Communication

To maximize our time with each patient in the office, we try to do much of our non-urgent communication through our patient portal. Although we are often quick to respond to this method of communication, please allow us up to 48 hours to respond to your message. For this reason, all urgent matters should be called in. If your matter can wait until we are in the office, please feel free to leave a message on our voice mail. Thank you!

Emergency care / After hours coverage

During regular hours, if you are in labor or are having an urgent issue, please call our office so we can direct you to the most appropriate care. After hours, you will be able to call our office and ring through to the physician on call for complications from surgery or if you think you are in labor. If you are not able to get through or do not get a call back within 20 minutes, please go directly to your local urgent care or hospital.

Insurance

We take most insurance plans. Please call your insurance company to find out if we are an in-network provider for your specific plan. As a courtesy to you, we will submit your claim for your visit or procedure to your insurance company. It is your responsibility to know what coverage your insurance company allows. Financial responsibility for our services rest with the patient, regardless of insurance coverage. We advise you to know your copay and deductible when you make an appointment so you understand your financial responsibility to us.

Payment

All copays and outstanding balances must be paid in full at the time of service . We accept cash, personal checks, Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. There is a $15 service charge for all returned checks. Patients with outstanding balances over 60 days must make arrangements for payment prior to scheduling appointments. Payment plans are available. Depending on the insurance plan for which you signed up, your insurance company determines what portion of the claim they will cover. If you receive a bill from us and expect that your insurance company should have paid it, please call your insurance company directly to dispute. If your bill is more than 120 days old and we have not received payment and have not heard from you, a decision will be made whether to send your account to a collection agency for further action. We reserve the right to terminate you from our practice.

If you do not have insurance, please call our office to for an estimate on the cost of a visit or procedure.

Insurance Referrals

Many insurance plans, especially HMO plans, Tricare and Mass Health Standard, require you to receive approval from your primary care physician (PCP) before you see a specialist. Verify with your insurance company whether you need a referral for the type of visit/service you are seeking. If you do need a referral for your insurance plan, please call your PCPs office to request one before you schedule an appointment with us. Please let us know when you schedule your appointment that a referral is required and you have requested it.

Cancellation and Rescheduling policy

Appointments must be cancelled or rescheduled at least 24 hours prior to the appointment time. We understand that occasionally in life, there are extenuating circumstances, please let us know so that we can handle your cancellation accordingly. We, as an office, prepare for your visit. By not cancelling a scheduled appointment in advance, our physician's ability to provide services to other patients is limited. We reserve the right to assess a $50 fee for any missed in-office or virtual appointment.

Missed appointments

Excessive abuse of scheduled appointments may result in discharge from the practice.

Prescription refill

Requests for prescription refills may be obtained by having your pharmacy send us a request. You may also request refills directly through our online patient portal. Please provide us with your pharmacy name and location. Controlled substances (such as narcotic pain meds) require an office visit and a hard copy prescription. If you require medication for long-term maintenance of conditions or birth control, a follow-up office visit may be required prior to the prescription being renewed. You may want to consider using a mail order pharmacy as this may save you substantial money. Please allow 48 hours to process any non-urgent requests.

Medical Record Request

Feel free to print or transmit your records and lab tests from your patient portal - you can do this for free! Before we can mail or fax any information to an outside agency at your request, we require written consent be on file in our office. There is a $25 fee for printing or faxing your records.

Forms

All forms require an office visit to complete and should be filled out in advance with as much information as you know before handing to us. Allow 72 hours for the completion of any forms (i.e. FMLA paperwork, work forms, etc). Please provide us with a self-addressed stamped envelope or make it clear where it needs to be faxed.

Your Privacy

Your medical record privacy is very important to us. There are HIPAA rules that guide how we manage your records. Please review and sign our privacy policy in the patient portal to understand our shared responsibility.