Our Policies
Appointments
Patients are seen by appointment. However, we understand that there will be times when you need to be seen urgently. Therefore, we reserve certain appointment times to accommodate these situations. It is our policy that anyone who needs to be seen urgently can and will be seen within one business day, and usually the same day. In the unlikely event we are unable to do so; we will do our best to help direct your care.
To help us stay on schedule, please keep your personal and insurance information up-to-date before coming to your appointment. Also bring your insurance card(s) (your secondary insurance card too), and check that all of your information is current and correct. If you are either a new patient, have not been in the office in over a year, or have ANY changes to your insurance benefits, please come in at least 15 minutes earlier than your scheduled appointment.
Cancellation Policy
Since we do have limits to how many patients we can see each day, it is important that you notify us at least 24 hours in advance of your appointment should you need to cancel or reschedule. This gives us opportunity to provide care for another patient with a medical need. Any patient who fails to show up for an appointment, or fails to give at least 24-hour advance notice of cancellation, will be subject to a fee of $35. If you have an appointment on a Monday and need to cancel or reschedule, please call the office on Friday.
After-Hours
Our physician is on-call for emergencies 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The doctor may be reached by calling our answering service using our office phone number. The physician is NOT on call to treat medical problems or to refill prescriptions. You will need to call during office hours if you need treatment or prescription refills. As a rule, we do not call in any controlled substances after hours. Please call the office during business hours for any routine or non-emergency matters.
Prescription Refills
Always contact us at least one week before you will run out. This gives us time to check to see whether you are due for any follow-up visit or testing. If you are an existing patient and have not been seen within the last year, an appointment may be required prior to refill. Some medications require periodic testing to determine their effectiveness and safety before refills will be prescribed. If you cannot get in to see us before you will run out, we will try to call in enough medication to hold you over until you can get in. We make every effort to accommodate your prescription refill request by the next business day.
Test Results
Our physician and staff understand the importance of involving our patients in their medical care, and in a timely fashion. We will report test results to you as they become available. If the results are normal and you cannot access it on our patient portal, we will mail a copy to you upon request. If you have not received notification of results within one week, please contact our office; do NOT assume that everything is fine. Abnormal test results will require an appointment for the physician to discuss the next plan of action. Please do not expect the physician to discuss the results and treatment plan over the phone. The physician has to attend to urgent patient messages, review test results and attend to refill requests in between patient visits. Patients presenting to the office to review test results with an appointment are given priority over phone requests.
Medical Records Requests
We require written authorization to release your medical records to someone other than yourself. If you wish someone else to send their medical records to us, we have a form you may complete and print out to send to them.
Payments and Billing
If your insurance plan requires you to pay a copay, this must be done at the time of your office visit. Additionally, you may have coinsurance and/or deductible amounts required by your insurance carrier. Any outstanding balance on your account - after adjusting for all of your insurance's responsibilities - is also due at the time of service. For self pay patients, the full payment is due on the date of service.
Claims Submission
We will file claims to all insurance companies with whom we have contracts ("in-network"). Whenever possible, we will file your claim to your secondary insurance carrier as well.
Referrals
We do most referrals for specialists required by your insurance provider.
Non-Covered and Out-of-Network Services
Medical services that are considered by your insurance company to be either not covered or not medically necessary will be your responsibility to pay at the time of service.