Q : What is an internist?
A : Simply put, doctors of Internal Medicine are doctors for adults. Internists act as primary care doctors. Their training is concentrated on adults, treating severe and chronic illnesses, multiple medical problems and wellness.
Q : What is a family practitioner?
A : This is a physician educated and trained in family medicine, providing complete medical care to each member of the family from birth to the end of life.
Q : How should I prepare for my visits?
A : Because your first visit to our office requires some paperwork, we ask that you arrive at least 30 minutes prior to your scheduled appointment. It is important for your physician to know any past medical history, surgeries, hospitalizations, major illnesses, lab results, x-ray reports and any referring doctor's office notes. Our front office will assist you in completing your new patient registration. At every appointment, our staff will confirm your address, telephone number and insurance plan.
Please be prepared to show your insurance card at each visit. Although your insurance plan may not have changed, we must verify at each visit that our records contain the most recent information. Photo I.D. will be required.
Bring in all of your medications, including over-the-counter remedies, vitamins and herbal supplements.
Please be prepared to pay your co-pay or coinsurance for your current appointment. Our office cannot bill you for co-payments. If you have an outstanding balance with our office, we also ask that you make payment on the balance at that time. Our office accepts cash, checks, Visa and MasterCard payments.
Bring a list of your most important questions and concerns to be addressed at the visit.
Q : How long will I have to wait for an appointment?
A : Emergency care is provided the same day. Urgent visits will be scheduled within 24 hours. Non-urgent symptomatic visits are scheduled within 4 business days. Routine appointments are scheduled within 2 weeks. Those visits such as a comprehensive exam are scheduled within 4 weeks of request. We do not have evening hours. New patient appointments are not scheduled for Saturday.
Failure to keep scheduled appointments interferes with our ability to provide quality medical care to you. Patients who miss three appointments will be discharged from our practice.
Q : What if I'm running late for my appointment?
A : Late arrivals create delays for both physician and other patients. Late arrivals may be asked to reschedule their appointments. Please be aware that we will make every effort to see you as promptly as possible.
Q : What insurances do you accept?
A : Our office is affiliated with Fox Valley Medicine, Ltd. (FVM) which is an Independent Physician Association. FVM subcontracts between the insurance companies and your physician. FVM handles benefit inquiries, authorizations, utilization review, eligibility and provider contracting. Accepted insurance plans through FVM are:
- Blue Advantage HMO
- HMO Illinois
- Humana Select HMO, Humana Premier HMO, Humana HMO Plus, Humana Choice Care
- UniCare HMO, Unicare Performance HMO
- Aetna Select Choice HMO
Because the insurance industry is ever changing, plan participation may change frequently. Please contact your particular insurance carrier for any questions. The following are some of the other insurance carriers our office accepts:
- Aetna PPO, Managed Choice POS, Elect Choice EPO, Quality POS, US Access, Aetna Open Access, Aetna Choice POS II
- Beech Street PPO
- IFN PPO
- Humana PPO
- Blue Choice
- Medicare Part B
- PHCS PPO
- Great-West Open Access
- UniCare PPO, UniCare Classic Plus, POS
Q : How does the referral process work?
A : If you have an HM0 or POS insurance plan, you will be required to obtain a referral prior to seeing a specialist or having certain testing done. Referrals to specialists or for testing typically take 5-7 days for our office to process and for the insurance company or medical group to approve. Emergent referrals can be processed and approved within 24 hours. Once your referral has been approved, it will be mailed to you.
Do not schedule appointments without the referral in hand.
In many cases, a copy of the specialist physician's office/consult notes, findings, and recommendations must accompany the referral request. If your specialist has requested future appointments, blood work, or radiology testing this must be done through in-network providers. If we do not receive the necessary information from the specialist, we will be unable to process any further referrals.
If a patient receives services not authorized through FVM, the charges will be the patient responsibility. Our office does not submit referrals after services have been rendered. Since most referrals are effective for 30-45 days, there should be adequate time to schedule an appointment with the specialist. In the event your referral will expire before your appointment, please contact our referral coordinator for an extension of your referral.
Q : How do I get prescription refills?
A : Prescriptions are written for a specific period of time. Maintaining compliance with the doctor's instructions and plan is essential for your health care and for filling your prescriptions. It is our policy to deny requests for refills if these instructions are not followed.
When refills are necessary, please contact your pharmacy directly. You pharmacy will contact our office with the necessary information to approve your refill request. We will process requests within 48 hours from the time they are received.
Refill requests are accepted during normal business hours, Monday through Friday.
Certain requests. such as controlled substances and mail order prescriptions, require extra time. Please allow 72 hours for such requests. Mail order prescriptions will be mailed to your home unless otherwise requested. We will notify you when your prescription is ready to pick up.
Q : What is the doctor's policy for returning calls?
A : All phone calls are first answered by our receptionists who will take a brief message to be given to the nursing staff. The nursing staff will triage all calls for additional information. All messages are then discussed with the physicians who will then determine the best treatment option. Nursing staff will then relay the physician's decision to you. It is the goal of the office to complete all calls received in the morning by 1:00 p.m. and all afternoon calls before leaving. Timing depends on the volume of calls received on any given day.
Q : Does your office accept "walk-ins"?
A : Our goal is to provide all of our patients with care when necessary. Patients with scheduled appointments will receive priority. Depending on the physician's schedule, you may be asked to reschedule at a more appropriate time. It is always best to call the office first.