Your Privacy
Appointments
All
patients are seen by
appointment only. Appointments may be scheduled by calling (847) 593-0404
during our regular business hours. Appointments are available Monday through
Friday at one of our convenient office locations. Evening hours are also
available. Patients are strongly encouraged to phone well in advance of
their needed appointment date to ensure availability.
Cancellation Policy
We make every effort
to honor all appointment times. However, emergencies and unexpected events
are a part of every surgical practice. We will attempt to reach you in
the event that it becomes necessary to significantly delay or to cancel an
office appointment or surgical procedure. Please always provide us with
your most current telephone number(s) when scheduling your appointments.
We will gladly reschedule as needed to minimize inconvenience and appreciate
your understanding in these situations.
We request the same courtesy from our patients. "No Shows" are unacceptable.
Please call at least 48 hours in advance when you need to cancel anything
scheduled through our office. Your appointment slot may then be offered to
another patient needing to see the doctor.
Cancellations with less than 24 hours or “No Shows” are subject to
a $30 administrative charge.
Emergency Care
For emergency care
during evenings, weekends or holidays, please call (847) 593-0404. Our 24
Hour Answering Service will page the doctor on call and you will be
contacted as soon as possible. If your problem is severe
or is causing you great concern, proceed to the Emergency Department at the
closest hospital facility and ask them to contact our office. If
required, please notify your primary care physician or insurance company of
your planned emergency department visit. Please be aware that our
paging service is for urgent or emergency problems only and all routine
matters should be handled when our office is open and your chart is
available for review.
Telephone Calls
All patient calls
during and after business hours for all office locations come to our main
number, (847) 593-0404. Our staff members who answer your calls have been
trained to respond to many of your inquiries. If your call requires your
doctor’s attention and he is available when you call, he will speak with you
at that time. However, if he is with another patient in the office or is in
surgery, you may be asked to speak with another available physician. If
there is no physician available when you call, you may be asked to leave
your telephone number and a doctor will return your call at the earliest
opportunity. You may be asked to leave important information about your
problem with a nurse or physician assistant in order that we may help you
properly and efficiently.
Prescription Refills
Please
call for authorization for prescription renewals during business hours while
we have access to your medical records. Please have your pharmacy’s phone
number available when you call.
Fees and Payments
We make every effort to keep down the cost of your medical care. You can
help by paying your co-payments, co-insurance and deductible amounts at the
completion of each visit. Other arrangements must be made in advance with
our patient accounts department. For your convenience, payment by cash,
check, MasterCard, Visa, and Discover is accepted.
Insurance
Our office will
file a claim to your insurance company for all services performed by our
office. Claims are sent electronically to allow for prompt
processing of your claim. Please remember that insurance coverage usually
does not pay your doctor’s charges in full. You are responsible for paying
your co-payment, co-insurance, and deductible amounts, as well as any other
balance not paid for by your insurance company.
Medicare Patients
Our office welcomes
Medicare patients to our practice. We would like to inform you that we are “participating
physicians” with the Medicare program. This means that we “accept
assignment” of Medicare benefits. We will submit a claim for you as required by law and
Medicare will issue their benefits directly to us. Please note that
we strictly adhere to all Medicare guidelines governing your
care and limit our fees to the Medicare fee schedule determined by the federal government.
HMOs, PPOs, and Other Managed Care Plans
We are participating providers with a number of managed care organizations
as listed here. If you belong to any
of these plans, you must inform a staff member when you call. Please
read and be thoroughly familiar with your particular managed care policy,
including its regulations, referral and pre-authorization requirements, and
co-payment, co-insurance and deductible obligations. HMO and POS members
are reminded that you must obtain referral authorization from your primary
care physician prior to each service provided by us both in the
office and in the hospital.
|
