Hours and Appointments

Regular office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The office is closed on Saturday, Sunday and major holidays (New Years, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas).

It is necessary for you to make an appointment in order to be seen. We try to reserve some time each day to work-in patients without prior appointments and return phone calls. Patients with appointments always receive priority.

When you call to make an appointment, the staff has been instructed to inquire briefly about the reason for your visit. This is not to be nosy, but to help us schedule an appropriate amount of time for your appointment with the doctor.

If you are a new patient to our clinic, you will be asked for specific insurance information. After your insurance benefits are verified, you will be given an appointment.

Our appointment calendar is kept for a year ahead and you are encouraged to make appointments as far in advance as feasible for you.

You should plan to arrive 20 minutes early for your first appointment in order to complete the appropriate forms for us to establish your medical file. Arriving early for this first visit enables us to keep your appointment at the scheduled time.

If you are not able to keep your appointment, you are requested to let us know as soon as possible, preferably at least 24 hours in advance. This helps us to serve our other patients in a timely fashion. Failure to notify us of missed appointments on a repeated basis may result in a charge or loss of appointment privileges.

On occasion the doctor may be called away from the office for a hospital emergency. If this should conflict with your appointment, we will notify you as soon as possible and arrange for you to see the doctor at another time on the same day or in the near future.

The Telephone

The office telephone is answered at all times. If the office is closed your call will automatically be forwarded to the answering service.

We are happy to answer any questions you may have by telephone. We do request that you restrict calls concerning minor illness, questions about prescriptions, medical information, etc. to office hours. During office hours, the receptionist will take all calls for appointments and billing. Calls for medical information and advice will be referred to the nurse, who will refer them to the doctor as necessary. Calls may be subject to a telephone charge.

A period of time is allotted each morning and afternoon for the doctor and nurse to return calls to you. When you are expecting us to call you back, please be sure we have the correct number where we can reach you and please be available when we call.

In cases of major medical emergency perceived by you as possibly life threatening, you should go directly to the emergency room of one of the hospitals. When possible, call and tell us you are going. In that way the doctor may be able to leave instructions about you with the emergency room, or meet you there.

For non-life threatening problems that occur after office hours or on weekends, you are encouraged to call the doctor on call who will then decide whether the problem should be handled in the emergency room or another facility. Many problems can be handled in an office at considerable savings to you.

We are happy to call in prescription refills by phone during office hours for most previously existing prescriptions. It is our policy not to call in prescriptions requested for a new episode of illness without seeing you first. In general, if you feel ill enough to require prescription medicine, e.g. antibiotics, you are probably sick enough to be seen by the doctor. This policy is in your best interest. Usually there is a charge for phoned in prescriptions.

Fees, Billing, Insurance and Collection

The doctor makes a concerted effort to keep his fees reasonable. As a general rule they are kept in a median range and in most instances fees are established by your insurance plan. The doctor is happy to discuss your bill with you if you have any question and you are encouraged to inquire about your charges. Charges are made for your visit with the doctor, any laboratory tests performed, X-rays, EKG, medical supplies and appliances, or special procedures that are performed.

It is our policy to bill you for all non-covered services. If it is necessary for you to go to another facility for special testing, you will receive a separate bill from those facilities. We request that you make payment at the time the services are rendered for charges of $50 or less. All copays must be paid each time you see the doctor. We expect you to be responsible for your bill with us or for any services not paid by your insurance plan.

Patients are responsible for being, familiar with, the benefits and restrictions of their own health plans, whether provided by your employer or privately purchased. Many plans, for instance, will not cover annual exams or screening laboratory work, while others may cover them fully. Some plans may require advance approval for tests or hospitalization, while others may not.

This office is not responsible for having knowledge of your particular health plan. We will provide for you the best and most economic care possible in the interest of your health without regard to the particular benefits of your individual health plan. It is your responsibility to advise us if restrictions exist. We will not alter or falsify the statement of your medical condition on insurance claim forms in order to ensure coverage of services that may not otherwise be covered. This is medical fraud.

In the event your insurance should deny coverage for a service that has been provided to you, you will be held responsible for the payment for that service.

After your insurance plan has paid its portion of your bill, you will receive an itemized statement on a monthly basis. You should note on your statement whether or not your insurance claim has been properly filed. If you have insurance, which you think should cover all or part of your bill, and there is no notation of a claim having been filed, please contact the office. The statement you receive will designate what portion of your account balance you are responsible for and which portion your insurance company is responsible for. We encourage you to pay your account promptly and in full. If payment is not made after the second statement has been sent, you will be contacted by our office to arrange payment. We send all overdue accounts promptly to our collection agency and the credit bureau is notified.

Medical Records

All information in the medical record is confidential and will not be released without your consent. If you should want any medical information transferred to, or released from our office, you must sign a medical release form. These are always available in our office. If you should wish us to transfer copies of your file, and your file is extensive, there may be a fee charged to cover our costs for the transfer.

All requests for your medical records from outside sources, i.e. life insurance, application for health insurance, legal firms, workman's comp, etc., are referred to a records copy service. The copy service will bill the requesting party for retrieving, copying and mailing your records. The copy service will not mail out copies of your records until they receive payment of their fee. If transfer of your records seems to you to be delayed, it is almost always because the requesting party has not paid the required fee. Again, no records are released without your consent. In the event that the requesting party does not pay the entire fee from the copy service, it may be necessary for you to pay the remaining balance.

How You Can Help Us to Serve You Better

• Telephone or write us as far in advance as possible for appointments.
• Be on time for appointments.
• When unable to keep an appointment, let us know as soon as possible.
• Advise the receptionist if there have been any changes such as address, telephone number, marital status or insurance coverage since your last visit.
• Feel free to discuss fees at any time. We want our patients to understand our charges and be satisfied that they are reasonable and fair.
• Check your statement carefully when it arrives. The sooner you let us know about a mistake, the sooner we can correct it.
• Tell the doctor if you have any complaint about charges, services or facilities.
• If you have a co pay or a deductible to meet each year ? it must be paid prior to seeing the doctor.
• Always bring your current insurance card and be familiar with your insurance coverage.
• Inform the doctor about services not covered by your insurance plan.
• Always bring your current insurance card with you when you come to the office.