Practice Policies

How to Make an Appointment

All patients are seen by appointment. The receptionist will take appointments during any of the office hours. If an acute problem arises, please try to call the office before 10:00 a.m. so we can work you in that day. We try to stay on schedule, since we know no one likes to wait.

There are several things you can do to help us stay on schedule. When calling to schedule an appointment, be specific about the nature of your visit. A “routine appointment” is not designed to exceed fifteen minutes. If you call for an appointment that you anticipate will necessitate more than fifteen minutes for discussion and care of a problem, please indicate this to the receptionist, so that she may schedule an appropriate amount of time.

In addition, the following will help us remain on schedule. Please call 24 hours in advance if you must cancel an appointment. If you do not call to cancel your appointment you may be billed for an office visit. Phone ahead to make an appointment for extra family members that want to be seen. Please attempt to be on time for your appointment so others won't have to wait. If you are more than fifteen minutes late, you may need to reschedule. We will try to see you as soon as possible without having others wait.

Finally, we ask you for your understanding and patience when we are running behind schedule. Emergencies occasionally disrupt the schedule. When this happens, we will try to get back on schedule as soon as possible.

Telephone Calls

During office hours you may leave a voice mail message for a specific staff member or speak with a receptionist. For after office hours calls, please refer to instructions listed in the Emergencies section of the site.

If your question or problem is complex, we would prefer that you make an appointment for an office consultation. By doing this, the office patients will not be kept waiting while the physicians are talking on the telephone.

Prescription Refills

We believe medication should be used sparingly - only when and for as long as necessary. Most prescriptions, for short-term problems need no refills; however, if a refill is authorized, please call your pharmacist.

If you are on a long-term medication, refills will be handled at the time of your office visit. Please check prior to your appointment to see if you are running out. On some occasions it may be necessary for you to phone the office for refills. This will be done only during routine office hours. Please have the phone number of your pharmacy ready, as well as the prescription name, dosage, and frequency of dose. Please allow 48 hours to refill your renewed medication. New Prescriptions of antibiotics or potent medications will not be handled by telephone. This could be dangerous to you without proper medical evaluation.

Prescription refill requests can be made by faxing the form on our Medical Forms page, calling (614) 471-9654, or using our Online Refill Request System.

Fees and Cost Containment

To help keep your healthcare cost down, payment is required at the time of your visit. When this is done, we do not have to pass on to you the extra cost of billing. You will be charged by the amount of time that you spend with the doctor, as well as whatever tests or procedures are performed.

We attempt to keep your medical costs down and believe in using tests only to establish a diagnosis, help prevent illness or to guide therapy. We will discuss with you what we feel needs to be done, so you can decide how to spend your healthcare dollars.

As a consumer, be aware that hospital procedures and emergency room visits are far more costly than office procedures and visits. Request and use the hospital and emergency room wisely. For example, it would be less expensive to have a laceration sutured in the office than the emergency room, whenever possible.

We accept personal checks as well as Visa and MasterCard.

Insurance

As a service to you, the patient, we will bill all major insurance companies. If your insurance plan requires that you use their claim form or if you prefer to file your own insurance claims, we will provide the information necessary for you to file directly to your insurance company. Please verify that we have been designated as your primary care physician if your insurance company requires this.

Consultants

As Family Practitioners, we are trained to handle 90-95% of all problems seen in the office. However, we utilize specialists in unfamiliar or complicated situations. We rely on their guidance as you rely on ours. We offer continuity of care and help in interpreting and coordinating the specialist's advice.

If you desire a second opinion, we will help arrange this.