Frequently Asked Questions

                                   Welcome to Our Practice
We are aware that you do have a choice, so we are very pleased that you have selected us to treat your medical problems. We will provide you with the highest standard of medical care while treating you with the dignity and courtesy you deserve. 

This information is intended to answer questions you might have concerning our practice. If you have questions we have not answered, please ask. 

                                     Office Hours
Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. We try to schedule all appointments to minimize waiting time and to provide optimal care for each patient.  

In addition to our providers we also provide audiology and allergy services. Please understand that not all patients are seeing the same provider and may be called back ahead of you even though you have been waiting longer.

                   Telephoned Medical Questions
Our clinical staff is thoroughly trained to answer many routine medical questions. If they can’t immediately assist you with a problem, your physician will be informed.  Your physician will answer routine calls at the end of the morning or after office hours.  This allows the physician to attend to his office patients with minimum interruptions.  Urgent problems are handled as soon as possible!

                                 After Hours Emergencies
When true emergency situations occur after hours, calls are automatically forwarded to our answering service.  They will take a brief message and see that it is relayed as soon as possible to the doctor on call.

One of our physicians is always on call to respond to your ear, nose, and throat problems. In case of a life threatening emergency, go immediately to the nearest hospital emergency room.

                                   New Patients
You should make sure that all medical records related to your previous treatments are forwarded to our office prior to your first appointment.  This includes any laboratory testing or cat scans done at other facilities.  In addition, please bring all routine prescription medications with you to your first visit.  This information will be necessary to adequately diagnose and treat your condition. 

The information we request for on our patient information forms  is vital to your care and making sure that insurance matters are taken care of. Please be assured that your personal information is kept strictly confidential.

In addition to the new patient forms, please bring your insurance card, photo id and co-payment to your appointment.

                             Treatment of Minors
If you are a foster parent or a legal guardian of a minor child legal documentation is required. All children must be accompanied by parent/legal guardian. We understand that there may be circumstances that a grandparent or other relative may need to bring the child to the appointment. In that event we must have written authorization from the parent/legal guardian giving our office permission to treat the patient along with a copy of the parent’s driver’s license.

                   Copying of Medical Records
We treat all medical information pertaining to each patient seen in our office to be personal and confidential.  It is our strict policy not to release your records, in part or in full, at any time unless we have written permission from you. Therefore, we require a signed “release of information” form by every patient before we will copy any information contained within your medical record to a third party.

Patients requesting copies of their medical records will be assessed a fee of $1.00 for the first page and $0.50 for each additional page as well as any postage charges associated with mailing. We utilize and outside records management service and you will be contacted by them for payment prior to your medical records being copied. There is no charge for the forwarding of medical records to other physicians providing you care.

                                   Forms and Fees
The fees for completing medical forms, disability, Family Medical Leave Act and similar forms are $15.00 each time the form has to be completed. Please complete and sign the form prior to submitting the form to us. Fees must be up to date prior to the release of the form. Please allow one week in order for these forms to be completed.

                           Patient Termination Policy
Although it is an infrequent occurrence, a patient may be terminated from our office and given 7 days to locate another ear nose and throat physician for their continued care.  Patient termination is at the discretion of the patients’ physician.  Common reasons for termination include, but are not limited to, use of foul language, chronic noncompliance with recommended therapy, abusive behavior of staff, physicians, or other patients or repeated scheduling cancellations or no shows for appointments.

             Appointment No Show/Cancellation Policy
 If it is necessary to cancel/reschedule your scheduled appointment please call by 10 a.m. one (1) working day in advance.   

When you are scheduled for an appointment, that time slot is made unavailable to any other patient.  If you do not show up as planned, we have lost the opportunity to provide our services to another patient.  Therefore, you will be responsible for a $40.00 fee for failing to keep a scheduled appointment or for failing to provide our office with at least 24 hours’ notice of a cancellation. In such event, you will be directly billed a no-show/late cancellation fee of $40.00. This fee must be paid prior to rescheduling your appointment. Your insurance company will not be billed.  Patients who miss more than two appointments may be dismissed by the practice. 

Many insurance plans require us to notify them as well as your referring doctor if you miss a scheduled appointment

Our current office policy is to make at least one attempt to contact patients one or two days in advance of their appointments as a courtesy reminder.  Our office utilizes an automated appointment reminder to contact our patients two days prior to their appointments.   However, patients are ultimately responsible for keeping their appointments or notifying us if an appointment needs to be cancelled or rescheduled.