Johnson, MD sees two referral populations that often overlap: overuse and degenerative injury of the shoulder, hip and knee, and spine-referred pain presenting as low back pain, neck pain, sciatica or cervical radiculopathy, including questions that start with a request for epidural steroid injection. He completed orthopedic surgery residency at Howard University Hospital in Washington, D.C. and fellowship training in orthopedic sports medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, NY. That fellowship underlies the arthroscopic and reconstructive side of the practice: arthroscopic repair, cartilage restoration, ligament reconstruction, and robotic arthroplasty when joint replacement is the indicated procedure for shoulder, hip or knee disease, including rotator cuff disease, knee osteoarthritis, and the sports-medicine tendinopathies, lateral epicondylitis, patellar tendinopathy, Achilles tendinopathy and ligament injury.

For spine-referred pain, the working method is the same regardless of entry point: identify which structure is generating the symptom before offering a treatment. Facet, radicular and cervical presentations are carried to a specific anatomic diagnosis first. Where the diagnosis points to a treatable structure, steroid injection, nerve block, ultrasound-guided injection, platelet-rich plasma injection, percutaneous tenotomy or iovera° cryoneurolysis is used to confirm and treat it at that level. Surgery is reserved for patients whose diagnosis and documented conservative course point there; it is not the opening recommendation.

Second opinions are accepted for patients who already carry a surgical recommendation, particularly where the stated diagnosis and the proposed procedure don't obviously line up.

Training, affiliation and credential detail in full are on Dr. Johnson's physician profile. The urgency tiers and measurable thresholds for when to send a patient for each of the conditions above are set out in the practice's referral criteria guide.

Dr. Johnson is accepting new patients at Oasis Orthopedic & Spine in Clifton, NJ.

This page is educational and intended to support referral decision-making; it does not replace independent clinical judgment.

Training and credentials

Education and training

Medical school at University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA. Residency at Howard University Hospital, Washington, D.C. Fellowship at Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY.

FellowshipLenox Hill Hospital, New York, NYOrthopedic Sports Medicine
ResidencyHoward University Hospital, Washington, D.COrthopedic Surgery
Medical schoolUniversity of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VADoctor of Medicine
Board statusAmerican Board of Orthopaedic SurgeryBoard certified

For physicians

Which patients should I refer to Dr. Johnson?

Refer any patient with shoulder, hip, or knee pain that has not resolved with an initial trial of rest, activity modification, or physical therapy.

Dr. Johnson's practice centers on sports medicine and arthroscopic joint surgery, so suspected rotator cuff disease, knee osteoarthritis, ligament injury, or tendinopathy of the lateral epicondyle, patella, or Achilles are appropriate referrals at any stage of workup, not only after conservative care has failed. Low back pain, neck pain, sciatica, and cervical radiculopathy are also within his areas of focus, and steroid injections and other image-guided treatment are available as a non-surgical option before surgery enters the conversation. Condition-specific urgency and timing criteria are set out in full on the when-to-refer guide.

For physicians

What should I send with the referral?

Imaging is helpful, not required.

Send plain films or MRI if you already have them, along with a brief note on what conservative treatment was tried and how the patient responded, current medications, and any comorbidities relevant to surgical candidacy. For axial or radicular complaints such as sciatica or cervical radiculopathy, the exam findings that prompted the referral, including any neurologic deficits and their distribution, are more useful than the diagnosis alone and shape whether the next step is an injection, further imaging, or a surgical consult. If you have not obtained imaging yet, send the patient without it rather than delaying the referral.

For physicians

How do I refer a patient to the office?

Call or fax the office, or submit through the referral form on the practice's contact page.

Dr. Johnson sees referred patients at Oasis Orthopedic & Spine in Clifton, New Jersey, and the practice is accepting new patients. Background on his training, including fellowship work in orthopedic sports medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital, is on his physician profile if that context is useful before you refer.

For physicians

What happens at my patient's first visit?

The first visit is a complete diagnostic evaluation, not a scheduling step.

Dr. Johnson takes a focused history, performs a targeted exam of the referred region (shoulder, hip, knee, or spine), and reviews any imaging the patient brings or that was ordered pre-referral. For spine referrals, the visit is built around localizing the pain generator, whether that is a facet joint, a nerve root, or a disc, before any treatment path is discussed. For joint and sports medicine referrals, the exam is paired with a review of prior conservative care to determine whether the patient is a candidate for an injection-based approach (steroid injection, PRP, ultrasound-guided injection) or whether surgical evaluation is warranted. Patients referred for conditions such as rotator cuff disease, knee osteoarthritis, lateral epicondylitis, or chronic tendinopathy leave the first visit with a working diagnosis and a stated next step, not an open-ended plan. Where the referral is for a second opinion, the same structured evaluation applies.

For physicians

How will I receive my patient's findings?

You receive a written consultation note documenting the exam findings, any imaging interpretation, the working diagnosis, and the recommended treatment plan.

The note states explicitly whether the plan is non-surgical (injection, activity modification, physical therapy referral) or whether surgical evaluation is being pursued, and names the specific procedure under consideration rather than describing it generally. For spine referrals this includes which structure was identified as the pain generator and why. The note is written to be read by the referring physician directly, not adapted from patient materials, and reflects Dr. Johnson's training in Orthopedic Sports Medicine during his fellowship at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, where structured, procedure-specific documentation of exam and imaging findings was part of his clinical formation. You can read more about his background on Dr. Johnson's physician profile.

For physicians

Will I stay involved in my patient's ongoing care?

Yes. For conditions managed with a defined procedure, an epidural steroid injection, a nerve block, or a course of PRP, you are notified of the outcome and the plan for reassessment.

For conditions that are co-managed over time, such as sciatica, cervical radiculopathy, or chronic tendinopathy, Dr. Johnson's office communicates treatment response back to the referring physician at defined check-in points rather than only at discharge. If the clinical course changes direction, for example from an injection-based plan to joint replacement or ligament reconstruction, you receive that update before the patient's next visit with you. Criteria for when a case should be referred back for primary management are set out in the referral guide for when to send a patient.

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