- Making an
appointment
-
Preparation for the first visit
- Consult Visit
- Worker's
Compensation / Accident
-
Pre-Authorization & eligibility
-
Cancelled offices and wait time
- Surgery
scheduling
- Post
Operative Visits
-
Insurance & payment information
- Patient
education
- Emergencies
- Phone calls
- No insurance
policy
- Hospital
consults
Most often you will be referred to us by your primary care physician or
another specialist. Your doctor may ask you to call or they may make the
call for you. The
first visit to our office is usually a consult visit.
You can call our office at any time if you feel like you need to see a
surgeon. We will assist you in deciding what to do next.
When the appointment is made we will collect as much information as
possible over the phone. This will include your name, address, phone number as well as your
date of birth, insurance coverage and referring physician.
You can make your first visit more efficient by having your forms filled out
prior to your visit. These can be found on the FORMS page of this website.
You may be asked to bring X-Ray films to your appointment. This assists the
physician in determining a plan of care. Please tell the phone attendant of any
X-Rays, ultrasounds, mammograms, CT, MRI, or lab tests you recently had
performed.
PLEASE BRING YOUR INSURANCE CARD to your appointment. We will need
this information to accurately file claims with your insurance company. If
you do not have insurance, you will be asked to make payment arrangements at the
time of your visit.
PLEASE BRING A LIST of medications and dosages (including over the
counter medications) to the visit. Some medications may need to be stopped for
surgery.
You will be asked to pay your co-payment and may pay it by
cash, personal check, Visa, or MasterCard.
The first time you see a surgeon, whether in the hospital or office, is
considered a consult visit. The surgeon determines the level of service
provided after the visit. Various factors influence this level of service
including history and physical taken, assessment done, medical decision making
needed and medical diagnosis provided. The level of service selected by the
physician then determines billing. There are strict guidelines for determining
the level of service.
During or after this visit, the surgeon will determine the need for surgery.
Sometimes, that surgery can be performed in the office setting at the consult
visit. Most often the private scrub will have to schedule the surgery for a
later date.
The surgeon will send a letter to your physician letting him or her know what
his plan is for the future.
If your visit is due to an accident or injury, please let us know when we
schedule your appointment. We need to pre-authorize any services for Worker's
Compensation claims. You will be asked to fill out an injury / accident form at
the time of the visit. These forms can be downloaded from our
FORMS page.
When you schedule a new patient consult with our office, we will contact your
insurance company to verify your insurance coverage. This helps us in
identifying insurance coverage prior to scheduling surgery. Our billing office will
contact you if they need further information.
If surgery is planned, we will once again contact your insurance company to get
the surgery pre-authorized. Most insurance companies have a list of procedures
that require pre-authorization. This needs to be done prior to any planned
surgeries. It can be done after any emergency surgeries.
Our physicians strive to be on time for all scheduled appointments, but
unexpected delays may occur due to unforeseen hospital, surgery or office
emergencies. We will keep you informed of any delays.
If your appointment time is cancelled, you will be given a choice to see another
surgeon or to be re-scheduled.
If the surgeon determines surgery is needed, we will schedule your surgery as
soon as possible, taking into account your schedule, insurance, and
availability. We will give you thorough instructions on where and when.
The operating room personnel may contact you prior to surgery to ask further
questions.
Please ask as many questions as you need to so that you feel comfortable the
day of surgery. You can visit most of the surgery sites in the links on the
LOCATIONS page on this website.
A post operative visit will be scheduled after surgery to discuss test
results and to follow up on surgical healing. This may be scheduled in the
hospital or you may be given instructions to contact our office upon leaving
the surgery site.
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns after your
surgery prior to this post-op visit.
As stated above, we will collect your insurance information when you come to
our office. Most insurance companies require that we collect a co-payment for
consults and some follow-up visits. Your insurance card should tell you what
this will be. We accept cash, credit card, or check.
We will bill your insurance after the consult visit or after surgery. We
have contracts with most of the major insurance companies. Once the insurance
company pays for the service you will receive a statement. Statements are
usually printed on the first of the month. We will expect payment after you
receive this statement or you need to contact our office to set up payment
arrangements.
Most surgeries have a global period. This period accounts for the surgery and
the routine follow-up care. Most post-op visits do not require a co-payment.
During your consult visit, you will be given patient education materials.
Please ask if you would like more information. Please feel free to call
our office after the visit if you have more questions before your surgery.
If you have problems after surgery, please call our office. If it is an
emergency, please contact 911 or go to the nearest Emergency Room. We will help
you with any surgical concerns you have. If you have questions regarding
on-going medical problems (i.e. diabetes, hypertension, heart problems, etc.),
please call your primary care physician.
Our surgeons are on call 24 hours a day and the same office number will get
you in touch with the surgeon on call.
The phone attendant will assist you when you call. The private scrub
may not be in the office when you call. You can leave a voice mail or she
can take a message. You can expect to have your message answered
during the same day. If you have not received a return phone call,
please call back again.
If you do not have insurance we will work with you to establish payment
arrangements. You will be asked to talk with a billing person.
Our physicians take
call at Research Medical Center, St Joseph Health Center, and Menorah Medical
Center. They will see you irregardless of your insurance or ability to
pay. We will work with you after your hospital stay to set up payment
arrangements.
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