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Contact & DirectionsHow's Your Health?Office HoursCharges & BillingFAQNew PatientsCommunicationServicesPolicies & Expectations |
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New PatientsPlease note that there are currently NO appointments available for patients new to the practice. There may be more availability in 2009.I've never met you. How do I know if I'll like you? I'm happy to arrange a short meeting to let you know about me and the practice. There is no charge, and I cannot address any medical problems during this meeting. How do I become a patient of the practice? Call the office to set up an appointment. Please review the other information on this website first, particularly the insurance and controlled medication policies. I don't have any health insurance. Can I be a patient? Yes. I offer services that are significantly discounted if you pay at the time of service. I also offer further discounts for those with financial hardship, but the number of patients I can offer these discounts is limited. If you need these discounts, please ask about the current situation. (If you DO have insurance, these discounts are also available, but you must let me know about your insurance so we can keep things legal and you can understand the implications.) Communication and AppointmentsHow do I contact the doctor on call?YOUR doctor is almost always on call. If you are an established patient and need to contact me, I want to talk with you. Just call the office and follow the prompts to be connected to my cell phone. It is always on. If I am briefly in an area without phone service or unable to answer, please leave a brief voice mail message on my cell phone, and I will call you right back. If there are technical difficulties that prevent this, please proceed to an urgent care center or emergency department. Of course, if your issue is not urgent, please leave a message on the office voice mail, and I will contact you during office hours. Do you offer scheduling, communication, and medical information access via the Internet? Currently, I will provide practice announcements and reminders (without any personal information) via e-mail if you provide me with your e-mail address. I hope to expand these services as soon as there is enough interest. Any arrangements for this will ensure that only you can access your information. What if I need treatment after office hours? If you are having an emergency, you should call 911 or go to an emergency department. If your need is urgent and you are an established patient, please contact me. I may be able to arrange to see you sooner than you might expect or offer some advice. There is very little treatment I can accomplish over the telephone, and I never prescribe or refill "controlled" medications over the phone. What if I need to be seen right now? If you are having an emergency, you should call 911 or go to an emergency department. Otherwise, please call first because all visits here are by appointment. This is necessary to maintain my commitment not to keep you waiting in the office. However, I strive to keep same-day appointments open for established patients. If a problem is too urgent to wait until later in the day, it is likely that you need more services than I have in the office. If I don't hear from you, my tests were normal, right? No! I encourage everyone never to assume that a test you don't hear about is normal. You should always hear from me about any test I set up for you, either by mail or telephone. How do I reach the receptionist and the nurse on your phone system? There is no receptionist or nurse. Most of the time, I answer the telephone. If I am busy with a patient, the phone will roll to voice mail, and I will return your call. If your call is urgent enough that you need to interrupt the visit, please follow the prompts to call my cell phone. How do you manage to see patients on time? I'm glad you asked, because I need your help in keeping this commitment. Seeing you on time requires my being finished with the patient before you on time and your arriving on time. So please arrive by your appointment time, because my time with you starts then. Our ending time remains the same, even if we get started late. Also, please understand when I wrap up your appointment on time to keep my commitment to the next patient. I will do my best to schedule enough time for your needs, but there will be occasions that I will ask you to return later to continue addressing them. What happens if I miss my appointment or cancel at the last minute? In the big picture, I become less able to offer care to people who need it. As far as a practice policy, I am not sure what will happen. If this becomes a problem, I may need to institute a charge for missed visits and late cancellations. ServicesDo you provide hospital care?In order to provide the best quality office care, I am not admitting patients to the hospital. There are specialists in hospital care available at many hospitals, including the Outer Banks Hospital. If you are hospitalized, I will be available to communicate with the hospital doctors and you about your care. Do you provide home visits? Due to time constraints, home visits are not a routine part of the practice. However, arrangements can be made for limited home care for established patients. Do you provide immunizations? I can discuss, prescribe, and administer immunizations. However, I am not able to keep them in stock, due to the significant related expenses. This may change if there is enough demand for particular shots. How can you provide women's health care without any staff? For everyone's protection, we do need an additional person present for sensitive exams. If you expect this sort of exam during your visit, it is helpful if you bring someone who can accompany you during the exam. If you are not able to do this, there is professional staff available in the adjoining office. Do you offer alternative medicine services? I respect and appreciate other systems of viewing and working with the complex human self. But I am trained primarily in allopathic (traditional) medicine, and that is the expertise I offer. I would feel the need for much more training to offer other therapies. I do encourage all patients to let me know what other therapies they are using or considering. I am trying to learn more all the time and will do my best to offer the knowledge I have, as well as making suggestions around integrating care. Do you offer blood drawing, EKGs, stress tests, spirometry, and other tests? The overhead costs associated with such services are too high to offer them in a small practice, and they are readily available nearby. I do offer lower-cost tests, including blood glucose, hemoglobin A1c, urinalysis, rapid strep tests, and pregnancy tests. I also collect some tests, like Pap smears and cultures, that are sent to a lab. Some tests could be added if there were enough need. So where do I go if I need these other tests? In short, wherever you feel most comfortable. I will guide you with recommendations and give you all the necessary paperwork. Do you prescribe controlled medications? I am not able to prescribe long-term controlled medications (some pain and psychiatric medications) due to my current low-overhead arrangement. |